Musk brings up possibility of charging ALL users a subscription fee
(www.theguardian.com)
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I think we’re transitioning into subscription based models just in general for internet and social media services. And the era of the “Free” internet where you could make accounts and utilize various websites at no cost to you is over. At least for now.
Now that the proverbial Free Cash in the form of the investment bucks is drying up. And people getting more concerned about privacy and the ultimately invasive nature of modern advertising. A lot of Companies are now hemorrhaging money.
To that end. I think we’ll see various communities fracture off larger wholes. And we’ll see an internet more akin to it’s early days with communities and niche groups largely keeping to themselves and their interests.
If a thing is free, you are the product, or mark.
That means no ads then, right?
Also absolute control over the algorithm you're paying for...?
Given current trends probably more like tiers.
They’ll have a basic tier which will include ads. Then scale up from there. With the top tier being ad free.
And it’s unlikely any company or website will give any of its subscribers any level of control over its algorithms. If you want control like that. Your best bet would open source software/projects
That, IMHO, is why the subscription model will fail. They want the money and still want control over who/what you see.
I don't think there are enough idiots who'll take that deal to make subs profitable. Maybe I'm wrong though. I still can't explain the appeal of the current state of Reddit.
The subscription model I think is going to be the only way forward for a while at least. And it’s not solely Social Media etc. There’s Various other services and apps online that can only afford to be free/extremely low cost. Because they were getting ESG investment bucks and Government handouts. Not because they and by extension their companies were actually profitable.
Hence the recent SNAFU with Unity. The Company has been operating in the Red. And the ESG bucks that they and many other companies were using to offset their operating costs are drying up. So they need a way to raise Capital. Hence the “brilliant” idea they had to charge Game Devs per install of their game if they used Unity in development.
What people want or prefer is going to take a backseat to what’s economically viable. And the economic environment that created the quote “Free internet” is dying.
While I’m sure there’s going to be labors of love that keep some applications and games free/low cost. Those will probably be the distinct minority.
If something becomes a subscription, most people will move onto the next thing.
I had an account a long time ago, never really used it and couldn't get into it if I wanted. I don't have Fakebook anymore, never signed up on Truth and other than this site and my local news site (for weather) I don't care about any of the social media crap. In my opinion if everyone just stopped for a month, the people could show their true power. But we have way too many attention seekers that cannot go a day without getting approval from the friends they don't even know. It has become a very sad world indeed.
Who cares? X is a horrible site anyway, I can live without it.
Was going to say... this doesn't bother me at all. They won't give me my account back anyway. To hell with Twitter.
Yeah, I won't even use it when it's free. Imagine paying a subscription just so they can ban me for telling the truth.
The problem is that Musk is treating it as a social media platform whereas the previous owners made their money by selling the information it gathered for them!
Like the government does.we are only raising taxes on the rich making $250 K a year. Shortly after that. They tell us they need to raise taxes on the rest of us because they can’t balance the budget. The budget to pay off the interest payments on the debt. All a scam
X has regressed to Twitter 1.0. They’re banning accounts for slights with zero tolerance. Elon’s free expression experiment has failed.