One of the very valid criticisms of the crowdfunding site Kickstarter raised by competitors like Indiegogo and others is that the site is a gated community, with lots of rules and internal moderators who dictate whether campaigns can even start.
In a Reversal, Kickstarter Largely Ditches Rules and Human Moderation Requirements
Kickstarter is changing its policies to be more like competitors such as Indiegogo.
Kickstarter is throwing most of those rules and moderation out the window today, with new CEO Yancey Strickler announcing that the majority of people will be able to start raising money whenever they want.
That’s not to say Kickstarter wasn’t working — it has gathered more than $1 billion in pledges to various campaigns — but crowdfunding has become a competitive and significant space, and being the elite curated boutique seems to have lost some appeal.
Other sites like Indiegogo are much more open –but then again, they have come under fire for campaigns suspected to be fraudulent.
Kickstarter said a new feature called “Launch Now” would be available to 60 percent of projects and expanded soon. That’s a formal way of saying that most creators will now be allowed to post what they’re working on without getting feedback and approval from Kickstarter.
Launch Now participants will be chosen algorithmically based on things like how much they are raising, whether they have fully filled out the form and whether they’ve raised money on Kickstarter before.
Kickstarter also condensed a whole long list of rules into a simple three, which are:
- Projects must create something to share with others.
- Projects must be honest and clearly presented.
- Projects cannot raise funds for charity, offer financial incentives, or involve prohibited items.
That means many things that were previously prohibited — like bath and beauty projects, as well as hardware projects offering multiple items — are now allowed.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
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