Why is it that every platform feels pressure to become an "everything" app. I miss the days when platforms were trying to be individual and do *their* thing really well. As a patron to half a dozen creators I have no interest in doing stuff on the Patreon site or app - and won't be, I just want it to give my money to my chosen creators (and have Patreon take as small a cut as possible).
All I want is a chronological feed of the posts from the creators I follow and support. That is no longer possible. What is the point of an app to support creators if you can't see what they create?
You missed the whole part about how when you find your audience, and they choose to follow you, all that means is that the platform will now prioritize showing them OTHER new art, not yours. He says in the video how following is essentially meaningless now and he's right. What's the benefit of finding your audience if the second they find and follow you, these algorithms prioritize showing them anything but your work? On instagram for example, which is following Tiktok's newer model, I know that the fastest way for me to stop seeing someones work (besides blocking them) is to follow them. Because the algo isn't focused on the social part at all-they don't care if you see the content you told them you wanted to see, they only care about trying to push as much new stuff at you as possible. Why would they continue to 'advertise' art to you by someone you already follow? Not to mention the post frequency requirements if you do want even a small percentage of your followers to see your work. It's unhinged that (again on Instagram) if you don't post every day (they want reels, posts, and stories constantly) then they'll show your art to much less of your own followers-and especially unhinged that it considers, for an account with let's say 50k followers, 'good engagement' to be anything higher than 1.5%. That means if you have 50,000 followers, instagram considers 800 people interacting with a post to be above average. 800 of 50,000, though some of those won't even be your followers, so the engagement rate among your own followers is actually less than 1.5%. So what's the point of reaching those 50,000 people in the first place? This is a horrible numbers game where everybody loses but the platform itself. This is also why there are countless artists on social media who are having to do 4 or 5 other jobs where one used to suffice. Why accounts with 100k followers are being abandoned, because at a certain point having a lot of followers actually works strongly against you (they prioritize pushing your work to only a tiny fraction of followers, and then not to the rest) and a lot of them are quitting to make new accounts because they actually reach more people. This is the best time for creators when it comes to CREATING art, but as someone who has been relying on social media for their work for the last decade, it is not the best time for reaching your audience and keeping them. Not by a long shot. A post going viral (something I've had happen a few times) is exceedingly rare for most people and it's not a permanent boost, as your engagement can dwindle back down to nothing a week later despite gaining 10k followers.
@@justalexcomedy the problem isn't so much the algorithm, but that the user/follower has 'no choice' it can be a mix of both solutions. Honestly it should just be a slider on the top of the main page which controls how much % is from the people you follow vs people posting similar content vs random content. The platforms just need to make this a choice by the users, that they can quickly, easily and frequently change to their liking.
@@justalexcomedy I bring in $5k/month from Patreon, as a creator I am telling you that you do not have a single clue what you are talking about and I'd appreciate you keeping your hole shut if you or not the one working with Patreon. You are not a creator, this does not affect you like it does us and it is not for the better. That's hilarious, a comedian who thinks Patreon is for him, now that's the real joke.
If you want to make this real for everybody, including for those who are not creators, you need to improve your support platform. The people you contact in support need to know what they area doing! If I add creators in my list I need to be able to see them in my list immediately. Support needs to be able to track my account from beginning to end. You need to have a good working relationship with every entity, like PayPal, etc. Support needs to track where a problem happened. If I subscribe to a creator I want it the same day, not the fist of the month. These are all problems I personally have experienced. If you want to be the company you are advertising, FIX THESE PROBLEMS TOO!
Also they should do something against plataforms like kemono party or other kind of sistematic piracy that are about scrapping all patreon content without consent to post it on their pages
There it is. Let's not forget that patreon now has to please, not creators, but in reality: their investors. This has led to increased charges (the plans) for creators, that's just one issue. Another one is...no one (generally )really uses the platform for discussions or interaction etc. ( creators use discord for that). Add Beth's issues here aaaand ... I can see what he's doing here. Let's hope it's not a 'too little too late' situation .
I’m kinda done with Patreon for now, it seems they do not care about subscribers. Screw over subscribers, there goes the money that supports creators. I’ll keep my eye on them but I no longer hold out much hope considering these changes, they’ll come at a cost to subscribers. Also they lack closed captioning and have no information about them on their site. This must change.
Jack I'd love for you to focus on your customer service. I just joined Patreon for the first time 2 weeks ago by subscribing to a creators. I was able to see the account exactly one day. I could then not get to it again. the Creator and my self both put in trouble ticked. it took 11 days.. 11 days... 11 days before your staff responded to either of us. that is an insane long time for someone to help a brand new account. this has not been a good experience
The reason for these algo trends is overwhelming competition for attention. With millions of artists all craving to be discovered how do you carve your own space when most users are forever captured in their attention span between the five creators they subscribed to years ago? This is a fundamental nature of creator economies and nothing that you have said is going to bring any sort of revolution. Curation by algorithm makes it more likely to be discovered and build an audience so it is a positive thing for new creators. Ten years ago only handful of people would attempt to become a youtuber. Nowadays, there are so many people the algorithms simply had no choice than to evolve this way. And if Patreon is trying to capture that space it will either fail on those goals and never grow to be significant enough or succeed and inevitably face the same problem. Just focus on what you are good at. Be that space where people can redirect their loyal audiences and capture their attention. Why trying to be the next youtube when the selling point is only going to be create freely but never be seen?
They have a few 100 million of vc money invested in patreon and investors want to see 10x on their investment in the forseable future. A simple money transaction app wont fit the 4 billion dollar evaluation. The truth is Jack sold out his company during the covid boom and now he's desperately trying to lock the creators who are already on the platform while simultaneously increasing his cut from the pie inorder to generate more profits for his moneylenders.
A common topic among users of various platforms lately is the concept of "enshittification", where the needs of shareholders and growth gradually make the user experience worse and worse. Can you explain how Patreon thinks it's not doing that? How is dumping more features and shifting your platform's focus is different from how, say, Instagram shifted focus? If users decide that Patreon isn't their one stop business spot for chatting and videos and whatever else, what hapoens? I ask because Patreon is no stranger to making changes that negativity impact creators to the point where everyone has to rally against you, and I've already seen folks say that some of the new design is posing usability problems.
yeah curious about this as well! but the case that algorithms will encroach into sub feeds and such could really make patreon stand out. i haven't seen it on youtube yet, but i HAVE seen it on facebook, instagram, tiktok, and many other platforms. Patreon is responsible for the income of creators on many of those platforms. if done right, this could actually be very beneficial. a real alternative to the endless scroll kinda thing. but at some point i wonder if patreon will have some sort of 'discoverability' 'problem' and then follow the same process of putting in algorithmic choices of "creators you may like" mixed in to the creators someone already follows. Though i have a feeling as long as Jack has full control over the direction of the company this won't happen. I don't see him selling himself out for something like that anytime soon.
The curse of venture capital. Patreon had to squeeze creators to pay off the vampires. It had one job that it did well. But that doesn't bring in the huge sums investors require. If you put all your eggs in this one basket, you're going to be buggered when the screw is twisted. Sorry Jack, you messed it up.
I always appreciate your enthusiasm. Being someone who has been here from the very beginning... every time you guys switch things up i lose patrons. Creators dont need more social platforms. They need a means to be supported that doesnt alienate those who support them. Nothing else. People need less phone time not more.
i want patreon to be a payments processor that delivers money to the people i back. i don't want to pay for them to build yet another social media platform / tech startup.
Just... paypal them? If you want a platform that hosts content, you have to pay for the platform. They're trying to improve it to make a space built around supporting artists as appealing as the eternal scroll of garbage content on mainstream social media. That seems like a very reasonable relevant way to improve the art consumer's social media experience. Of course Patreon wants to make money and compete with other social media. If you hate that, and you only care about the artist, and you truly want to refute capitalism, everyone has a paypal, cashapp or Venmo that will free you from the shackles of exchanging money for goods and services so you can just worry about the money part.
no it's better if it's all in one... the problem is the community feature they had from the start was an afterthought instead of a supporting feature and now everybody has gone to other platforms like Discord to serve that function and are now invested in them. somebody who is well established with their Discord is not going to jump to something new that patreon implements, now years later it's much more likely that most people already have a Discord to communicate with their supporters
You just know it. So weird to see delusional sycophants commenting not realizing it’s like being excited by a guy who sold them a steaming plate of sh!t and these lusers are asking for a steaming pile of Jack’s runny dump seconds.
Sadly this does feel like the beginning of the end for Patreon. Can't think of any company that didn't eventually sell out when having stacks of cash waved in their face, no matter what they promised or stated as their core tennents. Remember "don't be evil"? Hard to blame them when you consider how difficult and stressful it is to build something new from scratch.
Patreon is refusing to refund my money even after i canceled and was charged, Patreon policy needs to change right now its just a money hungry scam. And Patreon is getting out done by other apps integrating their own subscription tiers, like Mee6, Discord, TH-cam, TikTok, soon Patreon wont even be needed, and having terrible refund policies and bad customer service says it all.
As much as this sounds great, I also worry this just creates another walled garden. The more anyone depends on a single platform for their livelihood (even patreon), the more they will bend to that platform. I really really really really hope that interoperability and integration between patreon and all the other platforms is a key tenet of how to move forward. Making it trivial to share videos across platforms, or post chats in multiple places. Just dont lock things in, because however good the intentions are now, they’ll be very easily lost over time.
The big difference is TH-cam forces you to bend to the platform because they want to earn as much money as possible. They don't care about creativity. Patreon has always prioritized creators and creativity. I don't think that will change anytime soon.
Love the direction! Community is everything, it's Patreon! - this has been a place to connect with my community and we all saw the potential - it is so exciting to see it become reality, evolve and improve. Keep up the great work and THANK YOU!
