#creator PSA

[maiji]

Canadians! Creators and general public who care about what's happening with generative AI! Our government has a public consultation on copyright and generative AI, in particular its impact on creative industries and "whether change is required to further improve or reinforce copyright policy for a modern, evolving Canadian economy."

Form closes this Mon Jan 15, 2024. As I type this that is tomorrow! but that means there's still time to share your thoughts, and help spread the word to inform potential updates to the Copyright Act!

Because this is a formal government consultation, the survey language can be... challenging. The amazing @jammyness has made a video walkthough to help! Check it out here: https://mastodon.social/@jam/111749614602658312

[enbyhyena]

please stop scrolling for a sec!! i'd really appreciate your attention!!

hello, my name is nexys and i am a disabled, autistic, and queer person trying to make it in the content creation world. i'll do my best to keep this short and sweet, but i'm going to be having a subathon over on twitch starting 8/1 (august 1st) at 12pm CST.

this event is super important to me, as i'm trying to raise money to improve my living situation, as well as the living situations of those in my community. i'm also going to be running a charity day on friday, august 2nd for parkinson's awareness, research, and treatment, and will be having on my grandfather, who is an advocate with the disease. and i know it would mean a lot to him if he was able to raise some money to help other people like him.

for those that don't know, a subathon is when a streamer goes live on twitch for a certain amount of time, and the stream ends when the timer runs out. however, the timer can be increased indefinitely by viewers donating money, subscribing, gifting subscriptions, or cheering bits.

due to my disabilities i can't go 24/7 like some of the maniacs (/lh) out there, but i have committed to going every single day for at least four hours until the timer hits zero. and once again, this subathon event holds potential to be lifechanging for a lot of people. plus i'll be collaborating with over a dozen other creators throughout the first week, so you'll be getting a lot of variety! we'll be playing everything from pokémon to phasmophobia, roblox to subnautica, and more!

even if you can't contribute financially, dropping a follow, saying hello, and just Being There would mean the world to everyone involved.

here's my linktree, which directs to every website i'm on, including my twitch channel and discord server.

even if you're not personally interested in this project, please consider reblogging! there's a chance one of your followers might be interested, and any engagement helps. <33 thank you so much for reading this far, and i hope you have a great rest of your day/night!

[alltimefail-sims]

ATTN: Just popping by to say that if you are purchasing the new kits today - particularly the Urban Homage kit - be sure to use the creator code "EBONIX" at checkout!

Collab creators do not make any percentage of the revenue after release, they're just paid a flat rate up front, so if you want a little of the proceeds to go to the creator, use code "EBONIX" at checkout (it costs you nothing!!!). Also worth noting that because they had some issues with codes in the app today, creators will apparently receive 10% commission instead of 5% commission the next 48 hrs. (LilSimsie shared this in her overview video!)

Again, code "EBONIX" at checkout. Support black creators!

[4spooniesupport]

[its-pluto2]

Your favorite writers have stopped updating, not returned from hiatus, or simply deactivated altogether, because they get no support.

If you're one of the people who goes to X writer's inbox and says "I know I don't reblog from you-" lemme just stop you right there.

We have lives. We have duties, things to do, responsibilities, because a big chunk of us are adults. It's okay that you have other things, that you're not always available, that you might be going through something and can't always read or reblog everything. Writers get that.

But no writer wants to see you tell them "Hey, I know I don't reblog from you!"

They know. They're in a slump for a reason. The reason isn't you not reblogging or supporting them, the reason is hardly anyone doing it.

And if you go to them and wave the "hey!! I don't reblog from you even though it's all you ask in return for your free work!" card, chances are, the writer will be upset. They can't very well point out how tactless you're being, because then they might just be cancelled or called out for being rude to you when you are deliberately being tone-deaf to their situation as well.

Like you, writers have lives outside. Writers have jobs, or are searching for them; they have worries, duties, things going on, worries, etc.

The difference is they sit for hours upon hours to write, while it would only take you between a second and a minute to reblog.

Reblogging is absolutely not difficult. Fast reblogging is incredibly quick and practical, but "slow" reblogging isn't slow either. You don't even have to add a comment to the reblog, an empty reblog is just as appreciated.

