Would you pay a membership fee here?

elmofood

Wed, Apr 18 2007, 10:25 pm

r and r mom you are right on the money!!! some of you here really are pathetic. I am sorry to be so harsh. 5 dollars is the least you can do for that you get from this site. I mean some of you live on this site and have an opinion about everything!!!!! downs I totally agree with you too. people just like to complain and make waves on principle. so if you do not want to pay, you wont be part of this site. thats all. not everyone can have everything. argggg!!! some of these posts are downright infuriating

shayna82

Wed, Apr 18 2007, 10:29 pm

I go on lots of sites, and none of them are asking me to pay memberships. in fact, ive been to so many woman forums,jewish and non jewish and I was never asked to pay. just a point. I can donate some money, but thats not the point.

redhot

Wed, Apr 18 2007, 10:33 pm

To Elmo, Downs, and all those who find it despicable that some of us may choose to stop using this site if we had to pay:

You have called the people who said they would not pay for this site pathetic, obnoxious, 'unmannered suckers', etc...

How about- we have different priorities. This site would not be a chesed if Yael chooses to charge. It would be a business. Last I checked we still live in a free world where one has the right to choose which businesses they would like to support...

Eveyrone has the RIGHt to choose to pay or not to pay, and Yael needs to know this in advance so she can make the right decision knowing all the facts.

I said before I wouldnt pay, maybe I would ,if it was actually $3.00, but that is highly unlikely. Its more likely to be $25.00- $50.00 for a yearly membership. That is $50.00 each year. That is a lot of money for me to pay for a site that only I use, and my dh gets no benefit from, and personally, I'd feel guilty spending that much.

I guess im 'obnoxious, ungrateful, and pathetic".

downsyndrome

Wed, Apr 18 2007, 10:35 pm

Thank you elmofood, and I just want to add that another difference in the way some folks express their opinions would be that if you'd be asked ahead of time (before this site was established) whether you would pay membership for such a site and you'd say no, cuz you cannot afford it, that's decent. But, after you've been sitting and enjoying a site that has a founder behind it who works her kishkes out to make it as great as it is, you have the audacity to very non-chalantly brush off the whole significance that this site has on your daily life because you are being asked to contribute for 'using' it, is awful.

shayna82

Wed, Apr 18 2007, 10:36 pm

I agree with all your points sthillmom. I dont subscribe or pay for anything on the internet. not even automatic bill payment for a minimal fee. I still do stamps if a company charges me to pay my bill online. if imamother would have a membership I probably would also not come on. its a great site and everything, and yasher koach for her hard work, but paying for a forum, is not a priority in our budget.

Mitzvahmom

Wed, Apr 18 2007, 10:40 pm

Listen... when I cannot afford to pay for an event, I volunteer to help.

I would gladly volunteer to do something to assist with the site.

As I stated PREVIOUSLY, this site has been a wonderful thing for me. But I cannot afford to pay for it.

I do not think it's rude or obnoxious, its the TRUTH.

amother

Wed, Apr 18 2007, 10:51 pm

My husband runs a couple of websites, and designs some too, and this is in addition to his 10 hour a day job.

I would like to know what exactly is so 9-5 about running imamother.com? Personally, I think it's extremely chutzpadik to ask for us to to pay enough money so that Yossi could quit his job. Wouldn't we all like to retire so we could do what we love?

Maybe, like a previous amother suggested, Yael could give us a list of what needs to be done for the site. Perhaps, some people could voluntarily take on some of the tasks. And perhaps other would feel more comfortable giving money, knowing what it is being used for.

queen

Thu, Apr 19 2007, 12:26 am

I think allowing new members 2 months free is an excellent way for them to get a feeling for the site. Then if they enjoy it- as most ppl do, $20/year would be ok.

That's $1.66 a month.
YES, there are some people who can't afford this, I am not disagreeing, and a solution will have to be come upon... however I'd say most people 1 week after donating the money wont even feel the difference.

Ima'la

Thu, Apr 19 2007, 1:07 am

chocolate moose wrote:

I'm sorry? Where's that "donate" button?

