What is Patreon?

[ed. I'd never heard about Patreon until today. According to their website: "Patreon is a way to get paid for creating the things you’re already creating (webcomics, videos, songs, whatevs). Fans pay a few bucks per month OR per post you release, and then you get paid every month, or every time you release something new."

I don't know. This might be totally ok. Maybe there is a large untapped market of people just chomping at the bit to become 'patrons of the arts.' I don't know, and don't really care. I am ambivalent though about the apparent proliferation of 'crowdfunding' businesses the last few years. Businesses who's principle business model seems to rely mainly on the empathy of strangers. GoFundMe is a particular head-scratcher. Here's a story from a recent Washington Post article. There's even a site dedicated to compiling stories like this called GoFraudMe. It's like an acceptable form of begging. Maybe I'll have something more lucid to say at another time, but right now I just have this kind of icky feeling. Sort of like, anything that plays on the good intentions or emotions of people is immediately suspect. But sometimes maybe not.]