Patreon might be on its way out

[Blind_Justice]

Seems like Patreon got just kicked in the balls hard and if things play out badly for them, they might go bankrupt in a matter of weeks, depending on how many people dogpile on them. Given their track record, I can see a lot of people sharpening their knives right now. So, if you're a creator on Patreon, it might be a good idea to salvage your earnings and migrate your fan base somewhere safe before the big P disintegrates.

https://nationalfile.com/patreon-lo...o-pay-millions-in-arbitration-and-legal-fees/

 

[29wordsforsnow]

Seems like Patreon got just kicked in the balls hard and if things play out badly for them, they might go bankrupt in a matter of weeks, depending on how many people dogpile on them. Given their track record, I can see a lot of people sharpening their knives right now. So, if you're a creator on Patreon, it might be a good idea to salvage your earnings and migrate your fan base somewhere safe before the big P disintegrates.

https://nationalfile.com/patreon-lo...o-pay-millions-in-arbitration-and-legal-fees/

It's not really the _most_ trustful source you reference, to say the least. A quick check did not reveal any more trustful source either. And come on, what are a few millions $ for a global tech company?

Well, I erred before, but I'm pretty sure the 'big P' might shake a bit but will very likely go on to float, but not sink.

 

[Blind_Justice]

That's why I said "might". For now, I'm keeping tabs on things and wait for someone else but gleefully cackling drama channels to report further on the story. Still, a heads-up never hurt.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Seems like Patreon got just kicked in the balls hard and if things play out badly for them, they might go bankrupt in a matter of weeks, depending on how many people dogpile on them. Given their track record, I can see a lot of people sharpening their knives right now. So, if you're a creator on Patreon, it might be a good idea to salvage your earnings and migrate your fan base somewhere safe before the big P disintegrates.

https://nationalfile.com/patreon-lo...o-pay-millions-in-arbitration-and-legal-fees/

I was going to ask this elsewhere: how does Patreon work when one is publishing online? I assume that readers have to buy a subscription to read the files. How is the advertising handled; how do readers even find you?

Until now, I've mostly heard of Patreon being used by YouTube channels.

 

[Blind_Justice]

You can deliver content through Patreon. Text works very well and their publishing engine can handle blog-style messages with embedded media.

I usually post content updates with links to my Lit and StoriesOnline pages adorned by a cute picture. Also, I upload my subscriber rewards as .pdf files which can then be downloaded. You can create posts visible/accessible to everyone, paying customers or even filter by subscription tier.

Now, handling of NSFW content: Patreon really doesn't want that stuff, but even they realize sex sells like crazy and some of their big earners do NSFW stuff. Obviously, since they take a cut from every donation, they don't want that to go away.

So, you either self-declare your campaign as NSFW or Patreon does it for you if they deem your content not appropriate for minors. Since I love to spoil my visitors with pictures of skimpily clad amazons and the like, I had to bite the bullet and tick that checkbox. The downsides are:

- You are invisible in the Patreon system. No advertising on their pages for your campaign and you don't exist when searched through their search engine. The only way other people can see your stuff is if you plaster the direct link everywhere (like I did below)
- They slap a big fat content warning on any user's screen if they hit up said link.
Further, you are not allowed to display anything titillating in "visible to everyone" posts because that might potentially, possibly, maaaaaaybe offend someone somewhere. That seems mainly geared towards sexy pics. I haven't tried explicit text yet.

 

[gunhilltrain]

You can deliver content through Patreon. Text works very well and their publishing engine can handle blog-style messages with embedded media.

I usually post content updates with links to my Lit and StoriesOnline pages adorned by a cute picture. Also, I upload my subscriber rewards as .pdf files which can then be downloaded. You can create posts visible/accessible to everyone, paying customers or even filter by subscription tier.

Now, handling of NSFW content: Patreon really doesn't want that stuff, but even they realize sex sells like crazy and some of their big earners do NSFW stuff. Obviously, since they take a cut from every donation, they don't want that to go away.

So, you either self-declare your campaign as NSFW or Patreon does it for you if they deem your content not appropriate for minors. Since I love to spoil my visitors with pictures of skimpily clad amazons and the like, I had to bite the bullet and tick that checkbox. The downsides are:

- You are invisible in the Patreon system. No advertising on their pages for your campaign and you don't exist when searched through their search engine. The only way other people can see your stuff is if you plaster the direct link everywhere (like I did below)
- They slap a big fat content warning on any user's screen if they hit up said link.
Further, you are not allowed to display anything titillating in "visible to everyone" posts because that might potentially, possibly, maaaaaaybe offend someone somewhere. That seems mainly geared towards sexy pics. I haven't tried explicit text yet.

Thank you. The downsides seem a bit daunting, but I'll figure it out if I do go this route. I'm sure I won't have any pics, which should make it easier.

 

[lovecraft68]

I watched a video today about Patreon

Bottom line they're being sued for de-platforming people for political reasons and trying to use 'wokeness' to suck up to corporate sponsors. If some of the plaintiffs who were making large sums of money there unite and can draw other smaller people who were banned into a class action suit it will bankrupt them.

The issue they have is none of the people suing broke any rules in their TOS, this is censorship based on patreon trying to look 'woke' to appeal to their corporate sponsors.

in other words more of the disingenuous virtue signaling we're seeing more and more of, using a cause to try and make yourself appear like you give a shit and make money. Except when you're this blatant you're going to be on the losing end of your own game

Deservedly so.

 

[Blind_Justice]

I watched a video today about Patreon

Bottom line they're being sued for de-platforming people for political reasons and trying to use 'wokeness' to suck up to corporate sponsors. If some of the plaintiffs who were making large sums of money there unite and can draw other smaller people who were banned into a class action suit it will bankrupt them.

The issue they have is none of the people suing broke any rules in their TOS, this is censorship based on patreon trying to look 'woke' to appeal to their corporate sponsors.

in other words more of the disingenuous virtue signaling we're seeing more and more of, using a cause to try and make yourself appear like you give a shit and make money. Except when you're this blatant you're going to be on the losing end of your own game

Deservedly so.

100% agree. The way they deal with adult content just emphasizes that. On their homepage it's "all about creativity", but they should probably asterisk the hell out of it.
"lt's all about the type of creativity we deem appropriate" - which puts them in the same boat as all the other tech firms. So much for being the alternative.

@gunhilltrain: It's not like I'm putting up extremely hardcore stills of people fucking. The pics I subject my audience to are basically book cover levels of risque. 1970s fantasy paperbacks, that kinda stuff. Too graphic for Patreon.

 

[UsuallyPresent]

I know about StoriesOnline, WattPad, SubscribeStar - what other alternative platforms do people use/suggest/prefer/dislike?

 

[Blind_Justice]

Sponsus.org seems to be a very common-sense-driven platform. They allow NSFW content and even allow their visitors the choice if they want to have it included when discovering creators to sponsor. I'm very tempted to migrate my stuff over there. Maybe it will increase my following a bit.

 

[Blind_Justice]

... and Sponsus is out. They only use Stripe as a payment provider. Might be okay for others, I'm happy with PayPal and not inclined to open up yet another account. Well, that was a whole lot of nothing.

Also, tangental mini-rant: Why the fuck does every service now require a mobile as part of two-factor authentification? Not everyone is surgically tethered to a fucking smart phone. How the fuck did we ever manage without these pieces of crap?