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> With micropayments, I now have to think about how much it is worth to me (is this blog post, comment, sketch worth $0.50? $0.10?). You just turned a brainless

> With micropayments, I now have to think about how much it is worth to me (is this blog post, comment, sketch worth $0.50? $0.10?). You just turned a brainless moment of enjoyment into a value judgement where I now have to become a critic and try to create some kind of inner framework for assigning value, etc. That was never how Flattr worked though. Flattr was just a button that could be placed on a page (next to "Facebook Like", etc.); if you click it, they'd get a portion of your monthly donation. The whole point was to (a) be as simple to use as a Facebook "like", and (b) always cost the same per month (since the monthly donation was divided up, there was no need to worry about clicking too many things; just click what you like). > Subscriptions bundle the friction into a single event (the conversion) and remove it for all future interactions. Micropayments are just constant papercuts. Clicking someone's Flattr button twice would "subscribe" to them (automatically put them in your donations every month). So again, Flattr was pretty much designed precisely to avoid these problems that you bring up...

takinola 3y ago
That's still a lot of friction. You would be surprised at how little friction is too much when it comes to consumer apps. Today alone, I have probably consumed a dozen or more pieces of content. I don't want to apply more thought than it takes to click a link or hit the play button. With this model, I have to (1) decide my overall monthly donation (2) decide if this content is worth donating to (3) remember to click the donate button. Sure, none of these actions is particularly onerous but it adds up over my day and I don't get any (additional) benefit from doing them. When I choose to subscribe to a creator, it is because I expect to derive sustained benefit from their work. That long(ish) term expectation of benefit is what motivates me to take the additional effort. I don't have any similar motivation for drive-by content and so I won't make the effort, however small.
- chriswarbo 3y ago
  > With this model, I have to (1) decide my overall monthly donation (2) decide if this content is worth donating to (3) remember to click the donate button. Sure, none of these actions is particularly onerous but it adds up over my day and I don't get any (additional) benefit from doing them. I'm confused when you say "it adds up over my day", since (1) is a one-time action you take when signing up to Flattr (e.g. I chose to donate £10 per month). I also wouldn't distinguish between (2) and (3): clicking the button is choosing to donate. > When I choose to subscribe to a creator, it is because I expect to derive sustained benefit from their work. That long(ish) term expectation of benefit is what motivates me to take the additional effort. Yet you could subscribe to a creator with Flattr for less effort (literally just click any of their Flattr buttons twice within a month; no need to "choose an amount" or anything). I'm very confused about how you think Flattr worked...

takinola 3y ago

That's still a lot of friction. You would be surprised at how little friction is too much when it comes to consumer apps. Today alone, I have probably consumed a dozen or more pieces of content. I don't want to apply more thought than it takes to click a link or hit the play button. With this model, I have to (1) decide my overall monthly donation (2) decide if this content is worth donating to (3) remember to click the donate button. Sure, none of these actions is particularly onerous but it adds up over my day and I don't get any (additional) benefit from doing them. When I choose to subscribe to a creator, it is because I expect to derive sustained benefit from their work. That long(ish) term expectation of benefit is what motivates me to take the additional effort. I don't have any similar motivation for drive-by content and so I won't make the effort, however small.

chriswarbo 3y ago
> With this model, I have to (1) decide my overall monthly donation (2) decide if this content is worth donating to (3) remember to click the donate button. Sure, none of these actions is particularly onerous but it adds up over my day and I don't get any (additional) benefit from doing them. I'm confused when you say "it adds up over my day", since (1) is a one-time action you take when signing up to Flattr (e.g. I chose to donate £10 per month). I also wouldn't distinguish between (2) and (3): clicking the button is choosing to donate. > When I choose to subscribe to a creator, it is because I expect to derive sustained benefit from their work. That long(ish) term expectation of benefit is what motivates me to take the additional effort. Yet you could subscribe to a creator with Flattr for less effort (literally just click any of their Flattr buttons twice within a month; no need to "choose an amount" or anything). I'm very confused about how you think Flattr worked...