Seems like you can't go more than a few days about seeing another report of a conservative voice being silenced in the social media or Internet realm. From banning of right-of-center personalities to allegations that search engines are skewing results to favor left-leaning viewpoints, it appears to be a real issue.
I may have some anecdotal evidence of my own to contribute to the argument.
Personally, I make no secret of the fact that I'm underpaid and need to make more money to keep up with increased costs of living. I've had hopes of syndicating this column in order to bring in some additional revenue, but never had any luck in doing so. And I haven't found many ways to monetize the blog, either. When I revived writing this viewpoint a couple of months ago, I saw an option to join the Google AdSense program, which would place ads on the blog and pay me a nominal sum. Hey, every little bit helps. So I went through the motions to join AdSense, but so far have had nothing but rejections.
The first one mentioned "suspicious activity." I have no clue what that was all about. The Blogger platform will let you see how many views each post has, but there weren't a whole lot on any of my posts, and I could find no way to determine IP addresses or origin points for those who did take a look.
The last couple of rejections stated "no content." Huh? This blog has just as much content as any other Blogger blog with AdSense ads. Most everything is relevant commentary on issues. There's no profanity, no over-the-top statements, no promotion of anything wacky.
The only conclusion I can draw is that it's content-based. Google simply does not want to place ads on a conservative outlet, and it doesn't want to pay money to someone who doesn't toe the liberal philosophical line.
We'll see if they change their minds. In the meantime, if anyone has any leads on any part-time positions for which I'd be suited, give me a shout. I'm especially looking for opportunities to do writing, editing, and maybe a little political consulting. I readily admit that I'm not suited for sales or anything else that requires extensive interaction with the public. And I'm really not in good enough shape to do anything physically demanding. I'd much prefer to use the only talent I have, which is wordsmithing.
