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Flattr 2.0 launches to the public

blog.flattr.net

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Re: Flattr 2.0 launches to the public

#81

Post by johannes1234321 »

cyphar wrote: post #76
VickBear wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me, I have no idea what Flattr is and trying to read through their .com site gives me no insight really. I see it is supposed to be something that supports content creators and or creatives on the internet, but how and what?

Effectively, you allocate a portion of funds every month to Flattr. Over that month you can click the "flattr" button on any site that has one, and at the end of the month your monthly contribution is split evenly among all of your "flatter" choices. I don't know if they added recurring donations, last I looked at this service was a couple of years ago. EDIT: Apparently they've made it an extension that tracks your b…

That was Flattered 1.0. Peter Sunde let his connection to Flattered go to avoid issues with the PirateBay case, else there was the risk that the legal charges could have damaged flattr ... but Flattr 1.0 never managed to be really profitable (too few sites with a Flattr button -> not gaining many active users -> less sites with Flattr button) thus they sold out to those Adblocker Guys ....

Re: Flattr 2.0 launches to the public

#83

Post by eterm »

detaro wrote: post #50
eterm wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It shouldn't even be returning URLs, it should return URL hashes. Even returning URLs seems like a privacy nightmare.

Since the entire purpose of transmitting URLs is making decisions (payment, provide info to potential customers) based on the URL, hashing wouldn't do anything.

If you have the whitelist, you compare the hash on the backend to known hashes. That's how "Safebrowsing" things work, no reason why it couldn't work here too.

Re: Flattr 2.0 launches to the public

#84

Post by josteink »

drops wrote: post #6

Seems like a lot of hassle. Why shouldn't creators just keep using Patreon? None of the buzzwords in the post would convince me to switch.

> Seems like a lot of hassle. Why shouldn't creators just keep using Patreon?

Speaking as someone who used flattr for years before I heard of patreon, this question sounds rather backwards to me.

That said: I’m pretty sure I dislike the changes done here, and it will definitely cause me to reconsider my usage of flattr as a whole.

Re: Flattr 2.0 launches to the public

#85

Post by josteink »

aptsurdist wrote: post #11

I was initially very excited to see this post. I have always believed that flattr's subscription/contribution model could be so important for supporting creatives and grassroots efforts. So I'm disappointed that it seems I can't signup and contribute without installing a browser plugin that can read and change all my browser data and browser history... nope. Flattr team, please fix that and I'll consider giving you a…

> So I'm disappointed that it seems I can't signup and contribute without installing a browser plugin that can read and change all my browser data and browser history... nope.

The sad thing is you used to be able to do that. I can’t see why they would take that ability away...

Re: Flattr 2.0 launches to the public

#86

Post by bluetwo »

IvanK_net wrote: post #5

I would like to point out two things about Flattr: - Whenever other people send you money, Flattr keeps 10% from that money. - When you make money with Flattr, Flattr expects you to give this money back to other authors you like. And they will send them back to other authors. As the money are sent back and forth, and 10% are removed at each step, Flattr is the only one actually making any money.

Schyramid Peme?

Re: Flattr 2.0 launches to the public

#87

Post by gorhill »

growt wrote: post #24
CaveTech wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of people have issue with the fact they allow certain ads through if the publisher pays them enough. They claim that these ads are not aggressive or distracting, but the optics are pretty bad. A for profit ad-blocking company that makes money from ads.

They are a company so they have to make money (Most of HN readers should relate to that). Some of this money is also used to fight law-suits, keeping ad blocking legal (at least in germany [1]), something a free solution like ublock origin can not do. [1] https://www.golem.de/news/adblock-plus-olg-muenchen-erklaert... (german)

> something a free solution like ublock origin can not do.

The core of the lawsuit was about Eyeo's business model specifically, charging for being listed in a whitelist. This of course does not apply to uBO.

Re: Flattr 2.0 launches to the public

#88

Post by bradbeattie »

notheguyouthink wrote: post #75
IvanK_net wrote: post #5

I would like to point out two things about Flattr: - Whenever other people send you money, Flattr keeps 10% from that money. - When you make money with Flattr, Flattr expects you to give this money back to other authors you like. And they will send them back to other authors. As the money are sent back and forth, and 10% are removed at each step, Flattr is the only one actually making any money.

Wow. I used to like Flattr (though, I only used it once), but this is a terrible design decision from them, imo. I'm not sure what the right solution is, but this is pretty gross as you describe it. Off the top of my head, the only thing that would make me feel better about Flattr is if they somehow tracked money as it flows through Flattr, and prevented double-taxing content creators. I do find my perception interes…

An easy enough solution might be to take a cut when money is moved in to or out of Flattr, but to take nothing when moved between Flattr accounts.

Re: Flattr 2.0 launches to the public

#89

Post by tertius »

jyrkesh wrote: post #52

This might seem super nitpicky (I apologize in advance), but the domain and blog UX needs a little fixing. My 30 second experience: - skim blog, yeah, looks good, heard of this before, hope they're successful, , whatever - click logo to try and get to main site - sent to blog.flattr.net instead - go to address bar, remove "blog." - 404 - ugh, maybe they're one of those that only left "www." to go their root page - ad…

> - click logo to try and get to main site > - sent to blog.flattr.net instead

This is everywhere. FAQ pages, wiki pages, blogs etc. I hate this trend.

Re: Flattr 2.0 launches to the public

#90

Post by Deimorz »

eterm wrote: post #83
detaro wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since the entire purpose of transmitting URLs is making decisions (payment, provide info to potential customers) based on the URL, hashing wouldn't do anything.

If you have the whitelist, you compare the hash on the backend to known hashes. That's how "Safebrowsing" things work, no reason why it couldn't work here too.

You'd have to know which site each hash relates to, so that you know who to give the money to. So the hashing wouldn't gain anything, since the system only works if they can reverse the hash.

It can work for Safebrowsing because they can just have a gigantic list of hashes and it doesn't matter which specific site the user is visiting, only whether it's any site in the list. But for Flattr to work, you need to know which specific site it is.

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