Mark Zuckerberg Says Facebook Will Add Subscriptions For News Stories (mashable.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Mashable: After years of simply forcing news organizations to heel to the almighty algorithm and craft their content for the News Feed, Facebook has added several features in the hopes of winning back the love of publishers. One of the biggest changes to come is subscriptions via Facebook. Here's how it works: Publishers using Instant Articles, Facebook's fast-loading article pages, will be able to have a paywall (certain number of articles per month) or have locked articles (freemium model). For either case, Facebook users will be prompted to subscribe to read more. All payments will be processed directly via publishers' websites, and Facebook will not take a cut -- at least not now. "If people subscribe after seeing news stories on Facebook, the money will go directly publishers who work hard to uncover the truth, and Facebook won't take a cut. We plan to start with a small group of U.S. and European publishers later this year and we'll listen to their feedback," Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post.

Comments

Re:Same old problem

[DontBeAMoran]

Anyone at Harvard, apparently.

Zuck: Yeah so if you ever need info about anyone at Harvard
Zuck: Just ask
Zuck: I have over 4,000 emails, pictures, addresses, SNS
[Redacted Friend's Name]: What? How'd you manage that one?
Zuck: People just submitted it.
Zuck: I don't know why.
Zuck: They "trust me"
Zuck: Dumb fucks

Deal with the devil

[sphealey]

Do news and publishing organizations really not understand that they are selling their future revenue streams and future customer base, if not outright their souls, when they cut these deals with Facebook? That's not even a jab at Facebook - just a cold-hearted business analysis.

Opening for competition

[AHuxley]

A new look web site with new news everyday.
Free links, lists under topics and often updated.
No subscription needed. No payments needed.
The old www is the new freedom again. Social media goes full paywall.

Re:Opening for competition

[DigiShaman]

I want a P2P Social Media app; where the user controls the content. The data is available to all friends, but only in the app. It's encrypted per user-content, but in clear text in the app. Only when the user wishes to leave (or de-friend), or scrub their comments, can they deprecate the key to the comment and is rendered deleted.

We control the content. We control the group. We control our privacy.

I left facebook over 6 years ago.

[Maxo-Texas]

Really hasn't been a problem.

Facebook gives me the creeps.