As FourthEye has evolved and grown somewhat across time, so too have some of my ideas around how I want this show to run. Though the core philosophy around the site on such things like, ad and sponsor free, and the pursuit of quality, purity, elegance, and peace remain, my specific views around the financial model have changed slightly. Additionally my goal of testing a “0 to 1” finance model in a non traditional for-profit style is still absolutely something that I’m getting after.
The fundamental but relatively small change that I would make to the original vision is that I’ve changed my views on subscription. In thinking about it, not only would I like people to be able to set it and forget it, so to speak, I also think realistically that such monthly support will eventually be necessary if I want this project to scale to greatness. By scale I do not mean become a 50 person team by the way, I simply mean in terms of the quality and the consistency of content, and the realm of options that I am able to explore. More or less all of my other ideas have stayed the same, and I’m still so-so on offering my art pieces, when I get there, for sale.
Not much more to say than that. If you find what I do interesting I implore you to stick around and enjoy the weird ride that is FourthEye, should you decide to support the project financially or not. All work will continue to be free and open to everyone. Be well.
Orion Aeneas Webster,
FourthEye author
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Note: I’ve opted to leave the original post up because many of my views still apply and it would be hard to recapture the inspiration I had when I wrote it.
Now that I’ve been posting to the blog for some time, I think it would be good to talk a bit about what FourthEye is in my mind, and about some of my plans moving forward. Firstly, FourthEye is something that I started with the intent of using it as a creative outlet, as a way to improve in some of my areas of passion, and also with another important purpose. Besides connecting with the audience I develop over time, and potentially jump-starting a career involving writing, podcasting, and perhaps music and art using this platform, I also have a different goal in mind. This goal, involves testing and attempting to apply a “0 to 1” model for starting one’s own show, while taking work quality, scalability, and purity into account. As a power user of the internet like many others, I’ve been stricken by how easily something that used to be fantastic or loved by many can be quickly perverted and changed for the worse due to poor incentives. Essentially as a way to test some of my ideas and also to find a path forward that I can live with, I want to test the viability of something that cares about the financial reasonableness of a plan, while having elements of a non-profit.
What this entails for FourthEye, in my plans, is to create an ad-free, sponsor-free, no subscription, donation based model. The reason the model is framed as such is because I don’t want the weird incentive of having some people support me regularly, encouraging me to play favorites and become more mercenary across time. I’d like for FourthEye to be supported by a number of “true fans” or people that really love what I’m doing and would feel good about contributing some to this site. I also want to make it clear that I have every intention of doing FourthEye even if I never make a cent and keeping it free for everyone, but I would be grateful if it could reach a level where the time and energy I put in is offset in some way financially. As an aside, although I will talk with some regularity about supporters and give thanks, I ask that all donations be anonymous. Know that this is not because I’m worried about someone “taking credit” but because I don’t want to unconsciously disproportionately consider certain voices, because I’m trying to share my own authentic voice. As stated the whole point of FourthEye is to maintain and improve quality and purity while balancing scalability so as not to lose the “mojo”.
All of that said, I’m just a guy doing shit that he’s interested in and trying to have it go somewhere, so if what I do is interesting to you and you decide to stick around, I hope you enjoy your stay, and thanks for your support, I really appreciate it. Be well.
Orion Aeneas Webster,
FourthEyeBlog author
FourthEye 