Social Media: Pay to Play?

image userpic
September 10, 2009 | BY Jason Douglas
  

Jason Douglas
Spyder Trap Online Marketing

Earlier this summer, I purchased the iPhone 3g[s]. Once in the App Store, I downloaded as many applications as I could at once; I felt like a kid in a candy store. Google App, Weather Channel App, Facebook app, TwitterFon; the options of apps that were just a click away was overwhelming. The best part: all were free. I still have yet to pay for a single app.

When I got to searching for a Twitter app, I noticed there were free versions, and ‘Pro’ versions that cost anywhere from $0.99 to $4.99. I went with the free TwitterFon application, partially because I am too cheap to spend even $0.99 on something I would use daily, and partially due to the fact that there was a fully-functioning free option.

What if free was not an option?

That day may come, and may come quickly. We, as social media and social networking participants and contributors, have been lucky to use and enjoy networks such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogging platforms, etc. all for free. We all know that in this capitalistic world, there’s one thing we are all trying to do: make money. These social networks, along with all the others, are no different.

If tomorrow, an announcement came from all the above mentioned social networking channels that starting Monday, September 14, there would be a monthly fee to use their respective service, what would you do?

The question: social media: would you pay to play, or would you go away?

Tags: , , , .
Bookmark the permalink.
  • http://scottjhale.com Scott

    I don’t think I would pay for personal use. Seems counter-intuitive for somebody working on the business side of social media, but being free is the major positive that comes with being involved online for personal use. Furhtermore, personal use is what drives the necessity of business online.

    I think Twitter has indicated that they understand the importance of offering a free version for the general public and a paid version for companies trying to make money with their services.

    The general public that uses social networking for personal reasons have come to expect that the services be free until you need/want upgrades. Expectations have been set and moving toward a fully paid model would likely indicate a mass exodus from most online communities. Consider other media – they all started out with a cost and have become cheaper. Social networks exploded because they started free, they can’t reverse the trend without adverse consequences.

    Good post on an interesting subject, Jason. Thanks

    - Scott

  • http://www.thedeets.com Ed Kohler

    None of the services you mention are truly free. They’re all add supported and many offer freemium options where you can pay for additional features or access.

    Free will never not be an option on sites that benefit from network effects. That day will not come because if it ever did it would be the day that a new free alternative would launch.

  • http://www.270labs.com Travis

    Agree with Ed; there will always be trivial content available for free- it’s not like they are offering masterworks of art or philosophy… it’s just Twitter : )

  • Jason Douglas

    If the price point was low enough; EX: $1.99 per month, or something similar, the people that are active, along with companies, would gladly pay for a social media channel… until something else is proven to be better and free. I would pay to use twitter and Facebook, even You Tube, if it was priced properly.

    You would lose the fair-weather users and spam, which would make channels such as Twitter more attractive to the fair-weather user.

  • Leslie Berg

    Sometimes the addage, “you get what you pay for” is true. The “free” apps often have software issues and need to be reinstalled or updated often.

    Considering half the applications I have on my phone now I had to pay for, I don’t think it will matter much to me if they all follow that business plan.

  • http://localmn.wordpress.com paul jahn

    If your scenario were to happen tomorrow, I most likely would use paid options as long as they are reasonable.

    For those that already offer premium services, I’m guessing they do well. LinkedIn paid accounts are probably valuable for recruiters and I happily pay Flickr 49 bucks for a 2-year pro account.

  • http://pjtoday-pjtoday.blogspot.com/ Paula J. Anderson

    No, I don’t want to pay for social media. And so far so good. Trying to get a class reunion together and have lost touch with so many. Right now 87 of us are in touch on facebook (for free). But we wanted to find more classmates so we tried classmates.com. I’ve received a message from someone but I can’t read the message or even see who sent the message unless I pay $9.95, or unless the person who sends me a message is a Gold Member.

    Sorry classmates.com. Not THAT interested.