[m52go]

Would you pay for this? Like a couple of bucks per discussion or something?

I've thought about the same thing before but can't figure out how economics would work. Everyone expects things to be free free free nowadays.

I think it could grow into something really cool where you could have authors & other respected thought-leaders participate and have very deep, insightful conversations.

[m52go]

Ads suck.

How is valuable, insightful discussion not worth paying for?

Give me an example of an ad-funded discussion medium that does well. Even reddit isn't profitable.

Guess I won't be touching this concept with a 10-foot pole.

[zem]

i think, psychologically, i wouldn't value something i had to pay for. i'd feel more like a "consumer" than a participant. (and from an economic standpoint, the users would be generating a lot of the value but capturing none of it)

[m52go]

How does paying for a service hinder you from capturing its value?

Do you not value your house or car because you have to pay for it?

[zem]

it's just a psychological thing. i'm sure different people have different psychologies around it. (and yes, i'd probably value my house more if i were not paying rent on it)

as for capturing value, i'm referring specifically to the monetary aspect of things - assuming the company adds value by providing the platform and gets paid for it and the users add value by providing the content but do not get paid for it, the explicit introduction of money into the ecosystem has introduced a situation where one party is seen to be asymmetrically rewarded for the overall success of the ecosystem.

[judk]

Amazon ads can fund it.

[bennesvig]

And authors would be willing to pay for banner ads or sponsored recommendations on the site.