theflytrapmedia.com
Worker-owned, community-oriented intersectional feminist journalism to unfuck your algorithm.
🔗 theflytrapmedia.com
252 posts
55,169 followers
680 following
Regular Contributor
Active Commenter
comment in response to
post
our last merch shop with tee spring ran into horrendous inventory issues and we're starting from scratch!
comment in response to
post
Are there revenue streams outside paid subs? Absolutely. We are exploring some, including special events and workshops, while rejecting others (VC). For things like ads, we're picky, and higher subscriber numbers=better (and less intrusive!) ad options, which is why subscribing at ANY LEVEL helps.
comment in response to
post
As @cora.bsky.social taught me: There's a difference between 'I can't afford this' and 'this is too expensive.' It's okay to not be able to afford things. That doesn't mean they're overpriced. Suggesting that you deserve our work for free devalues my colleagues and comrades.
comment in response to
post
I love my work, the work does not love me. I can't afford to work for free. Almost everyone at @theflytrapmedia.com is working several jobs and investing their own labor AND MONEY in the business, while leading very precarious lives. WE are subsidizing it, and we need YOUR help to keep this going.
comment in response to
post
Running a business costs a lot of money. There's a reason many businesses flame out within a couple of years. You can go through your runway incredibly quickly. I believe media, and the people who make it, deserve sustainable wages to do the work they love, because exposure doesn't pay the bills.
comment in response to
post
At that point, the editor, copyeditor, and illustrator (ALL our art is original, NO 'AI'), from Art Director Rommy Torres, have not been paid. Neither have our platform, our payments processor, our accountant (shoutout to Kevin the Tax Man), our attorney, and other service providers.
comment in response to
post
your paywall is really affordably priced, IMO! but i'm "subscribe to quality media"-pilled
comment in response to
post
🍻🍻🍻🍻
comment in response to
post
LOL we appreciate your okay-ness with a double sub but legit holler at us with deets and we'll get you set straight if you want!
comment in response to
post
And again: Cannot stress enough how much our free readers mean to us, whether you never pay or had to downgrade or decide to upgrade in the future. Your support and shares of articles you enjoy is part of what makes @theflytrapmedia.com what it is, so DO NOT FEEL BAD if you can't afford a sub!
comment in response to
post
we love to see it
comment in response to
post
If we had a big pile of donor money, maybe we could do that. As it is, we provide one free article a month (and some occasional additional content), and we sometimes give out gift links. But we are running at a loss, and our feminist journalism and criticism will cease to exist if no one pays for it
comment in response to
post
I have definitely been wondering about this as good coverage swings to the indies while library budgets shrink (and as I look at my personal subscription list), there just has to be room for a nonprofit aggregator here! I feel like Library Futures folks would know what's happening in this space?
comment in response to
post
lol we can indeed tell! thank you, stay tuned
comment in response to
post
Thank you!
comment in response to
post
We understand the structural concerns and want a better world. We also think what we do should exist and we don't simply have a trust or grants to draw on. We get tired of people shouting "paywall" at us when we can't avoid paywalling most of our work under contemporary shitty social conditions
comment in response to
post
While we have you -- can you let us know what browser you were using? We'll open a ticket with Beehiiv. (DM us if you want!)
comment in response to
post
Thank you for the boost!
comment in response to
post
Thank you for flagging this! Yes, we want to be informed of issues like this, and we'll try to figure out what's going on to see if it's a one-off glitch or something we can fix and avoid in the future!
comment in response to
post
Fair point, and also a structural thing, but we'd be interested to know if--if the pattern does bear out--whether there are internalized biases in play as well
comment in response to
post
i love y'all, and the fact that y'all are not yet rolling in it is one more reason I am deeply disappointed in humanity