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Comment by Fomite | Hacker News Reader

"I never created a Patreon account for us though. Everytime I began I never finished signing up. The whole thing just seemed like a hassle. Too many input fields and things to consider and graphics to provide. Patreon expects creators to create more content for patrons. We felt we were already giving away lots with our already free content."

I actually really like this philosophy. I run a tiny, niche miniatures wargaming blog, and while I have a Patreon account, I don't feel like I really fit with the Patreon "idea" of heavy engagement with patrons.

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Similarly, I find it awkward when creators email me about secret stuff only available to patrons. The magic is that your stuff is free! I don’t want to be incentivising this. The free content led me to donate in the first place.

The only way to achieve this is to donate so little, you don’t get any access to secret material.

Patreon defeats the purpose of Patreon.

Never thought about it that way but I see your point!

Patreon is a nice service and I use it to give back to several projects. But I don't use any of the things (I suppose) I get in return.

Fair point! As a creator thinking about creating a Patreon presence, I wouldn't have realized this.

How would you feel if the content is still free, but you get a sneak peek at it a bit earlier? I'm currently considering postponing all the schedules I have for seven days, and offering content a week earlier to those who pay. In my mind, that sounds good: the content I create is still free, while there's still an incentive for the consumers to support its creation.

This is actually how a lot of content creators do it

Completely agree! Patreon misses the point of Patreon.

I guess people are more likely to become patrons if there's some reward, and Patreon wants to encourage growth. But in doing so they are creating an environment where there's an expectation that we, the creators, spend precious time making special, walled-off content when the whole point of my needing Patreon is because my content is free. Besides the irony of the situation, I'm too busy also making content for other social media in order to promote my work. Please make it stop!

That's an interesting idea. I watch videos, and I don't mind videos that promote their Patreon page and/or other member exclusive benefits. They are free to make videos how ever they like, but I wonder is promoting member exclusive content actually undermines their success.

For example, in this SciShow video => https://youtu.be/fsS6d4byK4A?t=143

- make free content, get free viewers

- promote Patreon to viewers, get patrons

- promote premium content to free viewers, alienate free viewers

- lose free viewers, shrink pool of potential patrons

I guess some pitches are more invasive than others.

Here's a counter example: https://m.youtube.com/user/Dogen

He does what could be described as stand up comedy around the japanese language.

And his patreon has comprehensive japanese pronunciation and intonation lessons. https://www.patreon.com/dogen

They're different but related things with different but overlapping audience.

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