Like others have been mentioning here, Metafilter has a fee like this, and from what I hear, it works really well for them. Thinking about it more, though, I can see how it would could really prevent new users from wanting to join. I'm not sure exactly what would happen. I'd be willing to support an experiment and try it, though.
Re:Ask HN: Would you pay $5/yr for HN?
by alexandros on Thursday February 05, 2009 @10:03AM
(#467907)
If I may try to put together a response..
1 - Remembr that what many refer to as the 'golden age of HN quality' is when it had less users.
2 - I am not sure I understand this, can you clarify?
3 - HN is not a newspaper, it is (among other things) a filter and a community. While people may not pay for content, they might pay for these two.
Hasn't experience over the past 10+ years answered this question been already?
1. Audience shrinkage — less readers and posters would mean less garbage, but it would also denote less of everything, including quality…
2. Less of an attraction even to one subscribed with the subtraction of public visibility (outside search engine scope).
3. Already a tried and failed proposition — look at NY Times, WSJ, etc.…
The genie is out of the bottle and their really is no way to stuff it back in and cap it again…