Patreon Abuse

The following is a short rant on my personal perspective not on the concept of Patreon, but on many of the Internet celebrities that use it.

Money is a great motivator, if that wasn't obvious enough from the idea of a job, then you'll no doubt be aware of the greed that many people complain about in our society. And in my mind, fewer places are filled with more greed than YouTube. Now there is nothing wrong with monetising your content to reap a bit of reward for your work, I do it, as does any YouTube channel that has an advert on it. It's common knowledge and generally, for doing what is in essence a hobby, YouTube pays fairly depending on view count. But this isn't enough for some people who believe that they need more money, and so go on to try and coax you into spending your hard earned money on them by donating through Patreon, A site that acts like Kickstarter and funds people with a vision but not the funds to reach that vision. Some causes are worthwhile such as funding an up-and-coming Game developer or non-profit charity's. But then there are many YouTuber's who have these Patreon accounts and beg for you to donate... for what is in effect, nothing!.

I won't name names as that's not being a good sport. But I will point out that I have followed some of these people for many months or sometimes years and then been annoyed to see that they've opened a Patreon account where they'd like to be given money for the most bone idle reasons I can think of. You may see some YouTuber's state something like 'Donate $10 and you'll receive the video days before other people” which doesn't sit right, because surely if you could upload the video early, you would do so to please your viewers whom earn you money by watching the video in the first place.

But the biggest annoyance with YouTuber's and Patreon comes in the form of the following statement “Your donations will keep [NAME] going for longer and will make it possible for me to improve my video quality for you” or as I like to think of it “Give me your money because I want it, and I won't tell you how the quality will be improved”. I don't think I'm being cynical when I say that it is just rude to your viewers and followers to beg for money with thinly veiled half-truths and generalised sweeping statements. A lot of popular YouTuber's with Patreon accounts are Vloggers... Vloggers who's only necessary requirement is the camera they already record on... no other equipment is needed, so why would a Vlogger need donations.

Like I said earlier, some YouTuber's or content creators have goals, and some are for genuinely good causes (YouTube's Vet Ranch is an amazing cause that I love, I don't know if it has a Patreon account, but if it did, I'd see it as a perfectly valid cause) but there are other people out there who just want to do as little work as possible for as much money as they can get, and it is those people that I urge, I plead with you, not to give your money to. If a YouTuber says “You don't have to donate” don't!

Just because something is legal, doesn't make it right, and it bothers me to see fans paying their favourite YouTuber's money because they worry the channel might not be able to continue running or other reasons.

Thanks for taking the time to read this little rant of mine. I wouldn't make a video on this kind of topic, but a Blog is just for general thoughts and I appreciate you finding my thoughts worth listening to. If you like you can donate to me at the followi.... nah just kidding hehe.

Have a great rest of day.

Witless.