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Would you stop donating to a free service if it started putting up paywalls? (lemmy.blahaj.zone)

submitted 1 month ago by lolola@lemmy.blahaj.zone to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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I've been donating to the news site Vox for a while now, and all their content has so far been free. I felt kinda bad about blocking the ads on their site and fast-forwarding through all the ad breaks in their podcasts. So in the spirit of actually supporting something I like, I started chipping in a few bucks a month.

But recently, they've started putting some of their articles behind a paywall. Since I was already donating, I automatically have access. But for some reason, I feel like I don't wanna pay anymore. It's not like it costs me more, but there's just something about dontating to a free site vs paying for exclusive content that doesn't feel the same. Maybe cuz I'm not a fan of paywalls in general, so I don't want to support companies that implement them.

Does that make sense? What would you do? And if you're not a fan of Vox, maybe think of some other free service/content, like videos from a streamer or a software project or something.

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[–] Elextra@literature.cafe 10 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I do not think I blame any services or sites for paywalls especially if its part of their financial model to continue operations and providing services.

There are many free services I have the privilege of being able to pay for to support: Proton, StoryGraph, Wikipedia. I used to donate to Pocket but no longer. I want these services to continue and am privileged enough to be able to donate

[–] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 8 points 1 month ago

I want these services to continue and am privileged enough to be able to donate

I think this is the best model from sociatsl perspective. I like service that are available to everyone for free at least to some degree.

I pay for some things as an adult wage slave, I can do it and I do it with idea that it is my turn to pay.

When I was young I couldn't and I didn't but somebody else paid or Foss chads just did for the people.

I used to pay for content too but media industry lost their fucking minds so I am radicalized now...