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And at the price of anonymity, and making the platform inaccessible to those who can't afford the signup fee (which will certainly stay 1 USD per year forever,
by squigz 2y ago
And at the price of anonymity, and making the platform inaccessible to those who can't afford the signup fee (which will certainly stay 1 USD per year forever, right?) (inb4 someone tells me how everyone can afford $1)
Not to mention that this won't solve the spam that actually matters. What's dropping a few thousand dollars to a dedicated attacker?
- johnnyanmac 2y agono, $1, one time. Despite the owner, this was one thing SomethingAwful seemed to do right over 20 years ago. The goal isn't to make money, but discourage botting. any paywall works and $1 is about as low as you can go in a digital transaction without credit card brokers making it difficult for you. And yes, it really shouldn't go up. SomethingAwful was 10bux back in 2005, and is still 10bux in 2025 (they monetized other things over the decades, but not the entry cost). Can it be exploited? Sure, about as much as Bluesky can add "Bluesky Gold" at any time. When it enshittifies I hope it takes a shorter time to leave than Twitter. >inb4 someone tells me how everyone can afford $1 if you have the time to be commenting on social media, you can afford $1. The cost of electricity to run your phone for a month is probably $1.
- squigz 2y agoI like how nobody on HN seems to understand how poverty works.
- johnnyanmac 2y agoI'm open to hearing others' viewpoints with it. I had to slash a bunch of my expenses this year, but any issues with social media costs would be more of a time issue for me, not a cost issue.
- jaredklewis 2y agoEnlighten us? I don’t see the issue. Lots of things (most much more important than a bluesky account) cost money. Is having a Bluesky account like a fundamental human right or something?
- orangea 2y agoWhen something costs $1/year, the primary barrier isn't being able to afford it, but having a valid payment method. Depending on the requirements, it can be an issue if you don't have a credit card, don't have a bank account, etc. And not having those things is slightly correlated with poverty. In addition, it makes it harder for children to sign up (not necessarily a bad thing, just saying).
- idlewords 2y agoI like how everyone understands the concept of paying for a good or service right until they get online.
- tptacek 2y agoAre you sure you do? You seem to be trying to argue that a $1/year fee for a 2nd tier messaging service would be a great hardship.
- akurtzhs 2y agoAges ago Metafilter was $5 for a lifetime registration. It was a great site and community for a long time.