I’ve recently started using Flattr:
http://flattr.com/profile/illformed
I was wondering if anyone else here uses it?
It’s designed to help people (musicians, artists, programmers, writers, etc) receive small donations or tips from anyone who appreciates their work, while at the same time giving something of their own back to others. Essentially, you must give something in order to get something in return. The idea is that you put some money (currently a minimum €2 euro) into your Flattr account, then you browse around and ‘Flattr’ any content that you enjoy (a Flattr button can be embedded on your site, for example), while others are also doing the same for any content that you have created. At the end of each month, the amount of money people decided to give is divided evenly between all the things they ‘Flattered’, and each of those creators will receive a little share of the money, and vice versa.
Examples:
- If Bob decides to give €5.00 and he Flattrs 5 people that month, then each of those people will receive €1.00 from Bob.
- If Sally decides to give €2.00 and she Flattrs 10 people that month, then each of those people will receive €0.20 from Sally.
- If Joe devices to give €10.00 and he only Flattrs Bob and Sally that month, then Bob and Sally will receive €5.00 each from Joe.
It seems quite small at the moment, but I think it might take off nicely. It makes it quite fun and hassle-free to say ‘thanks’ to people for their work, and perhaps share a little bit of beer money in the process. You don’t really have to think/worry about specific donation amounts, you just put a bit into your account, then enjoy simply clicking the Flattr buttons of anything interesting that you find.
I’ve already spotted a few interesting people on there, such as:
kaneel: http://flattr.com/profile/kaneel
paniq: http://flattr.com/profile/paniq
Mosaik/Rymdlego/Radix: http://flattr.com/profile/rymdlego
Carbon Based Lifeforms: http://flattr.com/profile/carbonbasedlifeforms
Planet Boelex: http://flattr.com/profile/planetboelex
Edit: I do have a few invites if anyone here is genuinely interested in it, or you can simply request a beta invite from the site. It took about a day or so for mine to arrive.
More info…
BBC news article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8512263.stm
About page: http://flattr.com/about
A quick video that explains some of the basics:
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