MakingMicropaymentsWork

(ReadWith) MicroPaymentsOnBlockChains

Someone asked a question on Quora about BitCoin and MicroPayments

I trotted out the usual argument from ClayShirky about the cognitive cost being prohibited but then I started thinking.

Maybe the one company who could make Micropayments work would be FaceBook. Why? Because they already have a system of micro-decisionmaking that people are habituated to.

These are the "like" button and the "see more" fold on items scrolling past in your FB feed.

As you scroll down your feed you are already making these decisions ... should I "see more" to open the rest of the article hidden beneath the fold? Is this item worth rewarding with a like?

If FB readers could be persuaded to put money INTO the site at the beginning of the month, and if FB writers could optionally put a unified price on the "see more" fold, then FB could run quite a plausible microcontent market.