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What is the appropriate amount of tips to put back into the Mahalo community?
As of today I have $100 in tips for the questions I have answered and given $75 in tips to the community (some of them through paypal instead of my balance). I currently have $40 in Mahalo Dollars and plan on using all of it for tips... while I know I may not be in the norm when it comes to the percentage of money I earn compared to the money I give in tips, I am curious what the community things is an "appropriate" amount that an engaged member of the community should give back.
The more thought provoking your answer the better your chances of gaining the tip, so please don't just give an amount and move on to the next question.
The more thought provoking your answer the better your chances of gaining the tip, so please don't just give an amount and move on to the next question.
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I've wondered about this exact question myself.
Mahalo has received a few rounds of funding. It's reported that they have enough money to keep them going for at least 5 years. Apparently, part of the full-time job at Mahalo is to contribute here. These employed folks don't keep their M$ and must recycle it into the community.
So with these things in mind, I think that the community will grow regardless of my personal and individual contribution.
Instead, I think that the best way I can contribute is to form the very best answer I can on every question I answer. I often spend upwards of an hour on some answers. I personally consider this my contribution to the system. I'm helping to fill my role as a user in the growth of Mahalo Answers.
I see M$ as "points". It's like a video game. Did I win the question? If not, what did the winner do better than me?
That being said, I've "contributed" $42.
I've contributed this money not to simply contribute it into the system, but to ask real, (hopefully) interesting questions that I really need an answer to. I've put as much thought into asking these questions as I have into answering questions. I also have consciously tipped almost everyone who has answered my questions to "spread it around" a little.
So, It's not that I don't want to support the system. Rather, I know that good quality user generated content is often difficult and expensive for a new site. I contribute by trying hard to do my best to answer questions I know something about.
Mahalo has received a few rounds of funding. It's reported that they have enough money to keep them going for at least 5 years. Apparently, part of the full-time job at Mahalo is to contribute here. These employed folks don't keep their M$ and must recycle it into the community.
So with these things in mind, I think that the community will grow regardless of my personal and individual contribution.
Instead, I think that the best way I can contribute is to form the very best answer I can on every question I answer. I often spend upwards of an hour on some answers. I personally consider this my contribution to the system. I'm helping to fill my role as a user in the growth of Mahalo Answers.
I see M$ as "points". It's like a video game. Did I win the question? If not, what did the winner do better than me?
That being said, I've "contributed" $42.
I've contributed this money not to simply contribute it into the system, but to ask real, (hopefully) interesting questions that I really need an answer to. I've put as much thought into asking these questions as I have into answering questions. I also have consciously tipped almost everyone who has answered my questions to "spread it around" a little.
So, It's not that I don't want to support the system. Rather, I know that good quality user generated content is often difficult and expensive for a new site. I contribute by trying hard to do my best to answer questions I know something about.
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When you can, I always recommend giving back at least 10% of your Mahalo Answers income. So, if you make $100 on Mahalo Answers, giving at least 10% of that would be $10 back to the community. Some people are more or less generous. For instance, Jason Calacanis will give out hundreds of dollars, but he's the exception to the rule.
I recommend using your balance earned, not PayPal, as this keeps the Mahalo Dollars in the community. Mahalo Answers is not in a recession, at least to my knowledge, as Mahalo Dollars keep flowing in the community.
James Hong, one of the guys who started HotorNot.com has a website called 10 over 100, which he recommends people pledge to give back 10% of whatever they make over 100,000 a year.
Have a look at it!
http://www.10over100.org
I recommend using your balance earned, not PayPal, as this keeps the Mahalo Dollars in the community. Mahalo Answers is not in a recession, at least to my knowledge, as Mahalo Dollars keep flowing in the community.
James Hong, one of the guys who started HotorNot.com has a website called 10 over 100, which he recommends people pledge to give back 10% of whatever they make over 100,000 a year.
Have a look at it!
http://www.10over100.org
source(s):
My Thoughts.
My Thoughts.
I think Jason giving out hundreds of dollars is certainly a unique situation since he does technically make ALL the money in the community available and he has special interest in making sure there is money available to the community to pass around. I know he also gives a certain amount of money to all of the Mahalo employee's which they have to give out as tips every month, which is another great way to inject money into the system.
Well, you are certainly right. However, I do not cash out, because I want to see Mahalo Answers succeed and I'd rather them not pay me and run out of money for the site to continue. I like it a lot, so want to keep Mahalo Answers in business. I also believe that someone like you who has given away 75% of your earnings on here is foolish. It shows you are too generous! Nobody is that generous in real life. Let's say you make $100,000 a year, are you going to give $75,000 away to people you don't know on the Internet? It's the same principle with the Mahalo Dollars. If I had 2 best answers to choose from, and 2 were very good answers, but I wasn't sure which one to award as the best answer, then I would look to see how many tips they received, and how much they gave back to the community. I know for a fact, the one who usually has a track record of giving back to the community, will more likely continue to give back to the community.