Supporting your writers is literally not difficult, and if you as a reader and as a consumer aren't going to do it, then it's totally fine if you choose not to. Your life, your blog, your choice.

But don't go at a writer to remind them "Hey I know I'm among the people who doesn't support you but I still like what you write" and expect them to be overwhelmed with joy without feeling the slightest tinge of resentment.

Likes do nothing!!!

If you're in the position to support a writer, do it. It's not hard.

[hollytanaka]

📢 PSA on COD gif thief & edit reposter

just a heads up that the user @/staytrueblue has been caught stealing and reposting gif sets from call of duty gif and graphic makers. she has blocked people who have called her out on it. she excused her behavior by lying and saying she is "new to tumblr" — when other users have vetted she has been on this site since at least 2022.

examples and proof are below the cut.

when this individual was called out, they gave a half-assed apology and still seem convinced/entitled that they could repost entire gifsets with credit (also see below cut). they then blocked the original gifmaker and then began to make passive aggressive, snide comments toward those creators in their future posts.

this is why i encourage people to reblog from original gifmakers and graphic artists—not just liking posts—in order to support them. it's not fair that these plagiarists gather clout, followers, and interactions from work made by other people.

-(left) @/staytrueblue's stolen gifset of captain price—in just a slightly different order—as @collinnmckinley's original post -(right) @collinnmckinley's original gifset — which you can find here

———

-(left) @/straytrueblue reposted virtual photography of @/s-oaps's post of captain price -(right) @/s-oaps's original virtual photography— which you can find here

———

-@/staytrueblue's half assed apology to @collinnmckinley where she still feels entitled to repost her gifs just with "credit" even after causing problems for @collinnmckinley. she blocked @collinnmckinley shortly after this. reminder that if you steal from someone, you are not entitled to being coddled and absolute forgiveness. that is not the purpose of an apology!

-passive aggressive comments made toward @/collinnmckinley after blocking her:

[kissingghouls]

Ok so here’s the thing: I don’t care for pumpkin spice. When I go to the coffee shop I don’t order pumpkin spice. I don’t hang out in the coffee shop and tell other people they can’t have pumpkin spice.

You don’t get to take my coffee shop away from me just because people like to order different things. You’re not required to let them order for you. You can sit at a separate table from someone enjoying pumpkin spice without knocking their drink into their lap. You can have pumpkin spice friends and not share their drinks. It’s coffee. It’s not life or death. It’s supposed to be a treat.

If you don’t like that flavor, you can have a different flavor. You can go to a different coffee shop entirely, but don’t be surprised when there’s some form of pumpkin spice there too. You still don’t have to order it.

Label your drinks. Don’t sip from cups that aren’t for you.

[getvalentined]

The Big Patreon Breakdown

Okay, Patreon's Discord Q&A ended on the 16th, and I've been waiting to see if anything else happened—like maybe a a public announcement from Patreon instead of emails sent exclusively to creators and a video hidden on the CEO's personal YT page—but nothing has happened, so I'm gonna do a breakdown of what we're looking at.

This is an EXTREMELY long post. I am not putting it behind a cut. I'm not sorry.

Short attention span version here.

—

I. The iOS processing fees are a smokescreen covering up the actual devastating changes that Patreon is forcing creators into.

The iOS fees are trash, 30 percent is extortion and we all know it—but that's not the biggest issue at hand here. Patreon is using this event as an excuse to change the entire structure of the creator side of their platform, and blaming Apple to avoid getting backlash.

They tripled their platform and processing fees in 2017, passing it on to patrons without notice, and the subsequent hemorrhage of paying users forced them to walk it back. They tried to force everyone onto their rolling billing model in 2021, and the entire community pushed back so hard they were forced again to walk it back.

This time, they're doing both and insisting it's Apple's fault, and everyone is taking that at face value because Apple sucks. And Apple does suck, but Patreon is getting what they've wanted for years by catering to Apple.

Oh, also, they're forcing creators to notify their patrons of the billing model changes (with a suggested template that explicitly refers to it as a decision made by the creator, even though nobody is making any decisions here except Jack Conte) rather than doing it themselves.

