App.net isn't racist - but it does have a privilege problem
adn app.net appdotnet Social Media · 11 comments · 600 words · read ~467 times.
tl;dr - Excluding people, even with a "nominal" fee is exclusionary, and that can be a problem.
Before reading this post, you may want to understand what I mean by "privilege". You should also understand where you are on The Global Rich List.
The heavy-handed schmaltz that is Aaron Sorkin's Newsroom made an excellent point on its final episode. Voter registration which requires a driving licence is a racist policy.
For a privileged guy like myself, it seems like the simplest thing in the world. Just get a fucking driving licence. What's the big deal?
However, for a large section of society (usually poor people which often means "ethnic minority") the issues are threefold:
- I can't afford a car - or I have no need for one.
- I can't afford driving lessons, or the fee to take a driving test.
- Regardless of ethnicity, or wealth, I may not have the aptitude to pass a driving test.
Having a driving licence has no relationship to whether you're a citizen and eligible to vote. Why should you spend money you don't have in order to exercise your rights?
So, with one fell swoop, Governments have disenfranchised a large section of society. Co-incidentally, the same section of society unlikely to vote for them.
Let's take a look at App.net. There was an interesting (but flawed) argument put forward by The Grio that ADN represents "The White Flight" from social media.
(White Flight is the idea that once a certain number of ethnic minorities move into an area, the white community will begin to move out.)
App.net requires $50 to get in. $100 if you want to be a developer.
That represents a huge problem.
For a privileged guy like myself, it seems like the simplest thing in the world. Just pay the fifty fucking bucks. What's the big deal? Skip buying a few DVDs if you have to.
However, for a large section of society (usually poor people which often means "ethnic minority") the issues are threefold:
- I don't have disposable income. I need that money for food, shelter, medicine.
- I do have disposable income. But it's a dollar a day. That's enough for a little luxury in, say, Kenya, but it's not enough to play on ADN.
- I don't have a credit card, or my country doesn't have the infrastructure to make payments.
Take a look at The Global Rich List. If you have $100 to spare, you are probably part of the 1%.
So, what does that mean for App.net? There are a few problems which I think could hurt App.net in the long term.
- Does ADN work in different languages? It doesn't work for internationalised domain names - so it's fairly English focused at the moment.
- Are there developers in, say, Indonesia who need a specific feature? If they can't afford $100 to play with the API, they can't submit knowledgeable feedback.
- Are the Terms & Conditions sufficiently easy to read for those with a low educational level?
- Can abused people feel safe without private accounts? They can't make their voices heard on a change request if they can't afford to make a (traceable) payment.
- There are no doubt dozens more issues of which I can't even conceive.
I don't say this is a massive problem now - but I think it's storing up problems for the future.
Low income disproportionately affects women, ethnic minorities, they young, and the educationally disadvantaged.
ADN is in alpha. It's a private company. They can do what they want. But the current status, I think, is problematic.
What Twitter Can Learn From App.net's Developer Incentive Program
Liz Eden says:
dinosaursinsocks says:
Liz Eden says: