I'm also feel strongly that writers should be owning their own audiences, content and traffic, and that readers should not being subjected to extortion in order to read a simple article or tutorial.
If you use services like these, could you please tell me
Why you use them specifically, and not just your private blog?
What services you use, and why?
How often you use them?
What are makes using them a good experience?
What are makes using them a bad experience?
Which ones do you contribute to?