So how long until the Fediverse is monetized?
So how long until the Fediverse is monetized?
I'm fairly new and don't 100% understand it yet, but instances are run on servers that require money. Are we heading towards seeing ads or subscriptions to raise funds instead of relying on donations to cover overhead?
Especially with the influx of new users. Hardware upgrades are needed.
You're viewing a single thread.
The Fediverse will never be monetized. It's open by nature, instances are maintained by donations and out of the administrator's pocket. Why? Because they have a passion for it.
Even if someone chooses to monetize one instance, people will move to another that isn't monetized. It's free and open by design, and will always be that way.
I’ll bet money that multiple people will successfully monetize parts of it.
At the very least, my guess is some small shops will build businesses around apps that offer enhanced users experiences, but for fees. I’d be willing to pay for premium experiences that were well maintained.
And if they somehow manage to do that, people will download their data and move to another instance or spin up their own, and they'll get the exact same content. It's the open nature of the Fediverse, it's impossible or at least incredibly difficult to monetize.
Time will tell. People seem to be pretty down to support devs and studios that are using the money to enhance the user experience and pay the developers fairly. Apollo, Twitterific, Tweetbot, etc. lots of good examples of this.