Hey netizens, please, *please* stop doing unpaid marketing work for YouTube by embedding their videos on your websites. I understand continuing to upload videos there to reach the large audience that already use it, but that doesn't mean you have to link to them. If you also upload your videos on a #PeerTube instance, or some other more independent video host, and embed those on your sites, you can help to grow the audience for ethical video hosting networks.
https://instances.joinpeertube.org/
@strypey Another option: host the videos yourself.
It doesn't have to be complicated, just put the file on your server and link to it with a <video controls> tag.
@alcinnz
> on your server
I don't have a server. Most net users don't have a server. If publishing text on the web, let alone video, required having a server, the net would still be a niche medium for geeks like it was in the early 90s.
@strypey Well, I was assuming that if you had a website you had *some sort of* server you could upload media to...
And how I wish browsers built in one of those peer-to-peer DHT protocols? That'd partially adress the need for a server, though you'd still need one for reliability.
@alcinnz
> I was assuming that if you had a website you had *some sort of* server you could upload media to
Fair point. But most net users don't have a website on their own server. They use some kind of third-party service like Wix or Squarespace, for the same reasons they upload video to YouTube; a) they can't afford the hosting fees, and b) they don't have the skills to admin their own server. This is why I'm suggesting replacement web services. It's accessible to anyone.
@lightweight
> I think everyone should have one.
Add "access to" to that sentence and I totally agree. There are thousands of kiwis on precarious incomes making choices between going to the doctor ($40 with a Community Services card) or buying groceries this week. Topping up their mobile data so they can stay in touch with friends is a stretch. US$5 may not seem like much to you, but it's an unaffordable luxury for them. That's in a rich country like NZ. Then there's China ...
@alcinnz
@lightweight hey sorry if that came across more ranty than intended :{ I just think it's important to make it visible. A single unemployed person in Ak lives on $250-$300 a week:
https://www.workandincome.govt.nz/products/benefit-rates/benefit-rates-at-1-april-2019.html
Median rent for a room in a board house in Ak is $215:
https://www.tenancy.govt.nz/rent-bond-and-bills/market-rent/
People are really hurting out there and it's not getting better, despite the new government talking a good game about being "transformative".
@alcinnz
Then there are the guys being released from prison with $300 in their pocket, no benefit, no bank account, no ID. It's like we've build a machine for making people break the law to survive. It's not only mean-spirited, it's self-sabotaging. With proper support, those people could be contributing back to the community and would be happier doing so.
@lightweight @alcinnz
@lightweight before we moved to China I spent about 20 years living on about NZ$200 a week so I could do fulltime activism. All my work helping bootstrap Aotearoa Indymedia and CC ANZ, all funded by the "community wage", as they used to call it. I know what it is to dumpster food to make ends meet, or to be at the supermarket and have to ask the checkout workers to put some of your basic groceries back because this week's money won't stretch. In those situations, every dollar is gold.
@alcinnz