Erm… I’m not fully convinced with the new vision. Mainly, the visual identity. When the previous logo was already too simple, we now get an even simpler shape; a puddle of white ink.
yes Destin he is correct. However, he's too late... everyone is established on Discord now. it would have been much better if from the start the community tab functioned like Discord did back then, then no one would have gone to Discord to fill that role, now Discord is so far ahead in that evolution that I don't think there's any way for patreon to catch up. I was literally in the audience of Jack's live stream with Ryan Lerman months before he started patreon, expressing his frustrations about having millions of subs, but still unable get views, or to fill a physical venue despite knowing that the audience was there. I was elated when he unveiled patreon. however I was highly disappointed when Tony Darnell (Deep Astronomy) revealed that he didn't make all that much from his patreon despite having a pretty significant following, and I realize that all patreon was is basically a credit card processing website. yes there's a community feature (garbage) and yes if somebody wanted to scroll through all the creators they could potentially find somebody they wanted to support, however who uses Patreon for discovery? nobody! most people decide they want to support creators they're already following! so those two features are basically useless. I think he was counting on Perks to drive the membership growth, but really, it's the audience/creator relationship is what drives the bus and he should have put that effort into adding more value to the "community" features.
A few months ago, I signed up for Patreon and only recently started actively using it, anticipating that fans of my series would join. However, I was taken aback when I received an email informing me that my account had been suspended due to 'suspicious activity.' Perplexed, I contacted Patreon for an explanation. They requested three pieces of information from me: my address, my payment method, and another detail I can't recall. I promptly provided these details. Despite this, days passed without any response. When I followed up, they replied, stating their decision to part ways with me. I sought an explanation once more, but they offered none, and then they ignored me. I am confident that I haven't violated any rules, and I find the lack of justification for my suspension both unfair and concerning. What could be the reason behind this situation?
I hope this platform is better for writers. The platform kinda just became a headache for readers and writers to edit and engage our artform. Otherwise, I'd energize a lot more of my Twitter following there rather than losing out on opportunity.
As a fiction writer and animator, I've lost trust in Patreon. They abruptly suspended my account without providing any concrete reason, simply citing 'suspicious activity.' This accusation seems baseless as I am confident I haven't violated any of their policies. I'm not alone in this experience; I've noticed similar complaints from other users on Reddit, who also faced unjustified suspensions. This pattern raises concerns about Patreon's practices and transparency.
Just for the love of God, don't sell Patreon's autonomy for more VC money. Try to take back the company and just grow things organically. Patreon is literally a money printer, the fact that you're scrambling to satisfy shareholders is because you invited them in by taking their money.
Came from the 10yr old main channel launchpad videos and i will say i had no clue this dude ran patreon, would be amazing to see him maybe make a return one of his remixes as a 10 yr thing or something idk
Using TH-cam as a simple video repository while keeping the community on Patreon is smart... but it's not the creators who need to be convinced, it's the fans... the fans need to follow the creators to Patreon and start communities... it will be interesting to see how much "work" fans put into finding their favorite artists, or whether they'd just rather endlessly scroll...
Uninstalled TH-cam app recently because I got sick of getting stuck in shorts. Only occasionally view in browser now as a subscriptions treat. Tried patreon just now hopeful it would be a remedy, but the creators aren't easy to find and when you do, they haven't all got non pay content yet. Would be good if I could just pass in my YT subscriptions and get content as they enable.
@@fredfarrell TH-cam without an ad blocker is awful... I just poked around on Patreon and it looks like you can set up free content without having to have any subscription services? I'm still not quite sure. My thought is that Patreon needs enough free content to pull viewers over who will become paid fans of a few creators...
Agree, I have yt premium but I can't resist the short format reel style content and it chews my time. Until it's easy to find my yt subs on patreon auto and they have free content hosted there as well, I'm unlikely to use the app.
It's unfair to say that "fans are the only ones doing work". Creators need to give fans a reason to want to be part of a community. Think of it this way - I live in a neighborhood but I don't participate in the community. But I live here, so I should, right? It's the same thing - you're on TH-cam watching this Creator's videos but what real incentive do you have to go somewhere else? On Patreon, your individual voice is still likely to be dwarfed by the sheer amount of other people on the platform that are also trying to interact with that Creator. You're putting the onus on the fans to "follow the creator", but they already are. It's the Creator who needs to give a reason to go elsewhere. And no, the answer is not "come to patreon and pay to see exclusive content". I'm here on TH-cam because it's free. If you can't give me a similar experience and an option to pay if I'm truly interested, then there's no reason to leave.
These are great points and it does sound like Patreon is working to make it easier to find creators. And yes, we need more creators offering the variety of paid and unpaid goodies. I’ve been a creator on Patreon since 2017 and have loved this little world I’ve been creating and have been expanding into more free posts and opening up my tier structure to essentially pay-what-you-wish-and-you-get-all-the-goodies; felt like the right adjustments for me to be as welcoming as possible to anyone else sick of traditional social media and all that goes along with it, to create a space wide open for more mindful “content” to consume, genuine interactions, and a healthier way of tech usage, but I’ve needed Patreon to open things up more on their end too, very excited by some progress at last! I love occasionally browsing random creators just to find ones who do offer the range of paid/unpaid content, but I’ve built a home on Patreon already so it is part of expanding my little world there, and I understand if you’re new and the platform isn’t quite there yet with ease. What kind of creators would you be interested in? If I’ve found any so far, happy to share a link as you’re exploring the platform! And thanks to those who are taking the time to check Patreon out! There are so many amazing creators here, you get to create your own little world of inspiration! 💕
Patreon is setting itself up so that unless it becomes the equivalent of amazon or meta, it will have to fail. How sad that we can't have a service that earns a reasonable profit doing one thing well. Instead it has to try to do everything, most of it poorly. The main impression I get from this video is... chaos.
So the comment section sucks and has the entire time I've used it for the last several years. I don't get notifications when people respond to me, so the community building and connecting with fellow fans is not very easy or intuitive. That's why I stay with Instagram, because I can message and interact easily with fellow fans even with the crappy algorithm. And not everyone uses Patreon on their phone, so that's cutting out a good chunk of people from using the new features. Make the features available across both mobile and desktop to make sure everyone can interact the same way. And the backend as a creator is just clunky and not a very smooth posting experience. I've encouraged people to use ko-fi over Patreon and will continue to do so, since their platform just works a lot better.
So Patreon’s solution to an overwhelming social media transition is to… become yet another social media outlet? It makes sense in terms of adding features to match the social media competition, which themselves are entering Patreon’s space for direct creator funding, yet still doesn’t seem like a solution to many of the topics brought up. I wish there was more collaboration between the social media outlets, to utilize what Patreon has been so successful at instead of trying to replicate and replace, yet I suppose that is wishful thinking. There’s just so much on the web these days, it’s impossible to keep up with it all, and it would be nice to have less places to look.
This difference is, because Patreon is based on a foundation of paying members, that Patreon doesn't have to monetize the way that other social media platforms do. Patreon doesn't need an algorithm, because they don't need to maintain eyes the same way TikTok does. Now, if the Free Tier becomes too large, then suddenly that changes things...
No shit! It's not unlike, "Dude, you didn't tell me." "Really? I left a voicemail yesterday!" "Oh, shit....I checked my FB messages, my WhatsApp messages, my texts, all 6 of my email inboxes, my snail mailbox, my p.o. box, called my mom...."
This is amazing news and I'm so excited to see what Patreon's future helping even more creatives will be. The day artists can be seen for who they really are without having to distort their art into whatever consumption box is relevant will be the biggest win. Congratulations Jack and team!
Love this. But I'm going to largely repeat a slightly skeptical comment I made to one of your earlier "2nd renaissance" videos. Bravo to this vision, and both bravo and *thank you* for what you've done to help kick it off via Patreon. That said, I wonder how much growth the creator/fan feedback loop (with fans becoming creators themselves, and companies creating payment systems to support them) can lead to. Every positive feedback system eventually saturates because every system is finite. Speaking for myself, my Patreon account can't handle a lot more creators (in fact, in the last few years I've discovered so many great new creators that I've had to start swapping some in and out). I realize that lots of people (consumers/patrons) are not yet on Patreon and its imitators. But all of us are getting monthly-subscriptioned to death. Software that we used to pay for once every few years we now have to pay for monthly-and more and more of it every year. And now we're trying to support our favorite artists with ongoing monthly payments. I'm just wondering if the visionaries behind all of this have thought about finitude and whether the community of full-time, sustainable creators has some limit on size that may not be 100x greater than it currently is (maybe not even 10x). I'm skeptical that even a substantial fraction of the 75% of kids who want to be creators (mentioned in your other videos) can get significant financial support from creating. Well, in any case, I've tried to be a "patron of the arts" (for independent musicians in particular) from long before Patreon, and I'm happy to be on the ride, however far it may go. -Tom
Wow, you are amazing for how much you are supporting the arts! Thank you! Great points on the oversaturation of monthly subscriptions everywhere, I had never thought of that, that IS a lot! Patreon does let some creators do yearly memberships, I’m not sure if that would really impact what you’re expressing here. But this will be interesting to see how it all plays out moving forward in a world where everything seems monthly! How do we address overwhelming people with this, hmmm…
@@qwertyTRiG I'm a scientist; I use an Ubuntu machine for work. It's a great solution for certain things. But try doing the kind of content creation you see in this video with Ubuntu. Good luck! Open source and free software are great for many things, but not all. That's why I'm typing this message on a Mac and I do my audio and video production on a Mac.
Thank you for this video. I have returned to Patreon and want to learn about the store, chat, and other aspects. I was ill for awhile but look forward to raising my patreon to new heights.
