 So am I to understand that a full 38% of my revenue may now be siphoned off by Patreon and Apple, neither of whom contribute in any way to the creation of my work? And that this is because Patreon wants to have an iOS app, which I do not need, do not benefit from, did not exist when I selected them as my payment processor, and cannot opt out of? Um, no thank you. https://evhaste.com/2023/10/17/deplatforming-myself-a-tech-manifesto/ 14 comments
  Yes, the point is that the creator's income now uncontrollably fluctuates in ways they did not consent to and cannot plan for. Trying to make a living when a significant part of your income can vanish due to the platform nonconsensually changing the terms is ....fucking impossible. @munin @Haste if it's anything like Twitch, Patreon will outright pass the markup directly to the customer and encourage them to sub through the web interface instead for the actual/real price Patreon isn't really changing the terms here, this is all on Apple, which I entirely agree is a shitty move and need to be taken to court over, but it's a different story than "Apple owns 38% of everything I make effective immediately" I feel like you and I don’t fundamentally disagree, just differing on details. That is perfectly okay. 👍 As I detailed in my article last year, the problem is that I should not be beholden to one-sided power dynamics like this which I cannot control. Apple and Patreon can negotiate with each other. I have no power to force them to agree to my terms and conditions, but they do. @AmyZenunim @munin They said in the announcement that they will not, because Apples terms prohibit it. That’s the whole problem. @AmyZenunim @munin I am aware of those conditions. First, it is unclear whether the credit card option will exist after November. Second, I don’t think it ought to be my job to ask Patrons not to sign up via iOS, or to monitor that. Third, I object morally to Patreons solution of passing fees onto my patrons, who are also often friends of mine. Finally, I do not wish to arm Apple with more money it does not need to monopolize additional markets.   @Haste I really like the blog post. I also quit Twitter and Reddit for the aforementioned reasons but I'm still tied to Facebook and YouTube. Working on changing that though. I'm working on creating decentralized alternatives for everything and maybe create a coherent experience for people who don't want to set it all up themselves. Thinking of creating a sort of artist collective maybe but some of the platforms don't have great alternatives (Twitch, Spotify). And there have been problems here. @Haste like Mastodon lacking good moderation tools and such. But I really want to do everything in my power to advance these open platforms. Though it is a bit confusing since there's so much that could be done.  |
Gregory's Server
Currently weighing my options as either
1) move to another payment processor, lose most of my patrons, and risk this all happening again next year or
2) just stop collecting money and eat grass
I honestly would rather have no income at all than arm companies with the capital they need to exploit me at a scale I cannot defend myself from.
* okay but do not eat grass even as a joke, it will destroy your teeth