Maybe it’s about time we all accepted the idea of paying for stuff on the internet
The second richest person in the world, Elon Musk, has hinted in a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that X — Twitter when he bought it a year ago — might move towards a payment model, a small amount that would give access to the use of the platform, even though Twitter Blue, now X Premium, which gives access to some enhanced services, may continue to exist.
In other words, Musk is talking about a paywall, an admission fee that is widespread in the real world, but is still a thorny topic in relation to the Internet.
In the physical world, things are simple: you want to get into a show, eat in a restaurant, ride the bus, consume the vast majority of products on the market? Some things are free: you can go for a walk, take in the view, lie on a beach or swim in the sea without paying anything, but these are all public spaces, not businesses.
There are different kinds of paywalls. You may want to get on a bus or a subway for a single trip by buying a ticket, or you may want to pay the equivalent of a monthly subscription and be able to use it as many times as you want during that period. Could it be free? Of course, and it would certainly be a good thing: quite a few cities do, and with good results, in order to stimulate the use of…