How quickly people forget the absolute betrayal Patreon committed against their customers. The mass protest against them and Esp Jack Conte after his Bold Face Lies on Dave Rubin interview.
after watching the whole video i want to thank you for wording out what i've been feeling about the internet lately, the players involved and the algorithm jumping from one thing to another (wich takes users on a rollercoaster of emotions...and distraction from the good stuff) and that i see the amazing work that you are doing to create a platform that is stimulating, inspiring, a true income possibility for artisans, artists and creators and all that can be derived (anything is art its how you look at it, feel it) and to unite people and make them follow what stimulates them, compare thoughts with the comunity, discover and buy unique products. amazing! wish i could contact to share a few thoughts.. seems only creators can send feedback for app and features 🤔 a sincere thank you for everything you did, and you keep doing!
It feels like everything is trying to become the “everything app”. Now creators have to waste their precious time straddling multiple platforms, cross posting on insta, tok, x, and now Patreon. We don’t need another app that does everything. We need apps that do 1 thing well, are transparent, and empower the user as much as possible without trying to squeeze them for money. Sorry Jack, I love your energy but I think this is headed in the wrong direction.
yeah lol just more social media. even though I've quit everything except for TH-cam and decided to go outside and meet humans in real life instead. turns out real life garnered me over $50k in sales. turns out the internet just gets me shadow banned because I have an opinion that's not racist but not good either ha ha
At the same time, this should also not be in the hands of a for-profit company. Platforms like this should really exist as public infrastructure, free and available for everyone to use, managed and directed according to the users (both creator and consumer).
@@cvbattum Go take a look at all the wondrously forward-looking, technology-embracing dot-gov sites and tell me who is supposed to provide this publicly-funded infrastructure? Because government IT is hot trash.
If only people would pull their heads out of their asses and realize NFT tech is designed for you to have totally decentralized ownership over your digital goods.
This is cool, but my one concern is building a ton of content *inside* Patreon... and if Patreon changes policy, ownership, pricing, features, what happens to all of your content and data? It would be nice to be able to easily migrate your data out of Patreon if necessary in some sort of uncoupled way. Any thoughts on this? I'm thinking like Ghost, Wordpress, etc where at least you have your database and can migrate. Is this part of Patreon's plan?
@@stuart6478 I think that is best. I've lost trust in Patreon. They abruptly suspended my account without providing any concrete reason, simply citing 'suspicious activity.' This accusation seems baseless as I am confident I haven't violated any of their policies. I'm not alone in this experience; I've noticed similar complaints from other users on Reddit, who also faced unjustified suspensions. This pattern raises concerns about Patreon's practices and transparency. Having our own website would be safer for us and our supporters. Strip also has a subscription option.
This is a breath of fresh air! It’s like I just watched the explanation for why I’ve felt so lost and spent all my time stalling out watching everyone else create and just slothing out not wanting to create more malarkey noise attempting to make the monies instead of what is actually in alignment with my creative soul! 😮 I’ve watched so many videos about business and content creation and how I’m supposed to solve a problem for people and on and on! Aaauiigghh! I really do hope there’s a way to return to a more creative space. ❤
Well I never use the Patreon app - I go directly to the web page and watch it there and the same applies to youtube and Facebook, those apps always limit what's available and control you in ways that I find irritating.
I tried using Patreon for awhile to support some creators, but ended up having a huge hassle when my credit card number changed. Couldn't find an easy way to resolve it. I was told to post a message on Twitter. Not interested in doing business that way, so I decided to close my account. Wow, I didn't realize THAT would be a hassle, too! I was really shocked about the legal entanglements, AND how much information Patreon was collecting about me. I was surprised that it actually took a period of time to leave Patreon, as a supporter. There are far less invasive ways to support creators, and in the future, I'll be using those.
Please LeeBlaske - do you know of another way to Donate some $ for membership NOT through a monthly donation ? I just want to make a 1x yearly check out - do NOT want to put my Credit Card into any web system. (just asking' for trouble, at some point.) I cannot even find a contact phone number to call, to talk to a HUMAN. I only use my Computer and do not go on any social media sites. guess they don't give a shit about the little guy who is savy enough to avoid all this BS. I'd really like to help out the many Creators I listen too, but won't be dragged into this monthly $ BS ...... where my Credit Card # is held somewhere in their ether, and likely to get HACKED sooner than later.
Sounds great, but why am I not seeing the creators I support on my home page anymore? I had someone I didn't realize I was following show up, but not the people I am subscribed to? I don't even see where to follow them so I see their stuff.
Wow, great video, it’s super inspiring to see your transformation. It’s also great to see you, the creator of Patreon as a talented creator yourself! I had no idea! Much respect! There are so many rug pulls in favor of the platforms that preport to be dedicated to helping creators and It’s refreshing to see one that’s being honest about making it their mission.. by creators for creators.
This is incredibly inspiring and I'm currently overhauling my own Patreon page to take full advantage of it being more community focused. HUGE thank you for doing this! This video got me so much more hyped for what I'm working on!
A (possibly) better solution is to make tools that help artists who do what they truly love find an audience. This means an entirely new recommendation system that somehow knows that, even though this piece of content is different from what the user typically watches, or “consumes”, that they are highly likely to not just like it (TikTok) but be moved by it , even though it deviates so much from the mean of what they like.
TL;DW Patreon wants to become a social media platform, at least that's what it sounds like? Maybe that could work if they put a focus on people who... don't spend money to access content
I wonder how you are going to solve the "discovery" problem. Because right now it's mostly sorted by subscribers. So bigger gets bigger and smaller creators are lower and lower in the lists. The discovery problem is a major issue everywhere. Can't wait to see your take.
I almost set up a Patreon months ago, for my TH-cam community, but I was very concerned about the scandal a few months ago about terrible people producing CSA content and locking it behind membership to prevent law enforcement finding out. And people reported it to Patreon, but Patreon refused to get involved or ban the abusers from the platform, until it was made public. Does Patreon now have policies and procedures in place to prevent this sort of thing, and ban people who make harmful or abusive content?
I wanted to see Patreon's explanation for what they're doing because I popped onto patreon this morning and didn't understand why my feed is now organized worse. There is an assumption in this video that fans are just creator simps. I am a fan of the content creators produce, I'm not a fan of just whatever a creator wants to do and that's why algorithms are thriving. I like content on eco friendly cities so yes if someone else is sharing similar content, show that to me, but if a creator I follow starts talking about the role of religion on society I'm out. Also, not for nothing, but the problems described here seem to stem from the idea that creators are platform simps. I understand a desire from patreon to want more to happen on patreon itself but don't frame it as creators have no choice but to chase the algorithm problem. In fact to frame it as such is an admission that people seeing content they might like because of algorithms helps creators grow. Every creator I know of has multiple connected accounts, art sites or youtube etc that serves as a top level funnel to their patreon. Anyway, here's to hoping that in the future Patreon considers what people paying want more and how that can be matched with how creators may want to create content instead of the other way around.
And didn’t they start all these new monetization ideas from something called…Patreon? 😅 I appreciate what you’ve said about bending our work to fit the internet. I have been calling myself a content creator instead of an artist for the last few years. Thank you for making Patreon such a great platform to be on. ❤
Sounds good. However, Patreon REALLY needs to address the notifications. For example, 7 out of 10 people are not getting proper notifications for my Patreon Exclusive Videos. If a member posts a question, I never get notified and when I reply they never get notified. To me, this should be at the very least in the top 5 fixes to make the patreon experience better, rather than creating new logos.
Great you updated the app... So why is the web version only aimed for phones and no longer showing posts ordered by date? Also someone spilled in on the icon and portraits.
This does sound interesting as a concept, if, as it sounds like, you're moving AWAY from the algorithms. It's not like people who want algorithms can't find that elsewhere! Something I would suggest for your 'digital sales' options would be the ability to sell only to patrons (such as time limited content they had missed, a big thing for Stls), which I noticed was missing and stopped me using the new feature, otherwise it would have been perfect! Nice to see a focus on the honest art and not just the attention economy of the algorithms :) hopefully it'll play out that way!
The only difference I can see in the “new Patreon” is the inability to make posts now. Been using it for years, but now I can’t make posts because pics and vids won’t upload and can’t make a post without a pic of vid. Anyone else having this problem?
I'm still confused, how is this supposed to improve/fix the problem mentioned in the beginning of the video? Is it just that Patreon will try to become Twitter/Social Media before Twitter/Social Media become Patreon first? Similar to Netflix and Disney?
@@IllisiaAdams @vlogbrothers started using it when the "sidebar" moved so it was under the video instead of on the side, but I think they got it from @WheezyWaiter.
I love how this video is shot. It feels raw and genuine yet highly produced at the same time. Well done. Also, I love how you incorporated the synth and the overhead tv shots. Definitely feeling inspired, not just by the content, but also by the way this video was made. Good stuff!
I just hit 10k followers on insta so have decided to start a patreon. This new update is great timing. Everything you've said is resonating, I hate making content. I want to make my art. Your vision is amazing
I love all these plans. I was reluctant to start a Patreon for my fiction podcast, but after years (decades) of chasing and always coming close by traditional means, I now see Patreon as a bigger part of what I do than anything that came before. Between my website and Patreon, everything I do has a home and support from fans. Thanks for that! 😀
This is my new favorite video on the internet. We spend way too much time and energy trying to fit into the algorithms. It's unbelievable how much sense this makes. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And Thank you
The desktop site for Patreon on mac with firefox is broken. nothing looks correct, content is missing (like text boxes, etc) looks to be an html / css issue
Are you concerned about turning Patreon into an "everything platform" for creatives? What makes this any different than other walled gardens or "ecosystems" out there (Apple, Google, Meta, etc.)? I'm asking because I really would like to know the answers, and because I'm hoping that Patreon really IS different from the others.
Really want to believe it’s a story told so well… but imagination isn’t the only limitation… the massive pressure of the investors in Patreon to see big returns on their capital are a real limitation. Wish that Patreon was truly by creators for creators as it’s positioned… and not by creators funded by leaches and hope theirs enough left for creators business vc valley that Jack and co. followed or fell into… will the new Patreon features just be a vertical integration ploy to lock creators in and siphon of larger % from them or will they be real value adds? I’m rooting for Patreon to escape the voracious greed that’s biting at their heels… but if it doesn’t work maybe it paints a vision that others can truly realize… cause the one thing that creators are good at is seeing new paths and taking them… unlike audiences who may opt for convenience, creators will pack up and move platforms to a true by creators and for creators co-op style platform that’s not over leveraged… I’m rooting for you Jack, just wish you didn’t get strapped with such a heavy collar.
