Posted by Dr. Bob on April 1, 2001, at 16:33:40
In reply to Re: Credit cards - privacy concerns » Dr. Bob, posted by ShelliR on March 31, 2001, at 15:06:33
> WAIT A SECOND.... what is this about temporary memberships for a period of time? This is sounding more like you must eventually be a member. That is not in keeping with a pledge drive. If you don't pledge on public radio, you can still listen, participate; it is up to you and your conscience.
It's also up to how successful the pledge drive is...
> When I suggested a pledge drive, I had in mind that all donations should be voluntary, not that psychobabble would now start to charge a mandatory membership fee.
I know, this is something separate, which I've been thinking about for a while. It's never been a popular idea, which I guess I understand, but I think I can make it palatable. Although I might need to hire a PR firm...
> That would upset me a lot because I think the entire flow of your website would change, be more limited, turn away people who by now have gotten used to full participation on the internet without fees. We do pay (most of us) to get our connection to the internet, but I have never been forced to pay for any services. What happens if you are censored? Do you get back your membership fee? What if someone leaves for a few months and then comes back? Who wants to keep track of all that minutia?
It would be a change, and some people might be turned away, yes. No one would be *forced* to pay anything, of course...
Probably if people were blocked, they wouldn't get a refund. It would be an extra incentive to be civil. One of the reasons to do it, BTW, is to make it easier for me to *keep* disruptive people blocked.
The server would keep track of everything, it's good at that. :-)
> Also right now, Dr. Bob, you have a lot of power on the board, which is fine with me. But it I had to pay for membership, it might not be fine with me.
Can you say more about that?
> Gosh, if this is turning into forced payment, then I'm sorry I mentioned a pledge drive.
Again, this goes back a long time, it wouldn't be your fault.
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> I thought the impracticalities & drawbacks of a membership system were covered a while ago...(eg what incentive would say, a CamW have to enrol?)
Good question. What incentives could there be? :-)
Bob
poster:Dr. Bob
thread:619
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20010315/msgs/959.html