Micropayments as a reality check for news sites • Hacker News Board

Re: Micropayments as a reality check for news sites

#371

Post by mihaic » Fri, Feb 20, 2026, 4:44 PM UTC

wombat-man wrote: post #364

mihaic wrote: post #349

I've made a start-up that has really tried making micropayments work (blink.net) and I know there have been many other attempts. Some of the pain points can always be addressed, as it's just implementation difficulty (having an auto-pay system when opening and article, and actually being able to get a refund within a short time window if the title was clickbait -- with some limitations of course). The main problems t…

This is just off the cuff, but I could go for something sort of like a 'daily paper' deal where I get debited a couple bucks for access to the news papers site for a day, or maybe even just the materials published that day, but that sort of seems more complicated to implement. Then, if I'm reading it so often that it would be more cost effective to just subscribe they can start pinging me about it.

We have that implemented, it's just that nobody wanted it. Our pitch basically was that "Why can you buy today's paper on the stand, but can't do the same digitally?" Turn out the answer is complicated.

Re: Micropayments as a reality check for news sites

#372

Post by senko » Fri, Feb 20, 2026, 4:46 PM UTC

KellyCriterion wrote: post #357

Pro Tipp: Use Revolut or Privacy.com and create a new virtual number, then buy with this the "1 month for free for 1 USD" testsubscription here and there - then you just cancel/destroy the virtual number immediately

If you're going to do that, just using archive.is is easier on everyone around.

Re: Micropayments as a reality check for news sites

#373

Post by ishanmahapatra » Fri, Feb 20, 2026, 5:26 PM UTC

munificent wrote: post #234

Let's say a journalist writes an excellent article about something political of serious import. I'm fine with paying for that article to get access to it. But, really, the article is a lot more useful to me if other people can access it too. Since everyone can vote, I want the whole populace to be informed, even poor people. I wonder if there is a viable business model where for each article, readers can pay to unloc…

There’s the “unlocking the commons”[0] model used by Tim Carmody and Craig Mod.

[0]: https://www.niemanlab.org/2019/01/unlocking-the-commons/

Re: Micropayments as a reality check for news sites

#374

Post by KellyCriterion » Fri, Feb 20, 2026, 5:32 PM UTC

senko wrote: post #372

KellyCriterion wrote: post #357

Pro Tipp: Use Revolut or Privacy.com and create a new virtual number, then buy with this the "1 month for free for 1 USD" testsubscription here and there - then you just cancel/destroy the virtual number immediately

If you're going to do that, just using archive.is is easier on everyone around.

In my country there are some newspaper/magazines/etc. which are prohibiting Archive.IS/PH very very good because of their detection - at some this is working.

Re: Micropayments as a reality check for news sites

#375

Post by ouhamouch » Fri, Feb 20, 2026, 5:40 PM UTC

KellyCriterion wrote: post #374

senko wrote: post #372

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're going to do that, just using archive.is is easier on everyone around.

In my country there are some newspaper/magazines/etc. which are prohibiting Archive.IS/PH very very good because of their detection - at some this is working.

Don't forget to donate your $1 access token to the archive; you might be the first and only compatriot to do so.

Re: Micropayments as a reality check for news sites

#376

Post by kjkjadksj » Fri, Feb 20, 2026, 5:42 PM UTC

mschuster91 wrote: post #346

roysting wrote: post #327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That seems to be the point; WWE USA: Blue Team vs Red Team, The Democracy Simulation Show. Everyone has the same and equal meaningless vote.

> Everyone has the same and equal meaningless vote. There is one vote that is not meaningless: the primaries. A lot of the issues y'all have is that Democrats and Republicans alike don't bother to vote in the primaries. That is how you got people like MTG or Trump, that is how you get people like Chuck Schumer stuck in office for far too long. AOC/The Squad and Mamdani both proved that it is possible to succeed in a…

You don’t have choice in the primary either. See what happened with the democrats and trying to stymie a sanders candidacy.

Re: Micropayments as a reality check for news sites

#377

Post by munificent » Fri, Feb 20, 2026, 6:14 PM UTC

shimman wrote: post #370

munificent wrote: post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Organizing still requires access to ground truth information. It's not enough for people to be organized. They do need to be organized around actual good ideas which requires information. Organizing without journalism is just religious evangelism and mob justice.