I really hope that you're able to accomplish this, Jack. The outside monetary investment interests seem to be degrading the love you have put into this project as well as your initial reason for creating it. Nothing but love, bud ❤
I refuse to follow trends in my content, and that’s probably hurt my Patreon a growth, but you’ve still given me the ability to make 50k a year from loyal people who want to learn about guitar. I’m keen to see how you can help growth (as I put product up for sale and literally had not one sale) without hurting those of us who already do well with Patreon as it is. I’m not your biggest creator, but I’d be amazed if don’t have a long list of things you can bring to us on Patreon that would seriously change things for us.
Great to get this insight into Patreon's strategy. I'm making a push for my own channel at the moment and had half-decided on discord for a realtime community (simply because it's biggus) but wanted to investigate the community feature on Patreon more. Now I can clearly see it as a piece of a much bigger puzzle which I'm very here for. Having this role for artists is a huge responsibility and I'm happy you're at the helm. (Love your Digital Spaghetti channel too. 🍝)
Thanks...I needed a little motivation as a creator. Life can blur what's really important and what you said moved some of the shit out of the way and clarified the vision of creating again.
Amazing video! As a creator who was struggling on TH-cam back in 2015, I began creating exclusive content on Patreon and it has quite literally changed my life. I'm eternally grateful for everything that Patreon has done for me! 🙌🏻
Thank you for the idea of putting my Patreon link as the top link on TH-cam rather than my subscribe link. I'm curious to see if it impacts the amount of Patrons.
What a violent explosion of inspiration and encouragement!!! 💗So many of the specifics you touched on hit me directly in the meaning place, and I applaud you for your vision, inclusion, and love... I felt it, I appreciate it, and I'm a raving fan because of it. Thank you🙏
Jack, you've been inspiring me since I discovered your VideoSongs over a decade ago. I was sad, and as a musician kind of hurt, when you shifted focus to building a company. I miss seeing new crusty videos where you're screaming your heart out and making crazy faces.. but Patreon is fucking awesome. So much incredible art made by creators I love dearly, that wouldn't exist without Patreon. Seeing you grow into The Dad of Online Art has been astonishing dude. Thank you so much.
I'm a bit wary about seeing you talk on how the primary creator posting sites (youtube, twitter, ect) are bloating themselves with features where they try to copy tiktok, then you detail how patreon is bloating itself with features beyond the primary focus on being a funding middleman platform in the next breath. It hits a special kind if irony when this just seems like patreon wanting to *become* one of those sites that he criticizes as being increasingly unstable for creators. I'm sure a lot of people have worked very hard on this and that there are genuine improvements made here. But this is way too much of avoiding saying the obvious elephant in the room, which is the goal of replacing pre-existing platforms with your own because then patreon is the center for everything. You're making yourself compete with them as much as TH-cam, TikTok, Twitter, Tumblr, ect are already competibg with each other.
LOVE this video and might I say, FINALLY!!!! I have liked the idea of supporting creators more but always found patreon so dry and unfriendly. Now this looks awesome and I love where the focus is angled.
Totally get that! A few years ago, I made a point to start doing more free content because it felt like such a cold, closed down space with only paid content. These changes should definitely help to open things up!
Well done Patreon! You've managed to take an app/site that did what it should do with no fuss, and make it more irritating to use. Where's the chronological post view gone? I don't want to miss updates from creators because the posts are grouped 10 creators down, and effectively hidden. This is going to see loads of creators haemorrhage patrons because the patrons will think that creators have stopped creating. In this video, you criticise tiktok and the modern social media algorithms, but the new app solves this by algorithmically deciding which of my creators are at the top of the Patreon feed? And why bother with the new "Chat" thing? You talk about fan communities and building them, but won't this chat split existing communities? I'm not going to move from active Discords to Patreon Chats. Some patrons will move. And now the community feels smaller. Yet another company that's going to kill itself by trying desperately to grow endlessly to be all the things. Jack app of all trades and master of none.
Yea, that's what bothers me most about this. They complain about TikTok's algorithmically generated content stream while forcing *the exact same thing* on its users. I do think the idea is neat to have a community on Patreon for fans that are really dedicated to a creator, but this one change makes me think they are just trying to stick a content feed on their site and mobile app instead of striving for community building. And honestly, a lot of creators have member-only Discord servers that essentially serve the same purpose as what Patreon is supposedly trying to create, so unless their product is somehow better than a Discord server (which it definitely won't be if it just boils down to an algorithmic content stream), I don't see it being much of a help to creators or their fans.
Part of the problem is that Patreon has taken on hundreds of millions of dollars in Venture Capital funding, so while they claim they're all about supporting creators, in reality, their goal is to make as much money as possible, as quickly as possible - especially given the exodus of creators once global Covid restrictions ended. (c.f. "The Rise and Fall of Patreon") While adding in an e-commerce platform, chats, videos etc. is promoted as a benefit to creators, the more pertinent point is to encourage creators to do everything on the Patreon platform, so whatever changes are made in future (e.g. increasing admin fees), creators feel they're stuck on the platform because all their content is on it, and it's likely going to be difficult for them to migrate elsewhere. Added onto which, many smaller creators with Patreons predominantly have their main community elsewhere (e.g. Twitch, TH-cam, Discord) and view Patreon as an additional form of revenue support - likely deliberately not putting all their proverbial eggs in the same basket. Meanwhile: "Platforms spinning up and sunsetting new features all the time" - I wonder which platform once spun up a feature called "Lens", then sunsetted it, and spun up a feature called "Goals", then sunsetted it?
I'm in agreement. And personally, although I like his energy, I found this video somewhat irritating. I didn't see the need for the f word either. This is a platform that has creators and members from many ages, world views, etc, and I believe that keeping things more professional is a better way to present things from Patreon.
As a creator, the biggest issue for me is now on my creator feed I can't at a glance see how each month earning/losses look, more less it's become somehow -harder- to track selective patrons support. Instead of clear concise information on a single panel it's now spread between 4 different tabs. I was already debating about pulling out before this, but this clear change towards creator check in along with the general change of following other creators makes me the choice all too obvious now.
Hopefully you will fix the issue of being locked out from viewing a video which your paying a membership for. This happens all too frequently and it’s not the creators issue, it’s patreon!
This has been an absolute gamechanger for me, my UNUSUAL business has survived because of you, it is not something that is searched for much and yet anyone can do and save so much money. I LOVE teaching and making videos so this has been perfect. I joined just pre-covid and I am loving the journey, congrats on the new improvements, it is all about growing and learning!! You are truely phenomenal and BTW the animation for your video is incredible. I still release my older videos from Patreon to my TH-cam channel because after so much work for each video they dont get viewed enough once they move further back into the past. It is great to see improvements being made in the way videos can be searched for.
Why is it that every platform feels pressure to become an "everything" app. I miss the days when platforms were trying to be individual and do *their* thing really well. As a patron to half a dozen creators I have no interest in doing stuff on the Patreon site or app - and won't be, I just want it to give my money to my chosen creators (and have Patreon take as small a cut as possible).
All I want is a chronological feed of the posts from the creators I follow and support. That is no longer possible. What is the point of an app to support creators if you can't see what they create?
You missed the whole part about how when you find your audience, and they choose to follow you, all that means is that the platform will now prioritize showing them OTHER new art, not yours. He says in the video how following is essentially meaningless now and he's right. What's the benefit of finding your audience if the second they find and follow you, these algorithms prioritize showing them anything but your work? On instagram for example, which is following Tiktok's newer model, I know that the fastest way for me to stop seeing someones work (besides blocking them) is to follow them. Because the algo isn't focused on the social part at all-they don't care if you see the content you told them you wanted to see, they only care about trying to push as much new stuff at you as possible. Why would they continue to 'advertise' art to you by someone you already follow?
Not to mention the post frequency requirements if you do want even a small percentage of your followers to see your work. It's unhinged that (again on Instagram) if you don't post every day (they want reels, posts, and stories constantly) then they'll show your art to much less of your own followers-and especially unhinged that it considers, for an account with let's say 50k followers, 'good engagement' to be anything higher than 1.5%. That means if you have 50,000 followers, instagram considers 800 people interacting with a post to be above average. 800 of 50,000, though some of those won't even be your followers, so the engagement rate among your own followers is actually less than 1.5%. So what's the point of reaching those 50,000 people in the first place? This is a horrible numbers game where everybody loses but the platform itself.
This is also why there are countless artists on social media who are having to do 4 or 5 other jobs where one used to suffice. Why accounts with 100k followers are being abandoned, because at a certain point having a lot of followers actually works strongly against you (they prioritize pushing your work to only a tiny fraction of followers, and then not to the rest) and a lot of them are quitting to make new accounts because they actually reach more people.
This is the best time for creators when it comes to CREATING art, but as someone who has been relying on social media for their work for the last decade, it is not the best time for reaching your audience and keeping them. Not by a long shot. A post going viral (something I've had happen a few times) is exceedingly rare for most people and it's not a permanent boost, as your engagement can dwindle back down to nothing a week later despite gaining 10k followers.
@@justalexcomedy the problem isn't so much the algorithm, but that the user/follower has 'no choice' it can be a mix of both solutions. Honestly it should just be a slider on the top of the main page which controls how much % is from the people you follow vs people posting similar content vs random content. The platforms just need to make this a choice by the users, that they can quickly, easily and frequently change to their liking.
@@justalexcomedy yeah but what’s the point of being a creator if nobody sees what you make?
