#platformcapitalism — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #platformcapitalism, aggregated by home.social.
-
RE: https://mastodon.social/@arstechnica/116834783814639866
Fixed it for you: #Google threatens to leak stolen PII after #EU threatens Google to take away their criminal business model
#AlphabetLLC #SurveillanceCapitalism #dataCapitalism #privacy #CoverYourTracks #PrivacyBadger #Decentraleyes #GDPR #digitalFeudalism #platformCapitalism
-
Controls [from the archives, 9 May 2021]. Originally performed and recorded for the Modular World 1st anniversary show (8-9 May 2021) which was a massive livestream event of 33+ hrs during the pandemic lockdowns.
During the lockdown years, Modular World became one example of a fairly niche thing gathering people together worldwide to make experimental art online - when it was not possible to organize the usual small local performances - to create something positive and reach more people than they ever could individually. As the pandemic finally, thankfully, subsided, however, it seems that people went back to the enclosed local communities, and these types of global online communities lost their drive.
Also the rapidly accelerating #enshittification cycle of the past few years has buried the visibility of these kinds of communities from all major social media platforms. Of course, as Cory Doctorow ( @pluralistic ) has been pointing out for years, the enshittification of these platforms started much earlier. But somehow amid the pandemic, this niche scene still seemed to flourish, and it was only after Silicon Valley lined up to kiss the ring that the aggressive changes to the algorithms really seemed to change things.
Maybe this is correlation more than causation, but as activity at such niche scenes is often also created by fairly principled DIY-oriented people, it seems that many (myself included) have struggled with justifying why we keep feeding these platforms. This disillusionment is further exacerbated by the rise of the AI-slopmachine that will rip off all the non-commercial work from these platforms just like everything else. Online activity that gathers enough momentum to actually keep things active has in these types of niche scenes been very much dependent on instagram and youtube. Over the past few years, the visibility of this type on stuff that doesn’t try to optimise for the alorithm has plummeted.
Perhaps all of this has resulted in events such as the Modular World shows reaching fewer and fewer people. As wonderful as the promise of #Fediverse is, so far it seems that we’re very far from reaching the critical mass where it would actually start reaching new people. If the utopian enclave remains enclosed, it eventually dwindles away.
But we can try! I’m posting these weird little Johannes Karkia mini music videos and performances here bit by bit. It’s a transfer of archive, posted on insta & youtube over th years, and also new work now & then.
But also Modular World does still exist! Go check out their channel: https://www.youtube.com/live/07ErB3AjlAo?is=qr9q2pXlhWm7Hie2 (Full performance of this piece, and interview with MW’s Johno Wells there on the Modular World youtube channel and on the Johannes Karkia youtube channel [link in the bio above], audio track also on Bandcamp).
#enshittification #fediverse #modularsynth #modularworld #anniversary #liveshow #electronicmusic #modulartechno #covid19 #pandemic #darkwave #eurorackmodular #community #surveillancecapitalism #platformcapitalism #algorithm #bigtech #siliconvalley #kissthering #socialmedia #utopianenclave #utopianism
-
As #Invidious and piped.video are not to be used by third parties (for good and understandable reasons) and for those who can't or don't want to self-host, is there still a #privacy-preserving non-#CORS #YouTube proxy REST API out there somewhere?
#FollowerPower #privacyMatters #MyPrivacyisNoneOfYourBusiness #SurveillanceCapitalism #dataCapitalism #platformCapitalism #digitalFeudalism #GDPR #predatoryCapitalism #privacyPreserving #privacyFriendly #privacyRespecting #digitalSelfDefense
-
"Instead of thinking about fixing existing platforms - that's done, they're not going to fix themselves - I think it's about developing new platforms. Voting with your feet, getting to places where you want to be."
#KateStarbird, University of Washington, 2024
(1/2)
#podcasts #TechPolicyPress #SundayShow #SocialMedia #PlatformCapitalism
-
"Instead of thinking about fixing existing platforms - that's done, they're not going to fix themselves - I think it's about developing new platforms. Voting with your feet, getting to places where you want to be."
#KateStarbird, University of Washington, 2024
(1/2)
#podcasts #TechPolicyPress #SundayShow #SocialMedia #PlatformCapitalism
-
"Instead of thinking about fixing existing platforms - that's done, they're not going to fix themselves - I think it's about developing new platforms. Voting with your feet, getting to places where you want to be."
