What is Reddit's opinion of Flattr?

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

That's why Flattr sounds so interesting. Since you don't lose anything when flattring (it just changes the way your fixed monthly donation is divided), you can always just go ahead and click on the Flattr button without much thought, just like upvoting a comment on Reddit.

Originally from this thread, reposted with the new guidelines. These are my views as a mod author.

Although I've been out of the modding scene for a while, I will have to say that I am completely against monetizing any of my mods. For instance, it would be disingenuous to monetize Even Better Quest Objectives, since most of the work still comes from whickus. Additionally, it completely goes against the preferred "cathedral" view of modding (Wrye's explanation of cathedral modding). Not to mention the majority of the money not going to the mod authors themselves, and the fact that a lot of mods use content and contributions from other people.

So do not expect any of my mods to be behind a paywall anytime soon. Also do not expect any Steam Workshop uploads from me (as if you weren't already).

I do have an suggestion for an alternate way to ensure consistent donations to mods. That is, I'd like to see the Nexus integrate the microdonation system of Flattr. It's something that's already designed to do consistent donations to creators that you like, and it would be natural for it to be based on people that endorse or track your mods. I am all for that and other ways of encouraging donation, but not for officially-sanctioned paywalling.

Simple solution: ** Flattr**. Pay the author, editor and anyone else you feel is worthy. The genuinely deserving aren't the problem; it's the greed of print publishers who refuse to understand their business model doesn't translate to the digital era.

Flattr

Introduced by Peter Sunde Kolmisoppi (the name may ring a bell from TPB), Flattr has the potential to aid artists of all kinds in ending the tyranny of 3rd party greed.

I haven't followed this project in a while (flattr). But it was started by two of the Pirate Bay guys. Video explaining how it works.

The downside is that you have to trade away some privacy, arguably more than just allowing Google ads would. Google needs to know which sites you visit for this to work, which (I presume) requires you to be constantly logged in to Google. Since many people already do that I could see this becoming more popular, but as a more privacy-minded individual I don't feel comfortable giving Google any more information than I absolutely have to.

I used a similar service called Flattr for a while, but it had its own shortcomings (couldn't choose a custom split, for example).

Basically: A tipbot for content creators. You send the service money, set a monthly budget and then click flattr buttons on the sites you want to support. Flattr then takes your monthly budget and divides it evenly between the people you've flattr'd. Really really awesome concept and it would work REALLY well with doge ;)

http://flattr.com/

>You decide how big your total monthly budget is. Regardless of how many creators you will support, the total of your donations will be this budget.

>You can change the budget at any time.

>To be able to give, you transfer money to your Flattr account. The budget you chose will be taken from your Flattr account each month, similar to how a pre-paid telephone card works.

>Whenever you read, watch and listen to content you want to support, you simply flattr it. Remember that you can flattr as many times you want during a month, as you never will exceed your chosen budget.

>At the end of each month, we divide your budget into as many pieces as you made flattrs. For example 25 flattrs will divide your budget into 25 pieces. With a 10 euro budget, each piece is 40 cents.

I never said anything about banning ads outright. Most people choose to deal with ads. I choose not to. In lieu of ads, services like Flattr exist.

Ad platforms are scummy as hell and tend to serve malware. Blocking ads in your browser is a prudent way of protecting your computer and the personal information within it.

Awesome stuff! I've used CoSketch before, but I like yours a lot better.

Three things:

• The pencils could use a little smoothing. I'm using a pen tablet for writing and it looks a bit ugly.
• The links for sharing are a bit weird. I recommend links that look like this http://awwapp.com/draw/aa771f6d51 and keep them "persistent" in the sense that two people visiting the same link can immediately share a drawing. This way, I can send a single bookmark to my friends and we don't have to change the link for each session.
• Not sure about monetization, but I'm willing to give donations via Flattr.

The first result for "Kickstarter for developers": http://fundry.com/about

Except that doesn't translate your dollars into "tokens".

Edit, I believe the one you are thinking of is Flattr.

Oh really? And what is that class action suit against Huffington Post all about?

Certainly, your point in defense of the Reddit admins' is valid. But lets not forget that the links and comments are basically given by Reddit subscribers to a profit-making entity (Conde Nast). Sure, it's a two way street. The contributors wouldn't do it if they didn't get something out of it.

