I started to notice that more sites are turning into paywalls, and I don’t like that and would prefer ads over subscriptions.
I am curious, what does the general community think about that?
I started to notice that more sites are turning into paywalls, and I don’t like that and would prefer ads over subscriptions.
I am curious, what does the general community think about that?
People always have.
How many people get paid to go to ham radio clubs, to write up plans for model airplanes, or to share telescope mirror polishing techniques? How many people try to profit off of community seed/plant exchanges?
The only difference is that people are now looking for venues to generate profit by producing content, rather than producing content for its own sake. The concept of “every sharing of information must be financially profitable” is a sickness - a festering disease.
Domain names cost about $50/year. Self-hosting can be done for free with most ISPs; and if you’re getting enough traffic that you need to pay for hosting, it starts pretty cheaply.
Profit is destroying community at every turn. Resist the relentless lust to make an extra buck, and ENGAGE with people.
Wanting to stay alive is not a “relentless lust to make an extra buck”. You’re portraying people wanting to earn money as villains trying to abuse you. Putting ads in a website where someone puts so much effort to create is NOT evil. Youtubers without sponsorships for example simply wouldn’t exist, because nobody would put in dozens of hours of work a week if it wasn’t lucrative.
I would argue the concept of expecting everyone else’s hard work to be free is selfish. I’m not talking about major publications that have millions of dollars, I’m talking about small websites where the creator needs it to succeed or else it shuts down a year later.
What you’re describing is a hobby that people with free time and extra money do. This isn’t what 99.9% of content creators work on or have the capability of doing.