@@justalexcomedy I bring in $5k/month from Patreon, as a creator I am telling you that you do not have a single clue what you are talking about and I'd appreciate you keeping your hole shut if you or not the one working with Patreon. You are not a creator, this does not affect you like it does us and it is not for the better. That's hilarious, a comedian who thinks Patreon is for him, now that's the real joke.
well said... @@Jess-yk5hi
If you want to make this real for everybody, including for those who are not creators, you need to improve your support platform. The people you contact in support need to know what they area doing! If I add creators in my list I need to be able to see them in my list immediately. Support needs to be able to track my account from beginning to end. You need to have a good working relationship with every entity, like PayPal, etc. Support needs to track where a problem happened. If I subscribe to a creator I want it the same day, not the fist of the month. These are all problems I personally have experienced. If you want to be the company you are advertising, FIX THESE PROBLEMS TOO!
Also they should do something against plataforms like kemono party or other kind of sistematic piracy that are about scrapping all patreon content without consent to post it on their pages
There it is. Let's not forget that patreon now has to please, not creators, but in reality: their investors.
This has led to increased charges (the plans) for creators, that's just one issue. Another one is...no one (generally )really uses the platform for discussions or interaction etc. ( creators use discord for that). Add Beth's issues here aaaand ... I can see what he's doing here. Let's hope it's not a 'too little too late' situation .
I’m kinda done with Patreon for now, it seems they do not care about subscribers. Screw over subscribers, there goes the money that supports creators. I’ll keep my eye on them but I no longer hold out much hope considering these changes, they’ll come at a cost to subscribers. Also they lack closed captioning and have no information about them on their site. This must change.
@@aboutme123 Yeah! Investors will ruin most things to extract as much money as possible. Patreon is no exception.
Jack I'd love for you to focus on your customer service. I just joined Patreon for the first time 2 weeks ago by subscribing to a creators. I was able to see the account exactly one day. I could then not get to it again. the Creator and my self both put in trouble ticked. it took 11 days.. 11 days... 11 days before your staff responded to either of us. that is an insane long time for someone to help a brand new account. this has not been a good experience
Totally agree.... my patrons and I have such a hard time resolving issues. It's so frustrating.
Jfc instead of all this new useless bs why don’t you fix the declined payments problem? 🤦🏻♀️
The reason for these algo trends is overwhelming competition for attention. With millions of artists all craving to be discovered how do you carve your own space when most users are forever captured in their attention span between the five creators they subscribed to years ago? This is a fundamental nature of creator economies and nothing that you have said is going to bring any sort of revolution. Curation by algorithm makes it more likely to be discovered and build an audience so it is a positive thing for new creators. Ten years ago only handful of people would attempt to become a youtuber. Nowadays, there are so many people the algorithms simply had no choice than to evolve this way. And if Patreon is trying to capture that space it will either fail on those goals and never grow to be significant enough or succeed and inevitably face the same problem. Just focus on what you are good at. Be that space where people can redirect their loyal audiences and capture their attention. Why trying to be the next youtube when the selling point is only going to be create freely but never be seen?
They have a few 100 million of vc money invested in patreon and investors want to see 10x on their investment in the forseable future. A simple money transaction app wont fit the 4 billion dollar evaluation.
The truth is Jack sold out his company during the covid boom and now he's desperately trying to lock the creators who are already on the platform while simultaneously increasing his cut from the pie inorder to generate more profits for his moneylenders.
@@GamesPilot Yep, Jack Conte is nothing but a shameless sellout.
A common topic among users of various platforms lately is the concept of "enshittification", where the needs of shareholders and growth gradually make the user experience worse and worse.
Can you explain how Patreon thinks it's not doing that?
How is dumping more features and shifting your platform's focus is different from how, say, Instagram shifted focus? If users decide that Patreon isn't their one stop business spot for chatting and videos and whatever else, what hapoens?
I ask because Patreon is no stranger to making changes that negativity impact creators to the point where everyone has to rally against you, and I've already seen folks say that some of the new design is posing usability problems.
Cory Doctorows term describes this change perfectly
yeah curious about this as well! but the case that algorithms will encroach into sub feeds and such could really make patreon stand out. i haven't seen it on youtube yet, but i HAVE seen it on facebook, instagram, tiktok, and many other platforms. Patreon is responsible for the income of creators on many of those platforms. if done right, this could actually be very beneficial. a real alternative to the endless scroll kinda thing. but at some point i wonder if patreon will have some sort of 'discoverability' 'problem' and then follow the same process of putting in algorithmic choices of "creators you may like" mixed in to the creators someone already follows. Though i have a feeling as long as Jack has full control over the direction of the company this won't happen. I don't see him selling himself out for something like that anytime soon.
@@CreativeMindsAudio See Cory Doctorows lecture from Def Con 31 to get an idea of the trajectory of where Patreon is heading.
@@DJDiskmachine yeah I’ve seen his stuff before but I’ll give it a watch later. I know all about the “enshitification” of stuff btw.
The curse of venture capital. Patreon had to squeeze creators to pay off the vampires. It had one job that it did well. But that doesn't bring in the huge sums investors require. If you put all your eggs in this one basket, you're going to be buggered when the screw is twisted. Sorry Jack, you messed it up.
I always appreciate your enthusiasm. Being someone who has been here from the very beginning... every time you guys switch things up i lose patrons. Creators dont need more social platforms. They need a means to be supported that doesnt alienate those who support them. Nothing else. People need less phone time not more.
i want patreon to be a payments processor that delivers money to the people i back. i don't want to pay for them to build yet another social media platform / tech startup.
Just... paypal them? If you want a platform that hosts content, you have to pay for the platform. They're trying to improve it to make a space built around supporting artists as appealing as the eternal scroll of garbage content on mainstream social media. That seems like a very reasonable relevant way to improve the art consumer's social media experience.
Of course Patreon wants to make money and compete with other social media. If you hate that, and you only care about the artist, and you truly want to refute capitalism, everyone has a paypal, cashapp or Venmo that will free you from the shackles of exchanging money for goods and services so you can just worry about the money part.
So you want a donate function on TH-cam. It’s already there
no it's better if it's all in one... the problem is the community feature they had from the start was an afterthought instead of a supporting feature and now everybody has gone to other platforms like Discord to serve that function and are now invested in them. somebody who is well established with their Discord is not going to jump to something new that patreon implements, now years later it's much more likely that most people already have a Discord to communicate with their supporters
@@better.better It's called 'enshittification" (google it) and it's what Patreon is doing to itself right now.
Thank you.
Tell us about the role all that venture capital funding is playing in this
You just know it. So weird to see delusional sycophants commenting not realizing it’s like being excited by a guy who sold them a steaming plate of sh!t and these lusers are asking for a steaming pile of Jack’s runny dump seconds.
Sadly this does feel like the beginning of the end for Patreon. Can't think of any company that didn't eventually sell out when having stacks of cash waved in their face, no matter what they promised or stated as their core tennents. Remember "don't be evil"? Hard to blame them when you consider how difficult and stressful it is to build something new from scratch.
Patreon is refusing to refund my money even after i canceled and was charged, Patreon policy needs to change right now its just a money hungry scam. And Patreon is getting out done by other apps integrating their own subscription tiers, like Mee6, Discord, TH-cam, TikTok, soon Patreon wont even be needed, and having terrible refund policies and bad customer service says it all.
Then why get rid of the community tab for mobile users? That's shooting the fan community in the foot.
As much as this sounds great, I also worry this just creates another walled garden. The more anyone depends on a single platform for their livelihood (even patreon), the more they will bend to that platform. I really really really really hope that interoperability and integration between patreon and all the other platforms is a key tenet of how to move forward. Making it trivial to share videos across platforms, or post chats in multiple places. Just dont lock things in, because however good the intentions are now, they’ll be very easily lost over time.
The big difference is TH-cam forces you to bend to the platform because they want to earn as much money as possible. They don't care about creativity. Patreon has always prioritized creators and creativity. I don't think that will change anytime soon.
This has to be the best (entertaining, creative, clear) video explaining a company pivot EVER.
Sycophant spotted.
😂😂😂
it blows my mind that 10 years and a tech company later - Jack Conte is still so very much JACK CONTE.
Jack is a GOAT at video!
Without creators, the web is a lifeless shell.
I can’t wait for artists to finally have a bit of leverage in this otherwise shit world.
You've absolutely nailed down the problem with today's platforms.
Agree 🙌
Nor enough grifting?
Love the direction! Community is everything, it's Patreon! - this has been a place to connect with my community and we all saw the potential - it is so exciting to see it become reality, evolve and improve. Keep up the great work and THANK YOU!
okay dude this was a really cool presentation. Very creative
You're right. I'm on board.
Of *course* *you* are here to bootlick. Destin, you're a clown.
Erm… I’m not fully convinced with the new vision. Mainly, the visual identity.
When the previous logo was already too simple, we now get an even simpler shape; a puddle of white ink.
if you look at their new logo, you'll find that they are even more corporate than ever
yes Destin he is correct. However, he's too late... everyone is established on Discord now. it would have been much better if from the start the community tab functioned like Discord did back then, then no one would have gone to Discord to fill that role, now Discord is so far ahead in that evolution that I don't think there's any way for patreon to catch up. I was literally in the audience of Jack's live stream with Ryan Lerman months before he started patreon, expressing his frustrations about having millions of subs, but still unable get views, or to fill a physical venue despite knowing that the audience was there. I was elated when he unveiled patreon. however I was highly disappointed when Tony Darnell (Deep Astronomy) revealed that he didn't make all that much from his patreon despite having a pretty significant following, and I realize that all patreon was is basically a credit card processing website. yes there's a community feature (garbage) and yes if somebody wanted to scroll through all the creators they could potentially find somebody they wanted to support, however who uses Patreon for discovery? nobody! most people decide they want to support creators they're already following! so those two features are basically useless. I think he was counting on Perks to drive the membership growth, but really, it's the audience/creator relationship is what drives the bus and he should have put that effort into adding more value to the "community" features.
