I’ve been using Flattr for just over a month now.  If you haven’t heard of Flattr yet, it’s a social micropayment system – an easy way to show people you appreciate their work. There’s no form to fill out or credit card info to enter every time you want to donate a few cents – it’s as easy as the Facebook “Like” button.  In my first month using Flattr, I spent about $2.75 and made 17 cents.  Considering my income, $2.75 is a very reasonable amount for me to spend in a month supporting content.

17 cents isn’t a lot of money, but it’s a heck of a lot more than I ever made in a month with google ads, and a Flattr button is far less annoying than text ads urging you to buy lawn products or diet pills.  I like participating in a system that directly supports content creators and it’s good for my ego when people Flattr my posts (or comment, for that matter). Plus, you’ve got to wonder how boring your site is if text ads from the Discovery Institute are more appealing than your content.  Right now, I’m going to use my Flattr earnings to pay to Flattr other people’s content, but if I’m lucky, I might start making enough to help pay for hosting this blog, too!

I would say that the only downside to using Flattr right now is that it hasn’t been widely adopted yet in the US.  In my ideal world, all the musicians, authors, bloggers, and news sites I read would have Flattr buttons, but so far, most of the content I’ve Flattred I’ve found through the Flattr site.

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