[–] alphabeta [S] 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
Do you mean that they are security concerns as in malware, or do you mean manipulation by the mods? Those posts seem to be about manipulation. I think @BBQue was talking more about security concerns.
I'm proposing a general idea but we would have to work out the specifics before implementing it. And I think you're absolutely right manipulation needs to be a top concern. Maybe have an Admin be top mod and be the only one responsible for the actual posts that could be profited from? Does anyone know if there a way to have a completely transparent Admin dedicated to this task...like private messages on display and everything?
What do you think might prevent that kind of abuse?
[–] something_went_wrong 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago (edited ago)
You mentioned "Amazon Associates etc" in your comment I replied to, and I gave you links which might argue against that very idea. That's all.
I don't personally have any ideas just yet how voat.co owners can make money off this site. But I don't think that is even necessary or even a good idea at all. I think as soon as profit becomes a factor here, then we have another digg/reddit situation dumped on all us users forcing us to seek a better experience elsewhere.
Surely they could have a legal source of income from elsewhere, and within legal means, funnel that money from that outside source into the operation of this website. Making voat.co a legal tax-exempt non-profit entity relying on donations for example. I'm not a lawyer or business owner and am not at all familiar with business law where this site is hosted, but I'm sure there are plenty of ways to fund this website even without spamming ads everywhere or selling out content at the expense of user experience. PBS comes to mind as one good example... which actually might validate an idea for fundraisers.
Edit: some words and expanding on my thoughts
[–] alphabeta [S] ago
Ah, gotcha. Yeah well it's definitely a concern.
My intention with the post wasn't so much to figure a way to make a ton of money off the site as a way to keep the site operational while we expand rapidly. There was a statistics post on the sudden influx of users that said they are looking for investors to help get the site through its first year of rapid expansion without ads. I was just trying to suggest a voluntary way for users to help keep the site operational without going the ads route. The post makes it seem like the admins will have difficulty doing it on their own and just in case an investor doesn't appear...