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Comment by mFixman | Hacker News Reader

YouTube's real killer feature is its video discovery. Having millions users endlessly streaming content without many connection hitches while showing a dozen recommended videos each time does wonders for authors.

I'd be more worried about YouTube getting their shit together and making a Patreon killer than Patreon building video hosting.

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YouTube's killer feature is ability to INFLUENCE video discovery. There is no need for them ever, ever to care about being able to pay creators in a competitive way, when they can be paid (or simply needed) just to get the content out there and seen by an audience.

As long as they are YouTube they can capitalize on being the gatekeepers and there's no reason for them to care about becoming also the ticket-takers. There's also no need for them to try and kill Patreon to replace it: Patreon is taking pressure off of them and enabling them to enjoy the really useful part of their dominance, with no consequences to them. With Patreon out there, YouTube doesn't even need to care whether it seems like it pays creators or not.

doesn't youtube feature a patreon-like feature already, where you can sponsor the creators?

If they do, I have never seen it, and I watch a lot of YouTube.

It's called "channel memberships" - if you look at [1] you'll see a 'join' button to the left of the 'subscribe' button (or at least, I do in the UK)

I can't imagine it'll replace Patreon though, as a lot of creators see Patreon as giving them back control from Google's inscrutable, capricious treatment.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcXhhVwCT6_WqjkEniejRJQ

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