[ORioN63]

zyper.com which was adquired by Discord, tried the same approach, but I think there was always the issue of the advertising platform.

The biggest public forums now-a-days are org-owned online platforms. Even if you have amazing content creators, you still have to find a way to co-exist with the platform, controlled by giants.

I too, see value a potentially transformative business model, but it still seems a hard place to start in until you've achieved a good enough network effect.

Disclaimer: Worked for Zyper.