No, this still doesn't matter. Just still waste of time of time caring about what journalists think over activating the local community into your cause. Go read "No Shortcuts" by Jane McAlevey to understand what effective organizing is.

I don't think you're hearing me.

You are presuming that one has a cause and that that cause is correct.

But where does that presumption come from? In order to be worth supporting, a cause does actually need to be based in reality. And you can't get that without journalism.

Should I join a cause that wants to outlaw popsicle sticks? Raise taxes on birdwatchers? Require owners of unicycles to register them? How does someone figure out what's a useful cause without actual information?

Re: Micropayments as a reality check for news sites

#378

Post by tehjoker » Fri, Feb 20, 2026, 6:23 PM UTC

shimman wrote: post #369

tehjoker wrote: post #278

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Organizing is often less about convincing people that are in hard opposition and more about moving ppl that are pro, soft or uninformed. Then moving those people to take actions that advance the ball in their own interests or the interest of allies. You can really only move people that are hard against when the stakes are low and they have no ideological commitment against what you are suggesting. Getting someone to…

This isn't true in my experience as a party operator at all. You can easily move MAGA to progressive quite simply, do some deep canvassing but you'll find out that there are more agreements that people care about (healthcare costs, housing costs, poor salaries, poor retirement, decaying society) where you can build on top of. Also what you're saying goes against the most effective union advice from people like Jane M…

Those people weren't ideologically against you on housing, healthcare, or poor salaries etc. If they were, you wouldn't be able to convince them. The reason they were easier to move is because of their class position. If you talked to a business owner, they would be against improving many of those things, particularly poor salaries and retirement. Healthcare keeps employees tied to work too.

With workers, there isn't an economic interest against changing those positions. With a business owner there is. I'm sure you understand this since you are talking about unions. In the taxonomy I described, I would categorize the people you're talking to as "soft" or "uninformed" because you are encouraging them to take action in their own interest.

Re: Micropayments as a reality check for news sites

#379

Post by estimator7292 » Fri, Feb 20, 2026, 6:42 PM UTC

munificent wrote: post #234

Let's say a journalist writes an excellent article about something political of serious import. I'm fine with paying for that article to get access to it. But, really, the article is a lot more useful to me if other people can access it too. Since everyone can vote, I want the whole populace to be informed, even poor people. I wonder if there is a viable business model where for each article, readers can pay to unloc…

Donate to your local library.

This is the entire point and purpose of the public library system: aggregating resources to provide accessible information and entertainment for local communities.

Your local library almost certainly has subscriptions to several online and physical news sources. Typically larger libraries have physical newspaper subscriptions from across the country.

If you want to improve accessibility for everyone while still keeping publishers paid, donate to your local library and tell everyone you know about the services they offer. Seriously, we already have a nationwide system to provide access to information that not everyone can afford. We don't need to invent something new and more complicated.

Re: Micropayments as a reality check for news sites

#380

Post by 1123581321 » Fri, Feb 20, 2026, 7:15 PM UTC

estimator7292 wrote: post #379

munificent wrote: post #234

Let's say a journalist writes an excellent article about something political of serious import. I'm fine with paying for that article to get access to it. But, really, the article is a lot more useful to me if other people can access it too. Since everyone can vote, I want the whole populace to be informed, even poor people. I wonder if there is a viable business model where for each article, readers can pay to unloc…

Donate to your local library. This is the entire point and purpose of the public library system: aggregating resources to provide accessible information and entertainment for local communities. Your local library almost certainly has subscriptions to several online and physical news sources. Typically larger libraries have physical newspaper subscriptions from across the country. If you want to improve accessibility…

It’s a nice sentiment (librarianship runs in my family) but there are still issues with accessibility for library institutional subscriptions, compared to easily shared links. Relying on institutional subscriptions for revenue isn’t enough for the publishers and journalists. It’s also hard to target donations towards certain parts of the collection; at most libraries almost none of your donation would go towards periodicals.

None of these problems are unsolvable, but typical libraries would need to significantly change their focus and invest in new shared technology first.

I do recommend contacting circulation, reference or technology direction to share your desire to see the library play a larger role in making journalism accessible to the community.