‘I Have 50 Dollars’ spoofs App.net

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Whatever you think of App.net, I Have 50 Dollars should give you a laugh.

App.net, for those unaware, is the pay-for-access Twitter-alike from Dalton Caldwell (nope, I’ve never heard of him either) that recently raised $803,000 to get started. Some people – Robert Scoble, Matthew Ingram – are backing App.net very strongly, while others don’t see the point and are wondering whether it’ll remain vaporware for ever.


I guess in a world in which people will give hundreds of dollars to Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns for products which could turn out to be useless or bogus then App.net makes perfect sense. But I’m not interested, personally. I suspect I’m in the vast majority too; ask people whether they’d be happy to pay for Facebook and see what reactions you get. Most would walk away.

I happen to disagree with the whole concept behind App.net. It’s effectively saying Facebook, Twitter, and all other social networks that rely on advertising as a business model suck. So let’s shun advertising and get users to pay up front for the service instead. No thanks. I’m happy with advertising paying for my social networking needs, and I never notice it anyway.

I doubt very much whether App.net will succeed in any major way. Mainstream users will never pay an annual fee for a service they can get for free elsewhere unless it adds a great deal of added value. The mainstream also cares little about advertising or privacy, otherwise Diaspora – which doesn’t charge for access – would be bigger than Facebook right now. And it isn’t.

Which leads us on to I Have 50 Dollars, an excellent satirical take on the App.net Silicon Valley circle jerk that is currently taking place. I Have 50 Dollars mimics the look and feel of the App.net ‘Join the movement‘ site perfectly, with the reworded tweets from backers pitched particularly well. The big difference is that I Have 50 Dollars isn’t asking for any money, it is instead suggesting those who can afford it donate to a worthy cause. Now that is something I can get behind.

Posted in: Amusing,Internet,Opinion,Social Media