In the early days of the world wide web – before “Social Media” was a household word, 3 cohorts and I created a social “safe space” for queer youth. We analyzed what was currently being offered on the net, and recognized it was most definitely lacking. So we created a space we called Outminds. You can find much of the site still in the Web Archives, but the domain is in the hands of a former collaborator and is little more than a single page, promising that “something good is bound to happen”. It’s been that way for well over a decade now. At its prime – and it was still growing, we had well over 20k members and a core of active dedicated members who were promoted to moderators to help the forum and chat site as we continued to grow. Those were indeed exciting times. As much as I grieved letting go of what I considered “my baby” and letting a former collaborator bury it – I recognized that there were several missteps along the way that kept us from being as successful and as sustainable as we could have been. Among the many missteps that I could outline here, I’ll focus on one particular one. We decided to forgo any kind of advertising or sponsorship, avoiding consumerism culture and greed. Our project was indeed a labor of love. But without income, it was unsustainable. This was the first of several missteps, but one of the largest.
Since those days, I’ve covered the gamut in my working on the web, seeing close up how the web has turned into another consumerist commodity for sale. And, to be fair, that’s how I’ve made my living over the last several decades. I’ve traveled across the globe and managed webhosting for companies around the world. It’s been an exhilarating career. I’ve learned that in order to provide solid and meaningful content – I have to at the very minimum be financially secure in my site hosting, otherwise I will waste too much time and money on crappy solutions and my content will suffer. That’s not a smart business plan.
In the creation of Valerian’s Realm, I am taking time to explore what kind of advertising will work effectively without being intrusive. I despise much of the clickbaity BS advertising that seems solely to drive “click-thru” traffic. I also use ad-blockers myself in my own web browsing because much of what calls itself advertising – is pure drivel. I’m dedicating my time and energy to this project and hand selecting advertisers who have quality products – from tech toys – to online learning – to helpful homesteading products – to books and more. Please bear with me as I tweak the advertising code and try to make sure that what is seen is not obstructive or intrusive on your reading. Please know that I’m reviewing the advertising manually and individually so that what is shown is not simply random ads. Also know that when you DO browse through my advertisers and purchase through links from this site, you are helping support this project. Your support is HUGELY appreciated. THANK YOU!
For more reading on Consumerism culture, try this:
“Foucault, the Consumer Culture, and Environmental Degradation” (2009)
If you have any questions, thoughts, or suggestions about advertising here please feel free to let me know.
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