TipTheWeb — Building a Better Web, Together | Hacker News Reader

TipTheWeb — Building a Better Web, Together

blog.tiptheweb.org

15 pointseferraiuolo13 comments

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Compared to others in this space.

Pros:

* Does not require publisher to embed code

* Allows pre-tipping

Cons:

* Requires active decision by user to tip (the fatal flaw of all such schemes)

It's unclear to me if the 'tipstream' has to be public or not. That was a big part of the Kachingle model.

You could always create an auto-tipping plugin for browsers, removing the only downside listed.

We’ve wanted to the decision to tip to be an active one, but low-barrier. Basically as close to bookmarking a link a possible, or like tweeting a link to share it. Automatic tipping would be difficult to balance things correctly. For example a funny YouTube video I may want to tip 25¢, but an open source project on GitHub I might want to tip $5.

All user accounts have Tip Streams that are a feed of the Tips that user has funded (you can make tips before you put money into your account). But, we have an option to make your account anonymous, removing all personal-identifiable information from your Tip Stream page.

> We’ve wanted to the decision to tip to be an active one, but low-barrier.

I'm generally of the opinion, though it is only a hunch, that any scheme requiring a user to actively tip for each site they like is doomed to fail.

I also think that the other problem with tip jar and/or Xanadu-style micropayment schemes is that people are uneasy about building up a surprising total. This is the advantage of Readability/Kachingle-style subscription services.

People are free to add money to their TipTheWeb account to use to fund their Tips at any time. Making a Tip isn't a financial transaction; this allows Tips to be as small as 5¢! And Tips can be made even if there isn't enough money to back it at the time it's made, and can be funded whenever the person wants to.

We’ve made everything about the service extremely flexible and low-key, and shouldn't cause any tense feelings. For example you can cancel Tips (up until they are paid out) if you made a mistake.

> Making a Tip isn't a financial transaction; this allows Tips to be as small as 5¢! And Tips can be made even if there isn't enough money to back it at the time it's made, and can be funded whenever the person wants to.

Tipjoy basically did this, but they still had the fundamental problem that the user has to remember to click in order for the tip to take place. I just don't think people are wired that way.

I admire the work you've done (I am, in part, working on a for-profit "competitor"), but I just don't think it's the right model. In terms of human factors, Readability is closest to perfect IMO.

With Readability you still have to "remember to click" the read now/later button, and you don't get to choose how much you want to support that article; you actually have to support it _before_ you even read it.

I stand corrected. Looks like I was projecting my own thinking on to their system. The closest to what I'm doing was Contenture, since shut down.

If they don't have one already, I expect an opt-out feature before too long. It's the first objection raised to my system whenever I talk to people about it.

Is your project up online somewhere?

At the moment, no. Believe it or not, I've managed to spin an honours project out of part of it (reliable user tracking) and I'm focusing on that at the moment.

In terms of the business model, Contenture was almost exactly what I thought up on my own.

Have you considered adding a way for content makers to require a small payment (via a Facebook Connect-esque popup)? It seems like you're halfway to micropayments.

TipTheWeb will remain focused on being a service for voluntary support of web content and specifically _not_ a payment system.

http://tiptheweb.org/answers/#tipping

Ah, okay; I skimmed and missed the non-profit part.

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