Posted by Dinah on January 21, 2004, at 22:56:55
I know this was mentioned by Dr. Bob a while back, and I was thinking about it.
A lot of people have been saying that the job of moderating has gotten too big for Dr. Bob alone, and perhaps Dr. Bob thinks so too. He hasn't really given his opinion (or his family's - equally important I suppose).
But if that's true, perhaps it's time to think again about at least a small fee for Babble. Perhaps Dr. Bob could use the revenue to employ impartial assistant moderators. Or perhaps it would reduce the administrative burden somewhat. It should at least make it easier to determine when people are trying to get around blocks, and make it costly for people to be mischievous on the site.
The downside, of course, would be the loss of privacy. I can't think of any method of transferring funds that doesn't give away some privacy. I wouldn't mind paying now because I trust Dr. Bob, but when I first came to Babble, I would never ever have done that. Gosh, when I made the donation, I sent it by money order under my posting name.
Does anyone have any thoughts about this? Have there been studies done about how many posters you'd lose if you go to a fee based system? Are there ways of paying that wouldn't sacrifice anonymity?
How many people would be willing to pay to Babble? How much?
Dr. Bob, are you still thinking about this? If so, do you have any ideas about what you'd charge or how you'd collect?
poster:Dinah
thread:303994
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20040112/msgs/303994.html