II. Patreon is not going to change course for any reason. This is set in stone.

There are multiple proofs for this, including but not limited to:

One-on-one calls between the platform's top earners and the CEO, Jack Conte, wherein the vibe was apparently not "What can we do to support your business in order to retain your place on our platform?" but rather "We know that the only way this works is if we don't do it, but how can we keep you from complaining about it any more than you already have?" One creator explained in granular detail how they run their business through this platform and why changing their billing model would ruin literally everything, and Conte responded with "Is this an essential part of your offering?"

The Patreon Team on Discord has continued to shut down all discussion of alternative options with assertions that Apple won't allow it, even if those alternatives were suggested based on legal precedent set by lawsuits against Apple, and the declaration that they will not be allowing the app to be removed from the App Store no matter what because it's the single most important and integral avenue of creator growth on the platform. (Put a pin in that.)

The platform's top earner is on the pay-per-creation billing model, the one that is going to be hit the hardest; creators on this model stand to lose literally 90 percent of their income overnight. This creator and his team were as blindsided as the rest of us, and they've been offered no assistance except for a complex math equation to try to calculate how much they should be charging people on fixed-price tiers, and no assurance except "the iOS app is the platform's highest source of engagement and is necessary to help you continue to grow."

Pay-upfront (PUF) and pay-per-creation (PPC) billing is going away for new accounts and anyone who doesn't opt out via Patreon's convoluted backend before November 1 of this year, and anyone who doesn't manually switch over to their rolling billing cycle will be automatically pushed into it on November 1, 2025. This means that PUF creators no longer have the promise of a steady paycheck when they need it, early enough in the month to pay rent and bills, while PPC creators are losing their entire business model all at once, which has resulted in a loss of 75 to 90 percent of income for multiple PPC creators who have tried to switch to the rolling billing structure in the past. They are killing these people's livelihoods and they know it, they have seen the data to prove it, but they will not be swayed.

III. Patreon claims the iOS app is the highest source of engagement on the platform at 40 percent—but will not define what "engagement" means, and staff refuse to share detailed analytics or data on the revenue share coming from the app.

Several creators, some with a couple dozen patrons and some with thousands, polled their audience to get a feel for how many of them used the app. Consistently across every creative industry, genre, and form of media, the answer was 2 percent or less. The average across a dozen-plus polls of actual active patrons, numbering into the thousands, is that around 85 percent of patrons access the platform exclusively via the web, whether on desktop or mobile. The majority didn't even know there was an app.

Further, Patreon would not explain what "engagement" means, but did not deny the possibility that dismissing an app notification on your phone counts as an "engagement."

When Patreon was asked for data on how often people pledged to support a creator via the iOS app, the only response was the claim that information is "sensitive to [Patreon's] business" and can't be shared. In a creator-exclusive server. With the people who bring that revenue onto the platform in the first place. And have our own analytics that we can look at individually, which show an average of 0 to 0.5 percent revenue from the iOS app.

IV. Patreon does not have a refund policy in place to work with Apple, and has given no implications of intention to work with Apple to shorten the time it takes for funds from iOS purchases to be paid out to creators, which is currently 75 days.

Yes, you read that correctly: at the moment, it takes 75 days before creators can cash out funds processed via iOS. On top of that, Apple's refund policy is 60 days, and the creator is not involved in the process whatsoever—if a malicious actor pledges to your page, downloads all your work over the course of a month, and then pings Apple for a refund? Apple gets to decide whether or not they get that refund.

Patreon's general refund policy is that it's up to the creator 99.9 percent of the time, with very rare cases of fraud requiring Patreon's intervention. In the case of pledges and Commerce sales via iOS, the creator has no say, and Patreon currently has no policy to protect them. They've stated that they're working on a refund policy that will work with Apple's guidelines to keep everyone happy, but at this point we all know what that means—they're just going to use Apple's refund policy.

They also wouldn't say whether or not creators would be on the hook for Apple's added processing fees, as is usually the case with other big payment processors, but it sounds like we are! So if someone pays $14.50 on the iOS app, the creator gets $10, can't pay it out, and then the malicious actor can call for a refund weeks later and the creator will owe $14.50—in spite of only ever having seen $10 and never being able to pay it out because the 75 hold hadn't passed. Sounds great!