As this web thing continues to evolve and develop, we can a continuation of what has always been a constant re-negotiation of the relationships between all the different entities involved - including developers, infrastructure providers, content providers, and the investors behind much of it.

If Conde Nast can't provide Reddit in the form that the Reddit community likes, then the Reddit community will leave. (Or at least the more discerning and capable will.) I would rather be tempted to pay good content providers for the article or comment I just read, than be annoyed with more and more commercial activity in my face.

The Flatter model is pretty good, where you pledge tips to content creators at the "point of purchase" - as you enjoy that content on the web, and then "monetize" those tips by making a bulk payment for your accumulated web browsing all in one lump sum.

@aenea

"do you think that publishers still have any value in an ebook world"? In a word, No. They are as irrelevant as typewriters in an era of computers.

"How do you propose paying good authors?" Flattr

"because those huge names in publishing seem to pay for a lot of other authors" Irrelevant in an age when Amazon makes self publishing to the world as easy as a click.

"authors aren't going to have a chance." Actually the accurate statement is authors need publishers like tits on a bull. The cream will rise and the shit will sink. How anyone defines exquisite or excrement is their decision.

• 1) Follows the guide: two syllables are easier to remember than more
• 2) Available as a net destination (http://flattr.com/)
• 3) Isn't limited in meaning to 'flatter' since it can also connote 'flat rate' as intended
• 4) In a language where no less an authority than George Bernard Shaw legitimately proposed "ghoti = fish", a Swede can name a web site Flattr with no fear of offending too many folk.

Like kleinbl00 said, lots of place already exist to show your music. But as you said in your post, there's more to do than just post music.

Maybe doing a market place, where we could buy redditor music ?

Exactly like a subreddit, but in addition to the "X comments share save hide" at the bottom of each submission, a little button "flattr" to give a little love and money to the user. Or a button "buy". ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | Awesome Tune | |1046 submitted 9 hours ago by awesome_redditor | | 584 comments share save hide flattr buy this tune | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- If you like that idea, I can contact the admin to see if we can implement that. (They would ask their share, but yeah, that would be fair)

Flattr is one way.

Piracy is hardly the danger portrayed. That is what Neil Gaiman, Paulo Coelho and others are trying to say. Piracy is feared by publishers just as early radio caused irrational panic among musicians.

I've been using it & really enjoying it for the last couple days. Really nice work.

Quick question: is RethinkDB pubsub supported? I couldn't find anything in the repo docs.

EDIT: I found this which enlightened me: http://rethinkdb.com/blog/go-irc-bot/

Really good work. Thanks again. It's exciting how much easier my app is now configured to scale horizontally. You should add a link to that blog post in your wiki, or maybe import it in as an up to date repo, maybe.

Double edit!: I see you have made use of "Changes" in your ToDo example, https://github.com/dancannon/GoRethink_TodoDemo/search?utf8=✓&q=changes

Flattr'd.

Yes we are on the right way but still things need to be done. I for mine am a big fan of RDD and yes PR and accessibility is a big thing. For now i guess even if we have good PR it is still to hard for an "average" social Media person to understand things. and How the whole ecosystem works. So i would suggest to do there some "enlightenment work" even the article i made on business2community.com was okay to attract people and get thigns rolling but something like this should more or less be rolling each week at least 3 to 4 times. And having read some comments her i was more or less shocked. One article can not or will not move the price of RDD this is what a lot of ppl think here. I think RDD has the chance to be like the http://flattr.com/ of crypto if it is done right. The question is how to make this all working for the average guy. Think on a person which does FB on a daily Job. even if he would install the FB Tippingbot how he would get some coins. Buy BTC first with USD and than exchange to RDD - there are to many steps to do. I have daily calls with PPL around me from non crypto world who are asking me about BTC as they have heard about MTGOX etc and think now is the place to jump on the board etc. If i start to explain them more about the system they are, eh i just wanted to buy some BTC like i buy Gold and not the whole shananigang around it. Seems still to complicated all for the average dude and gall

Yeah, that's Flattr. It's pretty big in Germany, with some bloggers living off it, and it's also big in some niches, like electronic music (it's worth noting that C418 and Notch were Flattr early adopters). I've been trying to push Flattr for a while in here...

