Let's get one thing straight. Pay walls are bad. There I said it. However there are creators who are not getting paid for what's their content is worth.
Many platforms attempted to solve this problem and they are not quite there yet.
In-browser Ads
Brave tried to push in-browser ads that could generate revenue for the users and traffic for the advertisers. It's not there yet because the entire pool is currently dependent on the advertiser funds vs the amount of users to distribute it is getting larger. So the system is barely hanging on so far.
Tipping Feature
read.cash and noise.cash make use of the tipping feature to distribute the similar pool of funds across users and the creators. And that too isn't working as expected but they are persisting. And I like this approach. Even the publish0x makes use of the similar model for both creators and the readers.
Patreon & Recurring Tipping
Liberapay and Patreon both are offering the option for recurring payment to the creators. And the creators who regularly develop content in art and few other niche are benefitting from it. But it seems like for many this model is not working out unless they engage with community on everyday basis, something many bloggers can't do.
Now comes another option for the monetizing your website or any form of the digital content online using the Web Monetization.
Image Credit: Web Monetization
Web monetization is javascript API that allows users to tip the website that has monetization enabled.
Currently there are integrations being developed for the various platforms for integrating the web monetization on them. Websites like coil.com and the cinnamon.com (which is video hosting platform) already have it enabled. All you have to do is include your payment pointer into the site.
Problem is currently only Puma Browser supports the usage of the web monetization payment to the site. But I suppose Firefox and the Brave and others may follow the trend next.
I feel that web monetization if allows multiple currencies in it's payment pointer can open up possibility to tip the creators using the HIVE. And HIVE developers can push for this integration for WordPress and few other platforms too.
This gets the word out for the HIVE as a platform and the blockchain. As we know more dApps making use of the HIVE, the more it spreads the word. Considering the web monetization is open project. So it would take some time to integrate HIVE on this project.
Concept like this is already being implemented by LBRY platform. But LBRY platform is currently accepting KYC based registration for creators and kind of maintaining their personal information, which is not something creators would want in current world scenario.
I think HIVE can benefit from the Tipping and the paywall functionality that is being offered by the web monetization project. This can reduce a lot of friction that many HIVE creators face due to accumulation of the voting in very limited amount of users. And this can distribute the effort across creators on and off the HIVE ecosystem.
