I'm the first person to criticize free online media, but they should have remained free until gaining a critical mass of users and THEN charged them to stay on.

That's how Twitter should work...think Lady Gaga or Barack Obama are going to leave Twitter over a $200 annual fee now? Nope, but they're sure as hell not joining an unproven network with an upfront $20 annual fee.

Of course, you'd have to be clear about this in advance. Nobody likes an unexpected bait-and-switch.