@@better.better what is with the essay
Just sending love as I have always been for the last 10 years!
You are an insanely good speaker sir. Love this. Thank you
A few months ago, I signed up for Patreon and only recently started actively using it, anticipating that fans of my series would join. However, I was taken aback when I received an email informing me that my account had been suspended due to 'suspicious activity.' Perplexed, I contacted Patreon for an explanation. They requested three pieces of information from me: my address, my payment method, and another detail I can't recall. I promptly provided these details. Despite this, days passed without any response. When I followed up, they replied, stating their decision to part ways with me. I sought an explanation once more, but they offered none, and then they ignored me. I am confident that I haven't violated any rules, and I find the lack of justification for my suspension both unfair and concerning. What could be the reason behind this situation?
I hope this platform is better for writers. The platform kinda just became a headache for readers and writers to edit and engage our artform. Otherwise, I'd energize a lot more of my Twitter following there rather than losing out on opportunity.
And specifically highlighter on nostr apps
As a fiction writer and animator, I've lost trust in Patreon. They abruptly suspended my account without providing any concrete reason, simply citing 'suspicious activity.' This accusation seems baseless as I am confident I haven't violated any of their policies. I'm not alone in this experience; I've noticed similar complaints from other users on Reddit, who also faced unjustified suspensions. This pattern raises concerns about Patreon's practices and transparency.
Just for the love of God, don't sell Patreon's autonomy for more VC money. Try to take back the company and just grow things organically. Patreon is literally a money printer, the fact that you're scrambling to satisfy shareholders is because you invited them in by taking their money.
Yes I'm worried about the etsy effect too...
Came from the 10yr old main channel launchpad videos and i will say i had no clue this dude ran patreon, would be amazing to see him maybe make a return one of his remixes as a 10 yr thing or something idk
Using TH-cam as a simple video repository while keeping the community on Patreon is smart... but it's not the creators who need to be convinced, it's the fans... the fans need to follow the creators to Patreon and start communities... it will be interesting to see how much "work" fans put into finding their favorite artists, or whether they'd just rather endlessly scroll...
Uninstalled TH-cam app recently because I got sick of getting stuck in shorts. Only occasionally view in browser now as a subscriptions treat. Tried patreon just now hopeful it would be a remedy, but the creators aren't easy to find and when you do, they haven't all got non pay content yet. Would be good if I could just pass in my YT subscriptions and get content as they enable.
@@fredfarrell TH-cam without an ad blocker is awful...
I just poked around on Patreon and it looks like you can set up free content without having to have any subscription services? I'm still not quite sure. My thought is that Patreon needs enough free content to pull viewers over who will become paid fans of a few creators...
Agree, I have yt premium but I can't resist the short format reel style content and it chews my time. Until it's easy to find my yt subs on patreon auto and they have free content hosted there as well, I'm unlikely to use the app.
It's unfair to say that "fans are the only ones doing work". Creators need to give fans a reason to want to be part of a community.
Think of it this way - I live in a neighborhood but I don't participate in the community. But I live here, so I should, right?
It's the same thing - you're on TH-cam watching this Creator's videos but what real incentive do you have to go somewhere else? On Patreon, your individual voice is still likely to be dwarfed by the sheer amount of other people on the platform that are also trying to interact with that Creator.
You're putting the onus on the fans to "follow the creator", but they already are. It's the Creator who needs to give a reason to go elsewhere. And no, the answer is not "come to patreon and pay to see exclusive content". I'm here on TH-cam because it's free. If you can't give me a similar experience and an option to pay if I'm truly interested, then there's no reason to leave.
These are great points and it does sound like Patreon is working to make it easier to find creators. And yes, we need more creators offering the variety of paid and unpaid goodies. I’ve been a creator on Patreon since 2017 and have loved this little world I’ve been creating and have been expanding into more free posts and opening up my tier structure to essentially pay-what-you-wish-and-you-get-all-the-goodies; felt like the right adjustments for me to be as welcoming as possible to anyone else sick of traditional social media and all that goes along with it, to create a space wide open for more mindful “content” to consume, genuine interactions, and a healthier way of tech usage, but I’ve needed Patreon to open things up more on their end too, very excited by some progress at last! I love occasionally browsing random creators just to find ones who do offer the range of paid/unpaid content, but I’ve built a home on Patreon already so it is part of expanding my little world there, and I understand if you’re new and the platform isn’t quite there yet with ease. What kind of creators would you be interested in? If I’ve found any so far, happy to share a link as you’re exploring the platform! And thanks to those who are taking the time to check Patreon out! There are so many amazing creators here, you get to create your own little world of inspiration! 💕
Patreon is setting itself up so that unless it becomes the equivalent of amazon or meta, it will have to fail. How sad that we can't have a service that earns a reasonable profit doing one thing well. Instead it has to try to do everything, most of it poorly. The main impression I get from this video is... chaos.
So the comment section sucks and has the entire time I've used it for the last several years. I don't get notifications when people respond to me, so the community building and connecting with fellow fans is not very easy or intuitive. That's why I stay with Instagram, because I can message and interact easily with fellow fans even with the crappy algorithm. And not everyone uses Patreon on their phone, so that's cutting out a good chunk of people from using the new features. Make the features available across both mobile and desktop to make sure everyone can interact the same way. And the backend as a creator is just clunky and not a very smooth posting experience. I've encouraged people to use ko-fi over Patreon and will continue to do so, since their platform just works a lot better.
is this the right time and place to demand a new scary goldings album. happy new year everybody
So Patreon’s solution to an overwhelming social media transition is to… become yet another social media outlet? It makes sense in terms of adding features to match the social media competition, which themselves are entering Patreon’s space for direct creator funding, yet still doesn’t seem like a solution to many of the topics brought up. I wish there was more collaboration between the social media outlets, to utilize what Patreon has been so successful at instead of trying to replicate and replace, yet I suppose that is wishful thinking. There’s just so much on the web these days, it’s impossible to keep up with it all, and it would be nice to have less places to look.
This difference is, because Patreon is based on a foundation of paying members, that Patreon doesn't have to monetize the way that other social media platforms do. Patreon doesn't need an algorithm, because they don't need to maintain eyes the same way TikTok does.
Now, if the Free Tier becomes too large, then suddenly that changes things...
No shit! It's not unlike,
"Dude, you didn't tell me."
"Really? I left a voicemail yesterday!"
"Oh, shit....I checked my FB messages, my WhatsApp messages, my texts, all 6 of my email inboxes, my snail mailbox, my p.o. box, called my mom...."
You missed the whole point of the video which is freedom from the algorithm Gods
This is amazing news and I'm so excited to see what Patreon's future helping even more creatives will be. The day artists can be seen for who they really are without having to distort their art into whatever consumption box is relevant will be the biggest win. Congratulations Jack and team!
Love this. But I'm going to largely repeat a slightly skeptical comment I made to one of your earlier "2nd renaissance" videos. Bravo to this vision, and both bravo and *thank you* for what you've done to help kick it off via Patreon. That said, I wonder how much growth the creator/fan feedback loop (with fans becoming creators themselves, and companies creating payment systems to support them) can lead to. Every positive feedback system eventually saturates because every system is finite. Speaking for myself, my Patreon account can't handle a lot more creators (in fact, in the last few years I've discovered so many great new creators that I've had to start swapping some in and out). I realize that lots of people (consumers/patrons) are not yet on Patreon and its imitators. But all of us are getting monthly-subscriptioned to death. Software that we used to pay for once every few years we now have to pay for monthly-and more and more of it every year. And now we're trying to support our favorite artists with ongoing monthly payments. I'm just wondering if the visionaries behind all of this have thought about finitude and whether the community of full-time, sustainable creators has some limit on size that may not be 100x greater than it currently is (maybe not even 10x). I'm skeptical that even a substantial fraction of the 75% of kids who want to be creators (mentioned in your other videos) can get significant financial support from creating. Well, in any case, I've tried to be a "patron of the arts" (for independent musicians in particular) from long before Patreon, and I'm happy to be on the ride, however far it may go. -Tom
Wow, you are amazing for how much you are supporting the arts! Thank you! Great points on the oversaturation of monthly subscriptions everywhere, I had never thought of that, that IS a lot! Patreon does let some creators do yearly memberships, I’m not sure if that would really impact what you’re expressing here. But this will be interesting to see how it all plays out moving forward in a world where everything seems monthly! How do we address overwhelming people with this, hmmm…
I live in a world where paying for software (once off or by subscription) is just not a thing. I live on Ubuntu, and use exclusively Free Software.
@@qwertyTRiG I'm a scientist; I use an Ubuntu machine for work. It's a great solution for certain things. But try doing the kind of content creation you see in this video with Ubuntu. Good luck! Open source and free software are great for many things, but not all. That's why I'm typing this message on a Mac and I do my audio and video production on a Mac.
Thank you for this video. I have returned to Patreon and want to learn about the store, chat, and other aspects. I was ill for awhile but look forward to raising my patreon to new heights.
GO PATREON! We love this platform. Thanks to you Jack and your team for everything you do for us and the creator economy!
How quickly people forget the absolute betrayal Patreon committed against their customers. The mass protest against them and Esp Jack Conte after his Bold Face Lies on Dave Rubin interview.
Short memories all around...
I found a new person i admire. You're a genius and i can feel that you care.
after watching the whole video i want to thank you for wording out what i've been feeling about the internet lately, the players involved and the algorithm jumping from one thing to another (wich takes users on a rollercoaster of emotions...and distraction from the good stuff) and that i see the amazing work that you are doing to create a platform that is stimulating, inspiring, a true income possibility for artisans, artists and creators and all that can be derived (anything is art its how you look at it, feel it) and to unite people and make them follow what stimulates them, compare thoughts with the comunity, discover and buy unique products. amazing! wish i could contact to share a few thoughts.. seems only creators can send feedback for app and features 🤔
a sincere thank you for everything you did, and you keep doing!