This is a perfect intro for an idea I had, that will not cover costs, but might help...Requests for donations should be more prominent. This is CHOCOLATE MOOSE who doesn't know where the donate button is - think she's been to this site a few times?!?!?! We get very sweet good wishes for yom tov from Yael...how about a monthly request for donations, explaining why they are needed? Yael, you should not feel like you are asking for money for yourself - it's for the site - same as the executive director of a large tzedaka organization who draws a salary does not have qualms about raising money for his organization. Perhaps a line or two could be added at the bottom of each e-mail that come to us informing us that a reply has been added to a thread we are watching. Also, explanation of why donations are needed might help - when I first came to the site, I saw the donate button, but didn't understand why the site required donations or why I should spend my money donating to Imamother.

(I'm sorry, I really don't believe in posting without reading the whole thread first, but I didn't have time to get through all of this one, so sorry if this has been mentioned...)

farmom

Thu, Apr 19 2007, 4:39 am

After reading 6 Exclamation

pages of comments, and a poll, this is what I got:

There are 2 groups of people
1) those who will pay
2) those who will not/ cannot pay

Wink

quite perceptive, no?

which means that, most likely, membership will go down if there is a charge.

Then, there is another issue: some people feel that they should have more say in the site if they pay. That means that the site will also be changing - for the better or for the worse is anyone's guess - prob. some people will think it's better, some won't. Of course, Yael can always decide to charge and not change anything, which might turn off said posters.

Bottom line: most likely the site will lose members, and possibly also change if there is a membership. I guess it's Yael's prerogative to decide if she wants that.

Although I did notice that she didn't suggest a membership fee in her plea for help. Confused

farmom

Thu, Apr 19 2007, 4:42 am

Wanted to add one more thing:

There is always the possiblity that if people pay, the site gets better.

Maybe more posters will be active, maybe people will feel more of an achrayus to the site now that they are not getting a free ride - but how the dynamics play out is anyone's guess

amother

Thu, Apr 19 2007, 8:31 am

The site will get a different clientele if it charges a membership fee. Also, I don't think that it will help the all of the people that they now help who will sign on for advice. Once you have to pay it turns people off.

shalhevet

Thu, Apr 19 2007, 8:48 am

Another point: Several posters mentioned donating maaser money to the site. I think you need to ask your LOR. While there may be several women who have been helped/ have learned things or been inspired here, I think for the vast majority this site is a leisure activity and I don't see why maaser money should fund it, anymore than you would use your maaser money to fund a women's evening out for pizza.

You can donate, but should that money be coming from tzedaka money??

amother

Thu, Apr 19 2007, 8:49 am

I would not pay as one of the previous posters said "what is there do do from 9 - 5 on running a website? many ppl do it and have regular jobs.

as well as that, a small charge in dollars is not so small for ppl who are not living on dollars.....it all adds up and that can be difficult.

I know that if there was a charge, I just would not come back to the website b/c it would not be worth it to me.

daisy

Thu, Apr 19 2007, 8:51 am

A lot of bigger boards do have options for paid membership.

How about having 2 tiers of membership - basic and premiere? Premiere members could have some extra perks. For example, their name in a different color, the opportunity for an avatar and a signature, and/or more things that the powers that be can come up with.

Yes, it would differentiate between members, but those that don't pay would not be penalized, rather those that do pay get something a little extra.
Again, this is not unheard on other message boards. Some of the ones I go on offer no ads if you sign up (we don't really have those kind of ads, so it's not applicable here), but you get the point.

Boys"R"Us

Thu, Apr 19 2007, 9:08 am

That sounds a lot like ivillage.

Years ago, I used to belong to a lot of ivillage boards, it was great - similar to here, but not AS good LOL

There was even a Jewish Moms Board.

One day they also made a lot of changes and did the two tier membership. People who paid to join got all kinds of perks like being able to change their font colour, and I can't remember what else.

I'm pretty sure, most of the original people hated all the changes. A few stuck it out, but ivillage has survived its new format. Probably with all new members who never knew what it was like before.

BTW, it might be interesting to look at how those boards are run (or at least how they were then - I don't really know how it is now). Each Board had one or two "Community Leaders". Women applied to ivillage for these "positions". Once they were chosen, they pretty much ran their own board. There were mods who checked up every now and then, but a lot of the responsibility fell on the "CL's", who were expected to submit a weekly report among other things!