Member Content Avaibility

[TheDukeAnumber1]

Note: I am not trying to start a political discussion in this thread. Recent events that may be considered political have raised a concern of mine and I will be mentioning them but I am not looking to directly discuss them.

Pre-election, some wrongful censorship was taking place on twitter/facebook/youtube ect. Now Google removed Parler from their app store and Amazon kicked them from their web servers and similar censorship issues are happening with the other big tech companies. I've never liked it but it is getting egregious enough to make me consider directing my dollars away from these companies, which would sadly include youtube, if things continue in this direction.

I'm happy to be a Co-op member, I believe Cory does right by his members by reinvesting into the hobby and I like the gems hidden in the member videos now and then, I.E. behind the scenes looks into farms and skilled breeder setups. I am not about to pull the plug on youtube yet but if over the next year things keep marching this way I may be compelled to. In this case I can still support the Co-op through the store but I would lose access to member content which I would miss.

My questions are...
1) To other members, are any of you also having this concern?
2) To Cory, under these circumstances would you reconsider making member content and support available through other means in the future?

Thanks again

Edited January 11, 2021 by TheDukeAnumber1

[Brandy]

I also do not want to touch the politics referenced here.

For my own personal reasons, I avoid facebook. I miss out on certian content that way--contests, some sailing group anouncements, etc. I have a few personal friends who still use these groups and they often update me personally on any important local things I have missed. But as a hosting platform Youtube is unbeatable, and I would not think there is a technically feasible substitute available. While I sympathize with the dilemma, I think this is part of the choice we have to make when deciding to use "free" platforms to access and host content.

I wish you well in your decision.

Edited January 11, 2021 by Brandy

[Alesha]

I love, love, love Aquarium Co-op! But I've never become a member on Youtube. And I feeeeeeel soooo left out when I can't view the member videos. 😉 But you know what? If I wait a little while, I'll get to see them eventually. So that's what I do. 

And the reason I've chosen to *not* be a member on Youtube is that, quite frankly, I'd rather spend that $5 on fish stuff from ACO. And I'm not SO MUCH a fangirl that I MUST view every video RIGHT away. I can wait. LoL.

So it has nothing to do with censorship for me. It's simply a matter of where I want to spend my dollars. And right now, I prefer to spend them for actual product. 

Those are just my thoughts...hope they give you a little idea of how *not* being a member is not the end of a Nerm's world. 😉 In the immortal words of Gloria:  "I...I will survive..." 😆

Edited January 14, 2021 by Alesha
to remove sentence that could possibly be interpreted as political. I don't want to be disrespectful of the forum guidelines. :)

[AdamTill]

Sorry, I just can’t see this thread not turning into a train wreck

@Daniel

Edited January 14, 2021 by AdamTill

[Aubrey]

It's pretty obvious Cory is pro censoring, or more correctly moderating.

Here it is in his own words, around the hour mark.

 

[AdamTill]

4 hours ago, Aubrey said:

It's pretty obvious Cory is pro censoring, or more correctly moderating.

Here it is in his own words, around the hour mark.

 

Removed - don’t want to cross into taking politics

Edited January 14, 2021 by AdamTill

[TheDukeAnumber1]

5 hours ago, AdamTill said:

Sorry, I just can’t see this thread not turning into a train wreck.

For my own part, I’ll just say that an internet without moderation (which is the correct word, not censorship) is not a place you want to be. It’s been tried, and it was terrible.

@Daniel

It doesn't have to be a train wreck if we hold to C.A.R.E. and act respectfully.

I think you missed my point, I'm not suggesting this forum or other areas of the internet not moderate as they are allowed to. What I am referring to is the 'Big Tech' companies like twitter, facebook, youtube, ect which are supposed to act as platforms, have grown to the point of being the 'Marketplace of Ideas' in the US. Their 'moderation' would be fine if it was consistent, but it has been exercised very inconsistently and is clearly targeted.  And as you have defined it, it became censorship when parler was dropped from the app stores and amazon booted it.

I know in the past Cory has not favored moving member content away from youtube, but in the light of having legitimate and strong reasons to not support youtube (especially if things keep going this direction), since they take a cut, would Cory consider another way to access member content and are others here having this concern?

Edited January 14, 2021 by TheDukeAnumber1

[AdamTill]

 

It would be a lot of work to host duplicate videos on another gated platform, and Cory doesn’t seem to suffer from a lack of things to do. He moved away from Patreon which was basically that arrangement.

Ps - I don’t think my earlier comments were political, but I removed them in case they were. I like this forum too much to get banned for something like that.

Edited January 14, 2021 by AdamTill

[TheDukeAnumber1]

Google and Apple control 99% of the phone operating system market share, Twitter, FB, and Google dominate the entire public square and control discourse in the US.

So the regress is...

Build your own twitter -> Build your own mobile OS -> Build your own call phone -> Build your own web servers -> Build your own domain register -> Build your own internet

There is a problem here and the simple shrug off of "go somewhere else" does not work in what is supposed to be a "United" States.

EDIT: Cory has said that more rules create problems and flexibility is good. I think if we don't overtly break the rules and remain respectful we should be a ok.

Edited January 14, 2021 by TheDukeAnumber1
edit

[FrozenFins]

7 hours ago, Alesha said:

I love, love, love Aquarium Co-op! But I've never become a member on Youtube. And I feeeeeeel soooo left out when I can't view the member videos. 😉 But you know what? If I wait a little while, I'll get to see them eventually. So that's what I do. 

And the reason I've chosen to *not* be a member on Youtube is that, quite frankly, I'd rather spend that $5 on fish stuff from ACO. And I'm not SO MUCH a fangirl that I MUST view every video RIGHT away. I can wait. LoL.

So it has nothing to do with censorship for me. It's simply a matter of where I want to spend my dollars. And right now, I prefer to spend them for actual product. 

Those are just my thoughts...hope they give you a little idea of how *not* being a member is not the end of a Nerm's world. 😉 In the immortal words of Gloria:  "I...I will survive..." 😆

I'm not a channel member. All though I didn't know that member only videos would eventually be released to the public, thats good to know.

[Pete]

On 1/11/2021 at 3:28 PM, TheDukeAnumber1 said:

...

My questions are...
1) To other members, are any of you also having this concern?

Nope. I'm not concerned at all. I haven't seen any evidence to support being concerned. I'll happily continue as a Co-Op YouTube member so long as it's available, affordable, and fun. 

[Daniel]

Yeah, this looked like a pretty scary thread when I first read it. So, I decided to wait because who knows, people just might have reasonable, non-personal back and forth discussion.

Given the sensitivity and passions involved in this kind of discussion it looks like that has been what has happened up to now.

But I think prudence and caution say let us just let this rest for now. Therefore, I am asking that what I am typing now is the last post on this thread.