So, on the other news media site you contribute to, people are unable to engage in discussion unless they too are paying for access?
Unless that’s the case, I’m afraid I’m missing your point. If someone actively engages on the forum, but won’t directly contribute to help keep bb running, how is that any different than someone actively engaging on the forum now, but never buying stuff from the bb store, or clicking on the ads?
Maybe I’m just not getting what you are saying.
If a way came about to contribute directly to bb and it would mean a reduction to the rising tide of ads – not keeping them where they are now, but reducing them by an equal amount to how much comes through the new revenue option – I would take part in that regardless of who else would or wouldn’t also contribute and regardless of their reasons or their activity on the forums.
If they are explicitly objecting to contributing, then I don’t see how that impacts me. Assholes are gonna asshole.
On one of them there is no public forum; on another only subscribers can post comments. On a third it doesn’t matter to me so much, because I rarely look at the comment section and everyone in town knows that section is toxic.
BB is both a content provider and an interactive forum, and my views on its value vary a bit on which aspect of it I’m considering. For the blog part the passive funding (such as affiliate links) seem about the right level of support. The forum has greater value to me because I actively participate, though it has become increasingly negative and less fun over the years. I don’t actually know that the people who wouldn’t pay for the latter are the same people who are negative on other things, which is why I said “I’m not sure” in my earlier post.
Wow, guys this is getting bad. I know it’s the post-holiday slowdown, but this shit-peddling is really out of hand. Enough with the garbage schilling already. Apparently, everyone knows because they’ve turned off their @‘s and are burying their heads.
I turned on adblocking a long time ago just to make the site readable, but I’ve bought things through the store and clicked the Amazon links a few times to support the good people who run this place, but the signal to noise ratio in the adverticles is definitely reaching a new low.
@boingboingshop - as an experiment, I’d suggest keeping the actual good products, (things the site operators know and love themselves), but replacing all of the lame crap which turns people off and nobody will buy anyway, with simple adverts saying the site has support costs, with links to donate via Patreon, Paypal, Bitcoin, etc, (the more options the better!)
That’s one reason I navigate only from back here. I click through to frontpage BB posts once in awhile, but that’s probably 1% of the posts. And even then, I’m on Brave, which blocks ads at least, if not those ads that are pseudo-posts.
Thank you, just downloaded UBlock and added this code. Seeing those awful “Mac Mini” sales comparing them with full brand-new-prices from when they were new, was the last straw for me.
@boingboing I’ve been a visitor to the site for as long as I knew how to work a web browser, but bad ads are bad, and actions have consequences. Happy to remove the filter once this kind of thing gets addressed by people who care.
Oh? Clearly you haven’t been browsing the Boing Boing Store. $30 would keep 6 lights on for 20 YEARS, with enough cash leftover for a project management course bundle.
IM(NSH)Experience contracts can be terminated. And there seem to be multiple sources for the lameness and the more annoying ads. And maybe the “curation” of good products requires too much overhead?
I’m sorry I don’t necessarily have the answers, I just see a gradual downward trend, and it’s worrisome.
I doubt that they signed a contract to post this stuff in perpetuity with no renewal, though. I’d be ecstatic at a “Thanks to community contributions of [x] a month won’t be renewing our contract with [peddler], which expires on [y]”
I’m sticking with my theory that some kind of Private Equity type bought BoingBoing on a Leveraged Buy Out and are now monetizing away. BoingBoing is not owned by who you think it is owned by any more… /s
at the beginning of the second column signifies a BB Store thread.
