Disclaimer: Nothing in this post is financial advice. These are my personal opinions.
In my most recent post I mentioned how I have been experimenting with Rumble, which is a video and streaming platform that offers alternative video services to Youtube, owned by giant corporation Google. You might be asking why I decided to use Rumble, being that Youtube is readily available and that is what most people use.
“The reason I chose to use Rumble was because I am an artist and Rumble has come out strongly against censorship.”
The reason I chose to use Rumble was because I am an artist and Rumble has come out strongly against censorship. Youtube, along with other Big Tech social media platforms, have controversially censored many content creators which they do not agree with based on ideological, political, and other dimensions. I fundamentally disagree with these acts of censorship and I believe that all artists, creators, and indeed all citizens, should be firmly against censorship on principle. But especially artists should be advocates for free speech because without it they don’t have a job anymore unless they toe the line.
Totalitarians who censor always eventually target artists because artists bring new ideas which challenge the status quo and this is a challenge to their power. Tyrants seek a monopoly on the ways in which people can envision reality. An example is how the Nazis confiscated modern art, labelling it as degenerate. In this sense, making art and being creative is a political act in and of itself, regardless of the medium, because it is an expression of one’s free speech.
I first found out about Rumble because I had noticed that it had become a serious alternative to Youtube which has essentially monopolized video content. I took the time to look up and read about the values and principles which guide Rumble. I learned that they are firmly against censorship and cancel culture. So I went and watched some videos of Chris Pavlovski, CEO of Rumble, speaking about the platform. He speaks about how Rumble was created with the small creator in mind, as opposed to influencers, ideology, or politics. Basically, what Youtube was before Google acquired it. Rumble seeks to be a neutral platform for content creators.
“Back in 2013, as small content creators were quickly becoming deprioritized on incumbent platforms in favor of influencers, corporations and large brands, Rumble was founded upon the principle of empowering these small content creators and giving them a platform to express themselves.” (Our Story, Rumble.com)
Based on this initial research, I chose to use Rumble’s platform for my video hosting services. I think Rumble’s monetization is a better deal than Youtube’s for creators. I also feel secure going forward that Rumble will not wrongfully remove my content for reasons which I find unacceptable. If I am going to spend a lot of time making videos and content (which I plan to do), I don’t want to have to worry that one day this platform with delete me and all of my content for some unforeseeable reason.
Fast forward to February 2022 and I have now started to make some videos. These were my first experimental attempts at ever making videos without any experience. They were pretty rough and I am still learning with each new one. The most important thing is that I was having a lot of fun and I became impressed with Rumble.
I noticed quickly that there were not many artists on Rumble yet. I realize I am being somewhat of a first mover by moving to Rumble, its not ‘cool’ yet. But I doubt this will last for long because user growth on Rumble is skyrocketing, which leads me to believe there is a huge demand for neutral platforms and a migration is taking place away from Big Tech companies. While other tech companies are decreasing in value, Rumble is growing. I continued to do research into this company.
The next biggest selling point for me was learning that Rumble plans to not just be a Youtube alternative, but also a large-scale cloud hosting service similar to Amazon Web Services or Microsoft or Google Clouds. This is a gigantic market which is an essential service for businesses in today’s world. Its something like a $200 billion market.
“I expect that many businesses in America will be extremely incentivized to move away from services which are open to cancelling them at whim.”
For example, Amazon Web Services provides hosting for giant corporations such as Netflix, Facebook, BBC, and even Twitter if I am not mistaken. Famously, Amazon deplatformed and shut services off to Parler which was a rising alternative to Twitter, further catalyzing the debate around free speech. In light of this, I expect that many businesses in America will be extremely incentivized to move away from services which are open to cancelling them at whim. Rumble is set to suck up a huge market share of this giant market from these big boys.
They have already begun doing this. I learned that Rumble was partnering with Truth Social which has now just recently launched and exited its Beta phase and become the number one free app on Apple’s store. Truth Social is the first customer for Rumble’s cloud – that is a huge client. For the record, I have created a Truth Social account and I have been using it for a few weeks. In the span of three weeks, I have amassed many more followers on Truth than I have on Instagram over the course of 8 years on the platform. Truth Social has opened my eyes and made me realize how much their competitor’s algorithms pretend to connect people, but in reality they silently and manipulatively throttle connectivity in the background. For me, it is not about politics, I need technology which doesn’t censor me with manipulative algorithms behind the scenes. Rumble, by successfully hosting Truth Social, has proven that their cloud hosting and servers are up to the task of servicing companies at the largest digital scale.
“I see clearly that Rumble is working towards the goal of reopening the internet and bringing the power of content creation back to the people.”
I haven’t been making as much art or videos for the past couple months because I have decided to work my ass off and invest my spare earnings into Rumble’s CFVI. Truth Social will be the first in a large wave of internet migration in the coming years. I see clearly that Rumble is working towards the goal of reopening the internet and bringing the power of content creation back to the people.
I support the vision of a technology stack built on the principles of freedom. My desire is for a free internet to once again emerge where people are no longer under the boot heel of corporations, scraping their way uphill against rigged algorithms for views, self censoring themselves to not be cancelled or to fit into a perceived mainstream belief system.
I call on and ask for all artists and creators who believe in free speech to be a first mover and bring their video content to Rumble to help grow the artistic community there. I want there to be more art, music, and creative content on the Rumble platform. Rumble makes this easy – you can even setup your Rumble account to automatically cross-post your videos onto your Youtube account if you want to use both platforms simultaneously.