Speaker:
If you've ever snail-mailed a friend, you've paid to get someone's attention.
Speaker:
In the future, would you allow your listeners to pay to get
Speaker:
your attention, podcaster?
Spoiler alert:
you probably already do.
Spoiler alert:
Hello, and welcome to another Podcast Pontifications with me, Evo Terra.
Spoiler alert:
Podcast tech, more often than not, always seems to be looking
Spoiler alert:
for a way to get podcasters paid.
Spoiler alert:
And that's a good thing, right?
Spoiler alert:
Many cash-conscious podcasters, some are trying to make a living out
Spoiler alert:
there, some are just trying to pay their hosting bills, but they're keen
Spoiler alert:
to try out new monetization angles.
Spoiler alert:
But what if your attention could be monetized?
Spoiler alert:
Now, Pat mentioned on Monday's episode as a future roadmap item that very thing
Spoiler alert:
for PodInbox, the option to add some sort of money along with your engagement.
Spoiler alert:
That's an interesting model that I think is worthy of exploring on today's episode.
Spoiler alert:
You might've noticed for a few months now that there's a Boostagram
Spoiler alert:
Corner at the end of most Podcast Pontifications episodes and lots of
Spoiler alert:
other podcasts do something similar.
Spoiler alert:
The initial name of Boostagram was based on the singing telegram, really.
Spoiler alert:
Or maybe a candygram if you are a fan of the movie Blazing Saddles.
Spoiler alert:
With a Boostagram, it costs money for someone to send a message to you.
Spoiler alert:
Simple enough.
Spoiler alert:
But that's not really any different than the postal service.
Spoiler alert:
Or even harken back to a time, if you can remember, when
Spoiler alert:
long-distance phone calls cost money.
Spoiler alert:
The difference then versus now is who is getting the money.
Spoiler alert:
In the digital world, the cost of transmitting a message is,
Spoiler alert:
effectively, zero, really.
Spoiler alert:
So we have no need for stamps if we're just sending an electronic
Spoiler alert:
communication, no telegraph operator, and the transmission lines that we
Spoiler alert:
use today to send all of those things are already subsidized sunk costs.
Spoiler alert:
Today when we pay to send a message, that money goes to the
Spoiler alert:
recipient rather than the carriers.
Spoiler alert:
And that's a good thing.
Spoiler alert:
This idea of monetizing attention, if you will, tends to be pretty
Spoiler alert:
polarizing amongst podcasters.
Spoiler alert:
You're either in the pro-getting-paid side where you probably see this concept
Spoiler alert:
as just an additional potential revenue stream and, therefore, a positive thing.
Spoiler alert:
Or, you might see this as just one more consequence of late-stage capitalism
Spoiler alert:
at all costs, further dividing the world into the haves and the have nots.
Spoiler alert:
Now, both are valid positions, as are myriad other subtle nuances and
Spoiler alert:
opinions found within those two camps.
Spoiler alert:
Personally, I lean towards the pro-getting-paid side, which I'm just
Spoiler alert:
now deciding to call the F-U-P-M party.
Spoiler alert:
Although, I can see the inherent vileness the skeptics are whirring about with that.
Spoiler alert:
You see, it's an ethical conundrum to be sure, but it's one we're
Spoiler alert:
already wading into and we have been wading into for quite some time now.
Spoiler alert:
If you'll check out your notifications tab on Twitter, they, Twitter,
Spoiler alert:
already isolates replies from verified users, which segregates the
Spoiler alert:
noise from the riffraff, I suppose.
Spoiler alert:
In fact, most social sites have some sort of badge or icon identifying
Spoiler alert:
the special-ness of a select group of users, automatically and by
Spoiler alert:
design, giving their posts and even direct messages an extra heft.
Spoiler alert:
Given the arbitrary nature of how those are doled out, and I am saying this as
Spoiler alert:
a person who has both a verified Twitter and Google account, I don't really see
Spoiler alert:
much difference between earning a badge or paying for a message to rise to the
Spoiler alert:
top of a Podcaster's message queue.
Spoiler alert:
But there's an even more ubiquitous example of this
Spoiler alert:
already in the podcasting world.
Spoiler alert:
Listener support is huge for many podcasters.
Spoiler alert:
We have Patreon, Buy Me A Coffee, and myriad other services used
Spoiler alert:
by podcasters every single day.
Spoiler alert:
Some of them have special tiers that give members members-only rights,
Spoiler alert:
if you will, like a members-only message board or priority status
Spoiler alert:
to messages from paying members.
Spoiler alert:
We're already used to granting special rights to those who support
Spoiler alert:
our podcasting efforts with their hard-earned funds, so seen in that light,
Spoiler alert:
allowing someone to boost a message doesn't really seem all that nefarious.
Spoiler alert:
Again, I think there are huge, huge opportunities for abuse and this
Spoiler alert:
ass-hattery will happen and this concept might actually perpetuate that.
Spoiler alert:
I get it.
Spoiler alert:
And I hope the developers who are making these tools and
Spoiler alert:
services do not ignore that.
Spoiler alert:
I guess they can if they want to build their own cesspool of the internet, but
Spoiler alert:
we have too many of those right now.
Spoiler alert:
And that doesn't mean we have to support those that don't do a good job.
Spoiler alert:
However, I think this is a space that's worth keeping our eyes on as people start
Spoiler alert:
paying podcasters for our attention.
Spoiler alert:
With that, I shall be back tomorrow with yet another Podcast Pontifications.
Spoiler alert:
Cheers!
Spoiler alert:
Podcast Pontifications is written and narrated by Evo Terra.
Spoiler alert:
He's on a mission to make podcasting better.
Spoiler alert:
Links to everything mentioned in today's episode are in the notes
Spoiler alert:
section of your podcast listening app.
Spoiler alert:
A written-to-be-read article based on today's episode is available
Spoiler alert:
at podcastpontifications.com where you'll also find a video version and a
Spoiler alert:
corrected, both created by Allie Press.
Spoiler alert:
Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media.
