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megraf parent
I feel like this encourages a divide.
tcoff91
You do know that conventional TV has had this for ages? Ever heard of BET? Why shouldn’t different cultures have different media that highlights stories that resonate with them?

HN makes me realize why so many black people find the tech world hostile and stay away.

depaya
There is no inherent divide. If this was marketed as only for Black people, other races are not welcome to watch, sure. If this company was vocally against Netflix and demanding Black people watch this instead, sure. As far as I can see neither of these are true - this is a service aimed at delivering a certain type of content.

Does the existence of ESPN encourage a divide between those who like sports and those that don't? Do Spanish-language channels encourage a divide between people who speak Spanish and those that don't?

dont__panic
If they plan on engaging in bidding wars with Netflix for exclusive content (as all streaming services tend to do), won't they tend to deprive Netflix and other streaming services of content featuring black people? Since this service is inherently more niche than Netflix, it seems like that's going to result in black stories being harder to access for your average person. And given subscription fatigue levels, "just subscribe to this service for X content" is a hard sell these days.
depaya
That is an interesting point I hadn't considered.

It seems to me that, unless this new service will be in the business of directly funding or creating their own content, it would be morally wrong for them to engage in exclusive content agreements.

zentiggr
Considering there IS a divide, that there is a distinct American Black culture, that has gotten suppressed by way too many of us...

This is a great way to encourage representation and sponsor more content within the culture, for everyone to enjoy as they see fit.

zentiggr
E.g. - Do you feel like the existence of ESPN forces a bigger divide between people who like sports and those who don't?

If not, what's the difference? Each is a cultural group - one just has a history of being violently attacked and suppressed...

frereubu
How does it "encourage" a divide rather than just represent a divide that exists?

Edit: This feels a bit like the idea that showing children stories about gay people would somehow "turn them gay".

slim
By creating thought bubbles exactly like social media
frereubu
That implies people who subscribed to this service would entirely stop watching other content. But you don't think that, do you?
dmix
Twitter, Facebook, and Reddit have all succeeded in creating social/thought bubbles and they aren’t even targeted at one niche. I don’t see how niche distribution sites adds to it either.

I just have some skepticism about juggling so many different pieces in order to get this to work.

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