No it’s not a typo, Flattr is a new online business set up by some of the people behind the infamous Pirate Bay. The idea is that people will offer a micro donation to the content publisher by clicking on the Flattr icon on the content they have shared. For example, if I was to have a Flattr button on this page, you could click it, just like you would the “Like” option in Facebook and I would receive a share of a donation you are happy to part with on a monthly basis. So for example, let’s say you set your monthly “means” as €2 per month and you clicked one “Flattr” icon, that content ownwer received €2. If you clicked 2 links, your €2 would be shared evenly between the two parties, each receiving €1.
There is where I see the major flaw in this system. At the moment, I have absolutely no intention of giving money to the content providers of the blogs, news sites or whatever that I regularly visit. Now possibly, if made easy to do (which Flattr in fairness is trying to do), I would be happy to donate a small amount of money when an article is really worthwhile to me. If in that rare that something really adds value, I would like to donate my money. But not having the option as to how much to donate would pretty much annoy me. I would much prefer the ability to set a donation amount for each item I click. Rather than wasting €2 a month on possibly one article, I would be in complete control of the money I am spending and where it goes.
So far there have been a few content providers who have made a few hundred euros from this system which is still pretty much in beta mode. Here is one guys story – http://tim.geekheim.de/2010/07/02/flattr-zweiter-streich/
Flattr is an innovative idea and a nice way of helping content creators make money from their content – but with their current model, I find hard to see the masses jumping on board and offering money for nothing! I look forward to seeing how well this does in the future.
Related articles by Zemanta
- Is Flattr the new Facebook Like, but this time with real money? (eu.techcrunch.com)
- Swedish Start-Up Brings Micro Economy to Online Creators (mindjumpers.com)
- Flattr, the second month (the-gay-bar.com)
- Flattr reality check (the-gay-bar.com)
- Flattr: One Step Closer to Sustainable Blogging (kimwerker.com)
- The “perversion” of flattr (the-gay-bar.com)
- On Flattr and Privacy: The Flattr Button (the-gay-bar.com)
- Flattr-y Will Get You … Where? (evilgeniuschronicles.org)
- Pirate Bay’s Peter Sunde Starts Money Sharing Site (torrentfreak.com)
#1 by Adam at July 12th, 2010
| Quote
“But not having the option as to how much to donate would pretty much annoy me. I would much prefer the ability to set a donation amount for each item I click. Rather than wasting €2 a month on possibly one article, I would be in complete control of the money I am spending and where it goes.”
There’s a new service precisely offering this. Berlin start-up Yourcent. So far there’s only a German version. The owner says English site will follow in the long run.
https://www.yourcent.com
#2 by BArry Alistair at August 5th, 2010
| Quote
It’s an interesting concept. Be interestig to see some stats on the amount of people who are inclined to pay money in this ‘content should be free’ world. That said, no doubt useful for low-hanging fruit.
Best
BArry
#3 by Tom Doyle at August 5th, 2010
| Quote
I completely agree – but with the low hanging fruit, you think they’d make it easier to control the amount you spend, that way they’d have more low hanging fruit – me included!
#4 by BArry Alistair at August 5th, 2010
| Quote
I’m not sure where the two bucks figure comes from, but as I understand it this is shared out to the total number of sites which you’ve clicked the Icon. So since 2.00 is chip money, it seems a little illogical to say, “well, I want to give him 30c, him, 60c, him only 10c and her 1 euro. To messy IMHO. A straight split seems to be reasonable.
#5 by Tom Doyle at August 5th, 2010
| Quote
Yes the system you mention is messy – but what about if you were to set say 5c per click by default and you were in total control of how much money you put into it. That makes more sense to me.