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Discord Is Threatening to Shutdown BotGhost

(update.botghost.com)
139 points exists | 1 comments | 23 Jun 25 20:16 UTC | HN request time: 0.348s | source
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colesantiago ◴[23 Jun 25 20:46 UTC] No.44359902[source]▶
Repeat after me and frame this.

Never build your main business on somebody else's platform.

Always assume that you will get shutdown / rugged when you do so.

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like_any_other ◴[23 Jun 25 20:47 UTC] No.44359912[source]▶
Yeah, if you want to pump oil, you better also build your own railways to distribute it, because you won't like what Standard Oil will charge you for their trains.
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macspoofing ◴[23 Jun 25 21:06 UTC] No.44360094[source]▶
>Yeah, if you want to pump oil, you better also build your own railways to distribute it

You're being facetious, but OP is right. For software platforms, this has been a constant. It happened with Twitter, Facebook, Google (Search/Ads, Maps, Chat), Reddit, LinkedIn - basically ever major software platform started off with relatively open APIs that were then closed-off as it gained critical mass and focused on monetization.

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1. like_any_other ◴[23 Jun 25 21:48 UTC] No.44360512[source]▶
I'm not being facetious, I'm pointing out a real problem - the market fraction accessible to a new business, that isn't reliant on the good will of some giant incumbent, is shrinking. This time it's Discord, another time it's Google ads/search blacklist, or Microsoft flagging your website or program as malicious, or Facebook shadowbanning you (or charging to show your posts even to people who explicitly followed you [1]), or Walmart extorting you for shelf space access, VISA and PayPal rejecting you..

If your move is to simply retreat, and give up all this ground, what market is left for you? People who get their news and ads by paper mail, shop only at tiny independent stores, paying in cash? How many businesses can survive with ~5% (a generous estimate of the described market's relative size) of their current traffic?

[1] https://www.bentbusinessmarketing.com/why-your-fans-arent-se...