I have been granted a Mozilla Fellowship!
I have been writing recently about the future of digital currency, including micropayments and new models for creator compensation. In November, I hosted the Future of Micropayments conference, an online event focused on possible paths forward for these new financial models. I’m excited to continue this work next year with a Mozilla Fellowship, made possible by Coil.
Mozilla fellowships are devoted to the prospect of a free and healthy internet, and it will be an honor to have the time to write about something I’ve been increasingly interested in — the future of money, alternative business models on the web, and how we can generate new business models for creator compensation.
I’m especially excited to be granted this fellowship alongside Matt Mankins, formerly at Condé Nast. He’s someone who has been experimenting with micropayment models for a long time. You can see his latest presentation at the Future of Micropayments 2020 conference here.
Why work on this project?
The web has dramatically transformed the way we live our lives and conduct our business, and in this time of unpredictable change, it’s especially exciting to think about the evolving shape of money in the past, present, and future.
Revenue models on the web are fundamentally broken. Content is constantly blocked by unavoidable advertisements and obscured behind countless paywalls. Rather than being free to explore, we are forced to pay admission — in the form of site-by-site subscription models to a constantly growing number of services.
With all of these obstacles, the web has become a claustrophobic place. There is very little room for anyone to feel like they have even a little space for themselves — let alone for independent creators to be seen and heard in a space dominated by enormous, omnipresent companies.
Early iterations of the web were geared towards independent creations — thriving with fresh content and allowing space for small organizations to grow a worldwide following.
30 years later, the human part of the web is nearly gone, and so is the longevity of content. The half-life of a website — and the content we share — has diminished.
While there may not be a way back to the web which once was, we can look to possible futures, and consider more responsible ways to develop going forward.
What’s Next?
My work in 2021 will be to look at systems of compensation, create a map of the territory, and map out alternatives to how our current online experience could evolve.
This work will come in the form of monthly articles on related topics, as well as speeches, conference talks, and a series of video interviews.
In the meantime, here’s the post from August 2020 that kicked a lot of this off: We’re Missing an Entire Universe of Web Payments: How to Fix the Web for Creators. There are some awesome talks up on the The Future of Micropayments conference website, and I’ll be sharing shorter thoughts on Twitter @caseorganic, and through rooms in Clubhouse.
The easiest way to subscribe to updates on this research is through following me on Medium, caseorganic.com, and on Mozilla Pulse.
Thank you!
I’d like to give a huge thanks to the Mozilla Foundation and Coil, who made this fellowship possible. Extra thanks to the ultra kind and encouraging Desigan Chinniah, and Future of Micropayments co-organizer Anselm Hook.
I’d love to hear from you!
I’m looking to expand my network and ensure I balance my perspectives with as many voices as possible. If you’re someone that’s excited or interested in these developments, please get in touch! Just fill out this form, or comment below, and I’ll get in touch with you.
Learn more about Mozilla Fellowships & Awards, which are made possible through work with Mozilla partners.