Spoon... I have to let you in on the secret.
The only real people here apart from you are Jason and Darcy. Jason thinks he's got this great venture with lots of users. But we're all just fictional characters created by Darcy. It's a complex scheme involving laundering tips through a variety of shell accounts. A bit like Enron or Madoff, except the amount of money is only enough to buy a Wii.
Unfortunately Darcy's writerly integrity is such that she can't help writing me true to my character and so giving the game away! Such is the curse of the true artist.
I hope this clarifies things for you.
:)
The only real people here apart from you are Jason and Darcy. Jason thinks he's got this great venture with lots of users. But we're all just fictional characters created by Darcy. It's a complex scheme involving laundering tips through a variety of shell accounts. A bit like Enron or Madoff, except the amount of money is only enough to buy a Wii.
Unfortunately Darcy's writerly integrity is such that she can't help writing me true to my character and so giving the game away! Such is the curse of the true artist.
I hope this clarifies things for you.
:)
Only when I have a question I want some really good answers to :)
Always pay your tips from your balance and not paypal (it's actually cheaper!)
Always pay your tips from your balance and not paypal (it's actually cheaper!)
While I think that 75% may be a bit too high, I'd say that 10% is too low. Hell, in real life, I start at a 20% tip and then work my way up or down accordingly. Of course, this is for those making a server's wage (which is still $2.13/hr here in TX), not for those making minimum wage.
But I digress. Because I too would like to see Mahalo succeed, I probably won't cash much, if any, of my money in when I get to that level of success. I'd budget about 50-60% of what I earned into tips. Then again, I'm one of those weird people that actually pays for stuff he gets for free, like podcasts and public radio.Even though Mahalo dollars can be traded into real money just as with Linden dollars, I don't think of it in that way. I'm here because I enjoy it, not out of an expectation of compensation.
But I digress. Because I too would like to see Mahalo succeed, I probably won't cash much, if any, of my money in when I get to that level of success. I'd budget about 50-60% of what I earned into tips. Then again, I'm one of those weird people that actually pays for stuff he gets for free, like podcasts and public radio.Even though Mahalo dollars can be traded into real money just as with Linden dollars, I don't think of it in that way. I'm here because I enjoy it, not out of an expectation of compensation.
source(s):
Personal beliefs
Personal beliefs
I think that most of us will plow almost everything that we earn back into Mahalo. I think that we are fascinated by the concept of Mahalo, at the idea of asking questions on an enormous variety of subjects. Perhaps, the reason is that, while we think of the computer age as having reached a more mature stage as opposed to the time of the Apple IIe, CPM, and DOS, we are still like kids in our delight of this medium. And we are always wondering what the next big change will be. I remember getting a call from a woman who told me that she was using a new program and that her 2400 baud modem was not going to be fast enough. Indulgently, I went over to her house, to see this new program while thinking that, even if she really didn't need it, I would locate a 9600 baud modem for her. Then I stood there stunned as the pages of Netscape scrolled across the screen. I had used the text based internet at Maui Community College, but that had not prepared me for what I was seeing. I realized in that moment that this would change everything and that all of the hardware being sold was now obsolete. I think that when we plow money back into Mahalo, we are contributing in some small way to the possibility that something like that will happen again; something will happen to amaze us and bring us a great feeling of satisfaction that we are here in the vanguard of this historic period.
While I would like to say that for any given amount of money, there is a set amount of money you should give back to Mahalo, there really isn't. I think the best way to determine how much you should give back to Mahalo depends on the length of time you have used it for and the length of time you plan on continuing to use it. For instance, if you just plan to use Mahalo to answer a couple quick questions, you probably don't need to pour tons of money into the system, though it would be nice. However, if you're someone who is a constant user or a user over long period of time, it is probably a good idea to put some money back into the system. Also, another measure of how much you give back to Mahalo is how much you ask questions and answer questions (tipping and non-tipping). If you answer lots of both kinds of questions, than you are basically fulfilling the purpose of Mahalo and you probably don't need to put cash into the system. If you are one of the people who ask lots of questions, though, you should probably make sure that a lot of those questions are tipping so you aren't just using the site and giving nothing back.
This is a fascinating question! As a Mahalo Guide, I put 100% back in, so the question doesn't personally affect me. If you're looking for a formula, the traditional "tithe" of 10% is probably as good as any. However, I would think as Mahalo Answers grows, we will see some community members getting compensated for their expertise...( "taking" out more money than they put in), and others, who have a need for the expertise, putting more in than they take out.
So, rather than think about "how much should I put back in in tips", it will be "what is my primary role in the community?"
So, rather than think about "how much should I put back in in tips", it will be "what is my primary role in the community?"
I don't think you can or should set a percentage. A tip should what you feel like giving. Even when you tip in a restaurant, a waiter don't necessarily serve you better if you buy expensive food so I don't understand setting a percent of the bill as the tip.
Even If my bill is for 7 dollars but the waiter is extra helpful, with a bigger smile, whats the harm in tipping even 100%.
Same here.
If someone gives a quick answer by googling, whats the point in tipping. But if someone add value to the community by giving a meaningful answer, why set a limit?
And I don't see that anyone is here to earn a living. Even the top member earn just a few hundred, so a tip is just a gesture, and any amount is an appropriate gesture.
Just my thought
Even If my bill is for 7 dollars but the waiter is extra helpful, with a bigger smile, whats the harm in tipping even 100%.
Same here.
If someone gives a quick answer by googling, whats the point in tipping. But if someone add value to the community by giving a meaningful answer, why set a limit?
And I don't see that anyone is here to earn a living. Even the top member earn just a few hundred, so a tip is just a gesture, and any amount is an appropriate gesture.
Just my thought
The key to the answer for me is this:
Each "transaction" of Q&A; is complete in itself. The asker wanted to know something, and the answerer helped them. That helpfulness is the major contribution being made on Mahalo, and if there's a tip, or just a word of thanks, that is by way of recognising the contribution.
So I don't see asking questions and giving tips just for the sake of it as a contribution at all, and I don't think there's any given level of recycling of tips that is right or wrong. Rather tips are just one way in which contributions are acknowledged.
The question I personally think is important is: What is the approriate way to thank or reward a person that helped you?
It's matter of judgement, but as we were discussing in one of Darcy's questions, things like actually giving feedback to the answerers, and taking the time to select a best answer can be at least as important as giving a tip.
Also I have to say that personally I sometimes find the system is spammed up with a lot of really mindess questions. So I'm not a big fan of people asking questions just for the heck of it!
The other thing to bear in mind is that Mahalo combines elements of being a community, a service, and a game. I think Jason deliberately designed it that way. So not all interactions are the same, and not all interactions are between regulars.
I probably have about M$80 in tips from people that aren't regulars, but who made a one off visit to get help with something. On the other hand, I've got maybe $50 in tips from regulars, and I've given about $20 out I think.
I probably will cash out some of the M$ from my balance, and I'll leave some in there to fund future questions.
Each "transaction" of Q&A; is complete in itself. The asker wanted to know something, and the answerer helped them. That helpfulness is the major contribution being made on Mahalo, and if there's a tip, or just a word of thanks, that is by way of recognising the contribution.
So I don't see asking questions and giving tips just for the sake of it as a contribution at all, and I don't think there's any given level of recycling of tips that is right or wrong. Rather tips are just one way in which contributions are acknowledged.
The question I personally think is important is: What is the approriate way to thank or reward a person that helped you?
It's matter of judgement, but as we were discussing in one of Darcy's questions, things like actually giving feedback to the answerers, and taking the time to select a best answer can be at least as important as giving a tip.
Also I have to say that personally I sometimes find the system is spammed up with a lot of really mindess questions. So I'm not a big fan of people asking questions just for the heck of it!
The other thing to bear in mind is that Mahalo combines elements of being a community, a service, and a game. I think Jason deliberately designed it that way. So not all interactions are the same, and not all interactions are between regulars.
I probably have about M$80 in tips from people that aren't regulars, but who made a one off visit to get help with something. On the other hand, I've got maybe $50 in tips from regulars, and I've given about $20 out I think.
I probably will cash out some of the M$ from my balance, and I'll leave some in there to fund future questions.
Mahalo puts in a couple of thousand dollars a month into questions, and we have a dozen folks working in the system... so, we're investing heavily ourselves.
I'd suggest folks put whatever they can afford back into the system. Right now I think 10-50% is a good number. The more we get folks involved the better we will do in the long run. :-)
I'd suggest folks put whatever they can afford back into the system. Right now I think 10-50% is a good number. The more we get folks involved the better we will do in the long run. :-)
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That and other stuff highly relevant to your question are in discussed in my long answer to Rob's question here:
http://www.mahalo.com/answers/mahalo-answers-community/whohoo-im-a-purple-belt-i-have-2-inaugural-questions
See also one of my earliest questions, and interesting answers from a couple of the regulars here:
http://www.mahalo.com/answers/mahalo-answers-community/how-much-do-you-tip-what-do-you-consider-a-fair-tip-when-asking-and-when-answering
I'd suggest folks put whatever they can afford back into the system. Right now I think 10-50% is a good number. The more we get folks involved the better we will do in the long run. :-)