I’m frustrated. Your messaging is inconsistent and damaging to creator growth: are you a discovery platform, or aren’t you? You have this convoluted post giving vague reasons (and inaccurate diagrams) as to why Patreon shouldn’t help creators reach more patrons looking for relevant content, and then go ahead and launch these social media campaigns (#MadeWithPatrons) designed to draw more attention to these same creators using your own social network reach. You using our hard work to advertise your platform is all well and good, but if it also gets us more patrons, aren’t you behaving like — gasp — a discovery platform? I can feel my community’s integrity slipping away already!
Listen. I get that you’re trying, but you desperately need help from new perspectives. The bottom line is that it’s painfully obvious that you’re trying to avoid working on something that prevents you from introducing new creators to patrons. I have gotten so many new patrons from fellow creators who’ve sent them my way, and I’ve done the same for several others. It’s a successful relationship that’s helped us all and has helped us make successful Patreon campaigns. Let’s also not forget that you also benefit when we succeed: when we make a living, you do too. If you’re so concerned about Patreon behaving like a discovery platform and damaging the creator/patron relationship somehow, then let creators turn off their discoverability if they feel as though it negatively impacts their relationships. Spoiler alert: they won’t.
Look at Twitch: you see entire channels filled with people talking in chat. Some are new visitors while others are there every day. That’s a good thing. People who don’t fit into the culture the streamer establishes invariably choose to leave. The ones that like it choose to stay. That’s how communities are built. But the fact remains that the people who choose to stay never would have found the streamer’s channel if Twitch wasn’t also a discovery platform.
The fact that Patreon raised $60m this year in venture capital this year but still hasn’t hired out a bespoke, professional User Experience studio to solve its problems is as baffling as it is worrying. The site runs like a bad Wordpress theme and has so many painful gaps in its feature list that it makes me genuinely concerned about Patreon’s future. Any UX studio would agree that discoverability is important for your and for your creators’ success. All that I want is to be seen by new people on your site: people whose wallets are already open because they support content creators. That’s what everyone wants here. It shouldn’t be my responsibility to advertise for other creators: it’s theirs, and it should be yours too. Again, you benefit from our successes. Act like it.
Your eschewing of responsibility regarding creator discoverability is the tip of an iceberg. It’s simply not okay. I’ve made my way without your help finding patrons, but there are so, so many who haven’t. I have a background in design and marketing that have given me what I need to create a successful platform, but there are thousands of people out there on your platform who make good work but don’t know how to reach new people. Why are you intentionally ignoring them? Kickstarter suggests new projects for me to back all the time: why not Patreon?
Many of us have been barking up this tree for years now. I’ve all but given up on getting features that creators actually want…like post organization, a gallery of some kind, discoverability, and all that you mentioned.
Instead, we get stuff no one has asked for and seem to be a waste of resources coughpinnedpostscoughlandingpagescoughcough.
I’m right there with you, and why anyone but the top performers are discoverable makes no sense to me either. I wish you luck, but it really feels no matter how many times it’s mentioned, it’s never on the road map. I gave up on asking for things I want a long time ago, and don’t bother answering any of their surveys - because it’s pointless.
I support your views and wish you all the best on your Crusade. Just don’t expect much from Patreon besides a PR-friendly non-answer.
I’ve all but given up on getting features that creators actually want…like post organization, a gallery of some kind
Image galleries have been a thing for some time. Patreon even tested and previewed several different versions and got creator feedback before selecting a final version. Post organization and searching is in the updates they said they’re rolling out this month.
Instead, we get stuff no one has asked for and seem to be a waste of resources coughpinnedpostscoughlandingpagescoughcough .
Actually pinned posts has been requested by tons of creators for years, so yes Patreon is actually giving creators things that they ask for. If you follwed the link that OP posted to the “stuff we’ve asked for” post, you’d have seen dozens of creators asking for and about pinned posts.
Patreon is not a discovery platform. It’s not their job to recruit patrons to your page; it’s yours.
Showing general or generic support for Patrons as a whole, and the creators on the platform, does not obligate them to change their business model to suit your whims.
Also, in the “convoluted post” you linked, it might be important to note the last point they make:
3. We don’t try to lure your patrons away to other creators
Because we’re not focused on discovery, we’re not constantly trying to recommend new creators to your fans. It takes time to build an audience, for a fan to become passionate enough about you as a creator to become a paying patron. We respect that relationship. We’re not here to market other creators to your patrons.
For every new patron you might gain from being discovered, you might lose just as many for someone who decides to support another creator. Do you really want to be in competition with every other creator on the platform? Do you want to compete with the creators who have teams of people who can make their Patreon pages optimized for what people want and offer perks that you might lack the time or manpower to fulfill?
Instead of demanding a purpose that Patreon has said they are not going fill, why not focus that energy on making your page the best you can for patrons and recruit potential future patrons from your fanbase?
What a foolish response. You regurgitating post contents that already don’t make sense doesn’t mean that you suddenly have a valid point.
Patreon is not a discovery platform. It’s not their job to recruit patrons to your page; it’s yours.
Oh, it is my job already. What I’m saying is that it’s in Patreon’s best interest to support creators. I already do a very good job attracting new patrons, but many creators aren’t so lucky to have a relevant background or knack for it. What about them? They’re making good content, but they don’t have the background to make it work for them. What then? I see that you’re the manager of an already successful Patreon campaign, so it seems like an easy stance for you to take. You’ve got yours, so screw everyone else, right? This isn’t a whim: it’s an actual concern.
Let’s not forget that Patreon takes a percentage: something they’re increasingly trying to eek more out of us from. When we succeed, so do they.
You putting my words in quotation marks doesn’t make you sound smart, it makes you look like a jerk. That post is convoluted and uses nonsensical diagrams to illustrate a nonexistent point. Luring is an interesting word choice they used there, which is actually pretty close to fear mongering. As per my original post, the ability to turn off the discoverability feature would solve that if you see people leaving your content for another’s.
Instead of demanding a purpose that Patreon has said they are not going fill, why not focus that energy on making your page the best you can for patrons and recruit potential future patrons from your fanbase?
That’s my job, thanks. How about instead of defending a platform that’s sitting on its hands, you help lift up other creators who may not be so fortunate?
I see that you’re the manager of an already successful Patreon campaign, so it seems like an easy stance for you to take. You’ve got yours, so screw everyone else, right?
Wow, 2 posts into the forum and you’ve already devolved into personal attacks? Classy
I don’t need to defend myself to you, but I do make a huge effort to lift up other creators. I personally have helped 3 other creators develop out their community forums in the form of Discord servers and have trained mods/admins for an additional 3 creators servers. I’m also extrmely active in these forums and in the Patreon Discord server trying to build up other creators.
This thread was your first post on the Patreon forums and you took the entire time to shit on the business model of the platform even though Patreon has said and repeated that they are not a discovery platform.
launch these social media campaigns (#MadeWithPatrons) designed to draw more attention to these same creators using your own social network reach. You using our hard work to advertise your platform is all well and good, but if it also gets us more patrons, aren’t you behaving like — gasp — a discovery platform? I can feel my community’s integrity slipping away already!
Again, celebrating the success of creators and saying thank you to patrons as a whole does not obligate them to change that business model, nor is it them even remotely behaving as a discovery platform. It’s a total non sequitur to say that it is.