"the company looked at the history of social media over the past decade and didn’t like what it saw… existing companies that are only model motivated by profit and just insane user growth, and are willing to tolerate and amplify really toxic content because it looks like engagement… "

  • RubberElectrons@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    This seems like a reasonable and insightful take. Is there a way a non-profit could still survive in silicon valley? For ex, IETF isn’t a profit focused organization.

    • Nachorella@lemmy.sdf.org
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      1 year ago

      I’m not sure if this qualifies exactly but the FOSS 3D package Blender has been surviving for quite some time. They’re in Amsterdam, not silicon valley, but they seem to do really well off primarily donations and funding from some big companies.

      • IAm_A_Complete_Idiot@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        I think the key there is funding from big companies. There’s tons of standards and the like in which big companies take part - both in terms of code and financial support. Big projects like the rust compiler, the Linux kernel, blender, etc. all seem to have a lot of code and money coming in from big companies. Sadly there’s only so much you can get from individuals - pretty much the only success story I know of is the wikimedia foundation.

        • Nachorella@lemmy.sdf.org
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          1 year ago

          I may be wrong but I thought they were majority user funded.

          edit: looking at their funding reports it seems that way, but I may be misinterpreting it.

              • IAm_A_Complete_Idiot@sh.itjust.works
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                1 year ago

                I just checked their financial report for 2022 and it looks like 50% came from patron funding (which looks like entirely companies like Google), 5% from epics grant, and then 10% corporate membership. 20% came from individuals, and the rest from random other miscellaneous things like the blender market. If you search blender foundation annual report 2022, the finances breakdown will be near the end of the slides.