Thank you, Peter. I'm hoping to do a series of this type of video. Shorter ones focusing on each particular aspect of feature of Patreon. At least these videos would be a good mechanism to remind people that the Planet Doug Patreon exists. 😎
Actually Patreon with your level of subscribers and viewers creates isolation and I doubt it will bring you more views or subscribers. Unless you're 10 of Doug's closest friends. Your content isn't strong enough to pull people to another platform. Time will tell. Good luck!
Thanks! We'll see how it goes. I've actually noticed a trend where UA-camrs or other creators give up on Patreon and stop posting anything there. And from what people have said or written it seems to be because there is little feedback or reaction to anything they post. And it ends up feeling like they are posting into a void - like putting a note inside a bottle and just throwing it into the ocean. But at its heart Patreon wasn't designed to be another social media platform. They've added social media features, but its core function is to serve as a mechanism for patrons to financially support creators that they are following. It's similar to sites like Buy Me a Coffee and others. So, even if it does not turn into a vibrant community commenting and chatting and posting, it still serves its original purpose. We'll see how the Planet Doug Patreon evolves over time. I know that my ideas about Patreon, how it works, and what it can do have changed a lot while I was building it and learning about it. AND now it is changing rapidly in the first few weeks of the Patreon being live. But in any event, I never saw it as a way of increasing the number of UA-cam subscribers and video views. I don't believe that was ever its purpose. In fact, one thing I like about Patreon is that it is quite separate from UA-cam. It can serve as a central place for content from many different sources, not just UA-cam. Anyway, I have a lot of thoughts about Patreon and my ideas can be completely wrong. I certainly got a lot of things wrong from the beginning. But I'm learning, and I'm enjoying having it in my life. I certainly don't see it as causing isolation. Quite the opposite. Perhaps you mean something quite specific about that that I don't understand.
So why not just use you tube.. It's crazy to have all these different sites to show off your stuff.. There's Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Messsnger, Etc. Etc.now Patreon..it's madness.. I just want one place to go to follow someone...
It's a fair point. Even as someone who tries to be active on social media, I can't keep up. Back in the early days of my UA-cam channel, I also created a Planet Doug Facebook page and a Planet Doug Instagram account and even a Planet Doug website. Everyone told me that you have to share your UA-cam videos on all those platforms and share pictures etc. But I never really had the time to maintain them. Occasionally, I'd feel inspired and I'd try to incorporate Instagram back into my life. But I just ran out of time and energy. It took everything I had just to make UA-cam videos. I had nothing left over for the other social media platforms. I like to think, however, that Patreon is a bit different. At its heart, it serves as a mechanism for connecting creators with people who want to support them financially. As a UA-camr, I've received a fair number of messages from people saying that they would love to toss a few dollars my way to help me out on my small adventures and as a gesture of appreciation for the enjoyment they got out of my videos. But they didn't know how to do that. And creating a Patreon provides a stable platform for that. So at its heart, it isn't the same as Instagram or Twitter. It's not really meant to be a place you go to follow someone. It's a place where you go to support an artist or creator financially. However, there is the option for the creator to provide their patrons with some benefits. And that's where you see that you can create extra content just for Patreon. But it isn't absolutely necessary. There are a lot of Patreons where there is no extra material at all. I'm a bit different, too, perhaps. My first love is writing. Personally, I'd far prefer to travel the world and write down my stories than shoot video. Video is so demanding in terms of time and energy that it leaves very little for the actual travelling. And I find that I am far more interested in the realistic behind-the-scenes details of a travel journey than I am in the big attractions of any country. So, I do find UA-cam very limiting in terms of what you can do with it. I can go to a fantastic night market or a gorgeous temple overseas and make a video about that experience. But that video will represent probably 10% of what actually happened and what was actually going on in my mind during the experience. Video by its nature is so surface-level. So after I make the video and upload it to UA-cam, I feel a bit frustrated because I have so much more I wanted to say or convey. And if I put all of that on UA-cam, people get bored and annoyed. UA-cam and video as a medium isn't designed for that kind of content. Therefore, I like having a Patreon. It provides me with a satisfying outlet for more than can be put in a video. There's even the question of timing. By its very nature, a video is always old news. Even if you are organized and work fast and efficiently, the video you post on UA-cam is going to be a couple of days old. I'm currently following some UA-cam travel channels where the videos are seven months old. It can take that long to edit, export, and then upload a video. Enter Patreon. On Patreon, I can post a video, a photo, an audio file, a written story in real time exactly as something is happening. I enjoy that immediacy. I like to share things in real time if I can. And Patreon can serve as a useful platform for that. Having said all that, I do take your point, and I agree with you. UA-cam, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Snapchat, WeChat, Substack, Telegram, .... Where does the madness end? But Patreon seems to stand out from the pack. It offers that very real connection between creators and patrons. AND it can serve as a kind of clearing house for all of the others. For example, I find myself posting a lot of links to Patreon. I actually have several UA-cam channels. And every time I post a video to one of those channels, I put a link to that video on Patreon. I also take pictures and post them to Smugmug. And I can put a link to those photo galleries on Patreon. I also like to write. And I can assemble those journal entries and put them on Patreon or upload them somewhere else and post a link to Patreon. So the way I'm trying to use Patreon is as a one-stop hub for everything. Everything I might create gets collected here in one place no matter where it is on the Internet. That's the idea anyway. 😁
Excellent video thanks Doug and very well explained 👍
Thank you, Peter. I'm hoping to do a series of this type of video. Shorter ones focusing on each particular aspect of feature of Patreon. At least these videos would be a good mechanism to remind people that the Planet Doug Patreon exists. 😎
Looking forward to this series.... CC
cc
Im hear canada will be part us new province
Actually Patreon with your level of subscribers and viewers creates isolation and I doubt it will bring you more views or subscribers. Unless you're 10 of Doug's closest friends. Your content isn't strong enough to pull people to another platform. Time will tell. Good luck!
