Post News, the microblogging platform designed to offer a new monetisation model for journalism, is closing its doors a year and a half after its beta launch, founder Noam Bardin announced on Friday.
Bardin, who previously led the navigation app Waze, cited inadequate growth and the failure to find a viable product mix as the primary reasons for the shutdown.
Launched in the wake of Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter, Post News aimed to capitalise on Twitter's role as a digital gathering place for journalists by introducing a platform where users could directly purchase individual articles from partner publishers. The platform also featured a tipping system, allowing users to financially appreciate writers directly.
Despite backing from high-profile investors such as Andreessen Horowitz and public figures like Scott Galloway, and having Silicon Valley journalist Kara Swisher as an adviser, Post News struggled to achieve the rapid consumer adoption needed for a sustainable business.
“It is with a heavy heart that I share this sad news with you. Despite how much we’ve accomplished together, we will be shutting down Post News within the next few weeks,” Bardin mentioned in his Post News announcement.
In his closing announcement, Bardin expressed his belief that Post News had successfully explored new digital monetisation methods, specifically highlighting the platform’s experimentation with micropayments. He suggested that while the platform itself was not successful, it had validated the concept of consumers’ willingness to pay for individual articles.
The closure of Post News is part of a broader trend of new social media platforms failing to gain long-term traction amidst a competitive market, highlighted by the recent shutdown of another microblogging site, Pebble, also known as T2.
