[🎧PODCAST] Social networks: Should they be paid for?

The question of whether to make social networks pay torments the minds of many analysts. In any case, it deserves to be asked in view of the current context, which has lasted for years, of polarization that we observe on social networks. We had the opportunity to interview one of the founders of Republike about this, in our brand new podcast!

Paid social networks, an option to consider

In our recent podcast, Etienne de Sainte Marie, one of the founders of the social platform Republike, gave his opinion on the question of whether social networks should be paid for. The question does not lack depth given the abuses that we observe on these platforms.

L’Etienne’s opinion is clear: the option of making social networks pay is a possibility to be implemented. Especially since it would constitute the beginning of a response to challenges such as polarization and censorship, which have now become a sort of norm.

According to the expert, the business model of these platforms, focused on the “free” attention economy, is fundamentally problematic. However, he maintains, there is a direct link between this gratuity and social abuses.

The catastrophic result is to arrive at a type of society where freedom of thought and expression is profoundly muzzled. We note with regret that this picture has been a reality for many years on many social platforms.

A challenge for the years to come

Looking to the future, Etienne de Sainte Marie is convinced that making social networks pay presents a challenge for the future. In the next 10 years, he indicates, questions around freedom of expression will arise with profound recurrence.

Hence the need for efforts to be made so that respect for others can once again become the norm. Some people try to make these efforts by asking the right questions beforehand. Even if for the moment, the responses to the challenges mentioned do not seem to change the situation.

Republike, the crypto social network that Etienne co-founded, for its part, makes its modest contribution to resolving the excesses of traditional social networks by turning its back on the centralization model that the latter impose.