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April 28, 2004
Social Pressure and Shareware Registration
Authors of Shareware are always on the lookout for ways to encourage their users to pay up. WinZip reminds you how many Zip files you've opened, so you'll realize how much you use their software. Snood does the same thing and also tells you stories about the potential starvation of its author. But Jim Dennis, the author of DeadAim, a popular add-in for AOL Instant Messenger has developed a new tactic: social pressure. Many DeadAIM users frequent the DeadAIM forums to discuss DeadAIM, and instant messaging in general. When a user pays the $5 registration fee, "Purchased DeadAIM" appears under their username in all of their forum posts. Users without the notation are often ribbed by other forum participants.Posted by Adam Wright at April 28, 2004 04:52 PM
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