Would social media be better if you had to pay a subscription fee?

onceaking

Fapstronaut
If Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumbler and Reddit had the same business model as Netflix or Apple Music would they be a better places? I mean you'd have to be a seriously dedicated troll if you were will to pay 5.99/9.99 a month just to troll people.

Here's an interesting video by Jaron Lanier where he makes a case for social media having a subscription fee and other changes:
 
But people pay for Netflix.



There's free VOD but people still pay for Netflix.

I mean if Netflix was a failure then this idea probably wouldn't work but it isn't.

What does social media really offer to people? Nothing but a platform. All of the actual content is produced by the users. Netflix on the other hand offers content. I don't think people would see why they should have to pay to hear how their friends are doing etc. Especially since alternative platforms, such as online forums, texting, or face to face conversations exist. The only reason why people might pay for social media is to get to follow celebrities, in which case the whole format would likely be different and more based around following celebrities.
 
Ya okay, but aren’t we talking about Social Media as in fb, Tweeeeter, IG, where people can post bullshit memes, adult content and what not.

People can do none of that on Netf*lx. They just watch movies and TV shows.
So How does that come into picture here?

I think it's a good idea to look at why people pay for Netflix instead of just watching TV and free VOD. It seems to be two things 1) it's ad free and 2) exclusive content. That could be applied to social media. Social media companies could make deals with politicians, celebrities, journalists, news organisations to only post on their platform. And of course it will be ad free.

Some may not want to pay to post memes or to mess around and will find somewhere else to go and that would be ok. If people want bullshit meme and other nonsense they can go there, and the social media where you have to pay will be free from the nonsense.

Trolls will easily pay any amount of fee to troll people.

Depends on who's doing the trolling. If you're some kid in high school who doesn't have a job you probably won't be paying to troll. Of course, some who have the money to pay 9.99 a month to troll might. The question is what kind of people troll? Can they afford to troll? I've heard of people who troll because they're frushfraited at being unemployed or are on a low income. Such people probably couldn't afford troll under a subscription system. Having a subscription system may not get rid of all trolls but it may limit it.
 
I'm old enough to remember a whole bunch of pre-myspace proto social media type websites on Web 1.0. All my friends would join, we'd enjoy chatting in the evenings etc. Then after a few months they would ask for a subscription charge - usually just a dollar a month or so, or a one off fee to use. At which point we would abandon it and - as if by magic, another free version would pop up on our altavista search or whatever.

It's weird that facebook has lasted this long, to me, but judging by the microcosm of my friends in the 90s, people will put up with all sorts of annoying shit for something that is providing a service for free. As soon as it charges, people will abandon it. And some bright spark will create a free version almost immediately.
 
aren't we already paying monthly to an internet provider to use social media?

so technically speaking, we are paying money to use these platforms, so I don't think it would make a difference to be honest.
 
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