The next day, Leo posted on his MyVidster wall:
“I’ve been on MyVidster since 2012. Now everything good is behind a paid wall. @ReelLeo used to share for love of film. Now he’s just another sellout.”
Silence. Then: “I didn’t want to tell you until it was real. But yeah. People are paying for MyVidster premium just to access our collections. We’re… influencers now.” paid myvidster
“All collections are now free. No paid myvidster required. If you want to support us, donate to the Internet Archive instead. Keep art weird and accessible.”
“Impact on people who can’t afford it,” Leo said quietly. “We didn’t make these films. We just pointed at them. That’s not worth paywalling.” The next day, Leo posted on his MyVidster
He lost 90% of his followers overnight. The partner program revoked his status. The angry comments turned into confused ones, then grateful ones, then a slow trickle of thank-yous.
He called Mia. “Did you know about this?” Now he’s just another sellout
Leo wanted to be angry. But the numbers were small but real—$47 the first month, then $130, then $400. Enough to cover Mia’s software subscriptions. Enough for Leo to buy his coffee snob beans without guilt.