3 ms·

I spend over $100/mo on Patreon. There are other options. IMO online ad-based business models are one of the biggest evils of the current age. Why does social m

I spend over $100/mo on Patreon. There are other options. IMO online ad-based business models are one of the biggest evils of the current age. Why does social media push the most outrage-bait content? Ads. Why is Google filled with SEO spam? Ads. Why can't non-ad business models get a foot in the door? Ads. We need to destroy online advertising as a viable business model. Using an ad blocker is the ethical choice.

bcrl 4y ago
I can't subscribe to Pateron for every single website that I visit. It's just not practical. I'd be more than happy to shell out $100 per month to an aggregator if they could spread it out amongst 50+ websites that I visit in a month, but the only aggregator that does that with meaningful coverage is Google.
- DoreenMichele 4y ago
  Leave a one-time tip occasionally. It makes a difference.
  - bcrl 4y ago
    And I do occassionally, but the vast majority of content I stumble upon in a given month doesn't have a Patreon option for support. Patreon is great for what it does, but it is most definitely not a low friction option to support random web content.
    - DoreenMichele 4y ago
      Thank you. Most people don't.
- zeven7 4y ago
  Brave is trying to do that, but yeah coverage is an issue. Blocking as is a start.
  - JohnFen 4y ago
    Brave has connected the concept with cryptocurrency, though, right? That means that at least some people (or at least me) consider it a nonstarter.
- zamnos 4y ago
  It's all about network effects, but how do you bootstrap an aggregator? I'm just waiting for substack to realize that $60/year for every writer is too much, and make a curated bundle of writing, reinventing the newsletter/magazine.
judge2020 4y ago
YouTube would not exist. Not everyone is willing to pay for Premium, but everyone is fine trading their time watching ads for watching everything for free. And a small group of people, probably under 25%, will actually act on ads and sponsor spots in videos by buying said product. Maybe you don't think YouTube needs to exist if it can't survive off of direct payment, but there are quite literally billions of people who use it and would not be able to pay, which would destroys the reason most creators even choose to use YouTube.
- JohnFen 4y ago
  > everyone is fine trading their time watching ads for watching everything for free. Given that many people pay actual money in exchange for not seeing ads, I think this blanket statement is clearly false.
  - judge2020 4y ago
    “Many” is not most, Premium only has 80 million subs[0], which is a lot, but not even 10% of of the global user base (they might also be counting family subscriptions as multiple users). 0: https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/youtube-music-premium-80-million-lyor-cohen/ https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/youtube-music-premium-8...
- amelius 4y ago
  The problem is that consumers will pay twice: once with their time, and then again through the product which is now more expensive because of ads. (And then again with their personal private information, and by buying not the thing they really needed but something that had more advertising budget behind it, ...)
  - candiodari 4y ago
    The whole point of our current capitalist economy is that "velocity of money" goes up. So, especially if you put it like this, this is a very good thing indeed.

bcrl 4y ago

I can't subscribe to Pateron for every single website that I visit. It's just not practical. I'd be more than happy to shell out $100 per month to an aggregator if they could spread it out amongst 50+ websites that I visit in a month, but the only aggregator that does that with meaningful coverage is Google.

DoreenMichele 4y ago
Leave a one-time tip occasionally. It makes a difference.
- bcrl 4y ago
  And I do occassionally, but the vast majority of content I stumble upon in a given month doesn't have a Patreon option for support. Patreon is great for what it does, but it is most definitely not a low friction option to support random web content.
  - DoreenMichele 4y ago
    Thank you. Most people don't.
zeven7 4y ago
Brave is trying to do that, but yeah coverage is an issue. Blocking as is a start.
- JohnFen 4y ago
  Brave has connected the concept with cryptocurrency, though, right? That means that at least some people (or at least me) consider it a nonstarter.
zamnos 4y ago
It's all about network effects, but how do you bootstrap an aggregator? I'm just waiting for substack to realize that $60/year for every writer is too much, and make a curated bundle of writing, reinventing the newsletter/magazine.

judge2020 4y ago

YouTube would not exist. Not everyone is willing to pay for Premium, but everyone is fine trading their time watching ads for watching everything for free. And a small group of people, probably under 25%, will actually act on ads and sponsor spots in videos by buying said product. Maybe you don't think YouTube needs to exist if it can't survive off of direct payment, but there are quite literally billions of people who use it and would not be able to pay, which would destroys the reason most creators even choose to use YouTube.

JohnFen 4y ago
> everyone is fine trading their time watching ads for watching everything for free. Given that many people pay actual money in exchange for not seeing ads, I think this blanket statement is clearly false.
- judge2020 4y ago
  “Many” is not most, Premium only has 80 million subs[0], which is a lot, but not even 10% of of the global user base (they might also be counting family subscriptions as multiple users). 0: https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/youtube-music-premium-80-million-lyor-cohen/ https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/youtube-music-premium-8...
amelius 4y ago
The problem is that consumers will pay twice: once with their time, and then again through the product which is now more expensive because of ads. (And then again with their personal private information, and by buying not the thing they really needed but something that had more advertising budget behind it, ...)
- candiodari 4y ago
  The whole point of our current capitalist economy is that "velocity of money" goes up. So, especially if you put it like this, this is a very good thing indeed.