yretek ✝Jun 12, 2023
Tobbsn

The volunteer moderators of #StackExchange are on #strike since the 5th of June.

https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/389811/moderation-strike-stack-overflow-inc-cannot-consistently-ignore-mistreat-an

The company running the most important resource for people working in tech consistently went against the wishes and needs of the community actually providing useful knowledge for each other.

This is not just about the reversal of Stack Overflow Inc's decision against AI generated content on the platform and the recent promotion of their own new AI based tools. This is about the central resource for sharing knowledge about so many things - far more than code or software - being in private hands. No one should be surprised about their decisions, their short-term bottom line will always be more important.

The moderators and contributors organizing themselves against the corporation they work for - even if they do so unpaid - is a huge step. And it is not just happening with #StackOverflow

Moderation Strike: Stack Overflow, Inc. cannot consistently ignore, mistreat, and malign its volunteers

Update On August 2nd, 2023, negotiations between community representatives and representatives of the company concluded with an agreement being reached. The details of the agreement can be found at

Meta Stack Exchange
Jun 7, 2023 at 2:29pmWeb
Show threadTobbsnJun 7, 2023

Along with the strike on #reddit, the organizing of volunteer moderators and contributors on #StackExchange feels like more and more people are realizing that it is their labour which makes these digital places so useful.

It is digital labour, social labour, cultural labour and knowledge labour being exploited by commercial platforms. Organizing and strikes are important steps in realizing this relationship of exploitation.

Feminist thinkers have a lot to say about the exploitation of social work, especially if it is unpaid and framed as not being work at all. Laurel Ptak once made a clever remix of the "Wages Against Housework" manifesto from the 1970s. Ptak called it "Wages for Facebook", and in it she writes:

> By denying our facebook time a wage while profiting directly from the data it generates and transforming it into an act of friendship, capital has killed many birds with one stone. First of all, it has got a hell of a lot of work almost for free, and it has made sure that we, far from struggling against it, would seek that work as the best thing online.

http://wagesforfacebook.com

Wages For Facebook

Show thread*_jߍyropeJun 7, 2023
@Tobbsn I guess those workers should consider to at least also voluntarily work for noncommercial platforms. Do sthg. senseful. What's all that rave about, when you agreed to work for sharks? It's your own fault. Just don't.
Show threadTobbsnJun 8, 2023

@jrp
alternative infrastructures could and should be a further step in this struggle.

but you saw a moment of power and organizing of exploited people and your first thought was: "Well, its their own fault anyways!"
maybe reflect on that...