Outlit
{{Short description|Digital Storefront}}
{{Orphan|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox website
| name = Outlit
| logo = Image:Outlit-logo_official,_2019.png
| founded = {{Start date |2014}}
| dissolved = {{Circa |{{End date |2020 }} }}
| url = {{url|outl.it}}
| commercial = Yes
| creator = Lucien Zeigler (CEO)
William Treadway
Christian Zeigler
Sam Clarke
| language = English
| launch_date = {{Start date |2014 }}
| current_status = Closed
| type = Publishing and Social Networking
| industry = Journalism
| registration = Required
}}
Outlit was an American online social networking and digital media virtual marketplace that operated from 2014 until around 2020. The company was based in Arlington, Virginia. Outlit offered bloggers and publishers a way to monetise the publishing of short articles online. Members would set up an account with the platform to access stories.
History
Outlit founded in 2014 in Arlington, Virginia by founder and CEO Lucien Zeigler, a media consultant and economist.{{cite news|work=Bloomberg Business|title=Outlit|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=286562513|accessdate=5 June 2015}} Zeigler has said that Outlit was founded in response to declining revenues for publishers and the prevalence of advertising in news media, as well as the "inefficiency of the subscription business model" for readers.{{cite news|work=ArlNow.com|title='Disruptive' Media Startup to Launch Next Month|author=Ethan Rothstein|date=March 30, 2015|url=http://www.arlnow.com/2015/03/30/disruptive-media-startup-to-launch-next-month/|accessdate=5 June 2015}}
Registered users could publish stories and earn from views by other users. Outlit offered bloggers and publishers three sources of revenue for their content: a share of digital advertising revenue, on-demand digital payments, and subscriptions. The service launched in 2014 and was described as the "iTunes of News," with over 40 newspapers and magazines in the United States.{{cite news|author=Eric Hal Schwartz|date=2015|title=A Virginia Startup Has Launched the iTunes of News|work=DCInno|url=http://dcinno.streetwise.co/2015/05/30/dc-tech-arlington-startup-outlit-launches-itunes-of-news/|accessdate=5 June 2015}}{{cite news|work=DCInno|title=A Virginia Startup Has Launched the iTunes of News|author=Eric Hal Schwartz|date=2015|url=http://dcinno.streetwise.co/2015/05/30/dc-tech-arlington-startup-outlit-launches-itunes-of-news/|accessdate=5 June 2015}}
Outlit announced an expansion in 2019 to become a social information marketplace enabling anyone to publish and earn from other users.{{Cite web|title=Outlit, the Social Media Platform Built for Stories and News, Releases New Features Enabling All Users to Earn Money for Posts, Published Stories|url=https://eprnews.com/outlit-the-social-media-platform-built-for-stories-and-news-releases-new-features-enabling-all-users-to-earn-money-for-posts-published-stories-407163/|last=Verma|first=Sandeep|website=ePRNews|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-18}} Content on Outlit came in the form of short posts with longer content able to be monetized through ads, direct digital micropayments, or subscriptions.