Show Some Love: Supporting Your Favourites
If you’re like me and spend a lot of time online, you’ve most likely come across a cool app or awesome project that enhances your Internet experience.
If you’re a fan and you’re able to, why not give them a hand? Sometimes these things have ways you can pitch in, either by paying a one-off donation or a recurring payment. And if you can, it’s not a bad idea to help them grow.
Here’s a thing to think about: sometimes stuff is free because it’s banking on something else—your info. Those types of services run on ads and scoop up your data to sell to online data brokers.
Take CodePen, for instance. If you’re into it and benefit from it, cut them some slack about users needing to pay for private projects. It’s more than just complaining about having to pay for something; it’s about seeing the value they bring. Supporting them means access to cool features and backing a place that lets creativity fly.
A few of the things I’m keen on and think are worth backing:
- Signal Messenger: Keeps your chats on lockdown, prioritising your privacy. Kicking in for Signal means keeping your talks private and secure. As a long-time WhatsApp user, I was upset with the Meta buyout, so I didn’t hesitate when Signal was born from the ashes.
- Omg.lol: This project’s pretty wild and has a bunch of great features that are constantly being developed. The team behind it? It’s one person, Adam! Purchasing an address supports Adam and enables him to continue developing the lol platform.
- Kagi Search: The Internet relies on search, and unfortunately for us, search is powered by adtech. It’s in their best interests to show you websites that serve their ads. This is why the page above the fold is full of ads when you search with Google, Bing or DuckDuckGo. When you get to the actual search results, they’re all blog spam websites that aren’t relevant to your search! Kagi to the rescue. Kagi relies on users paying per search. By doing this, they do not need to serve you ads or send you to ad sites disguised as websites. Kagi’s domain blocking and ranking feature is killer. Block all Pinterest domains from search? Yes, please.
- 11ty: This project deserves my support. It’s how I build this website. If you’re into web development, you know how awesome it is. Supporting 11ty helps Zach continue to work on it full-time. 11ty is one of those projects that makes the Web a better place and has a great user community supporting it.
What about payments, though? It’s normal to be cautious. But your info should be safe when you trust the products or projects (like the ones I’ve mentioned). Reputable projects will use reputable payment platforms, so you’re not having to trust them with your credit card. They’re not digging into you for anything except ensuring they get paid or, at the very least, cover their costs.
In the end, remember that the things you love usually have a bunch of people working hard in the background. By giving them a hand, you’re cheering them on and helping make your online experience even better by keeping these projects going.
The next time you stumble upon something that clicks, think about showing your support. It’s a small move that can mean a lot and help continue to support an independent web.
Thanks to the wonderful Xandra for proof reading this and helping me flesh out my ideas.
