@Edent Really depends on the payment provider. If only we already had #gnutaler aka the global payment system that we were denied.

@Edent
The technical side of microtransactions is simple - anyone can add a button wherever. Getting a payment processor to perform the actual financial transaction has so far been more or less impossible.

The only payment processor that any fraction of people actually use are Visa/MasterCard - and they will change you ~30¢ + %5 per transaction, so you will lose money (be charged more than the tip is worth) on every tip you are sent that's under ~$1.

@Edent think it would be great to something like this. Lots of creatives I'd like the option to easily tip. Could it be done in a client app?

Before I go and build something, does anyone have a template for all the payment services?

Looking for a bunch of buttons which are *consistent* in size / shape.

All the official ones seem to be as different as possible!

@Edent hmmm, on the one hand, being able to give creatives payment for their work is a nice idea.
On the other hand introducing profit motive on posting is kind of a major reason commercial social media is so toxic. Do we want that incentive structure here?

@Edent In reply to your first question: Liberapay.
I wouldn't like it in the normal post overview, but on the profile, for sure.

@Edent I'm confused by the concept of paying/tipping for a particular post. I can't think of a single interaction I've had which would cross that threshold where I feel their comment or assistance was sufficiently helpful or valuable to me to send money.

But maybe something to tip instance admins?

@Edent
🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔
Should blocking cost money (paid to instance mod's)?
Could such a system be abused?

@Edent i don't see how that would work for "mastodon" as a whole. maybe individual servers might like to get into bed with a payment processor, but "Mastodon"?

Might as well ask if we'd like a "reverse global warming" button. sure, that would be useful. But. But.

@Edent I'm afraid integrating something like this into the platform would lead to perverse incentives like monetization, bots, bait posting, influencer culture and a lot of the capitalist nonsense that has destroyed mainstream social media.

I think it's fine to ask for tips or donations or aid in a post but where the actual platform is concerned we need to remember the medium is the message.

@Edent To spin it even a bit further/weirder?. Could tipping/subscriptions be a federated service itself? You set a limit on your account and can reach anyone that has it enabled. As a bonus you get to decide whether to tip public on a specific post or to the recipient or as DM.
Anyone not interested in the noise could just mute the servers.

@Edent Wouldn't trust any of this without proper 2FA, sadly added friction for security would probably also decrease commitment.

@Edent @neil this is “one of those things”… stripe/paypal have 30c+3% per transaction

So if you want to handle microtipping, you need someone to hold onto the tips and then pool them together to have a “payment consolidation” period… or escrow style.

A lot of trust plus dealing with taxes and international currencies and exchange rates etc etc.

And I dislike blockchain….. but as a concept, I’d love the idea of content creators getting paid.. but maybe patreon is a better option for creators.

@Edent

I like the idea. Might be a good place to use e.g. GNUTaler.

@Edent that is awesome!

@Edent Maybeee, for people producing art, videos, etc and using Mastodon to promote, though in that case there are existing payment options available (Patreon, etc). Not sure it needs to be built in here too. 🤔

@Edent Rather than changing Mastodon, a solution might be to add a link in your webfinger data.
"rel = https://sometipservice.com?id=foo@bar.com", then compatible clients can add the button.

@Edent might be desirable to some, but this would be the first part of the Mastodon UI I would have to use uBlock to hide. To me, emblematic of the constant depressing drive to monetise everything.

@Edent As alternative; this could be a browser extension instead :)

@Edent

Pixelfed has been talking about integrating with the web monetization API for a while now: https://webmonetization.org/