Decision
Contributors earn Ad Sovereignty through accumulated contribution — the right to choose their ad experience. Within Sovereignty, contributors choose between:
- Ad-Free Mode — no ads displayed during browsing
- Patron Mode — ads displayed by the contributor's voluntary choice, as a form of ongoing support for the platform
Ad Sovereignty is distinct from paid ad-free Network subscription, which buys the ad-free experience for non-contributors and remains available.
Reasoning
Inverts the typical platform pattern. Most platforms impose ads by default and treat ad-free as a privilege you pay for. OLN treats ads as something contributors can be freed from and then opt back into voluntarily. Ad views from power users become a form of patronage rather than extraction.
Aligns power users with platform sustainability without coercion. A contributor who has earned Sovereignty and chooses Patron Mode is doing so because they understand the ad revenue funds Network operations, R&D, and Franchise distribution. Their ad views become a deliberate gift, not an imposed tax.
Open questions
- Earning thresholds — Credit accumulation? Power level? Tenure? Some combination?
- Whether Sovereignty applies network-wide or per-Franchise (probably network-wide; identity is network-level)
- UX: Patron Mode needs persistent signal of where ad revenue lands — without it, the gift feels invisible and contributors switch to Ad-Free over time