Save Cohost

Originally Posted 3/12/24; Updated 3/17/24

3/17/24 Update

Cohost continues to survive for now. . After their recent financial update I talk about in this post, Cohost got a swell of support from its users, and released an updated financial update (link above). One thing they talk about which seems to have people excited is an idea of an "Artist Alley" which would be their take on advertising. The difference though would be it would be geared towards users promoting their artwork, and also seems like a dedicated part of the site where if you're not interested in it you wouldn't need to see it? Not sure, but for now they seem to have enough funding to last for about 6 months.

Original Post:

Remind me again, what's Cohost?

I originally made a post here about my thoughts on Cohost. The general gist is Cohost is a site made by 4 people whose company is called the Anti Software Software Club . The site is their attempt to make a better social media site. No algorithms, no ads, and the site relies on users tagging their content appropriately for people to find content they like. This site is how websites used to be, and honestly it's pretty refreshing. There is no for you page, and the site is not trying to suck all your free time from you. Not only that, but the 4 owners working on it are doing everything in their power to make their jobs have a livable wage, with good benefits. As they expand they also want to make sure new employees also make a livable wage. It can be confusing for new users for having to actually curate their own content, but I honestly think that's a plus. Just going to leave this here about curation

Sounds cool, but you mentioned they need help?

Yes, it's pretty dire times over at Cohost. They released a financial update, and things aren't looking good. With the current amount of funding they have left, the site will either be shut down or changed in ways they explain in that post in order to stay afloat starting as soon as April. They need to basically double the amount of people who pay for Cohost plus in order to break even.

That's not much time left... why should I support this site?

I personally love this site. I pay for Cohost plus myself because of how much I want to see this site succeed. For $5/ month I get some perks, but I honestly don't use any of them. I just want to see this site succeed. I'm even considering doubling my contributions after reading the most recent financial report, but it's a bit tricky because my own financial situaiton isn't fantastic right now. But this isn't a post about my financial situation, Eggbug needs you

That's great that you love the site so much, but why should I help?

I think you should give Cohost a try if the idea of using a small social media site appeals to you. One with tagging, small communities, and that is overall extremely welcoming (the amount of LGBTQIA+ and Furry content I see on the site without following any of those tags is wild).

If you like the idea of not using an algorithm, or not seeing ads (though they have started considering that given the money issues), this site is great to check out. A quick side note here, they have talked previously and it seems to be the trend with other social media sites, but social media sites as they exist currently are not profitable. This is with all of the ads they serve and everything. So they do not view ads as a long term solution.

If you like the idea of supporting a small team of people who are trying to make a company that is good to work for, and a website that isn't trying to eat up all of your time or sell your data, then this is a good thing to try and help. If you're at all interested in things like markdown, css, or Rss feeds this is a great site to support.

Honestly, for people who have used the site and continue to do so, a lot of them have mentioned this ends up being the one social media site they stay active on because it's so refreshing and nice not to have an algorithm trying to squeeze you for as much of your time as it can get. The site also has settings to block certain tags or people, so even if you do come across something you don't like, you can just *block* them.

This site just... gets it. Social media should be a place you choose to go to, engage with, and doesn't leave you angrier than when you first went. Going to leave this here in case you want a video about how the old internet might've been the best internet

Okay okay. I think I get what you're saying. How can I help?

The best way is to buy a Cohost plus subscription. Hell buy two. Create an account on the site, go to your settings page, and go all the way to the bottom for Cohost plus. Here's a post about how to get started on Cohost. Tags are key.

Thank you for taking the time to read through this. Hopefully Cohost will continue to be around. After doing all the work to migrate my site, I didn't want to make a post like this for a while, but drastic times call for drastic measures.