Post, a publisher-focused Twitter alternative, launches to public
Post, a Twitter alternative of sorts that’s rethinking how publishers should engage with social media — and how they should monetize their readership — has opened its doors to the public. The startup, like others in this space, gained ground in the wake of Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter as many began to look for a new place to read and discuss the news or share their own thoughts with their followers. But Post doesn’t want to be just another Twitter clone.
Instead, its aim is to develop a platform where publishers can generate revenue from micropayments — that is, where users pay some small amount of money to read individual news items.
This could include articles from traditional media outlets that would otherwise have been behind some kind of subscription-based paywall, but it could also include other types of media, like subscription newsletters, or even free and ad-supported content that’s offered elsewhere. The latter has been the source of some criticism for Post, along the lines of “who would pay for news that you could get for free elsewhere?”
But that response conveniently forgets the miserable experience that is reading free news on today’s web.
Ads and in-house promos are everywhere — even in the middle of articles as you scroll down. Videos autoplay, often in their own pop-up windows. Cookie consent banners appear, trying to trick you into agreeing to hand over more data. Prompts to buy a subscription or sign up for the publishers’ newsletter pop up over the top of the screen, forcing you to dismiss them. Read More…