V. Patreon's own graphics meant to explain why this is necessary and how the new fees work are not correct.

I'm gonna let these mostly speak for themselves:

The sale price listed on this graphic is $10, but adding together the three fees listed gives a total of $11.35. This is likely a copying error, as 4.35 is clearly not 30% of 10, but the lack of attention to detail on one of the only two pieces of official material that we have which refer directly to the numbers on which Patreon is signing away our livelihoods is slightly concerning.

This one totals up to 103 percent! (Actually closer to 104, since I rounded Android and Mobile down by about a quarter percent each.) The 40 percent figure on the iOS bar is based on the figure given to us by Patreon staff, and was used to place the markers to denote individual percentages on the other three.

Patreon made these and gave them to us with the assertion that they were proof that the iOS app is indispensable—why should we trust anything they say about numbers if the charts they gave us are literally impossible?

VI. Patreon refuses to offer any promises to 18+ creators that they will not be removed from the app in order to adhere to Apple's content guidelines.

Instead, Patreon staff's response to this request for reassurance is "We have no plans to remove 18+ creators from the Patreon app." You may note that's phrased very specifically, and leaves a hole big enough to drive a freight train full of iPhones straight through. They have no plans to remove 18+ creators from the app. When asked for clarification on this, confirmation that they would not be removing us from the platform if Apple pushed them to do so regardless of whether or not they have plans, this sentiment was simply repeated in more words and with more apologies, along with a reminder that Patreon has had to change their terms for 18+ creators several times already in order to keep up with laws and competition.

VII. All the features Patreon is insisting are integral for creator growth are inaccessible to 18+ creators, and questions about this were either dismissed, redirected, or ignored.

Remember how the iOS app is the single most important and integral avenue for character growth on the platform? Well, 18+ creators are not discoverable on the platform, regardless of the avenue of access. We are not visible on the app unless you have it installed, are logged in, are already following us on the platform, and click an external link to be directed to our pages from somewhere else via a mobile web browser. There is no way to find us on the platform itself.

Other features that staff insist are necessary for growth to which 18+ creators do not have access:

Patreon creator search (on web, Android and iOS apps)

Mass post editing (now called the "Library," which reads as "Something Went Wrong" for me and other 18+ creators who tried to get to it)

On-platform video hosting

Built-in cross-creator recommendations

All on-platform "commerce" features (both digital and physical goods)

The ability to market ourselves by linking to Patreon from our social media and vice-versa (we're basically not allowed to do this or risk being banned)

Yeah, about that first and that last point. We're hidden from searches on the platform, and we can't link to our pages from social media or risk permanent suspension. We cannot grow in this fashion at all, and in fact 18+ creators are getting all the downsides of this switch (except maybe for the app fee, since you can't fucking find us to pledge on the app) with none of the benefits. Nothing they are doing here will help us grow, because they've kneecapped us already. Now they're going after our capacity to obtain a steady paycheck at the beginning of the month, too.

VIII. Patreon's iOS app is currently (as of August 18, 2024) in violation of Apple's guidelines for app ratings; staff did not state any intention to become compliant by raising the app's rating as needed to maintain their 18+ creator community.

The App Store guidelines on creator apps state that they must be rated equal to the highest rated creator content on their platform. In spite of hosting 18+ content, which requires a 17+ rating per Apple, Patreon is rated 12+ in the App Store. Increasing the rating to 17+ would cut out the entire market of wealthy teenagers with iPhones, and since everything else being done here is intended to please Apple, it's unlikely this will be the point that Patreon finally gives an inch for its creators. The exact response from staff on this was "We hear and acknowledge your inputs on the app rating and are exploring our options there." Their "options" on this are to increase the rating, or to remove all 18+ content from the platform. That's it. Those are their options. Why do those need exploring, if they really give a shit about the 18+ community?

I know a lot of people out there are going to say that it would be nice if Patreon would "get rid of the porn," but you need to understand something: 18+ content is not all sexual.

