The Virtual Tip Jar
When I was a little kid living out in the country and listening to the Am radio in my father’s dumptruck, I thought that bar patrons were cramming Billy Joel’s jar with actual bread. Since that time, I have become well acquainted with the conventions of giving gratuities to people who provide service.
I took part in a discussion recently about the idea of a virtual tip jar for bloggers. I know that lots of people take donations via PayPal or other services. The difference with a virtual tip jar would be that, ideally, everyone who availed themselves of the service provided by the blogger would buy into a social convention of donating a minute amount of funds. PayPal donations are perceived as just that… a donation…some benevoloent act. When we tip restaurant staff, we generally don’t consider it that way, it is simply expected and appreciated.
Gratuities gained the name tips when a sign was placed on a jar in a British coffee house that read To Insure Prompt Service. If a blogger were to use monies from his virtual tip jar to pay for a dedicated server and also to quit his day job, that slogan might be appropriate.
