Fediverse

super necessary if we expect anyone (outside of hobbyists) to even think of putting their content on the fediverse first or at the same time as other platforms

It‘s a two sided blade, but I get what you mean.

On one hand monetization is the thing that ruins platforms for me because it invites grifters and even decent people are becoming obsessed with numbers. Most people see content creation only as a career path and not something to do for fun anymore. I find that depressing at times.

On the other hand we currently live in a capitalist world and have to play by those rules to some extend. I learned most of the things I do for a living from Youtube because professionals do Blender tutorials as a side gig or even for a living. There probably wouldn‘t be nearly as much knowledge out there without this motivator. Or at least not in this form that is easy to understand for me. The official Blender documentation usually isn‘t the first place I‘m searching through when I have a problem.

So I see where you‘re coming from but it‘s a fine line between helpful and loathsome.

Client side support for a tipping link (Koffee, Patreon, crypto wallet, whatever the user's choice is) that is built in to the UI would go a long way.

I have high hopes for GNU Taler in that regard, as it is in theory super easy to include in any website and makes tipping small sums very feasible.

But in reality it is bogged down by bureocractic hurdles on the banking side, and I am starting to lose a bit of hope due to perpetual delays even after some banks promised to support it as part of an EU grant via Nlnet.

Keep it away is my strong advice. Having to deal with banks will mean having to deal with regulations. Having to deal with crypto means having to deal with crytpo bros. Having to deal with paywalls is a barrier to entry

The internet was a better place without money touching everything!

Patreon kinda fits that, but I'm not sure about their open-sourceness

Really happy to see this discussion here. Here is no "correct" path here, but is deeply important that the one we choose is intentional and thoughtfully considered by the folks these platforms serve

Both their audience and their contributors.

Maybe it's just nostalgia but in my opinion, with youtube it went all to shit the moment the money started to be involved. Algorithm chasing, advertisement, reactive content, sponsors, quickly generated videos, ... and all the other shit.

So if monetization, then let's try to avoid same mistakes

A free and direct tip system that doesn't force you to use credit cards would be quite useful

Artists need exposure before monetization imho, which currently fedi lacks severely. So discoverability is what I suggest as priority to work on.

That said, algorithm free is the draw of fedi as well and I personally don't want my feed filled with excessive ad or self promo spam. Getting the right middle ground will be tricky.

After seeing your post on akkoma, I think I understand your point even better.
I want to support artists and would definitely buy music on fedi. I would rather just watch hobbyist make videos for peertube and especially for loops. But if it means that it would help the platform stay afloat I am way more open to the idea of monetization beyond just donations.

Thanks for bringing it up. Nobody likes to talk about money in the Fediverse, but it's a fact of life.

I've stopped making Peertube videos lately mainly because I got tired of donating. We've got to come up with a better solution.

If Fediverse software starts encouraging monetization, I don't think the userbase will even maintain the current strength.

If you allow artists to display their work in various communities along with the ability to post links in their profiles, but you restrict actual posts to disallow self-promotion, it's the best of both worlds, IMO.

In other words, if you can't include self-promotion in your community posts, but everyone knows you have the links in your profile, it attracts less grifters and keeps the feed clean, while allowing anyone interested to contact a poster directly or ask them promotional questions via DMs.

That said, hosting a full-fledged marketplace is not a good idea, IMO. There are laws and banks involved, which mean lawyers and taxes, and volunteer management does not work for that. There are already marketplaces that do that well, and allowing artists to post their own links of choice in their profiles will let them steer actual business to other platforms, while keeping the fediverse for display, review, share and critique. My opinion, anyway.

Where'd my other comment go? Editorial censorship takes this from "a really bad idea" to a super fucked up attempt at poisoning this beautiful place with the worship of wealth

Part of the headache here is that this situation inherently props up a few monopolistic platforms, rather than allowing people to use whatever payment system is available in their own countries. Some of this can be worked around using cryptocurrencies – famously, the Mitra project leverages Monero for this very purpose, although I'm told it now can accept other forms of payment as well.

Hell yeah, I didn't know about Mitra. It sounds like it's a Patreon esque kind of deal with what the payments part is for.

There is nothing stopping anyone from running ads and making deals with creators.

There is nothing stopping creators and hosters from accepting payments via Monero.

Also, we should stop trying to figure out how to make other people money.

Been thinking similarly. Really think it would be the perfect place for crypto given its decentralised nature but the fediverse hates that. Also think we need to solve the portable identity problem first. We can solve the portable identity with did the same way ATProto solved it and blockchain are an excellent backend for that. Ideally we would use XMR as its objectively the best blockchain and objectively better than fiat.

People pay money to the ISP. Usually too much money. ISP should distribute monies to content providers and leave the users alone.