3 ms·

Can't you just, like, make it free and just add very dumb ads, and few enough to be worth it ? Nobody (meaning mainstream people) will pay.

3131s 10y ago
The idea I had is to let users monetize their own data, as in by default there are no ads or tracking, but if you choose you can turn them on and get paid to do so (and the site takes a percentage of that money). It could easily grow into a platform for users to monetize and sell other types of content that they create too, like photos, videos, stories, etc.
- davnicwil 10y ago
  That's very interesting, but obviously very difficult to bootstrap. As long as it didn't, in any way, impact the UX of anyone else on the platform, it could fit in and be workable. I guess working out those details is the difficult part, and I've chosen to go with a simpler approach.
mysterydip 10y ago
Isn't that how we got to where we are in the first place? It starts with dumb ads, then advertisers want more value for their $ spent, which becomes targeted ads
- davnicwil 10y ago
  Yes, exactly. Any ads at all start sucking the model into a positive (negative?) feedback loop. The best approach to avoid that is the principled one: just say no. The question is, is that sustainable. Well, that's the experiment. Let's see if it works!
davnicwil 10y ago
I think the utility of it looks more like a step function than linear - the moment you introduce ads, the incentives start to spiral very quickly against the user's interests and I see no way to offer the best of both. I've said for years that if something like this existed, I would pay for it, and a few people (not all) have agreed. It's basically a test of that, and if it's completely untrue, that's fine, but I'm also very happy with it not being mainstream or particularly profitable. As long as server costs are covered and I and everyone else is getting the UX they want out of it, it's fulfilled its mission.

3131s 10y ago

The idea I had is to let users monetize their own data, as in by default there are no ads or tracking, but if you choose you can turn them on and get paid to do so (and the site takes a percentage of that money). It could easily grow into a platform for users to monetize and sell other types of content that they create too, like photos, videos, stories, etc.

davnicwil 10y ago
That's very interesting, but obviously very difficult to bootstrap. As long as it didn't, in any way, impact the UX of anyone else on the platform, it could fit in and be workable. I guess working out those details is the difficult part, and I've chosen to go with a simpler approach.

mysterydip 10y ago

Isn't that how we got to where we are in the first place? It starts with dumb ads, then advertisers want more value for their $ spent, which becomes targeted ads

davnicwil 10y ago
Yes, exactly. Any ads at all start sucking the model into a positive (negative?) feedback loop. The best approach to avoid that is the principled one: just say no. The question is, is that sustainable. Well, that's the experiment. Let's see if it works!

davnicwil 10y ago

I think the utility of it looks more like a step function than linear - the moment you introduce ads, the incentives start to spiral very quickly against the user's interests and I see no way to offer the best of both. I've said for years that if something like this existed, I would pay for it, and a few people (not all) have agreed. It's basically a test of that, and if it's completely untrue, that's fine, but I'm also very happy with it not being mainstream or particularly profitable. As long as server costs are covered and I and everyone else is getting the UX they want out of it, it's fulfilled its mission.