$5/month is completely unreasonable as a github pages account is free and Dropbox/OneDrive is $8/month.
This would be a really neat oss project. And I’m sure some people will find this useful, but seems like not the solution to social media problems.
The only way I would think this is good is if it donates $4.95/month to some sort of simple 99% charity that builds water or gives cows.
My problem is not making money by selling this type of service. My problem is finding a good tool.
It’s interesting that people think users care about provider profit models. What’s an acceptable profit? I certainly don’t know and don’t really care.
EDIT: Okay, apparently there is a free tier, but it isn't really viable. No way to post (without an existing, external blog) and no profile page.
So doubling that price for just blogging is out for me. But it’s cool if you, and others like it and are willing to pay. I wish OP best of luck.
If my doctor said ve wanted to change my $10 visit to $100, I would certainly not use that. That’s not a criticism of the doctor.
Time costs money and that’s a reality. People want to make money off their business, that makes sense. But saying there’s a floor value to anything just because a human makes it is a bit odd. If OP hires a second person, does that mean we shouldn’t criticize the price doubling?
As a user, I don’t care much for expenses above a base level of ethical practices and sustainability. I’ve not used lots of products because I didn’t find them viable because of their price vs cost. But I’m sometimes wrong.
In other words you would criticize people who charge you for services that don't address your needs.
As someone who is teaching himself to code so that he might one day make a thing on the internet that he – shock!, might want to sell, in order to make a living – this saddens me.
This doesn’t mean time isn’t valuable, it just means that people donate their valuable time. And competing with that is a bad idea.
I have a friend who does pro bono legal work. Normal bill rate is hundreds per hour, but donated for free to people who can’t afford it. Been doing it for years.
Now imagine that I start a new legal aide company and only charge $5/month for it. It’s pretty silly to complain about these volunteers. It’s also silly to think that it’s not worth being a lawyer because of these volunteers.
Keep studying, become a good programmer. You’ll have work. Some of your ideas might not sustain you economically. But if you get a good enough job, you can help the world with a cool side project