I have been considering this issue for some time and I wish to get it
off of my chest. I see this as not only a moral issue, but a social
justice issue.
One thing we can all agree on is that most
members here are reasonable and honest people, and are also people who
believe that people should be treated fairly and equitably for their
contribution to the site and the community.
N4G over the
years has grown into a incredibly prosperous and successful site, This
is due to the excellent work of the community which brings forth the
content that drives the visitation to the site every day, and it is
well known that this site now makes hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in advertising revenue for its owners and the staff and contributors.
How is this revenue created? it is created entirely by the labour and
efforts of the contributors of this site. Without the contributor
class, this site would not gain the wealth or the popularity that it
gains today. This site would be dead in the water, and so would be the
few people who are really profiting off of this site.
But
who is the driving source of this revenue? it is not the owners of the
site and its staff, who's efforts in the past few years have been
comparitively miniscule to the top 10 contributers who have contributed
countless tens of thousands of articles and kept this site alive and
breathing with content, controversy and debate which has only lined the
coffers of the elite and ruling classes of N4G.
It is a
simple fact of life that labour is the source of all wealth and that
this is certainly clear on N4G which solely relies on contributors to
earn its bread and butter.
So why is it when the site is
earning over $1000 a day that contributors like Bloodmask, Skynidas and
Cyrus only get paid a few hundred dollars a month?? if the site earned
$30,000 in revenue a month, and lets say $20,000 of it was profit, why
is it that the contributors are only actually earning 5% of revenues
while the elite on N4G get to have the 95%??
Why is is
that these members who have contributed hundreds of thousands of
dollars and tens of thousands of hours of labour to this site, much
more time than the staff and elite on N4G who actually profit off of
their labour do not get paid more and aren't allowed to have a bigger
role and say in the site?? the way that these members are treated and
then shunned from being allowed to have a more prominent role and more
power in the community while gladly accepting the revenue they earn for
you is frankly disgusting.
A comparable analogy would be
the serfs of feudal times who had worked hard to produce a successful
harvest had the landlord come along once a month and take 95% of their
crops away from them, only allowing them to continue on subsistence
level and not allowing them any rights or any power over their own
affairs.
This has gotten to a point where it is
disgusting, far worse than the type of capitalist exploitaiton we see
in countries like China.
I don't expect the elite
who run this site to ever give up all their money and profit that they
have earned from people like Bloodmask and Skynidas over the years, or
even to give up the majority of it. To think that they would is
laughable as it has never been in the power of the ruling classes to
ever give up what is fair.
But what is reasonable is that
if these contributors actually earned more money every month for their
hard work than what they are earning now. It would be fair to see their
compensation double at least (in my opinion it should quadruple) as
this is what they deserve for continuing to keep N4G alive and
successful.
Furthermore, these people deserve more rights
and status in the community. It is sad that they are continually
exploited, looked over and ignored by the staff on this site for simple
things like moderation of the main site or of the forums, or some
greater editorial role in ensuring that quality news stories are
created every day.
This doesn't really concern me since I
don't earn a cent from contributing or from this site, but I do have a
conscience and this is an issue I really have to speak out on.
This can't continue, these people deserve more.
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You should probably clarify a bit as you did on the forums. The staff aren't really involved in this like it is made out to be, but more so who owns the site, or as you say, "elite". To my knowledge, even the admins don't get paid nearly as much of the money you are suggesting either, and of course as said before the mods do not (which unlike contributors haven't been hired like mods/admins have).
As for your suggestion of upping the prize that probably could be done (I don't know how much though) and also simply because the site has grown since the contests were first implemented. There are certiantly good reasons to up the prize too. That could also be part of the elusive site update which is supposed to bring about a lot of improvements (I have no idea of when that will actually occur unfortunately).
At the end of the day though it is their site, and it is their money. However simply suggesting upping the to prizes isn't anything unreasonable either.
One has to ask why is N4G still in 'beta' after all these years and why the site's updates have stagnated. It seems that those who are in power over N4G are more than happy to continue to exploit the efforts of the contributors and get rich from it instead of actually putting in some more much needed effort themselves to ensure that this site is the best that it can be.
If they are taking the Lions Share of the revenue we as a community should be expecting more from them on improving the site and making it even more successful.
Those who really have profited from this site obviously are not working as much as they should be and instead are using the contributor's labour to pay their way in life.
"So why is it when the site is earning over $1000 a day that contributors like Bloodmask, Skynidas and Cyrus only get paid a few hundred dollars a month??"
Is that seriously how much they get paid for all their work? Wow!
You wonder though are any of the top contributors linked to the owners/admins of this site(family,friends, co-workers, classmates).
Don't agree with Zhuk to often,but he doe's make a very valid point.