
Ask HN: Would you really pay for a social network? - graniter
All the big social sites and apps are free to use but rely on advertising for revenue. I often see complaints about this and many people say they&#x27;d rather pay for a social site, but I wonder. App.net was supposed to be a next-generation social platform but it fizzled out, even under much fanfare. Does a paid social website model really work, or are we fooling ourselves? Are there any good examples?
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danieka
I would happily pay for a social network. My dream is EU breaking up Facebook
and forcing them to become a federated service where many service providers
can compete. Facebook would work the same way it does now but I would be able
to choose, and pay, my own Facebook-protocol service provider. Just like we do
with phone service.

Because the huge majority of my friends would not consider paying for a social
network.

Many have noticed that Facebook provides a lot less value than it used to.
They no longer use it to stay in touch with friends but rather to share random
news/opinion articles. It would be hard to convince them that what's ruining
Facebook is ads and that if they would pay those problems would go away.

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SubuSS
IMO the reason social took off is that everyone bought into the idea. That
means you want people from all walks of life be a part of it and possibly fund
it via the folks who are willing to pay for it: Take strava for example.

The equivalent for regular social sites would be in my mind a service that
blocks tracking/user data collection ads etc. \- essentially everything people
are worried about for a price. If you don't pay the price, you get the 'basic'
model where they make money off you by other means.

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nailer
Dating apps are a social network and most are paid. The key is to allow people
to use the money they paid in-app-purchases as social proof. Eg, someone can
'woo' you on Bumble with flowers, which makes them stand out from the crowd of
mere right swipes.

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anon_man
That's not the way social proof works. I know that the flowers idea is just an
example, but in general giving material things, even virtual gifts, to women
is just not an effective seduction strategy. It's actually counterproductive
in this day and age.

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nailer
Agreed that virtual gifts may not be the best indication of wealth - we should
look at conversion rates here - but studies generally show the same man
standing with symbols of wealth is viewed as more attractive than one standing
without them.

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jpetersonmn
I guess it depends on what is considered a "social network". I canceled my
facebook a couple years ago and don't have twitter or instagram or anything
else like that. I do however belong to some forums (vbulletin type sites) and
pay for some extra perks on them. Like being able to post in the classifieds,
etc... I notice that since getting off of facebook I started going back to
forums that had specific topics. I find that the discussions on there are much
friendly an about a specific topic.

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neilk
Yes and no.

I did pay for app.net when it started, so I know that I really would pay for
it. App.net had a theory that if you made an elite social network, interesting
people would pay to be on it, and then everyone else would follow.

In practice it seems these don't really work, when there are free
alternatives.

On the other hand, the public social networks are becoming too abusive for
many subgroups so maybe that would be a place to start.

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crypticlizard
Why pay for it? Block chain means It's going to pay us! See
[http://steemit.com](http://steemit.com) or [http://d.tube](http://d.tube) or
[http://Ong.social](http://Ong.social)

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PaulHoule
Before there were social networks there were online communities. Paid social
may not work, but paid online communities may.

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arbie
What is the distinction?

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vannevar
If it were truly ad-free, maybe. But there's nothing to stop them from
starting a subscription-based service and then slowly introducing advertising
to squeeze more revenue out of the platform, once everyone is invested in it.
It would need to be a self-governed, non-profit cooperative. Or a government
service.

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csa
I don't think it works at scale. That said, I there are many examples that
paying for social sites (often handsomely) is a thing.

Two simple examples:

\- Dynamite Circle

\- Mastermind Talks

Note that these are not open networks, and they are focused on creating
opportunities for members to generate lots of value (both monetary and
otherwise).

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27182818284
Yes, but not in the way most social networks are.

My siblings and I communicate privately through Google+ circles. None of the
photos, posts, etc are published to the broader world ever. Unfortunately,
Google Plus has been on its death bed and won't be what we can use forever.

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bsvalley
If I had to pay $1 per month for every website I visit daily on top of my
comcast subscription, I’d need to sell my house. Ads are fine, the real
problem with social networks is privacy. I’d pay for privacy if they’d offer
some sort of sandbox account.

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mundo
I _would_ pay to host a server (in my basement or in the cloud) on which to
run a node in a decentralized social network. I _might_ pay a one-time fee to
join such a network. I would _not_ pay a monthly fee for it, or for any social
network.

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sergiotapia
Nope - I don't see myself using a social network ever again in my life.

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paulcole
Nope. I'll agree to whatever your terms of service are, allow access to my
data, let you target ads to me, etc. but I'm not getting out my wallet.

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hcho
I would, if it were something between Snapchat and Dropbox. Anything a user
posts gets deleted after a while and they would be able to archive posts for a
fee.

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_RPM
LinkedIn has a paid plan, and people most likely use it.

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miguelrochefort
\- I never thought I would pay for music before Spotify.

\- I never thought I would pay for movies before Netflix.

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fiftyacorn
Lots of people pay for strava - i guess its about vertical markets

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curuinor
forums.somethingawful.com metafilter.com

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dyeje
If it was good enough, sure.

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anonyx69
steemit.com :) everyone pays each other!

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gdltec
Maybe.

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gdltec
I would pay for a social network that can offer a simple UI, that works on any
device (have you tried to use Instagram on an iPad Pro), and that can help me
switch between private, anonymous, and public posts intermittently.

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twobyfour
I would pay to never again have to have anything to do with a social network.

