Not sure what to make of it, but a few sites I have frequented for years have either largely shifted behind paywalls, been crippled by massive layoffs and downsizing of talented full-time writers, or have just folded over the last couple of years. I'm beginning to worry that these are not isolated examples of internet Darwinism, especially since some of these changes have occurred on wildly popular sites. The ubiquity of ad-blocking software seems to have been changing the internet for awhile now. More and more content is being put behind paywalls, and more free content is being overcrowded in ads. It's been going on for a long time now, obviously, but I guess I've just noticed sites I go to a lot finally succumbing to it lately.
One example of this is Cracked.com, which went from having 300 million page views a month, largely driven from a talented and funny staff of full-time writers, to almost every one of those full-time writers being fired a few days ago. Now the site will rely almost entirely on poorly paid freelancers. While they get some good freelancers, it is a shame, as many of those let go did really good work. This occurred after Scripps bought them for nearly 40 million just a year ago. I don't know if this is their fault, or more of a sign of the times. It is a shame.
I guess I just have get used to ponying up subscription fees for a lot of the news and entertainment sources I used to enjoy for free. I do worry that this will create more sound proof echo chambers. I mean, I'll click on and read free stuff from sites I don't align with politically, but I'm not going to pay to get to that content. If I have to pay, I'll have to choose how to spend my dollars and I'll end up reading mostly NYT and WaPo, probably.
One example of this is Cracked.com, which went from having 300 million page views a month, largely driven from a talented and funny staff of full-time writers, to almost every one of those full-time writers being fired a few days ago. Now the site will rely almost entirely on poorly paid freelancers. While they get some good freelancers, it is a shame, as many of those let go did really good work. This occurred after Scripps bought them for nearly 40 million just a year ago. I don't know if this is their fault, or more of a sign of the times. It is a shame.
I guess I just have get used to ponying up subscription fees for a lot of the news and entertainment sources I used to enjoy for free. I do worry that this will create more sound proof echo chambers. I mean, I'll click on and read free stuff from sites I don't align with politically, but I'm not going to pay to get to that content. If I have to pay, I'll have to choose how to spend my dollars and I'll end up reading mostly NYT and WaPo, probably.
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