> New tipping and micropayments features will hopefully make it easier for smaller creators to get paid. But for now, much of the creator economy is still suppo

> New tipping and micropayments features will hopefully make it easier for smaller creators to get paid. But for now, much of the creator economy is still supported by pricier subscriptions, forcing consumers to be selective. The primary reason smaller creators aren't "getting paid" isn't because technology is impeding it. It's because the number of people who actually see fit to pay them anything is very limited. Consumer content is largely a commodity. There's an almost infinite supply of it, and the bar to it having any meaningful monetary value is very high and increasing constantly. Even content that has decent entertainment or informational quality is often close to worthless commercially because there is so much of it. If everyone had a browser-based digital wallet and could easily "tip" creators nominal amounts with one or two clicks, I believe very few creators would see a lift in their earnings. This is really no different than street performers, except the performances are available online. Lots of people will stand by and watch a street performer do something cool, but most put nothing into the tip jar and the number of street performers who earn a respectable wage from their performances is close to nil.