by Jacob Morgan
This post is from my blog but since it has received a good amount of discussion I wanted to open it up to a larger audience. The original post came about as a linkedin question, which I just re-opened in case anyone wishes to participate on linkedin. There are currently around 50 answers on there so far, I encourage you to read through a few of them, there are some well thought comments. I hope all of you will continue to participate in this discussion in the comments section. Think about it, what would it be like it social networks started charging a monthly subscription? Do you think social media would really be “social media?”
I originally wanted to write about this because in an interview, Guy Kawasaki mentioned that we would charge $30/month for twitter users, which I thought was not the best idea. Would you pay to use social media platforms such as twitter, facebook, linkedin, etc? If so, how much would you be willing to pay? Below I have outlined a few reasons why a subscription based approach would not work for social media platforms. I would love to hear your ideas/thoughts/comments on this hot topic. Do you think social media platforms should charge? What say you?
For platforms such as twitter and facebook, which have been free for quite some time, suddenly switching gears to a subscription-based model would hurt them. First of all we all know what the common social media platforms offer and we already know what we like and don’t like about them. So taking that into consideration would you pay $5/month for facebook, twitter, linkedin, etc? How about $10/month, or $30/month? In a recent interview with Guy Kawasaki, Guy mentioned that he would charge twitter users $30/month. Now I think Guy is a smart fellow but charging users of a social media platform such as twitter $30/month seems a bit ridiculous. So why do I think a subscription based model for social media platforms may not be the best revenue stream?
Adoption
Social media platforms such as twitter and facebook are catered toward the masses, and only function properly when the masses are using them. Imposing a subscription fee would greatly reduce the amount of people that would use a service such as facebook or twitter, thus decreasing the overall usage and subsequently the overall effectiveness of the platform.
The Existence of Other Social Media Platforms
If you want to charge me $30/month to use your platform well then guess what? I am going to find another one that can do what yours can…for free. And I won’t be the only one to do so either. Let’s say twitter imposed a monthly subscription fee, well here I come Jaiku, and I’m willing to bet a lot of other people will follow.
Barriers to Entry
If you look at the barriers to entry in the social media space, you will realize that they really are not that great if you are aiming for a particular vertical, especially when you can use something such as ning to create the network for free. I have already written about how social media platforms are beginning to segment into verticals, if the big guys start charging, the segmentation will increase rapidly as people begin to search for new social networks to join.
Too Much Credit to Social Networks
Nowadays social networks are very commonplace and sometimes I think we give them a bit too much credit. The emphasis of a social network should be on relationships and interaction. Why would I pay money to interact and engage with my friends when I can find alternative means to do so for free? Sure social networks are great, heck I use several myself, but there are just so many free resources and tools out there that can easily replace paid for social networks. Let us also not forget that the currency is shifting from money to attention. I should not have to pay you to use your platform; you should be providing something of value to me in order to get my attention.
These are just a few reasons why I think charging for social media platforms may be a bad idea. Now, let us say a new social media platform is looking to launch, should they charge? Well of course that depends on what they have to offer that the other social networks do not. There is no scarcity of choice here so charging may not be a good idea when there are so many alternatives. Linkedin has a great revenue model. They charge a subscription feel for their premium service. They are not trying to force ads on people and have them pay to not see them, let us be honest here, what kind of a revenue model is that? If you really have something valuable, something unique, and something remarkable, then people will see that and then perhaps you can begin charging for it.
Got something to say? Let’s hear it!
Thanks for reading!
“Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.”
~Bertrand Russell
Discussion
I wouldn’t pay if Twitter charged, because I could do (almost) the same thing for free on Gtalk, AIM or Facebook now. If one of my social networks started to charge, I’d just move my activity to another one that is free. But if all the networks decided to charge, I’d probably give in and pay for one or two of them…though I wouldn’t be happy about it.
When people expect to get something for free it’s almost impossible to get them to start paying for it.
No freakin’ way would I pay, too many other options and Twitter is just one service. I use at least a dozen.
I think the model for monetizing SNs is to keep open APIs, but if a third party is profitable, it’s part of the agreement for using the API that the provider gets a cut. Seems fair, easy to control and reasonable.
Prior to profit APIs would still be open and free so developers would still be encouraged to build on and improve the services.
Just reacting to the headlin of the blog Post – please dont charge for the social media??
On another note: Dont think social media would be chargable because that will bring a loss to the free economy conept which is very prevalent online.
If they’re reliable, absolutely. I already contribute to Last.fm and StumbleUpon, and I’ve donated to thesixtyone. Why not thank people for their work?
I certainly wouldn’t pay Twitter anything for the moment, though. They’ve got enough to be getting on with, and they still seem to be struggling. But if they start to get slick again, I’d consider it.
@baxter
donations and monthly subscription charges are two different things. wikipedia did a great job with their donations and I think that donations are a great way for some of these social networks to start making money, not sure it would count for a whole business model though.
what im talking about is a required payment that individuals would have to make to social networks.
thanks for your comment, and thanks for reading!
We must take the long term view. We are heading into a serious recession.When that happens,how will these Social Networks survive.