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Patreon has continued on its crusade against algorithmic feeds with its latest State of Create<\/a> report, a look at trends in the creator economy based on internal data, and it\u2019s an effort creators can get behind.<\/p>\n In its survey of 1,000 creators and 2,000 fans, the membership platform reported that 53% of creators think it is more difficult to reach their followers today than five years ago.<\/p>\n This doesn\u2019t come as a surprise. Celebrities have fought against Instagram\u2019s video-centric, algorithmic<\/a> feed, making it difficult even for the Kardashians to reach their fans. And if Kylie Jenner is having trouble connecting with her audience, then it\u2019s even worse for creators who aren\u2019t household names.<\/p>\n Fans are frustrated with social platforms\u2019 shift toward short-form video and the \u201cFor You\u201d feed, which both have been pioneered by TikTok. According to Patreon\u2019s survey, fans say that they are seeing more short-form content on social media than long-form content \u2014 but 52% of fans said they find long-form content more valuable and that overall, they would be more willing to pay for it. Long-form content also tends to generate more income via ad revenue share on YouTube, since platforms continue to struggle<\/a> with short-form content monetization.<\/p>\n This is the fundamental tension of today\u2019s creator economy: Platforms like TikTok have made it easier than ever to build an audience, but the sheer volume of algorithmically served content means that once creators earn a fan\u2019s attention, it\u2019s hard to maintain it. If a fan follows a creator on TikTok or Instagram, they might not actually see the majority of that creator\u2019s posts, since they\u2019re drowned out by posts from people they don\u2019t follow.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why, as creators told Patreon, they now prioritize quality and deeper connections with fans over metrics like follower counts, likes, and views \u2014 a shift from five years ago.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you focus on the platform mitigating the relationship between the creator and the subscriber, what you\u2019re essentially doing is giving the platform the power and the responsibility to decide what to send to whom, when,\u201d Patreon CEO Jack Conte told TechCrunch<\/a> when Instagram made major changes to its algorithmic feed in 2022. \u201cAnd that\u2019s the part of it that makes me angry as a creator. Because I\u2019ve spent years, decades building communities on these platforms.\u201d<\/p>\n As more creators than ever try to make a living on the internet, a clear path toward connecting with fans is essential to monetize their businesses. But the dominance of algorithms often obstructs that path, forcing them to adapt their content to fit platform preferences. In fact, 78% of creators in the report said that \u201cThe Algorithm\u201d impacts what they create, and 56% admitted it has discouraged them from exploring their passions and interests.<\/p>\n Those challenges are compounded by the broader instability of social media platforms themselves. With TikTok in legal jeopardy<\/a>, Meta overhauling its content moderation<\/a> precedents, and X platforming fringe extremism<\/a>, creators are growing more frustrated with the current state of social media. Direct-to-consumer content platforms like Patreon, Substack, and OnlyFans have made it easier for creators to control their content and to make money, yet it\u2019s becoming harder to connect with the people who want to pay for their content in the first place.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018The Algorithm\u2019 doesn\u2019t measure what people want,\u201d said Karen X. Cheng, a Patreon creator, in the survey. \u201cIt measures what people pay attention to.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n