I'm in one sense a bit disappointed to see Patreon take off, because the're competing with an inferior model. The cognitive cost of micropayments issue that Flattr solves is real, and Patreon's failure to deal with it is going to limit how many it can be useful for.

But Patreon's success is understandable, too. The very issue I talk about is going to make it more profitable for early adopters, and Patreon is also psychologically nicer to the creators (the patrons are "your" supporters, and you don't get the "indignity" of one-off 0.10$ payments for your art which is surely worth a lot more.)

And for those that want the artist to still get paid, you could use Flattr as an alternative payment method. Sure, it's not very big yet, but I believe that's one good way to move the industry forward.

I believe scientific research is very important, when it's applicable research.

May I ask what you're researching? If I consider it valuable I'd be happy to donate to your ChipIn or Flattr funds.

I don't support a government job just because it's a government job, but I don't want it dissolved for that reason alone either. If I think you're doing a good service, I'd be happy to pay for it voluntarily, without the need for government force, and I bet you can get plenty more people here who are willing to back their words with actions.

So, what kind of research are you doing?

Well yea, I was suggesting a subscription based system with unlimited access to everything, kind of like Netflix, but more expansive. Your money would get divided among which movies you watch, or maybe an ability to choose how you want it divided a la Flattr.

You're having such a splendid time blowing smoke back and forth, I'm loathe to permit reality to intrude. Suffice to say "typesetting" died with the transition from metal letters to digital printing.

As to whether it is ethical to pirate an ebook, I suggest it is no less moral than charging more for the ebook than the paperback edition.

Most critically, while you are having tea and crumpets and discussing how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, ebooks are passing paper in new sales. Now, if you are a publisher and fail to grasp what that means to your over pricing party, the pirates will -without so much as a kiss my ass- teach you an economic lesson that won't stop till you are out of business.

And to bring this on point precisely, the author makes NOTHING, nada, zip from the sale of a used book. Justifying the process by saying it keeps others employed misses the sharp edge of is it more or less ethical to pirate an ebook or purchase a used print edition?

I prefer paying the author directly if you enjoy the material whether you acquire the work as a printed book in a second hand shop or a fresh digital copy from a pirate site. I have no problem cutting out the publisher and paying the author, editor, et al. Flattr empowers you to eliminate the guilt.

I agree authors should be compensated. I am just unconvinced that the only way to compensate them is by restricting everyone from copying and creating such artificial scarcity/poverty.

For books/natural language works:

People seem to author a lot of "free" content on the web using advertising.

http://flattr.com seems promising as well.

Copyright restrictions on corporate entities seems fine as well.

Some old examples of British authors making money in the American market back when they weren't granted copyright on works in America, simply by signing first-exclusivity deals with publishers, who could publish the books first and thus sell them early.

Another possibility I find appealing: Instead of restricting everyone from copying, restrict only the publishers/hard-copy sellers. Allow them to sell copies, for example, but require that they add "COPY OF" in large print, as well as some text that the author demands them to place there (e.g: Get original at..).

I think if one is imaginative, there could be various restrictions that are less restrictive than copyright that could be used and still might give enough of an incentive to author new works.

If all else fails, copyright could still be used if it had a reasonable time restriction on it (e.g: 5 years or less).

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Reddit Gold is kind of like the service one of the founders of the pirate bay set up, flattr.com. You put in some money into an account and continue browsing the web. You then like, gild, upvote or whatever on websites. At the end of the month, your money is distributed evenly between each like.

One of the Piratebay founders started a site for social donations called Flattr. I'm not sure, exactly, if it's similar to paypal, but I do know that some people do think about this problem. I'd hope that a social/decentralized version is in the works by somebody. Of course, the issue you get with such a system is accountability, and then all the legalisms with it (and restrictions that turn it into a police effort and then... you end up with another paypal type system. Hrmph...

I recently ran into a question concerning "noncommercial use".

Suppose I remix a painting and put up a flattr button so that people can give me money if they enjoy my (derivative) work. Is this commercial use or not? On one hand, people wouldn't have any incentive to flattr me if I didn't use the original artwork, but on the other hand, I don't sell anything.

How would you / the pirate party solve this problem in a fair way for all content creators?