It feels like everything is trying to become the “everything app”. Now creators have to waste their precious time straddling multiple platforms, cross posting on insta, tok, x, and now Patreon. We don’t need another app that does everything. We need apps that do 1 thing well, are transparent, and empower the user as much as possible without trying to squeeze them for money. Sorry Jack, I love your energy but I think this is headed in the wrong direction.
Yeah, I'm not using Patreon to fucking socialize, it doesn't need to be a social media network.
yeah lol just more social media. even though I've quit everything except for TH-cam and decided to go outside and meet humans in real life instead. turns out real life garnered me over $50k in sales. turns out the internet just gets me shadow banned because I have an opinion that's not racist but not good either ha ha
At the same time, this should also not be in the hands of a for-profit company. Platforms like this should really exist as public infrastructure, free and available for everyone to use, managed and directed according to the users (both creator and consumer).
@@cvbattum Go take a look at all the wondrously forward-looking, technology-embracing dot-gov sites and tell me who is supposed to provide this publicly-funded infrastructure? Because government IT is hot trash.
If only people would pull their heads out of their asses and realize NFT tech is designed for you to have totally decentralized ownership over your digital goods.
incredible. don't know how I'm just watching this now!
This is cool, but my one concern is building a ton of content *inside* Patreon... and if Patreon changes policy, ownership, pricing, features, what happens to all of your content and data? It would be nice to be able to easily migrate your data out of Patreon if necessary in some sort of uncoupled way. Any thoughts on this? I'm thinking like Ghost, Wordpress, etc where at least you have your database and can migrate. Is this part of Patreon's plan?
you can always have your own website with a PayPal subscription button. it's literally that easy
@@stuart6478 I think that is best. I've lost trust in Patreon. They abruptly suspended my account without providing any concrete reason, simply citing 'suspicious activity.' This accusation seems baseless as I am confident I haven't violated any of their policies. I'm not alone in this experience; I've noticed similar complaints from other users on Reddit, who also faced unjustified suspensions. This pattern raises concerns about Patreon's practices and transparency. Having our own website would be safer for us and our supporters. Strip also has a subscription option.
This is a breath of fresh air! It’s like I just watched the explanation for why I’ve felt so lost and spent all my time stalling out watching everyone else create and just slothing out not wanting to create more malarkey noise attempting to make the monies instead of what is actually in alignment with my creative soul! 😮 I’ve watched so many videos about business and content creation and how I’m supposed to solve a problem for people and on and on! Aaauiigghh! I really do hope there’s a way to return to a more creative space. ❤
Well I never use the Patreon app - I go directly to the web page and watch it there and the same applies to youtube and Facebook, those apps always limit what's available and control you in ways that I find irritating.
Cooool but I wonder if this is too much when Patron still has problems With the simple act of collecting money and sending it to creators
I tried using Patreon for awhile to support some creators, but ended up having a huge hassle when my credit card number changed. Couldn't find an easy way to resolve it. I was told to post a message on Twitter. Not interested in doing business that way, so I decided to close my account. Wow, I didn't realize THAT would be a hassle, too! I was really shocked about the legal entanglements, AND how much information Patreon was collecting about me. I was surprised that it actually took a period of time to leave Patreon, as a supporter. There are far less invasive ways to support creators, and in the future, I'll be using those.
right I don 't want to go to X/Twitter and say heeeyyy Patreon ppl, notice me, I have a support issue please.. nah lol
Any insight into what those platforms are?
@@jetzine00 Buy me a coffee was easy peasy.
@@jetzine00 Ko-Fi seems to be decent
Please LeeBlaske - do you know of another way to Donate some $ for membership NOT through a monthly donation ? I just want to make a 1x yearly check out - do NOT want to put my Credit Card into any web system. (just asking' for trouble, at some point.) I cannot even find a contact phone number to call, to talk to a HUMAN.
I only use my Computer and do not go on any social media sites.
guess they don't give a shit about the little guy who is savy enough to avoid all this BS.
I'd really like to help out the many Creators I listen too, but won't be dragged into this monthly $ BS ...... where my Credit Card # is held somewhere in their ether, and likely to get HACKED sooner than later.
Sounds great, but why am I not seeing the creators I support on my home page anymore? I had someone I didn't realize I was following show up, but not the people I am subscribed to? I don't even see where to follow them so I see their stuff.
Ah, now they're showing up right. Weird.
New subscriber! I have looked ar this continuously! Love this!
Wow, great video, it’s super inspiring to see your transformation. It’s also great to see you, the creator of Patreon as a talented creator yourself! I had no idea! Much respect! There are so many rug pulls in favor of the platforms that preport to be dedicated to helping creators and It’s refreshing to see one that’s being honest about making it their mission.. by creators for creators.
This is incredibly inspiring and I'm currently overhauling my own Patreon page to take full advantage of it being more community focused. HUGE thank you for doing this! This video got me so much more hyped for what I'm working on!
A (possibly) better solution is to make tools that help artists who do what they truly love find an audience. This means an entirely new recommendation system that somehow knows that, even though this piece of content is different from what the user typically watches, or “consumes”, that they are highly likely to not just like it (TikTok) but be moved by it , even though it deviates so much from the mean of what they like.
TL;DW Patreon wants to become a social media platform, at least that's what it sounds like?
Maybe that could work if they put a focus on people who... don't spend money to access content
I wonder how you are going to solve the "discovery" problem. Because right now it's mostly sorted by subscribers. So bigger gets bigger and smaller creators are lower and lower in the lists.
The discovery problem is a major issue everywhere. Can't wait to see your take.
I almost set up a Patreon months ago, for my TH-cam community, but I was very concerned about the scandal a few months ago about terrible people producing CSA content and locking it behind membership to prevent law enforcement finding out. And people reported it to Patreon, but Patreon refused to get involved or ban the abusers from the platform, until it was made public. Does Patreon now have policies and procedures in place to prevent this sort of thing, and ban people who make harmful or abusive content?
I wanted to see Patreon's explanation for what they're doing because I popped onto patreon this morning and didn't understand why my feed is now organized worse.
There is an assumption in this video that fans are just creator simps. I am a fan of the content creators produce, I'm not a fan of just whatever a creator wants to do and that's why algorithms are thriving. I like content on eco friendly cities so yes if someone else is sharing similar content, show that to me, but if a creator I follow starts talking about the role of religion on society I'm out.
Also, not for nothing, but the problems described here seem to stem from the idea that creators are platform simps. I understand a desire from patreon to want more to happen on patreon itself but don't frame it as creators have no choice but to chase the algorithm problem. In fact to frame it as such is an admission that people seeing content they might like because of algorithms helps creators grow. Every creator I know of has multiple connected accounts, art sites or youtube etc that serves as a top level funnel to their patreon.
Anyway, here's to hoping that in the future Patreon considers what people paying want more and how that can be matched with how creators may want to create content instead of the other way around.
Incredible video!
production value here is just mindblowing. that presentation on a touch screen knocked my socks off multiple times
And didn’t they start all these new monetization ideas from something called…Patreon? 😅
I appreciate what you’ve said about bending our work to fit the internet. I have been calling myself a content creator instead of an artist for the last few years. Thank you for making Patreon such a great platform to be on. ❤
Sounds good. However, Patreon REALLY needs to address the notifications. For example, 7 out of 10 people are not getting proper notifications for my Patreon Exclusive Videos. If a member posts a question, I never get notified and when I reply they never get notified. To me, this should be at the very least in the top 5 fixes to make the patreon experience better, rather than creating new logos.
Great you updated the app... So why is the web version only aimed for phones and no longer showing posts ordered by date?
Also someone spilled in on the icon and portraits.
its a good thing TH-cam is changing- if it wasn't, we would all be in trouble. That being said, im super excited to see all the changes on patreon!
Welp I didnt think the patreon site/app could get worse. Guess I was wrong.
This does sound interesting as a concept, if, as it sounds like, you're moving AWAY from the algorithms. It's not like people who want algorithms can't find that elsewhere!
Something I would suggest for your 'digital sales' options would be the ability to sell only to patrons (such as time limited content they had missed, a big thing for Stls), which I noticed was missing and stopped me using the new feature, otherwise it would have been perfect!
Nice to see a focus on the honest art and not just the attention economy of the algorithms :) hopefully it'll play out that way!
The only difference I can see in the “new Patreon” is the inability to make posts now. Been using it for years, but now I can’t make posts because pics and vids won’t upload and can’t make a post without a pic of vid. Anyone else having this problem?
I’m genuinely touched by your impressive vision and messaging. And optimism. Thank you for doing what you do.
I'm still confused, how is this supposed to improve/fix the problem mentioned in the beginning of the video? Is it just that Patreon will try to become Twitter/Social Media before Twitter/Social Media become Patreon first? Similar to Netflix and Disney?
I'm excited about what's coming! Let me not wait 10 years though.
Sooo when are you going to adress the problem of a certain pirate website, scrapping all our content automatically? It's been years already?
Love the vision. You’ve perfectly encapsulated my frustrations of using social media as an artist. I hope your solution works.
just hearing the word dooblydoo made me nostalgic for the old internet. and now after this announcement i'm excited for the future
I've never heard it before. Too young I guess? I feel like a baby haha
BRB, going to rewatch some ZeFrank
This video made me a firm believe that the future is worse. Especially for Patreon. :(
@@IllisiaAdams @vlogbrothers started using it when the "sidebar" moved so it was under the video instead of on the side, but I think they got it from @WheezyWaiter.
I love how this video is shot. It feels raw and genuine yet highly produced at the same time. Well done. Also, I love how you incorporated the synth and the overhead tv shots. Definitely feeling inspired, not just by the content, but also by the way this video was made. Good stuff!
Jack, I love that you make a distinction between "Art" and "Content".
