24
The Rise (and Fall) of Patreon
(youtu.be)
The phenomenon of online platforms gradually degrading the quality of their services, often by promoting advertisements and sponsored content, in order to increase profits. (Cory Doctorow, 2022, extracted from Wikitionary) source
We discuss how predatory big tech platforms live and die by luring people in and then decaying for profit.
We also discuss how naturally open technologies like the Fediverse can be susceptible to corporate takeovers, rugpulls and subsequent enshittification.
I like how they made it clear that Patreon did everything right, the only mistake was taking on Venture Capital. It's not that they weren't making money, they were, quite a lot of it actually, it's just they weren't making all the money. VC by design demolishes everything it touches.