Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Eying a future subscription service, Twitter acquires the ad-free news startup Scroll

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

Commercial content companies really only have two ways to make money: selling advertising, or charging subscription fees. This revenue needs to cover the cost of content production, so it's in their interest to encourage users to create content for free. But they also need customers, which means they need high profile (ie., paid) content as well. It's a delicate balance between these two content sources, especially as the market shifts away from advertising (because, as this article says, "it turns out an uncluttered, ad-free reading experience really can make for a better internet"). No kidding. That's why I use Firefox with Ublock Origin - my internet experience is almost ad-free. Anyhow, this article talks about Twitter's acquisition of Scroll, where users pay versions of news sites. But on the other side of the ledger there's Twitter's creation of Spaces, which are basically open audio forums (yes, a lot like Clubhouse). Can all of this be bundled into a single fee and single login? I think that's what Twitter is betting the company on.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Dec 25, 2024 07:54 a.m.

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