Interested in the Future of Web Monetization? Check out the WM Community
Tags: webmonetization, meta, forem, gftwhackathon
Published: 2021-02-03 21:11:32

You may remember that last spring we held the [Grant for the Web Hackathon](https://dev.to/devteam/announcing-the-grant-for-the-web-hackathon-on-dev-3kd1) here on DEV.  Grant for the Web is a $100M fund that helps boost open, fair, and inclusive standards and innovation in Web Monetization.

For those of you interested in learning more about Web Monetization, you are cordially invited to join the [Web Monetization Community](https://community.webmonetization.org/) — proudly running on [Forem](https://forem.com), the [open-source](https://github.com/forem/forem) platform that also powers DEV and [other communities](https://forem.com/discover).

Let’s take a look at a few highlights from their community…

## Web Monetization and Payment Pointers

DEV is one of many websites that uses a payment pointer to benefit from Web Monetized browsing.

{% link https://dev.to/devteam/dev-is-now-web-monetized-21db %}

As a DEV Author, you are able to add your own payment pointer to your posts via [`/settings/extensions`](https://dev.to/settings/extensions) in order to receive payments.  If you’d like to become a Web Monetized browser, you can join as a [Coil member](https://coil.com/).

Plenty of folks on the Web Monetization Community have set their individual payment pointers to monetize their own content.  Notably, the community has also set a site-wide payment pointer to monetize any content that isn’t already tied to a personal payment pointer. They’ve chosen to alternate setting the sitewide payment pointer to different charities and non-profit orgs. Currently, that payment pointer is set to Artist Trust Rescue and in just about a month’s time has brought in over $50 to the org!

While this is still a relatively low amount, it’s important to remember that these are still the early days and that these are micropayments that have quickly added up. As the community grows, we expect payment pointer earnings to climb as well.

## What Can I Expect from the Web Monetization Community?

Similar to what you’ll find on DEV, folks are writing about what they’re developing, asking questions of one another, and generally being helpful and encouraging. It’s a space where individuals from different backgrounds come together because of their shared interest in web monetization.

Additionally, many of the initial content creators in this space are grantees of [Grant for the Web](https://grantfortheweb.org), and are thus sharing their public grant reports. It’s been very cool to see Forem used for this purpose — not just a place to collect grant reports, but also a place to cultivate a community that welcomes _everyone_ to contribute to, build on, and learn from the Web Monetization ecosystem.

Here a few Grant Reports that particularly caught our eyes:
- [DisCO.coop](https://community.webmonetization.org/stacco/disco-coop-grant-report-1-4f4f)
- [Free Music Archive](https://community.webmonetization.org/freemusicarchive/free-music-archive-grant-report-1-3gm6)
- [Web Monetized HTML5 Game Development](https://community.webmonetization.org/enclavegames/web-monetized-html5-game-development-grant-report-1-5hf6)

## Join Us

If you’re interested in learning more about Web Monetization, please join us over at [**community.webmonetization.org**](https://community.webmonetization.org).  Say hi in the [welcome thread](https://community.webmonetization.org/wmcommunity/welcome-to-the-web-monetization-community-3hme), check out what the grantees are up to by following [#grantreports](https://community.webmonetization.org/t/grantreports), and go set up your personal payment pointer using this [tutorial](https://community.webmonetization.org/erikad/how-to-create-a-payment-pointer-4joi). 

Have fun, be kind, and enjoy the community!