Flattr, and Why It’s Brilliant

Flattr >is an exciting new social networking / micro-payment service that allows you to set a donation amount that gets divided among all the different content you, um, flatter, online.

You start by making a small static contribution with the service. This money is always gone at the end of the month–whether it’s to people whose content you enjoy, or to a charity determined by flattr is up to you.

I’m thinking of this money as a pool of appreciation for Internet content. I create content and I want that content to be appreciated, and so I need to appreciate others’ content as well. It’s a beautiful thing.

So, let’s say you give $10 a month for your appreciation of all Internet content. This appreciation is divided by how many things you show appreciation for. If you flattr one article during the month, that article’s author will receive $10. If you flattr ten articles, each author will receive $1.

It’s a way of truly rewarding people who do things you enjoy–like Where the Hell is Matt, and XKCD, etc. Another thing that makes it compelling is knowing that every person you’re giving money to also has an account, which means they are givers as well. It’s frickin’ brilliant.

Here’s the video: