I’ll pay for your art

People are so used to getting online content for free. Why would anyone pay a blogger when they can dive into YouTube or TikTok for bottomless entertainment? Even if someone stumbles upon a personal website they find interesting, 99% won’t consider spending a dime to show their appreciation. A blog post could move them to tears, but they’d still never think about the writer’s mortgage.

The flood of free content on the internet has made it incredibly hard for small-scale artists to thrive. Every creator, willingly or not, is competing with the likes of MrBeast and Squid Game. Sure, platforms highlight “rising creators,” but only a handful earn enough to pay their bills. Finding an audience is hard enough. Asking others to pay for your art? Even Ethan Hunt would say no to that mission.

Most people don’t even realize they’re part of the “attention economy.” After years of consuming free content, clicking “like” or “subscribe” starts to feel like enough of a payment. Leaving a comment? That’s like leaving an extra tip on the table. Meanwhile, platforms reap the profits from this massive attention, while creators with 100 likes and 11 comments are left wondering how much longer they can keep going.

For all its scams and hype, the Web3 movement gave creators like me a glimmer of hope. The idea was simple: a culture where audiences directly pay their favorite creators. Imagine tipping a blogger the way you’d buy a book at your local bookstore. That’s what I hoped for.

My question is: do we really want to get stuck in the same theater? I don’t want to be just another face in the crowd, watching whatever happens to be trending on Instagram. Diversity matters—because if we don’t support it, we risk becoming a bunch of programmed machines. That’s why I believe it’s so important to support independent creators who can’t help but express themselves.

I already told you that I’ll read your blog. Let me go one step further. I’ll pay for your art. I’ll “buy you a coffee,” just like I would at a coffee shop with a friend. If you use Patreon, Ko-Fi, Liberapay, or something similar, send me the link. I’ll support your endeavor—now with both attention and money.

I’m not rich. I’m struggling to make ends meet myself, so I won’t be able to support everyone in my feed. But as I earn more, I’ll support more creators. Because… why not? Creative work should be an exchange, not exploitation.