E-begging and its consequences have been a disaster for the internet - No one seems to be capable of making things for the love of the art anymore

[CEO of Autism]

You've seen this multiple times: person/site is offering a service at first, modestly, seemingly selflessly. And one day the service gets famous, and now person/site becomes an annoying beggar threatening to shut down services if demands aren't met. They offered something for no cost for so long and now they're telling everyone they'll be in the streets if you don't donate NOW. And this character progression seems ubiquitous these days. Is there no one willing to provide something to humankind as a favor anymore? is that why we barely see OC memes anymore, because they can't be monetized? How come a measly monthly bill to maintain the servers of your website is enough to bankrupt you? Why did you share all that art for years without asking for anything in return, and the moment one of your xeets gets big exposure, now you need money or you'll become a vagabond tomorrow? When do we start shaming e-beggars?

 

[Rome's rightful successor]

Thread theme?

 

[I (Don't) Have A Gun]

That doesn't seem like e-begging. That seems like e-hostaging.
I guess definitional difference between us? But yes I do agree that someone leveraging the threat of taking away something I like in order to get money out of me to not be a good thing. Whether online or not. Granted I have to also acknowledge the unfairness on my part to just expect someone to give me something for free forever. So I can't exactly say it is evil, rather from my perspective I think it is bad for me.
If Null suddenly decides that Kiwifarms can only be accessed with a monthly subscription, I'd think it is a bad (at least from my perspective and probably not the most savvy move for the longevity of the farms), but Null is fully in his right to do it.

Why did you share all that art for years without asking for anything in return

A cynical reading would be they were working for exposure.

 

[Vyse Inglebard]

take it away, Jim:

 

[Whatevermancer]

As a wise man once said: "If you're good at something, never do it for free."

 

[Schwarzwald]

I have a sliding scale of sympathy based on how successful they are and how obnoxious they are about it. Living circumstances and background factor in, as well. A 20-year-old kid living with his parents heavily suggesting donations would bother me, even if they didn't make much. Somebody with a high school education and no other skills who hit the streamer lottery isn't really going to have other options, it's comical when they threaten to stop and go do something else.

If they're genuinely living paycheck to paycheck, have no other income, and would be considered lower class, it's understandable as long as they aren't too annoying with it. The "middle class" income streamers I don't feel quite as bad for. The "upper class" income streamers can go fuck themselves when they pull stuff like this.

The worst is the upper class streamers who lost popularity and squandered all of their money. Absolutely pathetic and earn zero sympathy from me.

 

[VargReallyDidNothingWrong]

Complaints of this ilk are more entitled than the people asking to be compensated for the things they make or do.

Is there no one willing to provide something to humankind as a favor anymore?

Honest question, have you ever done something for humanity, as a favor? I mean something useful that actually took effort and time on your part, not the scintillating threads and posts you make on Kiwifarms.

 

[Mr. Racewar1488]

At least among zoomers it's common because they're all about finmaxxing and can't comprehend the idea of having a hobby that you don't want to monetize. Doing anything that isn't eating, sleeping or shitting and not trying to monetizing it is an alien concept to them.

 

[Doublefrag]

Doing anything that isn't eating,

What are mukbangs then? You don't even need to look far for an example, just remember Nikocado's coinslot or anyone in Deathfats.

sleeping

>he doesn't know about sleep streams that twitch whores like Amouranth popularized

or shitting and not trying to monetizing it is an alien concept to them.

I hope to God there aren't any zoomer girls/trannies making bank on OnlyFans by posting videos of themselves shitting and farting but it wouldn't even surprise me anymore.

EVERYTHING is monetized. Including these seemingly mundane activities you listed. Zoomers are just soulless.

 

[neger psykolog]

Is there no one willing to provide something to humankind as a favor anymore? is that why we barely see OC memes anymore, because they can't be monetized?

Some part of the problem with this is that if you do stuff for free, other people end up commercially exploiting it (like printing tshirts and shit with memes on it).

 

[Asian tech support]

Some part of the problem with this is that if you do stuff for free, other people end up commercially exploiting it (like printing tshirts and shit with memes on it).

Keep your memes racist or otherwise unpalatable and the problem solves itself

 

[Dagoth AMOGUS]

For me personally it’s indie games. They promise to update and fix bugs, but you know damn well they are waiting for more pan-handle-treon bux to come in first before they lift a finger. And they have this manipulation down to a mathematical formula.

Greed. Simple as.

 

[Harvey Danger]

If something is unprofitable, only enthusiasts will do it.
If something can be profitable, grifters will ask you for money.
If something is profitable and expensive to do, grifters and enthusiasts will ask you for money.
If something is very profitable, it gets flooded with "professionals" trying to make a living off it. Grifters and enthusiasts get mixed up in the flood.

We hit stage #4 the moment "content creator" became a recognized term, or when you could put your hobby in your LinkedIn bio as a recognizable job.

