How about we elect representatives to speak to Patreon on our behalf? These could be part-time positions funded by Patreon to ensure that the company understands the needs of creators.
We could have a visual artist, a musician, a writer, a game-developer…and I don’t know what other categories of creator. People who would work to understand the needs of their category of creators and then present their specific needs to Patreon. These representatives would be directly involved in Patreon’s decision-making process.
Because Patreon has a big hole in it right now. From what I can tell, the company seems to prefer to look at metrics and act on statistics, but numbers don’t have the answers. There’s a human element that the company is missing and creator representatives could fill that gap.
I would worry that since all those categories are all quite broad themselves and that many people run things differently, that it may be putting too much pressure on one person to represent an entire subsection of ‘creator.’ If paid, that also puts them on the payroll and in a lot of cases, that puts an unintended distance between the user and them, followed by accusations from some that they are staff and no longer care, etc. (This happens in a lot in different areas of humanity so i worry that they will get unneeded flack and stress from this. )
I do agree however, that there is a communication gap for sure and that we creators need to be more involved in the processes that go on here. I know some of the staff are creators themselves so this puts an even larger feeling gap in there because either their voices weren’t the majority (if they didn’t like this change), they weren’t fully informed (which honestly, happens a lot in jobs, period) or they didn’t see how negatively this would affect their user base. (It is never one sided but being a part of a company, a brand, you are expected -to a degree of course- support and uphold their changes and practices even if you don’t like them.) So who actually knows how that all went down.
If this representative thing goes ahead, some new avenues will also need to be made to allow for broader communication with them, from the creators they represent. (sub forums here or something?) However, again, shooting the messenger is a huge thing (as we saw with Carla having to pretty much deal with the fee debacle here on the forums on her own and us venting all our frustrations on her. I do not envy her or any of the other staff’s jobs who have to deal with stuff like this. It is a taxing job.) The mental stress of dealing with this sort of thing is a hard thing to handle and i honestly wish no single person to have to deal with that from a whole slew of creators trying to be heard. I personally would prefer that patreon just communicate as they should, with us here, as a whole, but that may be wishful thinking. (Because one single creator representing many is going to cause turmoil when someone doesn’t like how they said something or if they feel they missed a point or ignored them. It’s no small feat, even if there is pay involved. )
Okay. But do you agree that Patreon is too focused on numbers? Do you agree that they suck at seeing the human element?
It’s fine if you don’t like the solution I’m proposing, but I think Patreon needs help diagnosing their problems right now. That was part of what I was trying to do with my post.
I do agree, yes. My apologies if I didn’t make that clear. I was taking that point, expanding on it and apparently failing at showing i agree with your points, just not quite so with the solution. (Though i think it certainly has merit!)
I just think it will be hard to find people who are willing, have the time to dedicate to it and are fully capable of dealing with that massive responsibility and the mounds of stress it will add to their lives. But if it can be made to work in such a way where there isn’t a disconnect on either of the sides they need to be communicating with, it could potentially work. (Because if patreon cannot show that they are willing to actually communicate, that poor person trying to represent a group of people will likely end up being lynched by their respective mob, even if it is not their fault. I’ve seen this sort of reaction destroy people. :/)
Perhaps if patreon can prove it is willing to actively participate in these forums and actually communicate better as we are now, this could be put into place with far less concerns. Without that show of communication (and lasting more than a week or two, as it has in the past) i’d hate to see anyone take a representative job, paid or not and have to deal with that. That’s all i was trying to say I really do agree with you though. Patreon has some serious work to do to fix whatever the heck is broken over there that caused this disconnect in the first place. (It’s even more concerning because some of them are even creators themselves.)
I agree with @joumana. One of the nice things about Patreon - I’m coming to realise - is that it isn’t generally hierarchical. If I want to say something, I can just contact support or come on here. Why do I need representatives?
I also agree with @joumana. Surely this past week must illustrate how badly broken the communication is between Patreon and creators. Why not use this forum to help fix that?
Valid questions that require an answer from someone at the company are posted here every day, and go unanswered for months on end. Why not fix that, too?
Patreon has a vast collection of creative, imaginative, innovative creators using its platform. Why not put our brains to use when looking for solutions?
That is definitely on the roadmap. Ellie left Patreon a few weeks ago, so we’re working to ensure we have someone who can check in regularly here, answer your questions, and elevate your concerns.
I really do agree with you though. Patreon has some serious work to do to fix whatever the heck is broken over there that caused this disconnect in the first place. (It’s even more concerning because some of them are even creators themselves.)