Comment by nunez | Hacker News Reader

Comment by nunez | Hacker News Reader

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Honestly, I think Facebook and "social media" in general would be way better if they were paid services.

It's easy to think that people won't pay for such an experience. I think that's naive. There are plenty of examples of people being willing to pay for a premium experience when free/cheap options are available, like these:

- Apple convinced a LOT of non-audiophiles to pay $249 and $550 for Bluetooth earbuds and headphones (respectively).

- OpenAI is convincing millions to pay $20/month for ChatGPT+.

- Krisp makes a bunch of money over something that has a free alternative (software noise cancelling) because it's just THAT good.

- Tesla convinced a LOT of people to buy a Model 3 or Model Y over the Camry or Accord they were originally going to get.

I would LOVE to use Facebook or something like that but am not willing to have a non-governmental entity surveil my every move online in exchange, nor am I willing to be subjected to an experience that is constantly trying to get me addicted to using it.

It's not that some subset won't pay, its that it wont "grow" at the idiotic volumes that SV VC-based thought requires.

The 'infinite growth at all costs' model has rarely been seriously challenged, and as a result its become blase to think of a smaller scale but more stable and consistently successful business, and instead everything needs to lead towards monopolized or cartel-like "Big Tech".

It's a farce.

>> There are plenty of examples of people being willing to pay for a premium experience.

That's true but their number will be extremely miniscule compared to freeloaders who love to consume a freely available resource!

In terms of "revenue/cost per user" metrics (which is more commonly used in IT industry), the ad model thus topples down the subscription model in the eyes of decision makers?

We have a saying in my country that roughly translates to “Stupids gift, but who don’t take are idiots”. If you give something away for free, there will be always someone who takes it. Facebook is free, and people were using it. But they left once people got exasperated due to ads and other stuff. TikTok is free now, but you’ll see a similar migration once the enshitification process begins.

I don’t have ads on YouTube in my country, but my feed is still being manipulated (it’s eery to see how they want my attention). I travel or use a VPN and the experience goes straight down the drain. I could pay, but would they stop manipulating the feed or collecting my data? I’ll be using YouTube as long as they keeping it free. If it becomes paid, I will if the terms are worth it.

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