I love yur creativity, thanks for making videos, I know u don't have to, but that's why I wana pour w u, u r one of my fav creators
That vid u did w that sky rope was nuts. I felt yur fear 😢
I just hit 10k followers on insta so have decided to start a patreon. This new update is great timing. Everything you've said is resonating, I hate making content. I want to make my art. Your vision is amazing
I love all these plans. I was reluctant to start a Patreon for my fiction podcast, but after years (decades) of chasing and always coming close by traditional means, I now see Patreon as a bigger part of what I do than anything that came before. Between my website and Patreon, everything I do has a home and support from fans. Thanks for that! 😀
This is my new favorite video on the internet. We spend way too much time and energy trying to fit into the algorithms. It's unbelievable how much sense this makes. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And Thank you
Preach!! This video has every reason why you are one of my favorite humans, Jack. Don't go changing!
The desktop site for Patreon on mac with firefox is broken. nothing looks correct, content is missing (like text boxes, etc)
looks to be an html / css issue
Cool, can I just set goals again?
You are freakin awesome Jack. Love your passion, your drive and your energy. Oh, and your truthfulness.
You rock... ummm... literally !
Are you concerned about turning Patreon into an "everything platform" for creatives? What makes this any different than other walled gardens or "ecosystems" out there (Apple, Google, Meta, etc.)? I'm asking because I really would like to know the answers, and because I'm hoping that Patreon really IS different from the others.
This sounds amazing! I can't wait until I have members of my Patreon XD Time to go upload my videos on there! I didn't know that was a thing!
Really want to believe it’s a story told so well… but imagination isn’t the only limitation… the massive pressure of the investors in Patreon to see big returns on their capital are a real limitation. Wish that Patreon was truly by creators for creators as it’s positioned… and not by creators funded by leaches and hope theirs enough left for creators business vc valley that Jack and co. followed or fell into… will the new Patreon features just be a vertical integration ploy to lock creators in and siphon of larger % from them or will they be real value adds?
I’m rooting for Patreon to escape the voracious greed that’s biting at their heels… but if it doesn’t work maybe it paints a vision that others can truly realize… cause the one thing that creators are good at is seeing new paths and taking them… unlike audiences who may opt for convenience, creators will pack up and move platforms to a true by creators and for creators co-op style platform that’s not over leveraged…
I’m rooting for you Jack, just wish you didn’t get strapped with such a heavy collar.
genuinely feels like a real person & not just a brand, changes sound amazing, keep it up love ur vision especially as an aspiring creator
I really hope that you're able to accomplish this, Jack. The outside monetary investment interests seem to be degrading the love you have put into this project as well as your initial reason for creating it. Nothing but love, bud ❤
I refuse to follow trends in my content, and that’s probably hurt my Patreon a growth, but you’ve still given me the ability to make 50k a year from loyal people who want to learn about guitar.
I’m keen to see how you can help growth (as I put product up for sale and literally had not one sale) without hurting those of us who already do well with Patreon as it is.
I’m not your biggest creator, but I’d be amazed if don’t have a long list of things you can bring to us on Patreon that would seriously change things for us.
patreon follow is the best change they’ve ever made! I’m excited about what is coming next.
Great to get this insight into Patreon's strategy. I'm making a push for my own channel at the moment and had half-decided on discord for a realtime community (simply because it's biggus) but wanted to investigate the community feature on Patreon more. Now I can clearly see it as a piece of a much bigger puzzle which I'm very here for. Having this role for artists is a huge responsibility and I'm happy you're at the helm.
(Love your Digital Spaghetti channel too. 🍝)
Your energy and enthusiasm is truly infectious, Jack. Thank you for your work!
Thanks...I needed a little motivation as a creator. Life can blur what's really important and what you said moved some of the shit out of the way and clarified the vision of creating again.
Super excited for this. As a fan, I've connected with amazing creators thanks to Patreon.
Hell yeah Jack! Excited to see the updates.
Saw them. Damn the new app looks so good! 😁
Amazing video! As a creator who was struggling on TH-cam back in 2015, I began creating exclusive content on Patreon and it has quite literally changed my life. I'm eternally grateful for everything that Patreon has done for me! 🙌🏻
Thank you for the idea of putting my Patreon link as the top link on TH-cam rather than my subscribe link. I'm curious to see if it impacts the amount of Patrons.
What a violent explosion of inspiration and encouragement!!!
💗So many of the specifics you touched on hit me directly in the meaning place, and I applaud you for your vision, inclusion, and love... I felt it, I appreciate it, and I'm a raving fan because of it. Thank you🙏
Jack, you've been inspiring me since I discovered your VideoSongs over a decade ago. I was sad, and as a musician kind of hurt, when you shifted focus to building a company. I miss seeing new crusty videos where you're screaming your heart out and making crazy faces.. but Patreon is fucking awesome. So much incredible art made by creators I love dearly, that wouldn't exist without Patreon. Seeing you grow into The Dad of Online Art has been astonishing dude. Thank you so much.
This was great and super encouraging. (Also, the sheer energy of this video is captivating....love to see the BTS.)
I'm a bit wary about seeing you talk on how the primary creator posting sites (youtube, twitter, ect) are bloating themselves with features where they try to copy tiktok, then you detail how patreon is bloating itself with features beyond the primary focus on being a funding middleman platform in the next breath. It hits a special kind if irony when this just seems like patreon wanting to *become* one of those sites that he criticizes as being increasingly unstable for creators. I'm sure a lot of people have worked very hard on this and that there are genuine improvements made here. But this is way too much of avoiding saying the obvious elephant in the room, which is the goal of replacing pre-existing platforms with your own because then patreon is the center for everything. You're making yourself compete with them as much as TH-cam, TikTok, Twitter, Tumblr, ect are already competibg with each other.
LOVE this video and might I say, FINALLY!!!! I have liked the idea of supporting creators more but always found patreon so dry and unfriendly. Now this looks awesome and I love where the focus is angled.
Totally get that! A few years ago, I made a point to start doing more free content because it felt like such a cold, closed down space with only paid content. These changes should definitely help to open things up!
Did the creators get paid yet? Last I saw HUNDREDS of them were without their hard earned money.
What if you just made it so the payments went out on time, Jack?
All the changes you mentioned are exactly what I thought id want to have on my website! I cant wait to be a part of this
Well done Patreon! You've managed to take an app/site that did what it should do with no fuss, and make it more irritating to use. Where's the chronological post view gone? I don't want to miss updates from creators because the posts are grouped 10 creators down, and effectively hidden. This is going to see loads of creators haemorrhage patrons because the patrons will think that creators have stopped creating. In this video, you criticise tiktok and the modern social media algorithms, but the new app solves this by algorithmically deciding which of my creators are at the top of the Patreon feed?
And why bother with the new "Chat" thing? You talk about fan communities and building them, but won't this chat split existing communities? I'm not going to move from active Discords to Patreon Chats. Some patrons will move. And now the community feels smaller.
Yet another company that's going to kill itself by trying desperately to grow endlessly to be all the things. Jack app of all trades and master of none.
Yea, that's what bothers me most about this. They complain about TikTok's algorithmically generated content stream while forcing *the exact same thing* on its users. I do think the idea is neat to have a community on Patreon for fans that are really dedicated to a creator, but this one change makes me think they are just trying to stick a content feed on their site and mobile app instead of striving for community building. And honestly, a lot of creators have member-only Discord servers that essentially serve the same purpose as what Patreon is supposedly trying to create, so unless their product is somehow better than a Discord server (which it definitely won't be if it just boils down to an algorithmic content stream), I don't see it being much of a help to creators or their fans.
Part of the problem is that Patreon has taken on hundreds of millions of dollars in Venture Capital funding, so while they claim they're all about supporting creators, in reality, their goal is to make as much money as possible, as quickly as possible - especially given the exodus of creators once global Covid restrictions ended. (c.f. "The Rise and Fall of Patreon")
While adding in an e-commerce platform, chats, videos etc. is promoted as a benefit to creators, the more pertinent point is to encourage creators to do everything on the Patreon platform, so whatever changes are made in future (e.g. increasing admin fees), creators feel they're stuck on the platform because all their content is on it, and it's likely going to be difficult for them to migrate elsewhere. Added onto which, many smaller creators with Patreons predominantly have their main community elsewhere (e.g. Twitch, TH-cam, Discord) and view Patreon as an additional form of revenue support - likely deliberately not putting all their proverbial eggs in the same basket.
Meanwhile: "Platforms spinning up and sunsetting new features all the time" - I wonder which platform once spun up a feature called "Lens", then sunsetted it, and spun up a feature called "Goals", then sunsetted it?
I'm in agreement. And personally, although I like his energy, I found this video somewhat irritating. I didn't see the need for the f word either. This is a platform that has creators and members from many ages, world views, etc, and I believe that keeping things more professional is a better way to present things from Patreon.
@mittfh Thanks for bringing that point up. I'll certainly keep in mind not to use all their "features" so I don't become trapped on their platform 👍
As a creator, the biggest issue for me is now on my creator feed I can't at a glance see how each month earning/losses look, more less it's become somehow -harder- to track selective patrons support. Instead of clear concise information on a single panel it's now spread between 4 different tabs. I was already debating about pulling out before this, but this clear change towards creator check in along with the general change of following other creators makes me the choice all too obvious now.
Thank you for all the live looping flourishes in this. A really fun addition to a really inspiring video.
Hopefully you will fix the issue of being locked out from viewing a video which your paying a membership for. This happens all too frequently and it’s not the creators issue, it’s patreon!
This has been an absolute gamechanger for me, my UNUSUAL business has survived because of you, it is not something that is searched for much and yet anyone can do and save so much money. I LOVE teaching and making videos so this has been perfect. I joined just pre-covid and I am loving the journey, congrats on the new improvements, it is all about growing and learning!! You are truely phenomenal and BTW the animation for your video is incredible. I still release my older videos from Patreon to my TH-cam channel because after so much work for each video they dont get viewed enough once they move further back into the past. It is great to see improvements being made in the way videos can be searched for.