18+ content can and does also include:

Horror (particularly body horror, which is explicitly or implicitly banned on all current adult-specific creator platforms, leaving me nowhere to go when Patreon kicks me)

True crime (murder, violence, theft, etc., is all 18+)

Health (blood/discussion of blood is 18+ regardless of context)

Education (what if you learn about war? that's 18+)

Trauma recovery (the word "r#pe" makes everything around it 18+)

Profanity (ko-fi marks creators 18+ for saying "fuck")

Languages (because you might learn profanity)

Weaponsmithing (because weapons are dangerous)

Leatherworking (because leather can be a fetish)

Shoemaking (feet can also be a fetish)

...even more I'm not bothering to list here.

Implying that they somehow didn't know about this extremely important part of the guidelines—which are being used as an excuse to force the top earner on the platform to ruin his entire business model—is absolute nonsense. Patreon knows about this requirement, they haven't taken any steps to comply based on their current creator population, and I will be shocked if they do. Much easier to just kick us all off, since we can barely use the damn platform as it is.

—

The entire thing makes no sense. Patreon is losing out on so much money by doing this—they're crippling all their highest-earning creators to keep the iOS app running, and it's going to hurt everyone except for Apple. The only reason I can think that they would refuse to budge on this is that there's something else going on behind the scenes between Patreon and Apple. That, or the company is intentionally throwing itself into an extremely drawn out death spiral. But we all know which of those is the more likely scenario here.

[chainsxwsmile]

// For those who have been going through the entirety of my art on this blog and mass-liking it— I appreciate it, I do!

But with tumblr, likes act as a bookmark. Nobody else sees them. They don’t boost a post. They don’t help the original poster. Unlike in instagram where likes actually push ‘content’ forward, likes on tumblr don’t push exposure. They sit in your likes box.

The recent reblog-likes ratios have been staggering and massively disheartening for artists (which is largely why I moved my art to instagram in the first place— a like is the most minimal amount of engagement but at least likes do something there).

If you really wanna help artists (especially growing artists) out, please opt to reblog instead of like. If you don’t wanna post all at once, throw it in the queue.

The artists of tumblr will appreciate you greatly.

- Margo

[apollo-zero-one]

Everybody talking about how lucky PC players are to get to play 1.6 but I've seen no one mention that aaaallll the mods don't work now and it's the first time some of us have played unmodded in years, I forgot how hard the beginning of a new save is 💀

Also hey if you can and want to, I bet your favorite mod creators would love some donations as they work on updating compatibility! I know that's what I'm doing today!

[cable-salamder]

PSA: Don’t repost people’s shit without credit, obviously.

However, if you do, know that I will find you. I have a Pinterest account. And though I barely go on it nowadays I still check every once in a while (I also upload and link some of my stuff on there). If I find my own art there WILL be a passive aggressive comment with <3 telling you to credit people.

Thank you, that will be all.

[mauvecherie-writes]

IMPORTANT MESSAGE.

Hi guys,

This probably isn’t the upload you guys are expecting but it’s one that I need to give.

I’m taking a break from writing. Not because I don’t love writing anymore but because I really need to focus on my education and mental health at the moment. I’ve gotten to the point where I’ve been writing more than I have doing my coursework which isn’t very good. To add, not having an income has been stressing me out so that’s not been helpful at all. So I’m just giving myself some time to catch up on everything I’m missing.

I’m sorry about this and I hate letting you guys down considering how much I had planned coming out but I need this.

If you can, if you can please support me. Kofi | PayPal

I’ll be back soon. Love y’all 🩷

[edwardpinestar]

Just got dmed by a certain Koko Bot, and let me tell you, as someone who has, and still does, struggle with depression, suicidal thoughts, dysphoria, anxiety and more-

This is far from appreciated.

People struggling with mental health issues are not test subjects, they should not be put into study papers and the like without clear and informed consent, especially when it's very, frighteningly easy for their data to be identified back to them! This is disgusting, people are not being properly informed of what they are allowing themselves to be part of, they are being approached out of nowhere and completely unwanted by this bot, and their privacy is not adequately being protected!

Please, keep an eye out for this bot, and stay safe. Reach out to a helpline, to a hospital, to someone you can trust if you need help- I promise you, you are not a burden, so don't be afraid to do so. Just stay away from this bot. For your own safety.

It appears as though it stops dming after you tell it to, judging by its own message. I am sceptical, and it shall remain to be seen. Block it just in case.

