What is Flattr?

Flattr is a microdonation and payment platform designed to help people financially support online content creators. It was founded in 2010 in Sweden and allows users to make small contributions to digital media producers like bloggers, vloggers, musicians, podcasters, and websites.

Here's how it works: Users sign up for a Flattr account and connect either their credit card or PayPal account. They set a monthly contribution budget, often around $5-10. Throughout the month as they consume content online, they can choose to 'Flattr' pieces of content by clicking the Flattr button which content creators place on their sites. At the end of each month, the user's set budget is divided evenly among everything they Flattr'd that month. The content creator then gets a share of the payment.

So for example, if Bob sets his monthly budget at $10, and he Flattr'd 10 pieces of content, each of those creators would receive $1 from Bob for that month. The idea is to provide an easy way to financially support sites and creators you appreciate, without having to make an outright donation or payment for each piece of content.

Since its launch, over 500,000 creators have signed up with Flattr to receive payments from their readers and over 2 million Flattrs have been made to date. It allows creators of all types and sizes to potentially earn some revenue from their digital content by providing a simple payment infrastructure to readers. The service takes a 10% cut of all transactions.

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