I agree with what Ro is suggesting. Advertising is a slippery slope, and eventually you would have to cater to their needs. Instead, monetize the platform through cosmetic/symbolic features that don't impact anyone's usage of the site, but give social value for those who want it.
For example, you could have a paid tier, which is a $5/month subscription, that gives users access to unique emoji sets (or the ability to upload their own), the ability to modify their profiles with CSS and access to premium rewards.
Something similar could be done for communities too. For a monthly subscription, maybe you allow them to enable a live chat feature and get extra storage space to upload images/documents. These are things that require more server infrastructure to support, and so you would just charge slightly more than the cost to support them and this will allow the site to scale well.
You know, all the worst companies started out with values like this, and then at some point when t hey got big enough, they saw dollar signs and threw it all away. I'm looking at you, Google, Minecraft, etc.
Have you seen Newground's supporter feature? There could be inspiration taken from them, they don't run *completely* intrusive ads but are generally well respected compared to the strategies of other websites.
For monetization, consider cosmetic and symbolic features, like reddit awards.
You can have paid-features that are an extension to the experience of users, they can be compelling reasons when mixed with social dynamics.
Users could be able to pay for themselves, or pool together for a sub-comunity.
I agree with what Ro is suggesting. Advertising is a slippery slope, and eventually you would have to cater to their needs. Instead, monetize the platform through cosmetic/symbolic features that don't impact anyone's usage of the site, but give social value for those who want it.
For example, you could have a paid tier, which is a $5/month subscription, that gives users access to unique emoji sets (or the ability to upload their own), the ability to modify their profiles with CSS and access to premium rewards.
Something similar could be done for communities too. For a monthly subscription, maybe you allow them to enable a live chat feature and get extra storage space to upload images/documents. These are things that require more server infrastructure to support, and so you would just charge slightly more than the cost to support them and this will allow the site to scale well.
>Enshittification would be avoided at all costs.
You know, all the worst companies started out with values like this, and then at some point when t hey got big enough, they saw dollar signs and threw it all away. I'm looking at you, Google, Minecraft, etc.
Totally agree with you. The app looks promising.
💯 🙌 thank you.
Have you seen Newground's supporter feature? There could be inspiration taken from them, they don't run *completely* intrusive ads but are generally well respected compared to the strategies of other websites.
https://www.newgrounds.com/supporter