Thanks! We'll see how it goes. I've actually noticed a trend where UA-camrs or other creators give up on Patreon and stop posting anything there. And from what people have said or written it seems to be because there is little feedback or reaction to anything they post. And it ends up feeling like they are posting into a void - like putting a note inside a bottle and just throwing it into the ocean.
But at its heart Patreon wasn't designed to be another social media platform. They've added social media features, but its core function is to serve as a mechanism for patrons to financially support creators that they are following. It's similar to sites like Buy Me a Coffee and others. So, even if it does not turn into a vibrant community commenting and chatting and posting, it still serves its original purpose.
We'll see how the Planet Doug Patreon evolves over time. I know that my ideas about Patreon, how it works, and what it can do have changed a lot while I was building it and learning about it. AND now it is changing rapidly in the first few weeks of the Patreon being live.
But in any event, I never saw it as a way of increasing the number of UA-cam subscribers and video views. I don't believe that was ever its purpose. In fact, one thing I like about Patreon is that it is quite separate from UA-cam. It can serve as a central place for content from many different sources, not just UA-cam.
Anyway, I have a lot of thoughts about Patreon and my ideas can be completely wrong. I certainly got a lot of things wrong from the beginning. But I'm learning, and I'm enjoying having it in my life. I certainly don't see it as causing isolation. Quite the opposite. Perhaps you mean something quite specific about that that I don't understand.
So why not just use you tube..
It's crazy to have all these different sites to show off your stuff.. There's Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Messsnger, Etc. Etc.now Patreon..it's madness..
I just want one place to go to follow someone...
It's a fair point. Even as someone who tries to be active on social media, I can't keep up. Back in the early days of my UA-cam channel, I also created a Planet Doug Facebook page and a Planet Doug Instagram account and even a Planet Doug website. Everyone told me that you have to share your UA-cam videos on all those platforms and share pictures etc.
But I never really had the time to maintain them. Occasionally, I'd feel inspired and I'd try to incorporate Instagram back into my life. But I just ran out of time and energy. It took everything I had just to make UA-cam videos. I had nothing left over for the other social media platforms.
I like to think, however, that Patreon is a bit different. At its heart, it serves as a mechanism for connecting creators with people who want to support them financially. As a UA-camr, I've received a fair number of messages from people saying that they would love to toss a few dollars my way to help me out on my small adventures and as a gesture of appreciation for the enjoyment they got out of my videos. But they didn't know how to do that. And creating a Patreon provides a stable platform for that.
So at its heart, it isn't the same as Instagram or Twitter. It's not really meant to be a place you go to follow someone. It's a place where you go to support an artist or creator financially. However, there is the option for the creator to provide their patrons with some benefits. And that's where you see that you can create extra content just for Patreon. But it isn't absolutely necessary. There are a lot of Patreons where there is no extra material at all.
I'm a bit different, too, perhaps. My first love is writing. Personally, I'd far prefer to travel the world and write down my stories than shoot video. Video is so demanding in terms of time and energy that it leaves very little for the actual travelling. And I find that I am far more interested in the realistic behind-the-scenes details of a travel journey than I am in the big attractions of any country. So, I do find UA-cam very limiting in terms of what you can do with it.
I can go to a fantastic night market or a gorgeous temple overseas and make a video about that experience. But that video will represent probably 10% of what actually happened and what was actually going on in my mind during the experience. Video by its nature is so surface-level. So after I make the video and upload it to UA-cam, I feel a bit frustrated because I have so much more I wanted to say or convey. And if I put all of that on UA-cam, people get bored and annoyed. UA-cam and video as a medium isn't designed for that kind of content. Therefore, I like having a Patreon. It provides me with a satisfying outlet for more than can be put in a video.
There's even the question of timing. By its very nature, a video is always old news. Even if you are organized and work fast and efficiently, the video you post on UA-cam is going to be a couple of days old. I'm currently following some UA-cam travel channels where the videos are seven months old. It can take that long to edit, export, and then upload a video.
Enter Patreon. On Patreon, I can post a video, a photo, an audio file, a written story in real time exactly as something is happening. I enjoy that immediacy. I like to share things in real time if I can. And Patreon can serve as a useful platform for that.
Having said all that, I do take your point, and I agree with you. UA-cam, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Snapchat, WeChat, Substack, Telegram, .... Where does the madness end?
But Patreon seems to stand out from the pack. It offers that very real connection between creators and patrons. AND it can serve as a kind of clearing house for all of the others. For example, I find myself posting a lot of links to Patreon. I actually have several UA-cam channels. And every time I post a video to one of those channels, I put a link to that video on Patreon. I also take pictures and post them to Smugmug. And I can put a link to those photo galleries on Patreon. I also like to write. And I can assemble those journal entries and put them on Patreon or upload them somewhere else and post a link to Patreon. So the way I'm trying to use Patreon is as a one-stop hub for everything. Everything I might create gets collected here in one place no matter where it is on the Internet. That's the idea anyway. 😁