And, they just announced subscriptions. Here comes the rent!
https://bsky.app/profile/bsky.app/post/3l7bifd4rwd2g (direct link to the sub subskeet) has a bunch of cheerleaders replying “take my money”, as if that will forestall the inevitable degradation of service, as if they weren’t secretly planning this business model shift all along, as if the VCs will just *disappear* if enough people pay $5 per month
that $15M VC investment is not a *loan*, it's a 100-to-1 *bet* on getting out with $1.5B, and they will squeeze and cheat and do whatever it takes to win that bet
it’s #enshittification stage 2: charge rent for full functionality, then add ads to the free tier
(first self-promos, then "offers" (demands) to buy subs, then “partners” (advertisers) including crypto scams from their new co-owners, and influencer-hustling pickaxe salesmen (the real profiteers of the gold rush))
then they'll add ads to the paid tiers too
that’s stage 3, right @pluralistic ? it’s hard to keep the stages straight since they’re all happening so quickly these days)