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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.