On Putting Your Money Where Your Mouth Is: GoDaddy, Sopa and Consumer Responsibilty
I’m reading a lot of buzz today about GoDaddy and SOPA, specifically about GoDaddy’s support for the censorship bill. Someone on Reddit has proposed a mass-defect from GoDaddy on December 29th while others have suggested writing or calling GoDaddy to voice our opposition to the bill. Why is anyone using GoDaddy in the first place? Even without this SOPA issue, GoDaddy is easily the worst in the business. Their customer support is horrible beyond words with and endless stream of nightmares posted online for all to see. Their business practices and what seems to be a complete lack of ethics make them, as one commenter wrote, “the Scumbag Steve of web services” and yet developers, designers and other net-nerds that most certainly know better continue to give their business to GoDaddy. I often hear the excuses “I just needed a cheap domain” or “I don’t know who else to use.” Neither of these are a justification for throwing your money at a company you know to be the corporate embodiment of the word “asshole.” A 30 second search shows us a plethora of other domain registrars and web hosts, almost all of which have better customer reviews. Spend another 60 seconds and one can easily find 5-star rated companies with excellent service and support for the same price if not less than GoDaddy. So... why are people still using GoDaddy? If we know entity-X is a total bastard, and we know they will treat us like dirt while taking our money, and we know there are countless alternatives then what possible reason is there to give our business to that entity?
I know droves of people who think Amazon is shifty and dirty but continue to buy nearly everything there in order to save a measly dollar. I know even more that loudly proclaim that Comcast is the antichrist in corporate form but still have cable accounts with them. And there are multitudes who are fully aware of GoDaddy’s scumbag status but still go straight to them when buying a new domain.
We can complain about dastardly deeds and shady business practices, we can cry foul and proclaim that “something must be done”, but those sentiments are nothing but bullshit and posturing if we don’t put our money where our mouth is. If saving a dollar is more important than things like SOPA that’s fine, I suppose. But if that’s the case, you need to understand that you are active participants and contributors, enabling these companies to behave this way, enabling them to screw you – and others – over while taking your money. You are not helpless. You are not without options or alternatives. If you don’t like how a company operates, stop giving them your business. Talking smack about them doesn’t mean a thing if you are simultaneously fellating them with your wallet.
I thought that what I’m saying here was obvious, but apparently it isn’t.
