The need for educating others about the Web Monetization Standard has been a common realisation among Grant for the Web grantees as they have begun to share their Web Monetization projects, and turned their focus to encouraging others to adopt Web Monetization. It has surprised many at what a big and important job education is in fostering understanding and adoption of Web Monetization.
To help the Web Monetization Community, and past, present and future Web Monetization projects, we looked to the Web Monetization Community to both identify the pain / confusion points in educating others about Web Monetization, and to discover what is working for others in educating their communities about Web Monetization. In this series of posts, we share our findings.
Web Monetization Pain / Confusion Points
Below you will find a number of the Web Monetization Pain and Confusion Points that our community has identified as they've worked to educate their communities about Web Monetization. Our hope is that through the community tips shared later in this series, that you will find solutions to addressing these Pain and Confusion Points in educating your community about Web Monetization.
It Sounds Too Good to Be True.
Sadly with the internet full of scams, many in our community have been met with fear and skepticism that Web Monetization is too good to be true, especially when needing to set up personal data systems of digital wallets to access.
How Much Will I Make?
In an age where we are all wanting for more time, is setting up Web Monetization a worthwhile investment of my time?
Lack of Critical Mass
With so many other things on our 'To Do' lists, why don't I hold off until Web Monetization is more popular.
What Am I Getting for My $5 USD?
I can already access many things on the web for free, so why should I spend $5 USD / month for a membership?
Complicated Onboarding
There are many steps to integrating Web Monetization, requiring multiple sites, making it easy to put off.
Few Users Utilise Browser Extensions
Outside of more technical savvy internet users, many people are unaware of browser extensions and have not used them. Nor do they understand the benefits to adding a new browser to their mobile devices.
Limited Tech Literacy
Limited technology literacy is a hurdle for many in setting up Web Monetization on their work. Even if they are familiar with adding plugins to their sites, digital wallets are new and daunting to them, lending to the query, is this safe?
Have You Identified Other Pain / Confusion Points?
Tell us about them in the comments below.
Stay tuned for future posts in this series as we share Community Tips on Educating Others About Web Monetization!
Top comments (3)
Thanks Erica! You've covered all the pain points we've run into repeatedly and can't think of any new ones off the top of my head... most of ours fall into the 'complicated onboarding' and the misunderstanding about the actual costs of free content on the internet. I'll add to this if I come up with anything new though! Thanks!
Concerns where website owners can earn the same amount as others while not doing the slightest to improve experience to subscribers--or worse, employs many dark UX patterns while still enjoying WM payments. If "he doesn't put effort while enjoying benefits then why should I?" mentality spread it'll definitely hinder WM growth in the future.
Think you should add something about user privacy concerns