Patreon is preparing to allow gifting on its subscription platform, along with a host of new features to help content creators build their communities. Artists, writers, podcasters and other content creators will also soon be able to sell individual posts and even set a countdown to the release of new work.
“Gifting is one of the most requested tools from creators on Patreon – and now it’s underway,” says the Patreon team in a blog post. “We are testing the ability to offer subscriptions to fans for a certain period of time.” The gifting feature will be available in a new promotions tab on the subscription-focused creator platform and will be part of other new tools for discounted products and automated offers.
Creators will also be able to open community chat sections to all free and paid members, along with the new countdown clock that also includes a live chat feature. Content promotion is also getting a little easier, with automatically generated shareable clips that can be used on other social networks.
All of these changes are “coming next” to Patreon, but there are no promises on when exactly they will arrive. Patreon is making these improvements because the company sees a shift happening in the creator economy, where the follower model has been increasingly disrupted by algorithmically curated feeds.
“Creators want a place where people who sign up to see their future work in truth see,” says Patreon. “Creators have been playing by the platforms’ rules, but they are ready to play on their own. And that’s what we’re here to help them do.”