Introducing Worthyt (pronounced “worth it”)
Every day, we stumble across an article, video, or some other piece of content on the Internet that provides value to us or we’re passionate about. It happens all the time — from a Google search on what Bitcoin is, to an explainer video on the top ten amazing facts about octopuses. From those moments, we become more educated, or we discover a new conversation starter. On the other side of the content is the creator who made it and a platform like Hackernoon that offered the resources to bring that content to you.
Today, my team and I are introducing Worthyt, which is a tool that we built to allow content viewers like yourself (and us) to show support for these creators and platforms in a more direct manner.
The Worthyt Appreciation System
Available as an extension on Google Chrome or direct embed on some websites, Worthyt provides the opportunity for content viewers to show support for content we enjoyed. Think of it like Patreon or Steemit, but on websites/social media platforms you already view. Also, there is no subscription/commitment model, and users can withdraw funds immediately at any time. You can continue to browse content on sites like Reddit with the added benefit of immediately being able to show your support for content you liked. In beta, we currently support Reddit, Twitter, and Medium.
Through our Appreciation System, anyone can send what we call Appreciations. Appreciations are a form of monetary support from viewers (by default, each click is worth $0.10 but you can change that in the setup or at any time inside the extension) that go toward supporting content creators and platforms.
Getting Started
To see the Worthyt buttons and quickly access Worthyt functionality, we recommend you first download the extension from Google Chrome. We are currently running Beta and would welcome feedback (you can provide feedback directly from the extension).
We believe that everyone on the Internet is both a content creator and a content viewers. If you’ve ever posted a status on Facebook or a tweet on Twitter, you’re a content creator. Even if it didn’t go viral the way you expected it to, you still contributed something to the Internet in your way. Therefore, by simply posting content on the Internet like you already do, you qualify to receive Appreciation from the community.
If you are interested in becoming a supporter, you can get started by loading your account with funds. This isn’t a subscription, and you can withdraw your funds and/or earnings at any time. Yes, we support cryptocurrency Appreciations! So if you’re a cryptocurrency holder, why not use this opportunity to spread some love and adoption for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin or Bitcoin Cash?
After you load your account, you can surf the Internet like you normally would. When you see a piece of content you enjoyed, you can just hit the Worthyt button to show your Appreciation (hold the button down to send more).
For websites like Hackernoon and Medium, we are also available for content creators and platforms as an embed. For individual embeds, you can just go into your portal page, and click the Account tab to get a link to your Public Profile. Then, all you have to do is paste in your permalink, and it will change into an interactive box for your readers to send Appreciations (Thanks, Embedly!).
For Platforms
For platforms, we offer a single link that can be used on all of your publications. That link can be placed anywhere — when a user submits an appreciation, the link lets us know who the content creator was and what platform it was sent on. If you’re a platform interested in using a platform partner link, please contact us at hello@worthyt.io to get set up (the Hackernoon platform embed is available at the bottom of this article for reference).
Whenever someone shows Appreciation for your content, we attribute that Appreciation to your username, whether you have an account with us or not; this way, if you sign up with us in the future, you can still receive the accumulated Appreciations your content received prior to your registration on Worthyt. To ensure that an account belongs to you, we will ask you to log in and connect your account. We won’t collect any information on your account other than your username.
After you’ve set up your account, you’re ready to go! For detailed information, you can check out our User Guide for more information on how to use Worthyt and get the best out of all the features available on our tool.
Appreciating a video on how to get steady video recording.
Worthyt’s Goals
We think the Internet is the best source for content and information. Videos, pictures, art, music… are all shared by artists and creators all over the world. We want to continue seeing this content; in fact, we want to encourage more. But current Internet content is primarily monetized by advertising, which bogs down the user experience and limits the revenue for content creators with smaller audiences. So we designed Worthyt’s Appreciation System as proof to show that the Internet has viewers like us that want to support the creators and platforms that drive visibility and offer value.
Also, we want to encourage adoption of cryptocurrency. Most of my readers know me as a big cryptocurrency enthusiast. As this project is a passion of mine, it is only natural that I incorporate my other passions and interests (I like octopuses, hence the octopus video mention at the beginning of the article!). One of the vital pieces to encourage cryptocurrency adoption is to provide the world with applications that can be used to deliver value today.
When I explained Worthyt to people, many assumed I was creating a new token or doing an ICO. But we aren’t; Worthyt is a tool that lets cryptocurrency enthusiasts like myself to send and share the value of cryptos like Bitcoin and gives other users an opportunity to obtain cryptocurrency without having to go through processes that they might find intimidating, such as setting up wallets or learning how to buy on exchanges.
Trevor, Abe, Aurelien, Nir and I hope that you take our tool for a test drive and use it to help encourage an Internet with better content. We have just launched beta, and you can download the extension on Google Chrome. If you notice any bugs or want to provide feedback, you can do so directly through the extension — we have links in there for you to do so. If you have any questions, you can reach out to us at hello@worthyt.io or to me directly at kenny@worthyt.io. Out Twitter is @ItsWorthyt, and we encourage you to follow us! We hope to use it as a way to also help promote valuable content on the Internet.
Sincerely,
P.S., through Embedly, we are able to add direct embeds to Medium, Hackernoon, and other content sites. Below, you’ll find a Hackernoon provider embed!