this post was submitted on 29 Jun 2023
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Reddit Migration
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Duolingo, the language learning app that profited so much from volunteer input, only to kick them out once they outlived their usefulness.
Reddit, the content aggregator whose lifeblood is user-generated content and whose distinctive feature is its army of volunteer moderators.
Do I hear an ironic echo here? Or is it just me?
So much of that, just trying to profit off people helping and communicating with others. Those should be free, or at least not exploited! I wonder how it was like back when the internet was new. I was not alive yet then, but i wonder if people then even thought about how much would be commercialized? Or were they hoping it will now just be an easy way to communicate with people all around the world, share info and stuff. Idk if most people knew that the desire to connect with others would be capitalized on like this. What was the internet made for in the start? I always heard to help more long distance communication, sharing and learning. But now is just turn into capitalisme highway. That it does not even matter about human connection, all that matters is something is produced to be consumed as cheaply as possible. Its sad.
Having seen those volunteers pour so much time and effort into Duolingo courses (shoutout to the Duolingo Esperanto community), I don't think any of this monetization shit has ever entered their minds. As far as I can discern, it's a labor of love for the most ardent of volunteers.
For volunteers making and expounding Duolingo material in their languages, just being able to share their love of the language, and then seeing other people learn the language seems to be their main aim. Ditto for the Reddit moderators, I suppose, just being share their hobby to a community of people that has formed around their subreddit, and then seeing more people come to appreciate it, that's the main thing that makes the hard work worth it.
This labor of love is what the capitalists have sought to monetize. They look at all of these people doing what they love, and see schmucks waiting to be exploited. And these "community managers" high up the corporate ladder seek to keep this exploitation going.