Lately, there has been a lot of dialogue about censorship within online communities and social media. With any type of content hosting or distribution, a major concern is that it may be removed, taken down, or censored due to it not conforming to a specific viewpoint, especially when it comes to faith-based material. Politics aside, we believe that this is an important conversation to address. While we do not see any imminent concerns that would cause worry for church or faith-based organizations, there are many advantages to “owning” your platform (for example, streaming to your website through Resi instead of solely to social media) and the content that goes on it.
What are the advantages of “owning” the platform you stream to?
First, using your website instead of news feeds encourages viewers to stay on your event longer. Typically, social platforms promote short watch times (on average, less than 3 minutes) in order to keep users engaged with other content and advertising (which is how sites like Facebook and YouTube make money). Secondly, streaming services (such as Resi) prioritize video and audio quality much more than social sites, allowing you to have the best experience for your viewers. Finally, controlling your streaming platform enables you to have the most ownership of your content and experience, without concerns of being censored or taken down.
At Resi, we believe that free speech and expression is a principle that is of highest importance to ensure to anyone who uses our services, and we will do everything that we can to protect this right should it be threatened. As a leadership team that created Resi originally for our church, this is none more true than for content related to faith and gospel mission. While some providers may have worrisome or vague policies on censorship, we assure that we will never censor faith-based content, and only remove content which is in direct violation of our Master Service Agreement (to protect against material like pornography, etc.).
As you may know, it is one thing to make this promise, and another to enforce it. While a service provider may commit to not impinging on content freedom, these providers will have providers of their own that they rely on. This is why from the very beginning, Resi has been built on a scalable multi-cloud architecture, which we are continuing to build upon all the time. This, along with enabling robust, infinitely scalable streaming no matter the traffic, allows us to be nimble and ensure consistency of streams. By not being bound to a single provider and utilizing multi-cloud computing capability, we can guarantee reliability and continuous service even through disruptions, no matter the cause.
Having complete control of your content and streaming experience (without ads, viewer dropouts, or censorship concerns) is the best way to engage with your audience, and is surprisingly easy to do! Join a free online live group demo to learn more about how Resi can help you maximize your streaming experience.
Conclusion
What can you do to ensure that your content remains viewable and prevent censorship?
-
Stream to your own, controlled platform (such as your website, through Resi) instead of primarily relying on social media channels.
-
Ensure that your streaming provider is clear about their stance on content restrictions and censorship.
-
Ask your streaming provider about their infrastructure and safeguards should their service be disrupted (due to censorship or other technical reasons).
Comment