A couple months ago I started digging into LN more deeply and wanted to actually play around with using it.
I thought it might be useful to compile a list of cool stuff I've found. I'm planning on sending this to people who are new to LN to give them some examples of ways to use it.
Single Sign On
Lightning Login is really cool and easy. I've used it here on Stacker News, as well as on a few other apps. No email addresses, passwords, etc. Just scan a QR code and you're logged in.
Paying for Individual Pieces of Content
You can buy a single blog post for ~$0.25 over Lightning. I did this recently with Marty's Bent-- check it out here.
Podcasting 2.0
I started using Fountain to listen to podcasts. You can support shows directly by paying them sats, which is cool. But I think the interactive use cases are even more interesting. You can pay to have questions answered on podcasts, interact directly with the hosts, etc. And show hosts can automatically split proceeds between themselves, guests, and even listeners.
DALLE2 Bot
This is super cool, and I found it here on Stacker News. You can pay to use DALLE2 even if you don't yet have access. Send in a prompt, get an invoice, pay it, and then get your images. All through Telegram.
Paid Messages and Calls
Vida is a cool service that allows you to contact people by paying for individual messages or per minute for calls. Kind of like an updated version of the OG Earn.com. Super easy to fund your wallet with Lightning and start sending messages.
LN Stablecoins
There are definitely risks here, which are outside the scope of this post. But if you want to hedge your price exposure via LN, you can do that with Kollider Pay and Stablesats. Cool stuff.
Let me know if there's other cool stuff I should try out!