I don't get the backlash. Sure, I can see the platform imploding if they started charging for existing features, but let's give them the benefit of the doubt.

I don't get the backlash. Sure, I can see the platform imploding if they started charging for existing features, but let's give them the benefit of the doubt. I'm pretty sure this will be more of a "Discord Nitro" or "Youtube Red" model. In other words: a couple of goodies that they dangle out to capture whales, whilst everyone else continues to use the platform like usual. On the other hand, it could be less benign. Perhaps more like Reddit's "guilding" system, which has steadily developed into a major nuisance. The same thing on Twitter would create a major conflict of interest when it comes to moderation, imo.