#KateStarbird, University of Washington, 2024
(1/2)
#podcasts #TechPolicyPress #SundayShow #SocialMedia #PlatformCapitalism
-
"Instead of thinking about fixing existing platforms - that's done, they're not going to fix themselves - I think it's about developing new platforms. Voting with your feet, getting to places where you want to be."
#KateStarbird, University of Washington, 2024
(1/2)
#podcasts #TechPolicyPress #SundayShow #SocialMedia #PlatformCapitalism
-
CREATING ON YOUTUBE MEANS PAYING TO WORK
YouTube is like Uber. Uber asks you to own, in your garage, a black sedan with less than 100,000 km on it—one you’re not using—and claims you can start making money from it. “It doesn’t cost you anything,” Uber says, since the car is just sitting there anyway. But in reality, it’s the most financially vulnerable people who see it as an opportunity. They take out a loan to buy a car. And when that car hits 100,000 km and the loan isn’t paid off, they get a second one—and now they’re stuck with two loans. Uber “earns” you €5/hour, but the cost of maintaining your setup is €7.50/hour. The more you work, the more your tool degrades. You earn 25% more, but spend 25% more. The vehicle is repurposed for an economic model that only benefits Uber.
¯_
YOUTUBE IS NO DIFFERENTWhen you become a YouTuber, they make you believe that “anyone can stream with a smartphone.” That all you need is an idea, a bit of courage, and some basic gear. That you can compete with MrBeast—who spends a million per video—on a shoestring budget. That’s a lie.
¯_
THE REAL COST OF A SETUPI spent five years, from 2018 to 2023, saving up to buy a €5,000 PC solely for production. Because streaming isn’t just “playing a game.” Your PC becomes a 4K broadcasting server. You need two graphics cards—or even two separate machines:
- One to run the software or the game
- The other to encode, stream, and record
You also need:
- A second monitor (for video return and replay)
- A replay buffer (to capture instant replays)
- A Stream Deck for seamless transitions
- A Wave XLR for professional audio quality
- Audio interfaces, mixers, USB cameras, XLR microphones
All these high-end peripherals constantly tax your system. You need two USB hubs capable of handling 15 devices at once with no signal loss. A single weak link can ruin everything. And that’s not all. To stream a Nintendo Switch, you need a capture card—and you can’t rely on your streaming software’s preview because of input lag. You have to play directly on the other screen already in place.
¯_
ONGOING TECHNICAL LEARNINGStreaming requires broad technical expertise:
- Lighting, audio, capture devices, networking
- Compression, codecs, editing, formatting
- Live direction, visual/audio transitions, real-time coordination
And you’re doing all this with zero support from YouTube.
¯_
STORAGE AND ENERGY COSTSYour PC isn’t enough anymore. You’ll need a NAS—a network-attached storage system—cheaper than the cloud in the long run, but which demands:
- Two 20 TB drives (mirrored) → 40 TB
- A dedicated server, which adds another €1,000
It’s become a mini television studio. Which brings with it:
- Planned obsolescence
- Frequent breakdowns
- Hardware wear and tear
- Electricity costs of a 1,000-watt PC plus a 24/7 server
Altogether, the setup costs more than a car.
¯_
AND YOUTUBE PAYS NOTHINGAnd yet, it’s YouTube that cashes in. It runs ads on your videos—even if you’re not monetized. It hijacks your gear, your energy, your skills. And if your content doesn’t “perform,” it simply ignores you. A PC, cameras, capture cards, hubs, microphones, lights—tens of thousands of euros invested just to exist. And the platform invests nothing in return. No visibility. No value sharing. Not even a word of encouragement.
¯#InvisibleLabor #PlatformCapitalism #CreatorEconomy #DigitalPrecarity #FreeLabor #YouTubeProblems #Shadowban
-
Social Quitting
https://craphound.com/news/2023/01/22/social-quitting/
#platformcapitalism #enshittification #networkeffects #switchingcosts #locusmagazine #post-facebook #corydoctorow #post-twitter #socialmedia #spokenword #surpluses #webtheory #Articles #podcasts #Podcast #exodus #audio #locus #News