Freemium

tags:: Memex3, enshittification, internet, control, agency

For me, the enshittification of the internet began (or maybe was hightened) when they started popularizing the "freemium" models on the web. A freemium model consists of providing a reduced and limited service to free users and only providing the full access of features to paid users. This creates a class division between free users and paid users, that preys on free users to want all the features that they are so missing. Almost inciting FOMO (fear of missing out) in free users. This to me creates a dialogue of power and Control in the network disguised with Agency. The goal of these freemium plans are not to advantage the free users, but to disadvantage them enough to the point of forcing them to pay for the complete access. Some services on the web offer free services that are complete enough without paying for the paid version, but others intentionally implement "free" inconvenience. These inconvenience include watermarks (for video editing software etc) that don't go away unless the full version is bought, or a reduction of features. With these freemium models, the free internet has become the free-but-limited internet.