I started to notice that more sites are turning into paywalls, and I don’t like that and would prefer ads over subscriptions.

I am curious, what does the general community think about that?

  • Dot.@feddit.orgOP
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    7
    arrow-down
    5
    ·
    8 hours ago

    But unless we are talking about very few non-profit news organizations, you have to choose one of them.

    • HipsterTenZero@dormi.zone
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      6 hours ago

      maybe for-profit news organizations should get another business model. My computer is a temple and merchants can get out.

      • patrick@lemmy.bestiver.se
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        3 hours ago

        How much money do you donate to your ad-free lemmy instance? Or the rest of the free services you’re using?

        For the vast majority of people, that number is $0.

    • Kintarian@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      4 hours ago

      The thing is if I see an article that’s blocked by a paywall, I can simply go to another site that has the exact same story for free.

    • Linktank@lemmy.today
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      8
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      8 hours ago

      You know that people aren’t forced to interact with websites right? Like if I don’t have a choice about if your website is going to show me ads, then I DON’T HAVE A CHOICE to view your website. Those ones that block the entire page until you whitelist them? I just close them and move on with my life. Nobodys product is so important that I will interrupt my day to view their advertising for it. And no website has such a reputation that I am willing to pay them or whitelist them for advertising BEFORE VIEWING THE FUCKING CONTENT.

      • Negligent_Embassy@links.hackliberty.org
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        edit-2
        7 hours ago

        I agree I close them if I see that, but just so you know a combo of bypass paywalls clean, and ublock origin (go into settings and enable all cookie notices, social widgets, and annoyances) will bypass 95% of those without you even knowing

        If that fails go to web.archive.org and paste the URL, that works most of the time. There’s a web extension called “web archives” that makes this easy if you’re ok with other extensions

    • BearOfaTime@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      edit-2
      7 hours ago

      Why? Prove to me that your binary is true.

      If someone sets up a website, and uses ads to fund it, 99% of the time their goal is profit.

      How they profit is their issue, not mine.

      Many websites exist without ads, hosted by people who simply want to have a website.

      As for paywalls, again, people are creating a profit-generating barrier for something. Again, that’s their concern, not mine. Generally when I hit a paywall I just close the tab. I’m not the sucker they’re looking for.

      If I’m really curious, I may run the URL through archive.is

      • simple@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        7
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        6 hours ago

        So you think people should just work around the clock making content and not get anything for it? I keep seeing this view and it sounds so naive, you can’t expect donations to keep you afloat. Even hosting the website and domain names cost money.

        • Kintarian@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          4 hours ago

          I wouldn’t mind paying for quality content, but usually you end up paying for crap and seeing ads too. So now the corporate media is double dipping right out of your wallet. Journalism is dead and we’re probably never getting it back.

          • Aatube@kbin.melroy.org
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            3 hours ago

            Okay, so you never go back to ye olde shitty website because they are absolute scum. Now you keep getting to pay the quality content for making the stuff you enjoy without even touching your wallet.

            • Kintarian@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              44 minutes ago

              There are some Independent News sources I like: Al Jazeera, the Associated Press, Consortium News, All Sides, Reuters, Truthout, NPR, and Propublica.

              • Aatube@kbin.melroy.org
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                18 minutes ago

                You almost got the trifecta of news agencies. Check out Agencie France-Presse. Also, while they’re usually reliable, note that Al Jazeera is heavily biased towards the Arab Middle East and that NPR is heavily biased towards the US.

                Anyways, I think sites like these demonstrate why we should enable ads that are just a few billboards and don’t run into the prairie, as another commenter has said.

      • JubilantJaguar@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        6 hours ago

        Alright as far as your argument goes. But what about content that has value for society? I’m talking, of course, among other things, about serious journalism. Do only “suckers” pay for that, too?