Just reiterating a concept that’s been around since the advent of the internet; if you arent paying for it, then YOU are the product.
And gleaning most of their “original” content from us, the commentariat… usually without bothering to credit us; never forget that part.
To be fair, Rob often credited BBS users. But he was the exception
Hence the qualifier, “usually.”
There’s a reason why the ginger elf was invited here; he’s one of the only authors who felt like a real part of the community.
Some traditions will live forever.
Cory did all the time
I just took a look at the stats. I think I posted the October stats earlier on this thread, but this is what November looked like. Not a good start…
Yowza. Not good
But also normal. The rationale here is that you lose viewers, but the ones that you retain represent some income, instead of expense.
(and yes, this is a very cynical point of view, and I don’t fully agree with it, but it is what it is)
Here is how platforms die: first, they are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. Then, they die.
Maybe they’re in the endgame of Enshittification?
It may be, or may be a way to survive in an increasingly hostile era for free content providers.
I remember saying something along the same lines of about the increase in cost and increased pressure to stop sharing accounts from Netflix, Disney+ et al… but while Netflix lost some subscribers, the revenue actually went up in Spain, at least for now. And they hiked the price again, and the numbers they released doesn’t seem to have a huge loss in subscribers.
So I’m guessing is a matter if you can keep the people engaged with the content you produce enough that they are willing to pay for it instead of consuming it for free.
And as I posted way above… when I look at it, it reminded me of a real story: BoingBoing move to substack - #310 by Abe_the_honest
The restaurant is now more expensive, more exclusive, and has less options. The experience is definitely not as good for me as it was. But it was a needed move to survive in an increasingly gentrified neighborhood, rising rents and costs and the need to attract the kind of people who can afford to pay them - which unfortunately, was not exactly me.
In the case of the restaurant I think the advantage is that the owner and friend never tried to tell me it was going to be a good thing for me, and I knew firsthand what was happening so even if I was not happy, had plenty of time to cope with it. And in the end the restaurant is basically the same quality I expect, though with a reduced menu and hiked up prices. So I still go there whenever I crave a spicy pork sichuan style… but I don’t go several times a week anymore.
Well if it’s working for them and they’re turning a profit then great, but when i recently visited the community part of it it seemed utterly lifeless and i didn’t stick around. If someone likes that chat mush layout they got going on then all power to them but i just don’t, i’ll check it out more thoroughly when they implement a friendlier reading experience…
I haven’t looked in days, but it was only mr raccoon making comments.
How meta would it be if we linked to BB stories here and started the conversations up? 
(I don’t think we should actually do this, but the notion of “scraping” their stories like some of the authors there often scraped the comments sections…that’s funny.)
There are a hand full of people commenting. Chat is mostly raccoon, tech support questions and dislike of AI pictures.
Its amusing on its face, but i would start to feel like it’s spiteful at that point. Plus people have been doing a good job finding things to talk about 
Stalking your exes is a bit creepy.
