Lunduke condemns LBRY & Odysee
https://odysee.com/@Lunduke:e/condemn-odysee:2
Because sometimes Odysee links get mangled in Locals (maybe because Locals has good taste) I'm posting the full markdown of the article here as well:
===
This is not a fun post to write.
I have been a vocal advocate for LBRY (and then Odysee) since 2017.
At one point mine was the single most subscribed-to channel on the entire platform. Still among the most subscribed-to and viewed (I believe around number 50 or so).
Of the top 100 channels on LBRY, over a dozen of them joined on my personal recommendation.
My investment in LBRY and Odysee is extreme. That said...
Due to recent decisions and actions by Odysee, I will no longer be utilizing the platform for publishing my content. And I am publicly condemning the direction that Odysee and LBRY are choosing to go, along with their recent actions.
Odysee has gone degenerate
A few days ago, the [official Odysee company channel](https://odysee.com/@Odysee:8) made a post promoting a creator channel. The first such promotion, of any channel, in many months. What channel did they choose to promote? One of the hundreds of high quality channels that currently publish to the platform? One of the exciting, popular channels that have joined recently?
No.
The official Odysee company channel [made this post](https://odysee.com/@Odysee:8/axxl-on-odysee:c), promoting one of the most low quality, vile, vulgar, degenerate channels on the platform. A channel with only a couple dozen subscribers, no less.
That post -- again, posted by Odysee, itself -- contained such text as "You want to F my TWO HOT GIRLFRIENDS in the A???" and "FING breaking my F*ING AHOLE!!"**.
Signing off with the text: "Odysee is his yard now!"
Seriously. Not a joke. Someone at Odysee thought this was a great idea.
It's almost so over the top, it's hard to believe a company (any company) would do such a stupid thing.
Free Speech is good
I love Free Speech. LBRY and Odysee are all about that. Right?
I would never, with that in mind, advocate for that channel to be taken down. No matter how gross it is. That person can publish his low quality, degenerate, profane content all he wants on LBRY / Odysee... and I simply should never need to see it.
But for Odysee, the company, to make that post? Promoting it above all other channels on the entire platform? Pushing that content in our face wether we want it or not? Going so far as to declare that "Odysee is his yard now!" to the half million subscribers of the main Odysee channel?
To say "that is a problem" would be a collosal understatement. Could you imagine the uproar if YouTube posted those things on the main company channel? The response would be off the charts, swift, and extreme. And warranted.
This reflects poorly on Odysee. And it makes those who have advocated on behalf of Odysee and LBRY over the years look bad. Likewise for the creators publishing to Odysee. This much is brutally obvious (as the comments on the post, from the community, and from other creators who reached out make crystal clear). It's just common sense.
It also makes Odysee significantly less safe for work... and families.
Heck, it makes Odysee a downright hostile place to exist for anyone other than that one degenerate channel (with only a few subscribers).
I sought answers
Over the last few weeks, I have been doing some very, very part time consulting work for LBRY and Odysee. Nothing big or crazy, just some help with writing some technical content and a handful of the (more professional) posts to the LBRY (not Odysee) channel. I'm a writer, and I was helping out with a platform I have supported and publish to.
This, combined with me having one of the most long-standing channels, made it reasonable for me to express concerns (in private) with this recent post.
Why was it posted? Could it be removed? Was the impact on other creators, and users, considered? And, perhaps most importantly, will more posts like this be made in the future?
I'm sure it was just a bad idea by a low level intern... right?
I got answers
In response to expressing my concern, I received an explitive filled tirade from the Cheif Marketing Officer of Odysee (whose previous experience, [according to LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/julian-chandra-54a37613/), consists entirely of a short spell at Tik Tok), where he made it clear that he, himself, published this content.
And that this sort of content was the future of the Odysee platform.
> Seriously. His response was profane. F-bombs, the works. From a C-level executive of the company.
This is the future of Odysee
I repeat: It was made clear to me, by the person who runs Odysee, that this sort of content was the Odysee brand and that this was the future.
I raised concerns around this strategy -- as one of the most prominent creators on the platform.
Not a lot of high quality content creators want their content hosted on a platform where their viewers are recommended to watch "FING breaking my FING A**HOLE!!" right next to their own content.
It's confusing. It's weird. It's gross.
It's both degenerate... and simply a terrible business decision.
But that's where we are. That's the future of the Odysee and LBRY platform, as chosen by those running the platform itself.
That's not me
I'm not a big fan of cursin' and swearin'. I haven't made a video, or done a live show, where I've let a naughty word slip out in several years.
I don't begrudge others for using naughty words -- just not really my thing (unless I stub my toe really, really hard).
And I certainly don't want to be a part of a platform where this type of degenerate, low-quality, vulgar content is promoted not only above my own... but above everyone else. And where my viewers (and my family members) are subjected to such disgusting garbage by the corporate channel.
The damage this does to me (and other creators) is obvious.
Political comentators. Journalists. Engineers. Tech enthusiasts. Popular culture reviewers. Comedians.
All sidelined and ignored, in favor of gross, shock-value-only, low-quality, highly vulgar gegeneracy.
If that is Odysee, count me out.
Leaving Odysee
I'm out. Despite years of significant investment and effort... I am, immediately, ceasing all involvement with LBRY and Odysee.
I will not be publishing my future content here.
I will not continue doing any work with the company -- those couple hours of part time consulting? Those are done.
I will not recommend anyone use the platform, in any way.
I simply will not associate myself with filth, garbage, degeneracy, and low-quality.
Where to find me
You can find most of my articles over at [Lunduke.com](https://lunduke.com/).
And you can find all of my audio and video content over at [Lunduke.Locals.com](https://lunduke.locals.com/).
Both free to use -- though you can pay to support me at Lunduke.Locals.com if you wish (totally optional).
What will I do with the archive of content here on LBRY / Odysee? Honestly, I don't know. For the moment I will simply cease all future publication. Going forward I may remove this channel entirely and bring all the content elsewhere. Not sure yet.
Heck. Maybe Odysee and LBRY will realize how big of a mistake they have made (Titanic level bad) and change course. Who knows. Time will tell.
Either way. You know where to find me.
