How about charging users?. Like monthly plans etc.
If they do this, there will probably be no users left to charge.
Could Twitter Be Better Off as a Nonprofit?
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Re: Could Twitter Be Better Off as a Nonprofit?
#32It's worth mentioning that the more principled alternative is GNU Social: https://gnu.io/
Re: Could Twitter Be Better Off as a Nonprofit?
#33It would only be better if they unbanned everyone and stopped trying to bend the messages sent over the platform. At the moment it seems like it might be better for it to just burn down, so something more open can replace it.
Do you think they should unban people who threaten to rape and kill people because they disagree about video games? If so, why?
As a for-profit business? No, I do not think they should unban people who threaten to rape and kill people (for any reason). They have a duty to their investors to create a company that is profitable, and those actions rarely result in a profitable enterprise.
As a nonprofit organization? Yes, absolutely they should. They should allow users to form groups and better curate their own feed, assisted by algorithms, and essentially let the people who want to say terrible things say terrible things and let the people who don't want to read it block them.
This is essentially the same fight about what "The Internet" should be that has been going on since the Usenet heyday. We do have to realize now, though, that there are no benevolent corporations who want what is best for the Internet. We have to advocate for that ourselves.
Re: Could Twitter Be Better Off as a Nonprofit?
#34Twitter is the odd one out. While others built walled gardens, twitter kept the gate open. We now have a general catalog of human discourse for the last decade. Record of great tragedy, revolutions, elections past and future. It would be shame if this was bought and locked up by some gardeners.
Not quite. Have we already forgotten how Twitter closed-off most third-party clients a few years ago, that were innovating on top of Twitter? http://www.theverge.com/2012/7/9/3135406/twitter-api-open-cl...
More importantly twitter profiles are public by default. That's not true for most social media.
Re: Could Twitter Be Better Off as a Nonprofit?
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
The phrase "x is unparalleled" implies uniqueness by virtue of the value it provides. GP is basically saying twitter has accumulated a vast wealth of social data that is immensely valuable to the research community.
Sounds like the academic community should be charged for access to the data, if there is so much value in there.
For full access to the twitter archive, they are, though a lot of data can be gleaned from what's publicly posted.
Re: Could Twitter Be Better Off as a Nonprofit?
#36I am curious what the mechanics of this would be - take thee company private and then apply for classification as a 501(c)(3)?
Looking at the guidelines I'm guessing the type would they be a "private operating foundation"?
https://www.501c3.org/what-is-a-501c3/
Just as one example 501c's are heavily regulated where politics are concerned. Given that Twitter is utilized heavily by politicians as well as political campaigns, would this even be a viable option for them?
Re: Could Twitter Be Better Off as a Nonprofit?
#37It would only be better if they unbanned everyone and stopped trying to bend the messages sent over the platform. At the moment it seems like it might be better for it to just burn down, so something more open can replace it.
Do you think they should unban people who threaten to rape and kill people because they disagree about video games? If so, why?
I don't necessarily hold this view, but I can see the merit in it. I tend to lean toward purist as far as free speech goes. Slippery slope arguments and what not.
Personally, I like the concept of outsourcing the policing/moderation of a community to the community itself. I think what online forums do by promoting moderators from the long time, trusted user base is a step in the right direction. The upvote/downvote system on HN, where the downvoted stuff gets increasingly more difficult read, is even better.
Re: Could Twitter Be Better Off as a Nonprofit?
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not quite. Have we already forgotten how Twitter closed-off most third-party clients a few years ago, that were innovating on top of Twitter? http://www.theverge.com/2012/7/9/3135406/twitter-api-open-cl...
More importantly twitter profiles are public by default. That's not true for most social media.
In my opinion that's not more important. Also because they contains almost no information.
Re: Could Twitter Be Better Off as a Nonprofit?
#39As a non-profit, it would still need to breakeven. So far, it hasn't demonstrated this ability, so arguing that its problems stem from pressure by investors to make outsized returns seems weak. (And the article even admits that Twitter's problems aren't all about investor pressure.)
Right, but in that case could adopt the Wikipedia model. So, donations.
Which would require a very different cost structure from the Twitter of today. Not impossible perhaps but certainly a fundamental change. <$100m annual expenses for Wikimedia vs. $2b, so about 25x. Of course, some of those expenses are cost of sales and others could be cut in a more streamlined non-profit but it's a big difference today.
Re: Could Twitter Be Better Off as a Nonprofit?
#40Twitter betrayed all developers that relied on their API, and also helped overthrow legitimate governments and put middle east and ukraine in chaos. Their failure is well deserved and should help other startups to not fuck with everybody while pretending to help (Google and Facebook, are you the next?)