Bingo! That is the new paradigm. Why do we keep holding on to old systems with big labels and old propositions ? All the needed functions are ready and available ( lower transaction cost would help) Are we willing to give back a few bucks or cents for enjoyment and the fun we get from music?

Right now there are nice initiatives trying out this model: http://flattr.com/ , http://www.kachingle.com/ , http://tiptheweb.org/

Definitely. I think flattr is great. The problem is that people determine their own donation amount, which may be unfair.

I think a mandatory flattr system based on income tax would be more efficient:

• We already have an income tax system to distinguish low and high earners, collect the money, enforce it, etc.

• Poor people who cannot afford anything will still have access to all content, as will everyone, making everyone significantly richer in resources.

• Rich people will fund more authorship than they do today, just as they fund more road building/etc than they do today. This may actually allocate more funds for authorship.

• Authors will have more incentive to cooperate constructively in more efficient development (Payment to each is less mutually exclusive)

• Defective-by-design/DRM will be a thing of the past

What's interesting about this article is Flattr.

See that little icon down to the left side? This is the largest, most reputable site I've ever seen using the Flattr micropayment service. Maybe the whole micropayments idea is starting to take hold?

(Not incidentally, these are the guys from The Pirate Bay.)

http://flattr.com

Nice one! Good example of how the business model is changing and you could support authors like this would be using Flattr! (social micro donations, http://flattr.com) A great example is David Flanagan that got told by fans that they wanted to support his work. He joined and here's an example of the support for his book JavaScript the Definite Guide: https://flattr.com/thing/269858/JavaScript-The-Definitive-Guide

Maybe this could work for Andy as well! (does he have twitter? Ah screw it! I'll email him!) :)

As you talk about smart cards, payment and future bank implementation, I’d like to hear your stance on the following projects (if they are relevant to you at all; I was reminded of them when I read your bio):

• Bitcoin, the virtual currency – the special thing is that transactions are non-revokable
• Flattr and other micropayment systems
• Square, the card reader for mobile phones

What do you generally think about them (if you know them), where do you see problems, do you know other innovative payment and banking solutions?

Thank you!

You should get a flattr account. It would make donating towards the movie a lot easier. Sometimes people do want to contribute towards the film and the director, but torrenting is just so convenient.

You could also create a paypal account as many people have pointed out.

Since I live in Brazil, I'm going to have a hard time buying the conventional media, but I'll be sure to spread the word, and donate if there's way!

Flattr Check it out. It's a brilliant way to a new economy that rewards artists equitably. PM me for another revenue increasing idea if you're interested. No joke, I have invested serious time in thinking about and devising a solution.

Look, I don't make the rules nor do I judge whether anyone is worth what they are paid. Personally I wouldn't piss on James Patterson and Scott Brick even if I could put them both out with a single stream were they in flame.

Simultaneously, I feel rewarding the author, editor and audio production crew of an excellent work is not only fair it is very wise if I wish to enjoy them again in the future. Flattr enables anyone to assure their favorites are well compensated for their work sans 80%+ going in the publisher's pocket.

PS: As the owner of of over 800 purchased audiobooks, I have no problem paying Audible's current price but I believe it is absurd and unsustainable as the publishing industry's business model fails.

Slightly off-topic, but have you considered using flattr for donations as well? Since (I assume) most of your donations are small, their system would take less off the top and you would have more money without so much going to support corporatists.

Also there's a donation network associated with Flattr that is fond of libertarian causes. Wikileaks got a significant amount of cash via Flattr, and they have a reddit-esque system where upvotes mean money. This system means that joining the network would give you more publicity as well.

But should really be interpreted as something that will make music piracy easier and more efficient. This is The Pirate Bay, the largest home of unapologetic pirates. They used to taunt anyone who sent them letters to take down files.

Sounds like you want something like Peter Sunde's new project.

There is an interesting micropayment website, http://flattr.com

It gives funds away to those persons which you upvote. So you could contact players and suggest they setup flattr accounts and maybe with replay channels(casted games), which you (and maybe others) would upvote later - should be really easy to do, just a static page per player with one button or alternatively a dynamic page with button per replay per player. This way funds could be raised to players. Your up-votes could depend on the number of channel views or some other system. Others could also chip in and magnify the returns or maybe even choose where the funds go themselves (player or caster).