wyld_dandelyon | Poll...and Query

Yeah, I remember when busking first started in Chicago, and I was heading home from work and I heard a hammered dulcimer. Something about the shape of the sound told me it was live, not out of some boom box. It was a delightful surprise.

You don't get that online--you only find something online if you're out looking. (Unless your browser is hijacked, and that's not exactly a wonderful discovery.)

It's great to hear from you here.

Hi!

Yeah, it's different than when people paid for everything in cash, and they got all these pesky, heavy coins, which would likely fall out of the pants pockets in the car or bathroom anyway...

I do it in person, too. My merchant-friends call me The Walking Billboard. I'll go to an event and come home and blog about who I met and where I shopped, with links if possible.

But yeah, I'm extra active about it online because I really want to promote stuff. Part of that is because I'm so brokeass broke that I can rarely donate; but part is just because I love to share cool things with my friends.

It's so wonderful getting all these different perspectives!

And good to see you here, too.

I've seen dancers who were happy to talk, while they were passing around the hat. But yeah, if they were just getting ready to dance, they'd need their concentration.

Now, there is one type of performer I wouldn't try to chat with--one of those "statues". It's a good point that you don't want to disrupt the performance or the concentration of a performer.

It's pretty cool when you can make two people's days better by bringing them together.

One of the things I do like about Paypal is that it is wherever I have a secure computer connection.

In theory, it's also available wherever I have a non-secure connection, but I'm not stupid.

Perhaps I chose the wrong word. I wasn't suggesting starting a long, deep conversation! :-D

Though that IS possible online, since the artist/writer can respond when they have time, rather than when you commented.

It's interesting to hear both from people who would rather have stuff, and from people who Don't Need More Stuff.

Thanks for stopping to comment!

What a great distinction between "you can tell they're good" and "you're enjoying the performance"!

And certainly you're entitled to "vote with your feet".

So, would your shyness make you more likely to tip online if you could do so anonymously?

Although, as a busker, though I have always respected the shyness of people who tried to tip without letting me see them do it by not showing I noticed them doing it, I did appreciate that tiny bit of connection, as well as the cash.

As an online "busker", I think it's pretty cool to know who tipped me. I don't do a lot in the way of perks (though I've done thank-you icons for a few of my sponsors), but I do make an effort to pay particular attention if a sponsor responds to one of my "inspire me" posts. I also give my most regular sponsors the perk of getting to peek at unfinished fiction I'm posting to a limited audience for critiques, if they ask to be included, even if they don't have that skill. I couldn't give those kinds of perks to anonymous sponsors.

I'm looking forward to seeing what infrastructures are created to rival Paypal.

Paypal isn't perfect--but it's not all that long ago that there was nothing like paypal. Western Union, I suppose. Compared to that, postal coupons, checks, and mailing cash, Paypal is pretty cool.

One thing I do like about Facebook is the unobtrusive, but easy to use and always available, "I like this" button. It would be cool if LJ had something similar.

I suppose I could add a poll to do that here, but I fear that would seem pushy.

I've been commenting about busking, and crowdfunding, and the like all evening, here and in haikujaguar's journal and in stryck's journal, and I find I've run out of words!

Don't worry, I'm sure it's only temporary!

One of my friends, who is inclined to write long (but entertaining) posts on obscure topics, often includes a poll at the end with options including "I read most of the words in this post" and "ticky box!".

Even when I don't have a lot of money I'll drop a coin in a hat when I am at work. In general I'm not a dance person so I wouldn't tip there. Since funds are tight usually when I do drop a coin I want it to be something I've enjoyed & want to support. I have a 'performance artist' I try to tip regularly though, he stands on a box and does like a moving statue/robot when you tip he moves. :) I've tipped the guy who draws amazing pictures as well as the older "country folk" type couple who busk regularly. I can't tip everyone but try to when I have a spare coin or two.

I think online people are more shy about tipping sometimes because they don't want to be seen to be 'cheap' by only dropping a couple to few dollars in, especially when they're name goes in (Paypal) vs an anonymous coin drop.

A lot of people are also broke or can't afford to tip. For those who are in this position, I don't think they realise that even commenting or spreading the word is a kind of tipping that makes a difference to an artist. Getting the word out on the internet is crucial for anyone trying to make a couple bucks, especially an artist trying to get their words out in the public eye.

