Tuesday, 11 October 2016

12/10/16 - Clay Shirky: 'Paywall Will Underperform - The Numbers Don't Add Up'



https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/jul/05/clay-shirky-internet-television-newspapers

In less than 50 years news papers won't exist at all, no medium has survived 25 years. Shirty predicted that '2009 would be a bloodbath for newspapers, he warned – and so it came to pass. Dozens of American newspapers closed last year, while several others, such as the Christian Science Monitor, moved their entire operation online. The business model of the traditional print newspaper, according to Shirky, is doomed; the monopoly on news it has enjoyed ever since the invention of the printing press has become an industrial dodo. Rupert Murdoch has just begun charging for online access to the Times – and Shirky is confident the experiment will fail.' He also states that news was for informing the public and not consumers. There is also a lack of circulation with the paywall, people will be 'locked out'

o Social media is the web's primary purpose for billions of people all over the world
o Mediums don't usually last for more that 25 years.

I agree with Shirky that paywalls will underperform, and also that people are more creative as a result of the internet. Paywalls will underperform simply because the internet is so vast and the ability to have 'exclusive' content is more difficult. Exclusivity is the only reason in may opinion as to why people would actually pay for content online. As a result adding a fee to typical tabloid and broadsheets would actually hasten the decline of the company because it won't counteract their losses each year. I do also think that new and digital media has allowed everyone to be more creative and informed, the ability to receive information, particularly for those who live in secluded areas or those in strictly religious societies, will be exposed to other information that can often comfort them in terms of their thoughts, sexuality e.t.c. The accessibility for all ages and people of different demographics means that it isn't just the upper classes whom are able to create and share things, everyone has the equal ability, not including those on the other side of the digital divide, to do the same thing on the internet, They can blog, read and communicate with people all over the world, sparking their own interest and expanding their knowledge in all fields.

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