Paywalls are an interesting topic considering new sites need to find ways to make revenue, however many viewers do not want to pay for the content. To be honest, If I were to encounter a paywall immediately upon my initial viewing of a site, then I would more than likely be driven away. Some people even question if paywalls should be around considering all the ongoing events with Covid-19. The only time I have not been driven away from a paywall is when allowed multiple story viewings before I hit my limit. I think this is a very effective and fair method of getting viewers to pay, or at least stick around for their service. However, I am not sure that it is the most effective.

The first and only time I have ever paid money into a news reporting service was in the case of Agenda-Free TV’s very frequent and thorough live streaming videos. The host frequently goes on Facebook Live and streams his coverage of important events happening around the world. He compares and investigates different major news outlets and other social media platforms. It is very straightforward, unbiased reporting that is easy to get behind. Users may donate to the page, which happens quite often but are not required to pay anything to follow his live streams. Leaving situations like this on the viewers can result in a profit if you provide a good service that people can connect with. Also, the small touch of recognition for your donations during the live streams or through Facebook messenger, no matter how big or small, is another satisfying element that helps build a connection with the viewers.

It is a bit of an odd comparison, but Twitch streamers are a similar example. Many people stream things such as video games, artwork, and a variety of other subjects over live videos. These people can start building their viewer base with subscribers who pay to watch their content. This has become an increasingly lucrative area in the past years which has helped many find a career as content providers.

Another idea is to offer special content that would give viewers more incentive to subscribe. However, the hard part is figuring out what kind of special content viewers would go out of their way to pay for.

Personally, I am not a huge fan of paywalls, however, I get it. The internet threw a wrench in things and many news outlets are struggling to make up for the lost profit. Paywalls may deter many potential viewers, but I cannot think of very many other options that would work in this scenario. For the moment, we are just going to have to keep experimenting with different ideas until we figure out what really works.