The Exploitation of the Contributer Class by the N4G Staff

I have been considering this issue for some time and I wish to get it off of my chest. I see this as not only a moral issue, but a social justice issue.

One thing we can all agree on is that most members here are reasonable and honest people, and are also people who believe that people should be treated fairly and equitably for their contribution to the site and the community.

N4G over the years has grown into a incredibly prosperous and successful site, This is due to the excellent work of the community which brings forth the content that drives the visitation to the site every day, and it is well known that this site now makes hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in advertising revenue for its owners and the staff and contributors.

How is this revenue created? it is created entirely by the labour and efforts of the contributors of this site. Without the contributor class, this site would not gain the wealth or the popularity that it gains today. This site would be dead in the water, and so would be the few people who are really profiting off of this site.

But who is the driving source of this revenue? it is not the owners of the site and its staff, who's efforts in the past few years have been comparitively miniscule to the top 10 contributers who have contributed countless tens of thousands of articles and kept this site alive and breathing with content, controversy and debate which has only lined the coffers of the elite and ruling classes of N4G.

It is a simple fact of life that labour is the source of all wealth and that this is certainly clear on N4G which solely relies on contributors to earn its bread and butter.

So why is it when the site is earning over $1000 a day that contributors like Bloodmask, Skynidas and Cyrus only get paid a few hundred dollars a month?? if the site earned $30,000 in revenue a month, and lets say $20,000 of it was profit, why is it that the contributors are only actually earning 5% of revenues while the elite on N4G get to have the 95%??

Why is is that these members who have contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars and tens of thousands of hours of labour to this site, much more time than the staff and elite on N4G who actually profit off of their labour do not get paid more and aren't allowed to have a bigger role and say in the site?? the way that these members are treated and then shunned from being allowed to have a more prominent role and more power in the community while gladly accepting the revenue they earn for you is frankly disgusting.

A comparable analogy would be the serfs of feudal times who had worked hard to produce a successful harvest had the landlord come along once a month and take 95% of their crops away from them, only allowing them to continue on subsistence level and not allowing them any rights or any power over their own affairs.

This has gotten to a point where it is disgusting, far worse than the type of capitalist exploitaiton we see in countries like China.


I don't expect the elite who run this site to ever give up all their money and profit that they have earned from people like Bloodmask and Skynidas over the years, or even to give up the majority of it. To think that they would is laughable as it has never been in the power of the ruling classes to ever give up what is fair.

But what is reasonable is that if these contributors actually earned more money every month for their hard work than what they are earning now. It would be fair to see their compensation double at least (in my opinion it should quadruple) as this is what they deserve for continuing to keep N4G alive and successful.

Furthermore, these people deserve more rights and status in the community. It is sad that they are continually exploited, looked over and ignored by the staff on this site for simple things like moderation of the main site or of the forums, or some greater editorial role in ensuring that quality news stories are created every day.

This doesn't really concern me since I don't earn a cent from contributing or from this site, but I do have a conscience and this is an issue I really have to speak out on.

This can't continue, these people deserve more.

[snoop_dizzle]

You should probably clarify a bit as you did on the forums. The staff aren't really involved in this like it is made out to be, but more so who owns the site, or as you say, "elite". To my knowledge, even the admins don't get paid nearly as much of the money you are suggesting either, and of course as said before the mods do not (which unlike contributors haven't been hired like mods/admins have).

As for your suggestion of upping the prize that probably could be done (I don't know how much though) and also simply because the site has grown since the contests were first implemented. There are certiantly good reasons to up the prize too. That could also be part of the elusive site update which is supposed to bring about a lot of improvements (I have no idea of when that will actually occur unfortunately).

At the end of the day though it is their site, and it is their money. However simply suggesting upping the to prizes isn't anything unreasonable either.

[Zhuk]

One has to ask why is N4G still in 'beta' after all these years and why the site's updates have stagnated. It seems that those who are in power over N4G are more than happy to continue to exploit the efforts of the contributors and get rich from it instead of actually putting in some more much needed effort themselves to ensure that this site is the best that it can be.

If they are taking the Lions Share of the revenue we as a community should be expecting more from them on improving the site and making it even more successful.

Those who really have profited from this site obviously are not working as much as they should be and instead are using the contributor's labour to pay their way in life.

[Saaking]

N4G could use some improvements.

[KeenanTheSavage]

I completely agree with this article. I always wondered why the site was still in beta, and since it is in beta, why it isn't being worked on and improved upon a lot more.

As for the authors and contributors, I also always wondered why they didn't have a higher role in the community. I mean, they work the majority of their day on this site as shown from their posts and contributions, yet they get nothing. The prize money too is very weak and could use a big increase.

I hope that people really catch wind of this post (especially the staff), and see how they can improve upon the site and the way they treat their top contributors so that the site continues to get better and better each day.

[Szarky]

"So why is it when the site is earning over $1000 a day that contributors like Bloodmask, Skynidas and Cyrus only get paid a few hundred dollars a month??"

Is that seriously how much they get paid for all their work? Wow!

You wonder though are any of the top contributors linked to the owners/admins of this site(family,friends, co-workers, classmates).

[Lookbehind]

Don't agree with Zhuk to often,but he doe's make a very valid point.

[KeenanTheSavage]

I wish that more people would get in on this conversation though and chip in their 2 cents....

[Cold 2000]

I completely agree with Zhuk too but what can we do....a revolution ??
I would be ready to do that but we would need the majority of the site for that. I dont think a lot of the members are willing to do something even if they do agree with Zhuk...