
Should we use [paywall] tag where applicable? - radious
Idea shamelessly stolen from petercooper: https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=16859287<p>With the grow of paywalled content getting to the first page, could we please start marking it somehow? It could help avoid disappointment when a link leads to an inaccessible content.
======
masukomi
yes. please. Better would be to just automate it because there aren't THAT
many paywalls i get linked to from here. Just have a list of paywall sites and
have the back end preface the the link with it.

~~~
solarkraft
While I would agree in theory, it seems that the people at Y Combinator are
not really intending to touch the HN code base.

------
cm2012
No. Support high quality journalism.

~~~
klez
Wait, what? How would adding an indication that the article is paywalled
inhibit/hamper support for high quality content?

If an article is paywalled and I don't have any indication about this, I would
open the link, notice it's paywalled and then decide whether to pay or not. If
a tag is present, this just moves the decision early in the process.

So, again, how would not using such a tag help support high quality
journalism?

~~~
plufz
I'm not sure if your question is rhetorical or not. But if you really are
wondering, it's because if we click the link, chances are that we read that
first paragraph of text paywalled articles usually show. That makes us
interested/curious and we might pay to view it. We also feel more invested in
the content after that first click.

If we only have the title in the HN feed chances are lower that we will buy
the content instead of simply scrolling by. Since the latter that takes less
effort.

We humans don't always make rational choices, so nudging us in the direction
of paying for content – if we want to support payed content – will of course
increase the amount we spend on content.

~~~
aaomidi
I disagree with this line of thought.

Giving readers a fair warning is the right way to go.

------
dzek69
How about not allowing such content?

~~~
craftyguy
This is the real solution. Adding a tag will just draw people to complain
about paywalls.

------
klez
In my opinion yes. It will probably just save me a couple of clicks, but it's
irritating, especially on mobile.

------
Someone
Where would that end? Would links to content that’s only partially visible
such as to previews on the Amazon store, or to Google books, get a tag, too?

What about geographically restricted content (parts of BBC.co.uk)?

What about pages that beg for donations, either extremely politely
(theGuardian.com) or more aggressively (Wikipedia.org)?

------
DanBC
This would have been better as a poll.
[https://news.ycombinator.com/newpoll](https://news.ycombinator.com/newpoll)

The people submitting the article don't always know it's paywalled. Either
they have a subscription; or they haven't hit their article limit this month;
or the article is free for a few days and paywalled later.

So any tagging would be inconsistent.

------
beezischillin
Yes, please. It would be useful for me, especially when I browse HN on my
phone.

------
gsich
Yes.

------
trebor
Yes, absolutely.

------
tones411
+1 for tagging

------
leotravis10
Yes, a paywall tag should be visible so the reader can know that it can't be
read. Makes it much easier too.

------
ThatHNGuy
yes, please, especially when someone is liking Wall Street Journal here!

~~~
cerberusss
I fell into the trap of subscribing to the WSJ once. When you want to cancel
your subscription, you have to call an international number where they try and
stop you from canceling. There is no way to cancel online -- not only annoying
but also against Dutch law.

------
NKosmatos
Another vote for the [paywall] tag

------
KiDD
Yes Please!

I just close articles that are paywalled

------
krapp
If it means no more tedious complaint threads about paywalled content, then
yes.

But what am I saying? Tagging them will probably just draw people in faster to
complain about it harder.