[bookofbonbon]

Just a quick PSA - please share (and maybe save an account that's been wrongly/mistakenly terminated!)

For those that don't know my main account (@blogofbonbon) was abruptly terminated yesterday which had also resulted in all of my sideblogs (including this one) being terminated along with it!

I was lucky enough to have my main account along with all of my sideblogs reinstated within a short 24 hours without any issues however, I found from other people's experience that it took some of them days, weeks even months before their accounts were reinstated.

I still don't actually have an answer as to why this has happened but, the general consensus from those who have experienced it is that it's a mistake/glitch.

Anyways, I thought I'd just make a quick post about what to do if you find yourself in this position!

What does it look like when it happens?

Everything on my dashboard disappeared and nothing would load.

The tumblr app kept sending me notice over and over again that I was unauthorised to access/the connection had been dropped/I need to log in (despite not having logged out).

I didn't receive any notice or email from tumblr explaining or giving a reason as to why my account had been suddenly terminated.

When I attempted to login on desktop, it would just redirect me back to the login page.

When I attempted to go directly onto any of my blogs via their url, it would say that my blogs didn't exist - they were all just gone.

Your existing posts will not come up as 'deactivated00000000' next to your username in the same way that it does on a post from an account that has actually been deactivated - it displays your username as normal with the anonymous tumblr icon and nil option to click on your username.

What to do if this happens?

This post on reddit details in depth what to do but, I will summarise below.

There are three ways to go about it - only do ONE. If you do multiple it just backs up the system and takes longer for them to work through/process requests.

Reach out via Tumblr Support (this is the 'official' way to go about it).  https://www.tumblr.com/support -> select terminated account and provide details of what happened, your username and URL.

If you have twitter - send a tweet to @/tumblr or @/tumblrsupport (preferably tumblr support) with what happened, your username and URL.

Make a post on the linked subreddit above or DM u/tumblr_acct_help your username and URL.

I personally chose to go through Tumblr Support.

PLEASE NOTE:

If you go through twitter/reddit but, have genuinely violated Tumblr TOS - they will tell you they cannot assist you via twitter/reddit.

If you go through Tumblr Support - @goldensmilingbird found that apparently support tickets with emails attached to terminated accounts don't go through!

I can't speak to whether this is the case or not (using the email attached to the terminated account) as I had initially sent a support ticket through my (at the time) terminated accounts email but, I heeded the warning anyway and had sent a support ticket through a backup account of mine under a different email.

When sending a support ticket via a different email:

Provide details of what happened and again, provide your username, URL and the email attached to the terminated account!

What to do after?

Unfortunately once you have done those things, you just have to wait!

As I stated above, don't send multiple tickets/tweets/dm's/posts on multiple platforms as all it does is slow the process down and backs the system up.

If the termination of your account was a genuine mistake/glitch, your account should be reinstated without any issues HOWEVER, when it is reinstated it will likely happen without any notice or email from tumblr so, you just have to keep an eye on your blogs! Check your URL's every now and then throughout the day.

If you have genuinely violated the Tumblr TOS' then whether the issue is resolved and your account reinstated will be up to the discretion of Tumblr.

Hopefully this is helpful to anyone who needs it or to anyone who knows someone who may need it!

[keennachotraveler]

Currently it's late at night so this may not be as good as I'd like it to be but it's going on all 3 of my socials regardless.

Please treat me with respect. I'm a minor who has made a blog to share my art and just have silly content. I did not ask for this treatment from anons.

Antag has been my reactions to some of these asks so its only fitting I have him here.

[mandiemegatron]

I just wanted to give a huge shout out to all my wonderful, amazing and talented one piece writers and artists. You guys really killed it this past month and I wanted to say that I'm so proud of every single one of you for putting out some absolutely phenomenal works this month!

It's been a long ride but here we are, at the end of the month with an incredible amount of new written/art works, and we are so much better for it.

Even when things got rough, yall kept going and never gave up and that truly motivates me to do the same. Thank you all for being genuine, wonderful people and I just adore every single one of you.

I love yall so much, you're all amazing and I'm so blessed to be a part of such a wicked awesome fandom.