Also, I think there's a presumption that if something is on the internet then it's free and should always be the case. I think some people tend to devalue work just because it's online and not "real life", but they don't realise not everyone has the resources to become a famous published artist.

Also, one of my downsides is that my Paypal is only credit card funded. I would love to tip more often but (1) am never quite sure how much and (2) it goes on my credit card and I don't pay my balances off completely so I need to justify to myself that it's ok to do this once in awhile but try to balance it. When I cut my spending down on stuff then I include donations.

Yes, exactly! I had to infuriate my readers to get a couple more to post in the forums - otherwise, it's just The Usual Suspects.

Because the Internet makes anonymity easy, I usually don't have a problem with buskers knowing a tip came from me. (After all, it's not as if I have to provide my real name or that most people on LJ would recognize me if they passed me in the street! :) My only real issue with online tipping is the use of PayPal, which we've discussed before.

But in person? Then tipping or other types of interaction become much harder for me. So I appreciate the buskers who pretend not to notice or just smile and say a quick, "Thank you."

(Almost forgot to add: I'm sure there are shyer folks than me online, so it would be nice to have anonymous tipping options for them, if feasible. Besides, it's an extra chance for extra income for the buskers!)

Actually, it takes more guts to perform for people whose opinion of me matters a lot to me.

And never mind the paradox that by "performing" here, I never know if someone I really admire is reading my work...a different aspect of internet anonymity.

I suppose you could shoot the same amount toward your credit card, a mid-month payment, whenever you use paypal. But that's still two transactions, far from easy and convenient.

And I suspect "easy and convenient" is one of the big things lacking in online busking. Even though Paypal is a LOT easier and faster than the prior alternatives. But even for people who like Paypal, it isn't as easy as pulling the change out of your pocket and dropping it in a hat or guitar case.

You do comment. That's much appreciated.

That's a good idea. I try to pay a little more than minimum but maybe I should try to hold a little out of my fortnightly "allowance" and put an extra $5NZ or so in at a time to the US account I pay my bills from so I have it available for donations on a regular basis.

And yes, I think the "easy and convenient", along with "anonymous" is what hinders many people in online busking.

Something interesting (and it would be interesting for some sociologist or someone to do a study and see the results): partly because I have more money now that when I lived in the US, but also partly because we have $1 and $2 coins, I'm more likely to tip at least $1 to $2 in a busker's hat than I am a smaller denomination. It does kind of depend what I have in my pocket, but if someone is out there honestly making a try and doing a decent job they get the gold, the homeless usually get the silver (but sometimes the gold too; not that I run around tossing change at everyone I see). I wonder if this stands up in other countries that have dollar-coin currency, if buskers tend to bring in more of the dollar coins than just the silver.

My answer boils down pretty simply:

I HATE PAYPAL.

I would tip online more often if there was a way to do it that wasn't agonizingly painful and expensive every single time I use it. Digging out a dollar to drop in a hat is easy: using paypal to give a dollar (a) only gives the artist, what, $0.60? when Paypal is done with it. Actually, I think Paypal switched to charging my credit card for a cash advance on every donation transaction, meaning it costs a minimum of $2 or $3 to use. I do not understand the crowdfunding world's adoration of Paypal or the assumption that tipping online must be identical to doing so in person in every respect and there is no earthly reason beyond sheer malevolent injustice for any differences in behavior.

Ahem.

Sorry. I just really hate Paypal. It's not all that rational.

Anyway, I talk to artists online if they have a comment-friendly forum because (a) if you have a comment-friendly forum I know you want comments, and I do not have this handy guide in person and (b) it's generally more convenient to talk online.

Ironically, "living statues" are one of the busking types that I have talked to. But that's because I've had several who got to the "animate" part of their routine, and they'd talk to people who wanted their picture taken or tipped them or otherwise were interacting.

I do that same thing, much more likely to comment on a story I like that has 0-5 comments than one with 60+.

I think I used to be afraid of performing for people whose opinion matters to me haha but I'm too confident now....now I'm bursting for the chance to show off to people I care about ;) Same with people I admire......... I've interviewed my favorite author, he knows where my public writing is. As much as I'm impressed with him, I've also seen some flaws in his earlier work and I'm sure he'd see flaws in mine. I'd hope he'd appreciate the good parts but our opinions don't always match so it's cool if he doesn't like it.

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