You know how FaceBook won? By being cooler than MySpace with a key demographic, and using that as a wedge to bring in everyone else. But FaceBook isn't cool now, just normalized: your Mom is there, and so are a million spammy ads and apps and games, with the open secret that somebody somewhere is probably doing something creepy. Sooner or later, another social network will become the next digital status symbol, and having it be paid-for might actually be a benefit in that regard.
Also, with enough paying customers, app.net doesn't have to win, so long as it offers real value beyond just network effects. If enough cool services are built on top of it, it can be valuable enough that people will pay to keep it afloat even if FaceBook and Twitter are still king numbers-wise. (Bearing in mind that one can trivially cross-post between services.)
Also: I really hope app.net pays attention to pricing psychology if they get funded. To most people $5/month doesn't feel like much and $50/year feels like real money, even though the former is actually more expensive.
I'm interested in this pricing psychology? Till what point would people say, "Fuck it, I don't care". $9.95? $14.95? or even $19.95? I think $20 bucks is pushing it. Maybe $15 might be the largest "throwaway" money for most people.
For you $20 is the threshold. But for Warren Buffet? But for a small business that could earn $2000 more a year with a great social service? For a Venezuelan person whose same $20 means a ton of work?
It depends. 20% of Americans have 80% of the wealth.
Unfortunately for appwhateveritis, I suspect the cool wedge users that got facebook where it is are more price-sensitive than the old folks they want to get away from.
I think it varies heavily by personality and economic status. For me, $5 or less is a rounding error. For some it's $1 or less, for others it's $20 or more.
Also, with enough paying customers, app.net doesn't have to win, so long as it offers real value beyond just network effects. If enough cool services are built on top of it, it can be valuable enough that people will pay to keep it afloat even if FaceBook and Twitter are still king numbers-wise. (Bearing in mind that one can trivially cross-post between services.)
Also: I really hope app.net pays attention to pricing psychology if they get funded. To most people $5/month doesn't feel like much and $50/year feels like real money, even though the former is actually more expensive.