The government seems determined to ignore This Site’s campaign for a better deal for online businesses – so I’ve written again, explaining how every ‘Recommended for you’ steals from me.
The issue is that algorithms used by social media platforms are pushing posts by sites like Vox Political down readers’ Facebook/X/pick-your-platform newsfeeds so they are less likely to be seen.
This is disastrous for our sites because we rely on people being alerted to the existence of our new material in order to be seen – and we rely on people who do see our articles sharing them with friends; going viral. Sites like Vox Political, that also rely on advertising for our income, suffer because a lower circulation means advertisers pay less for our space, making it enormously more difficult to earn a living.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
The social media platforms know what they’re doing, too. By casually and quietly switching your feed to one labelled “For You” that includes material chosen by an algorithm rather than material you have requested, they deliberately try to funnel you away from our articles. It’s the same with feeds labelled “Because you read [a particular post]” – they point you to material chosen for you by a machine, rather than what you chose yourself – and my new posts are nowhere to be found.
And then they insult us by telling us we can reach a few hundred potential readers (chosen at random, meaning many will not be interested) by paying more money for an advert than we could possible recoup in revenue, even if everybody who was reached then visited our sites.
It’s bad for business. And that, it seems, is the intention.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
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Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
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2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
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7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
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Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
How every ‘Recommended for you’ steals from me
The government seems determined to ignore This Site’s campaign for a better deal for online businesses – so I’ve written again, explaining how every ‘Recommended for you’ steals from me.
The issue is that algorithms used by social media platforms are pushing posts by sites like Vox Political down readers’ Facebook/X/pick-your-platform newsfeeds so they are less likely to be seen.
This is disastrous for our sites because we rely on people being alerted to the existence of our new material in order to be seen – and we rely on people who do see our articles sharing them with friends; going viral. Sites like Vox Political, that also rely on advertising for our income, suffer because a lower circulation means advertisers pay less for our space, making it enormously more difficult to earn a living.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
The social media platforms know what they’re doing, too. By casually and quietly switching your feed to one labelled “For You” that includes material chosen by an algorithm rather than material you have requested, they deliberately try to funnel you away from our articles. It’s the same with feeds labelled “Because you read [a particular post]” – they point you to material chosen for you by a machine, rather than what you chose yourself – and my new posts are nowhere to be found.
And then they insult us by telling us we can reach a few hundred potential readers (chosen at random, meaning many will not be interested) by paying more money for an advert than we could possible recoup in revenue, even if everybody who was reached then visited our sites.
It’s bad for business. And that, it seems, is the intention.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Follow Vox Political writer Mike Sivier on BlueSky
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
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