SlateStarCodex is hosted on Wordpress. Scott has his own domain without needing to build all the architecture from the ground up.
For video’s there’s Wistia which is existing software that works well and that can host videos. Do you have reason to believe that Wistia couldn’t handle the necessary traffic?
I don’t know enough about Wistia to say. However, from a cursory examination of their website, I would be skeptical. Wistia is designed for hosting product videos for business. These videos don’t go viral in the same way that PewDiePie’s content does. If Wistia did host PewDiePie’s content my prediction would be that they’d have a deal with PewDiePie where he pays significantly more than he paid YouTube to host his content and, eventually, they’d incur enough controversy and protest to kick him off their platform.
Wistia’s primary business is hosting boring promotional videos for businesses. Why should they put that boring-but-profitable business model at risk to host someone as troublesome as PewDiepPie? Moreover, why should PewDiePie move his videos to Wistia? Despite the controversy, we must remember that the cost that PewDiePie pays to YouTube is negative. YouTube pays PewDiePie (unless he’s been demonetized, in which case the cost to PewDiePie is zero).
I would be willing to bet that if Slate Star Codex got controversial enough to get kicked off Wordpress, then Scott Alexander would have a heck of a time building out his own site. Even if he were a programmer, and even if he knew enough about PHP and Wordpress to build out his own hosting, he’d have to deal with people protesting his new hosting provider. He’d have to deal with people complaining to Patreon and PayPal about his content. He’d have to deal with people launching hacking and DDOS attacks against his site, constantly.
he’d have to deal with people protesting his new hosting provider. … He’d have to deal with people launching hacking and DDOS attacks against his site, constantly.
This seems like a great opportunity to mention NearlyFreeSpeech.NET, which is exactly the ideal hosting provider for these sorts of situations.
Even if he were a programmer, and even if he knew enough about PHP and Wordpress to build out his own hosting
I guarantee you that there are more than enough people who would be willing to help Scott set up a self-hosted Wordpress install (or anything else, really).
Scott Alexander is, actually, an excellent example of a “content creator” who could go “totally independent” without any real problem. This is because his “content” is text. Text is easy.
SlateStarCodex is hosted on Wordpress. Scott has his own domain without needing to build all the architecture from the ground up.
For video’s there’s Wistia which is existing software that works well and that can host videos. Do you have reason to believe that Wistia couldn’t handle the necessary traffic?
I don’t know enough about Wistia to say. However, from a cursory examination of their website, I would be skeptical. Wistia is designed for hosting product videos for business. These videos don’t go viral in the same way that PewDiePie’s content does. If Wistia did host PewDiePie’s content my prediction would be that they’d have a deal with PewDiePie where he pays significantly more than he paid YouTube to host his content and, eventually, they’d incur enough controversy and protest to kick him off their platform.
Wistia’s primary business is hosting boring promotional videos for businesses. Why should they put that boring-but-profitable business model at risk to host someone as troublesome as PewDiepPie? Moreover, why should PewDiePie move his videos to Wistia? Despite the controversy, we must remember that the cost that PewDiePie pays to YouTube is negative. YouTube pays PewDiePie (unless he’s been demonetized, in which case the cost to PewDiePie is zero).
I would be willing to bet that if Slate Star Codex got controversial enough to get kicked off Wordpress, then Scott Alexander would have a heck of a time building out his own site. Even if he were a programmer, and even if he knew enough about PHP and Wordpress to build out his own hosting, he’d have to deal with people protesting his new hosting provider. He’d have to deal with people complaining to Patreon and PayPal about his content. He’d have to deal with people launching hacking and DDOS attacks against his site, constantly.
This seems like a great opportunity to mention NearlyFreeSpeech.NET, which is exactly the ideal hosting provider for these sorts of situations.
I guarantee you that there are more than enough people who would be willing to help Scott set up a self-hosted Wordpress install (or anything else, really).
Scott Alexander is, actually, an excellent example of a “content creator” who could go “totally independent” without any real problem. This is because his “content” is text. Text is easy.