I definitely don't want the front page to be uncomfortable to look at. Personally speaking, I want to use it some more, and possibly try some changes before reconsidering. Today I just changed the flow of posts on the page, which I think was an improvement. Whatever we decide to do next, I think it will help to figure out what is good, and what is bad, about this format. The feedback is appreciated.
That said, I think its the perfect time to bring up another suggestion I've been meaning to post. We should pay for hubski. I think there is a lot of value in it and I think hubski as a pay service is a reasonable proposition We all realize that hubski has costs, whether it be human capital or server space, and eventually those costs have to be accounted for or else hubski won't exist and we will all be worse off. If theses costs are offset by advertising in one form or another then we will either be distracted from hubski's beautiful aesthetics (as mentioned in this post by ecib) or we will have our content devoured by imposters. Do you have any follow up thoughts on this subject mk?
As for a paying for the site, I appreciate that some might be willing. Hubski isn't free for me, but it currently costs little, and I really enjoy working on it. However, at some point we might need revenue. One idea that I am entertaining is that Hubskiers could pay a subscription to have an ad-free version of the site. Only non-subscribed users would see ads. That said, I hate about 95% of all advertising, so we would be very hands-on about what type of ads could appear on the site, and how it would look. Ads become part of the experience, so advertisers owe the user something. If they can't provide it, we would be better off not having them. Still, I prefer not to needs ads at all, and am keeping an open mind on this.
- We should pay for hubski. I think there is a lot of value in it and I think hubski as a pay service is a reasonable proposition
Firstly, there's nothing indignant about voicing your opinion about the new look, provided (as your is) that its constructive. Secondly, as to the pay service idea. Its a great idea, but the user base just isn't big enough to justify that yet. One has to assume that any type of pay service (even say, $10/year) is going to drive away all but the most dedicated users. At this point, if that were instituted, I fear that we would dry up, which would be a disaster, and we would all lose. Great idea, wrong time, IMO.