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Mikaela Blackler's avatar

Interesting poll! Since you’re looking for insight, I’d also add that I am likely to unsubscribe from writers that put all comments behind a paywall. Reason being, many people on substack are obviously aspiring writers looking to grow their community. Tips suggest helpful comments are one such way to do that. Paywalling comments just feels like the big guys are squeezing the little guys. Maybe that’s not the motivation (or all of the motivation), but that’s how it feels to me. If I were ever a big guy (or most likely big woman), I would definitely want to support the little guys.

Also, many established writers come to substack and immediately put everything behind a paywall. This makes sense if they’re just trying to monetize their existing audience that they ported over. However, there are people I’d be interested in exploring, but having never been exposed to their content before, would want some time before thanking them with a payment. You are one such person in this category for me. One free article is definitely not enough.

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Annie Straka's avatar

Thank you for collecting this data, I’ve been wrestling with the same question. For me, I think the upgrade to paid is a gesture of gratitude and support. It’s a digital way of purchasing someone’s book to keep on my shelf, even if I already read it through the library for free. The content has to resonate and be meaningful or enjoyable to me but the payment is a gesture of appreciation vs. paying for service.

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