Depends on whether your business model is user-profiling/data-mining, ads, or monetization of user content.
Lurkers like I are fine with regards to display ads where the number of viewers is important, and where user profiles can be created over their like/follows/follower habits.
It's not like people who don't post are necessarily bad for business.
Well the point I was making was that if by monetizing your userbase you're going to lose some of your userbase, it's still better to monetize a smaller userbase than to have a large userbase with no cash inflow.
Were there other options available to them that wouldn't have lost users? Possibly. I have no stats to back it up other than personal experience, but I would venture to say that no matter how you monetize your userbase, there's always going to be some people who expect it for free, no strings attached, and will cause a stink then leave if there's any monetizable component to it.
Lurkers like I are fine with regards to display ads where the number of viewers is important, and where user profiles can be created over their like/follows/follower habits.
It's not like people who don't post are necessarily bad for business.