This isn't a phenomenon unique to online creators. But the Internet, communication, and virtual payment processors have sped up the process and lowered the barriers.

 

[Basement Dwelling Dork]

Would modding scenes also count?
I'm starting to see a couple of mods getting locked behind some paywall before the modders finally decides to post it for free to the public. One thing I can recall someone from the TF2 community was some guy who made a Tf2 hud called ZeesHud, placed malware if you try to remove his patreon ad begging you to support him.
It's just insane watching modding which was something that people usually do for games as a fun little hobby slowly trying to become a side job for these people.

 

[BradeRunna]

The US economy is in decline. The usual methods of obtaining money are shit. Cost of living goes up and wages don't follow and, in some cases, actually decline. I'm not really surprised to see an increase in the amount of e-begging. It has to be better than working some low paying service job like retail or whatever.

I don't really care if people do it. I won't be giving them any money though. I don't even care if people give them money. I just know I won't.

If you are jelly because of someone e-begging and having more money than you then get in on the grift. It's that simple.

 

[DiscoRodeo]

The US economy is in decline. The usual methods of obtaining money are shit. Cost of living goes up and wages don't follow and, in some cases, actually decline. I'm not really surprised to see an increase in the amount of e-begging. It has to be better than working some low paying service job like retail or whatever.

Its this basically.

Id simplify things in this way, but back in the day- literally 15 years ago or earlier, you had your 9-5 and then had time to relax, get into hobbies, do things you found fun, delve into a passion if you were lucky without having to worry about finances, kids, etc.

Your prime motivator to partake would be things like love of the art, community, wanting to make a difference, the lulz, laughing, etc.

Ive looked into this with youtubing, for example. It used to be that people uploaded funny videos because they were funny, they wanted to make someone else laugh, brighten their day- maybe to get more popular, but the format was less about monetizing things, and more hobby based, more something to take your mind off the grind. Even the YouTubers who were more career oriented didn't see YouTube as a career, but maybe as a way to get into acting (NigaHiga, for example).

When you create the space for youtubers and other grifters to make a profit off of internet art, and then kick out the ladder for other options in the economy, you get to where we are today.

Thats not to say that people didn't make art for money before. Most musicians, for example, always wanted to pimp out their music, to sell, to create a product that they could live off of, etc. Not going to get into the 'authentic music' vs 'selling out' debate, though it does parallel- but I find the dynamic is also worth mentioning. But the catch here is that there was a more balanced approach to it.

I think the big problem today is theres little to no middle ground in art any longer. Either youre so busy with work that you literally cant afford to make art,

or youre a shut in, some neet, or some careerist and have to pimp out every single piece of art you work on, or have to try doing so.

That middle ground that was once full of hobbyists, or casual people asking for a 10 buck steam game that theyll update for free on occasion, and only charge another 10 bucks for a significant expansion pack (a 2.0) because its for a community they've come to care about?

Largely gone.

 

[BradeRunna]

Its this basically.

Id simplify things in this way, but back in the day- literally 15 years ago or earlier, you had your 9-5 and then had time to relax, get into hobbies, do things you found fun, delve into a passion if you were lucky without having to worry about finances, kids, etc.

Your prime motivator to partake would be things like love of the art, community, wanting to make a difference, the lulz, laughing, etc.

Ive looked into this with youtubing, for example. It used to be that people uploaded funny videos because they were funny, they wanted to make someone else laugh, brighten their day- maybe to get more popular, but the format was less about monetizing things, and more hobby based, more something to take your mind off the grind. When you create the space for youtubers and other grifters to make a profit off of internet art, and then kick out the ladder for other options in the economy, you get to where we are today.

Thats not to say that people didn't make art for money before. Most musicians, for example, always wanted to pimp out their music, to sell, to create a product that they could live off of, etc. Not going to get into the 'authentic music' vs 'selling out' debate, though it does parallel- but I find the dynamic is also worth mentioning. But the catch here is that there was a more balanced approach to it.

I think the big problem today is theres little to no middle ground in art any longer. Either youre so busy with work that you literally cant afford to make art,

or youre a shut in, some neet, or some careerist and have to pimp out every single piece of art you work on, or have to try doing so.

That middle ground that was once full of hobbyists, or casual people asking for a 10 buck steam game that theyll update for free on occasion, and only charge another 10 bucks for a significant expansion pack (a 2.0) because its for a community they've come to care about?

Largely gone.

People back in the 40's and 50's didn't work 40+ hours a week. Were there people working 40 hours a week or more? Yeah. But it wasn't a common thing. Most people worked what is now considered part time. The cost of living and inflation was cheaper then. You could afford to support a family doing that.

YouTube allowing monetization was the point when things changed. I remember when people would upload YouTube videos for fun. The days of that are over. Now people make YouTube channels and if they don't get to like 100,000 subscribers in 6 months to a year they rage quit.