The subset of creators who DO use Patreon as a paywall service seems to be the majority! Patreon pushes perks as a key part of their model, and it's always easi

The subset of creators who DO use Patreon as a paywall service seems to be the majority! Patreon pushes perks as a key part of their model, and it's always easier (thought not as ethical arguably) to restrict otherwise shareable content than to offer something naturally scarce (dedicated time, physical goods) to patrons. But even though most creators do this artificial-scarcity paywall thing, only a small minority of them probably have even the slightest worry about freeriders. Most focus on continuing to be productive and don't stress out about the horror of some freerider "stealing" by getting around the paywall and then not paying. It's a pathological worry to freak out about that. It's healthy to just focus on all those who are happy supporters and want to donate. Patreon screwed up by focusing their attention on the noisy minority who were not only using paywalls but demanding that Patreon make the paywalls stronger. And while they come up with a non-stupid way to deal with charges around stronger paywalls, they show no indication of stepping back from prioritizing strong paywalls.