On Flattr
Flattr is a micropayment system, brought to you by the fine folks at The Pirate Bay, sort of as a moral proof-of-concept for a system that can work in a post-copyright world. Users select a monthly payment amount (minimum of 2 euros) that they can afford, then you “Flattr” other people who have bought into the system. Your Flattr monthly payments are shared among the people you Flattr. Think of it as a Socialist Internet Tip Jar. Pay what you can afford.
It sounds great in theory; the problem of course, is that it has not yet hit critical mass for it to work on a large scale. Most of the users are crazy open source people from Germany and Sweden. Most of the projects posted are not from English speakers and not a lot of people know about Flattr yet.
HOWEVER, right now for me I’ve actually just hit break-even. So, enough people are paying me money because they think I’m awesome for me to pay other people because I think they are awesome. I mean, I know I’m sort of a minor Internet Folk Hero, but hey. It actually works.
So anyway, it’s currently in an invite-only beta, but if you’d like to try it out, I’ve got 3 invites remaining. The first three comments get an invite. Comment, email me at gabe at signalnine dot net if I don’t have your email address already and I’ll hook you up.
About the author
Written by gabe
Gabe Ortiz is a systems architect and engineer from Albuquerque, NM.
Hunty
July 1, 2010
hit me!
Hunty
July 6, 2010
So, I’ve been looking around at Flattr alternatives. How do you think Flattr compares to Kachingle and SprinklePenny?
gabe
July 6, 2010
SprinklePenny is retarded, it is an opt-out system which is just begging to be abused. Kachingle is okay, but has a very small userbase which is a critical flaw.