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Is social media worth paying for?

As Twitter and Facebook both now offer paid subscription, what impact is it having?

There's a profound sense of distaste among some established users about "buying your way in" - gaining extra visibility and profile by paying for it, rather than getting it on merit by posting good content. "The hassle-free experience of simply being able to enjoy content, without the fear of 'when will the adverts come' is something that I need in my life," says James Hacking, founder of the media agency Socially Powerful, and a long-term YouTube subscriber. Netflix, on the other hand, launched a cheaper subscription deal that includes ads, and Amazon Prime introduced adverts to its video platform, and now charges users (who are already subscribers) an extra fee to remove them again.

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