# The Pay Attention Economy **URL:** \ **Category:** General\ **Created:** [April 13, 2023, 12:39am UTC](https://air.tableforums.com/t/the-pay-attention-economy/512 "2023-04-13T00:39:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bfrench](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/air.tableforums.com/bfrench/32/46_2.png) [@bfrench](https://air.tableforums.com/u/bfrench)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 12:39am UTC](https://air.tableforums.com/t/the-pay-attention-economy/512/1 "2023-04-13T00:39:18Z")
I may have mentioned somewhere - I’m leaning into social three dot oh. I’m going to the dark side, where the attention economy is not welcome. Instead, it’s the PAY-attention economy. When I create posts [like this one](https://air.tableforums.com/t/snipity-do-a-gpt-copilot-for-script-examination/506/9), the source code and other deeper insights will typically be concealed behind a paywall. Because I love you guys, I’m dropping the paywall entirely for the following year. But you only have six more days to get this free fifty-dollar bill. Use this [link](https://impertinent.substack.com/tableforums) if you can’t get enough of my shit. And don’t be casting this about the Interwebs; my systems are smart. They will make you look bad if you stuff subscriber list. 😉 ![CleanShot 2023-04-12 at 18.33.26@2x](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/uploads/tableforums/original/1X/2f8049bf97244cf197da51bae154e143c0ac1518.png) ---
**Author:** ![Kuovonne](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/air.tableforums.com/kuovonne/32/17_2.png) [@Kuovonne](https://air.tableforums.com/u/Kuovonne)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 5:56pm UTC](https://air.tableforums.com/t/the-pay-attention-economy/512/2 "2023-04-13T17:56:02Z")
> [@bfrench](#): > > Because I love you guys Awe, the same back at you. > [@bfrench](#): > > I’m dropping the paywall entirely for the following year. Thanks. I went ahead and bit. I’ll have a year to decide if I want to continue the subscription. I wonder if I will be able to deduct it as an expense on my taxes As much as I like reading your posts, there was just too much friction before. Creating an account on a new platform. Deciding if I want to download an app, bookmark the website, or get email notifications. Hunting up my credit card. And paying a monthly fee while not being sure what I’d do with what I get? So my laziness worked in my favor. When you dropped the price to zero, that was enough to overcome my inertia. Now I just get to wonder how you are harvesting the data about what piques my attention. And wonder if this particular initiative will last. Sigh. I’m a little curious about your decision to pick substack versus all of the other platforms where people monetize their writing. ---
**Author:** ![bfrench](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/air.tableforums.com/bfrench/32/46_2.png) [@bfrench](https://air.tableforums.com/u/bfrench)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 8:34pm UTC](https://air.tableforums.com/t/the-pay-attention-economy/512/3 "2023-04-13T20:34:22Z")
> [@Kuovonne](#): > > wonder if this particular initiative will last. This is one of the challenges with the pace of innovation. Remember when Twitter opened its doors? It was April 1st, 2004. I was tweeting that day. I don’t get up on the tweeter much anymore, and it’s unlikely I’ll use Substack Notes much either. Hard to say where this will go. Remember Linkedin? I was member #11,145. 899,988,855 members came after me. This low membership number is meaningless of course unless you want an invite to Reid Hoffman’s Christmas party every year (the first 15,000 are invited; ~5% show up). I went a few times. Substack might not last, but the business model is sure to stay. The attention economy is in a state of decline. All those who facilitate it and use it will say otherwise. But there’s a sea change. It’s like that day at the beach when you realize the tide is moving out. Ever-so-slight patches of dry sand begin to appear at the water’s edge. > [@Kuovonne](#): > > I’m a little curious about your decision to pick substack versus all of the other platforms where people monetize their writing 1. I noticed a lot of really smart tech and AI writers drawn to substack. 2. Writers can invest in Substack; we can own a piece of the platform. 3. Elon was noticeably annoyed when Substack Notes emerged. The third one is very important; it telegraphed that substack was a potential threat to Twitter itself; a clear indication they’re doing it right. Thanks for becoming a customer; you’ll regret it. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![itoldusoandso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@itoldusoandso](https://air.tableforums.com/u/itoldusoandso)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2023, 7:24pm UTC](https://air.tableforums.com/t/the-pay-attention-economy/512/4 "2023-04-14T19:24:26Z")
I like that dichotomy in the choice to call it impertinent and I am intrigued to get some more of that @bfrench dark side. 👀