Several news sites have implemented paywalls in the past year, and the trend continues into 2012. The Los Angeles Times launched its paywall on Monday, and Gannett recently announced that all of its papers except for USA Today will be behind a paywall by the end of the year.
As more news sites consider subscription plans, they’ll inevitably face tough questions — not just about how to implement paywalls but about how and whether paywalls will affect their social media goals.
The range of approaches
When it comes to social media and paywalls, there are two extremes — making exceptions for people who come to stories via social networking sites, and making no exceptions. And then there are the more nuanced approaches that lie somewhere in between.The Los Angeles Times isn’t making exceptions for readers who click through to stories from social media. All readers will be given free access to 15 articles per every 30 days — regardless of whether they came to them via social media, search or latimes.com. After that, they’ll be asked to choose from a few different subscription packages.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is The New York Times, which gives full access to anyone who comes to a story via social media, even if the person is over their 20-article limit for the month.
... “Our digital subscriptions were designed to allow a generous amount of content to be free through various methods, including the website, apps and links from third-party sites like social media,” The New York Times’ Eileen Murphy told me. “We did this because it was critical to us that we remain open to all and an integral part of the expanding social Web.”
http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/top-stories/165625/how-6-news-sites-combine-paywalls-and-social-media-efforts/
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