In a recent video announcement shared exclusively with Patreon's creator community, Jack Conte, the co-founder and CEO of Patreon, unveiled a suite of new features designed to supercharge audience discovery and growth.
Posted on the platform's official creator page, the update signals Patreon's ongoing evolution into a more dynamic, recommendation-driven ecosystem - one that Conte insists isn't chasing the ghosts of Instagram but rather fulfilling what it "originally could have become." Yet, this pivot raises eyebrows among creators who joined Patreon precisely to escape the algorithmic whims and subscriber fatigue of traditional social media.
Patreon has long positioned itself as a haven for direct, subscription-based relationships between creators and fans, free from the engagement-maximizing pitfalls of platforms like Instagram and Twitter (now X). Conte himself has championed this ethos, famously declaring in past talks that "subscribers are dead" - a nod to how social feeds bury content under endless noise, forcing creators to chase virality over sustainability.
But as social networks remain the dominant traffic source for new sign-ups, Patreon is dipping its toes back into familiar waters. The new tools aim to build growth engines natively within the platform, potentially reducing reliance on external referrals while introducing elements that echo the very algorithms creators fled.
The New Features: A Social Flavor to Subscription Growth
Conte's announcement highlights four interconnected innovations, all rolled out in beta to over 200 creators. These aren't just tweaks; they're a deliberate push toward a "discovery layer" that could transform Patreon from a paywall garden into a bustling, interconnected network akin to Substack's social extensions or YouTube's collaborative ecosystem.
1. The Discovery Feed: Algorithmic Exposure for All
At the heart of the update is the Discovery Feed, a dedicated algorithmic timeline that surfaces content to the entire Patreon user base - not just a creator's existing subscribers. Unlike the core Memberships feed, which prioritizes paid supporters, this new stream is opt-in for creators and non-intrusive for users, ensuring it doesn't overwhelm the intimate, fan-focused experience Patreon is known for.
This setup mirrors social media's endless scrolls but with a Patreon twist: content here is meant to spark curiosity and conversions, helping newcomers stumble upon creators organically.
Conte emphasized in the video that this isn't about "forcing discovery" like on Instagram; instead, it's a curated space where quips and other lightweight posts can shine. Early beta testers have already seen tangible wins, with Conte reporting a 50% uplift in total subscriptions across participating creators after just one and a half months.
2. Quips: Bite-Sized Banter in the Style of Tweets and Notes
Enter Quips, Patreon's answer to Twitter's tweets or Substack's Notes - a snappy format for short-form posts limited to 280 characters. These aren't meant for deep dives but for quick hits: a witty observation, a teaser for upcoming content, or a poll to gauge fan interest.
Crucially, Quips are funneled directly into the Discovery Feed, exposing them to Patreon's 8 million+ monthly active users.
This feature directly tackles the "subscriber death" issue by enabling viral, low-commitment sharing. Creators can experiment with ideas without gating them behind paywalls, much like how Substack's Notes has become a testing ground for essays and previews.
In fact, Substack touted a strikingly similar stat in their own launch analysis: writers posting three or more thoughtful Notes during a launch week saw 50% more total subscribers than those who skipped the feature. Patreon's quips could follow suit, blending social serendipity with subscription incentives.
3. Collab Posts: Cross-Promotion with Shared Analytics
Collaboration gets a boost with Collab Posts, allowing creators to co-author content and tap into each other's audiences seamlessly.
The mechanics are straightforward and creator-friendly:
- A host creator can invite up to five collaborators by selecting their Patreon profiles from a dropdown menu.
- The post then appears in the Discovery Feed and gets algorithmic recommendations to the collaborators' followers, expanding reach without manual shoutouts.
- Hosts control access to video analytics (views, engagement, etc.), but all revenue from ads or memberships funnels solely to the originating creator - ensuring no dilution of earnings.
This echoes YouTube's recent collab tools, where featured channels get exposure but the host retains full monetization control. On Patreon, it's tailored for newsletters, podcasts, and videos, fostering genuine partnerships while keeping the focus on mutual growth.
4. Featuring Creators: Building Recommendation Networks
Finally, creators can now feature fellow makers in a personalized recommendations section on their profile pages. This "creator spotlight" widget lets you highlight up to five peers, complete with bios and links to their work. It's a nod to social networks' "follow these next" prompts but rooted in authentic endorsements - think less algorithmic coercion, more community curation.
By integrating these into the Discovery ecosystem, Patreon encourages a web of referrals that could amplify niche voices without the echo chambers of bigger platforms.
The Irony: Reviving What Patreon Promised to Bury
Conte's video walks a tightrope here. "Patreon isn't competing with Instagram," he clarifies. "We're building what Instagram originally could have been - a place where creators thrive without the toxicity." He acknowledges social media's enduring role: it still drives the lion's share of new subscribers. But these features, he argues, internalize that discovery, letting Patreon keep more of the value chain in-house.
Critics might call it a stealth return to algorithms. After all, the Discovery Feed's personalization relies on machine learning to prioritize "relevant" content, risking the same biases that plague feeds elsewhere. And while quips and collabs sound empowering, they could inadvertently reward the loudest voices, widening the gap between viral stars and steady builders. Conte counters this by stressing opt-outs and beta feedback loops, promising iterations based on creator input.
The 50% subscription bump is hard to ignore, though. It's a metric that echoes Substack's Notes success, where the feature has driven 50% of new free subs and 30% of paid ones through likes, replies, and restacks. As one Substack writer, Michelle Zauner, put it: "The feedback is immediate. This helps me figure out which ideas in my head are also floating around in the zeitgeist." Patreon quips could unlock similar serendipity, turning passive scrollers into loyal patrons.
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What This Means for Creators: Opportunity or Overload?
For Patreon’s 250,000+ creators, these tools represent a double-edged sword. On one hand, they democratize discovery in a platform that's historically favored word-of-mouth growth. Indie podcasters, illustrators, and writers - long starved for built-in promotion - could see real traction. The beta's early results suggest as much: that 50% growth isn't just hype; it's a lifeline in an era where social algorithms increasingly deprioritize external links.
On the other, it risks diluting Patreon's core appeal. Will the Discovery Feed become another dopamine trap, pulling creators back into content churn? Or will it evolve into the "original Instagram" Conte envisions - a supportive network that amplifies without exploiting?
As Patreon rolls these out beyond beta, the real test will be in the trenches. For now, Conte's vision is clear: blend the best of social discovery with subscription loyalty, proving that even "dead" subscribers can be resurrected - smarter, not sadder. Creators, it's time to quip, collab, and discover. Just don't forget to check your analytics.
Author: Slava Vasipenok
