Post Av8dcTL94CL7MK43cW by jesseplusplus@mastodon.social
 (DIR) More posts by jesseplusplus@mastodon.social
 (DIR) Post #Av8dCa3FUXMSe2LbOa by strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz
       2025-06-15T00:49:20Z
       
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       When I posted yesterday about Frequency, the federated photo-sharing service;https://mastodon.nzoss.nz/@strypey/114679152915697804... various technical difficulties distracted me from the main thing I wanted to comment on. Which is the false dichotomy that digital services can either be paid for via ads, or individual subscriptions. As @jesseplusplus points out, the subscription model of apps can be collective rather than individual. That's the model for the Bridge Seat hosting co-op I've been working on.#subscriptions
       
 (DIR) Post #Av8dcTL94CL7MK43cW by jesseplusplus@mastodon.social
       2025-06-15T00:54:01Z
       
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       @strypey I’m super interested to see what model ends up working well for you! Subscriptions are hard and expecting everyone to have one can exclude the very folks that need an alternative place the most. I have yet to see if my group / family subs are the right way to approach it.
       
 (DIR) Post #Av9AoTRHoyYvd2GdxQ by strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz
       2025-06-15T07:05:57Z
       
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       (1/?)@jesseplusplus > Subscriptions are hard and expecting everyone to have one can exclude the very folks that need an alternative place100%. Yet you're also right that these services require workers, who deserve to be paid. So the sweet spot is making it easy and normal for those who can pay to subsidise those who can't.There's a range of ways of doing that which work in theory. We're still in the early stages of figuring out which ones will work, under which circumstances.
       
 (DIR) Post #Av9BTASxGe1GepS6L2 by strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz
       2025-06-15T07:12:46Z
       
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       (2/?)The Bridge Seat concept is that community groups and organisations pay a monthly subscription for a managed server, to host accounts for their members. Similar to what @snikket_im are doing, offering managed Snikket group chat servers to groups;https://snikket.org/hosting/#frequently-asked-questionsWhether it will work for us depends on how many orgs can afford a subscription, and how many of those we can convince of the benefits.
       
 (DIR) Post #Av9BWQmn2xuW8qHnIe by strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz
       2025-06-15T07:13:56Z
       
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       (3/3)@jesseplusplus> I have yet to see if my group / family subs are the right way to approach itOne precedent you could look at is CloudIsland.nz. @aurynn made it a paid service from day 1, but says right upfront;"If you can't afford our subscription fee but would like to join anyway, please reach out via the contact information above!"https://cloudisland.nz/about
       
 (DIR) Post #Av9KudyEZsGpZQG89o by strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz
       2025-06-15T08:59:08Z
       
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       @aurynn > Looks like you lost the original reply person thoughCan you see the whole thread? When I write multi-post threads I only include the full @person@community.too address in the first one, to avoid flooding people's notifications. If people don't see the (1/?) at the top, or don't click on the post anyway, they may not see everything I said. But I've decided the benefit outweighs that minimal risk : )