A Poll on Fark
February 3, 2002 9:53 AM Subscribe
1. Matt could make some money that would go toward improving MeFi (why shouldn't he?). Anyway, It would be nice to see some sort of business succeed on the net, and this one would, because I would pay in a second.
2. The pay for service might encourage people to be a little more reflective about whether or not they want to belong, and discourage the kind of posts that make for so much policing around here.
posted by xammerboy at 10:04 AM on February 3, 2002
posted by Yelling At Nothing at 10:07 AM on February 3, 2002
posted by mathowie at 10:09 AM on February 3, 2002
Of course that leads to feeling overwhelmed, and like I can't keep up, but that's actually a good thing.
Jakob says It Won't Work, because they violate another fundamental web principle: freedom of movement and discovery. I tend to agree with him on that one, BUT, mefi may be an exception to this.
I know I've already given some $$, the only site I've felt so strongly about I donated.
As for fark, I may donate to the site to keep it going, but never to see all the submissions, why does anyone need to see that much crap?
posted by Blake at 10:15 AM on February 3, 2002
posted by xammerboy at 10:16 AM on February 3, 2002
posted by Postroad at 10:33 AM on February 3, 2002
posted by kirkaracha at 10:53 AM on February 3, 2002
posted by Dark Messiah at 10:56 AM on February 3, 2002
posted by barkingmoose at 11:17 AM on February 3, 2002
Failing that, I'll have to dig all the change out of my couch for gas money for the week.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 11:25 AM on February 3, 2002
I love the Internet and use it for lots of stuff, but anything having to do with dishing out money isn't gonna' happen (and for those who're wondering about paying for my Internet connection, i'm on broadband at school).
posted by jmd82 at 11:43 AM on February 3, 2002
posted by ph00dz at 11:55 AM on February 3, 2002
posted by Postroad at 12:15 PM on February 3, 2002
Note that it's losing 88%-11% at this point. France surrenders.
posted by swell at 12:32 PM on February 3, 2002
Ditto, and I'll see everyone at the bar. I'm buying.
As far as fees go, I've already been through this as a former participant at Salon's Table Talk.
They changed it to subscription and most people left.
Fark has been running auctions at eBay. So maybe that's an idea.
posted by BarneyFifesBullet at 1:41 PM on February 3, 2002
Paying for Fark seems stupid, since half their links end up on here anyway ;)
posted by lucien at 1:49 PM on February 3, 2002
posted by fleener at 2:04 PM on February 3, 2002
If he started charging money right now, I would pay out retroactive guilt for all the good times I've had for free (or for the one meager Paypal donation I've made).
But if I was a new user and he wanted to charge me to go on Metafilter, I would probably say "screw you blue" and go to some other site that maybe wasn't quite as good. New users don't wanna pay to access anything. The only people who are willing to pay for, as Dark Messiah calls it, the privilege of discussion, are those of us who are already addicted.
posted by Hildago at 2:04 PM on February 3, 2002
posted this on the MeTa Freepers thread earlier, but..
Free Republic is organized as a non-commercial limited liability company and says it operates on about $240,000 a year in donations.
When I went to the Paypal link, Matt had $3,472 in donations. That's just wrong. I refuse to believe that the *freepers* value their community more than we do.
Personally, I have serious Objectivist leanings (you know, one of those evil people that believe altriusm is just an abstraction of self-interest) and the word "donate" has icky connotations for me. I have no problem, however, paying for a service that adds value to me in some way, and MeFi definitely fits in that category. on some level, I feel *morally obligated* to pay for it. If I couldn't pay (and some people can't) I'd find some other way to add value or help out. At the very least, i'd send Mr. Haughey one hell of a thank-you note.
I agree that the subscription fee would probably scare people off, but it would be nice if there were some way to better encourage people to financially support the site if they're really getting something out of it, and make it a little less of a free-rider problem.
I refuse to pay for the privilage of discussion. End of story.
you're not paying for privilage of discussion. you're paying for privilage of *access to a forum* for discussion, and one that wouldn't exist without Matt's generosity. No one's *entitled* to Metafilter. You *get* to have it.
There's a book called "The Good City, and the Good Life" by Daniel Kemmis, then-mayor of Missoula, Montana. It talks about how to create a cohesive community and build social capital and in one of the chapters, Kemmis talks about the local farmer's market as a key part of the "social glue" that holds the community together. People come to the market to buy things, to barter, and to socialize, but in all cases they're getting their respective needs met. Kemmis points out that although people could get those needs met in other ways (i.e., individual transactions via trips to the grocery store, visits to friends' houses, etc.), it's much more efficient to do it at the market because "buyers" and "sellers" are centralized and needs and offerings are well matched. As a result, people will drive half an hour to get there and pay for admission.
You can get together with friends and have a discussion and not have to pay for it. You would, however, incur tremendous costs to yourself in terms of time and effort. If you pay for MeFi, you're paying for the efficient marketplace. Discussion on demand with thousands of participants. For those of us that think the quality of discussion is much higher here than on other sites, you're also paying a premium for the "well-matched" aspect of your needs and the offerings of the community. I know Matt doesn't want to charge for it, but I don't think it would be unfair or unreasonable if he did.
posted by lizs at 2:14 PM on February 3, 2002
i definately wouldnt pay money to hear the same black and white arguments over and over
posted by Satapher at 2:19 PM on February 3, 2002
posted by MUD at 3:16 PM on February 3, 2002
posted by davidmsc at 4:17 PM on February 3, 2002
posted by giantkicks at 4:33 PM on February 3, 2002
posted by crunchland at 4:40 PM on February 3, 2002
I'll donate. -no doubt some smartass will suggest paypal, but, hey smartass, paypal requires a creditcard.Post your money to me. I have a credit card.
posted by holloway at 4:47 PM on February 3, 2002
Metafilter is a useful example as, unlike most other sites, it occassionally stops new users from registering. I never hear people complaining about the lack of fresh ideas from this act. Yet when money comes up so do the scenarios of a stale and closed-community.
You don't want to pay for the privledge of conversation? Most people here pay for internet access. Free speech is about freedom, not price. Speaking to this many people isn't cheap for Matt.
I don't mind paying for Metafilter.
posted by holloway at 5:09 PM on February 3, 2002
Fark isn't charging for its page. Its just asking 5 dollars a month to get all the unfiltered stuff that get submitted.
Fark "editors" select the ones you see on the page. Not every link submitted gets posted.
So basically, you pay 5 bucks and you get to see this: Sample page
So you get about 300+links a day, sometimes on the same subject from multiple sources. (for example the Pats winning the Superbowl)
I don't know if I am correct, but doesn't Metafilter post everything submitted?
posted by andryeevna at 3:53 AM on February 4, 2002
The Motley Fool last week started charging 30 bucks a year for its message boards. Someone from the Fool was our lunch speaker today, and their hope is that the community there is now so strong that many will pay to stay a part of it. It doesn't hurt that they gave 1,000 of their most popular posters free membership for a year to ensure some continuity.
One major difference between the Fool and a community like MeFi is that the content is presumably a lot more focussed on the Fool, and toward educating yourself on an issue that will supposedly help you make money because of your participation. So, there is more incentive to pay a little.
posted by IPLawyer at 1:27 PM on February 5, 2002
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i would pay five bucks a month.
posted by pikachulolita at 10:01 AM on February 3, 2002