TheVeganAtheist wrote:
What are your thoughts on this? In some ways it feels like begging, and in other ways, larger organizations have been doing this for years.
It depends on the degree of perceived justification.
If your videos have a high production quality and are obviously very expensive and time consuming to produce -- like, for example,
crash course -- it will be perceived as very reasonable to ask for support to do so.
If your videos are just you talking and showing some images and text as a slideshow... not so much.
If you step up your production quality, then people would more readily see that you *need* help producing your videos.
However, I wouldn't recommend stepping up your production quality just because of that. You may get money from patrons for it, but at the same time you're spending more, so it may be a wash, and is probably unnecessary based on the kind of videos you're making (do they really benefit from much higher production quality? I don't personally thing they would).
TheVeganAtheist wrote:
What are people's overall attitude for asking for support in making more content? Do you think I should fall the bandwagon and create a Patreon account and video?
As above, I think the question is whether or not your videos would benefit greatly from higher production quality.
It's a question of what viewers are going to see as your reasonable expenses.
I don't personally believe that a higher production quality would really benefit your videos, given the target audience, and the goal of the videos, which is pretty basic and informative. It doesn't need to be a graphic show, and you don't need a studio and expensive video equipment.
BUT, if you wanted to change up your videos and target a new demographic- for more mass appeal- then it might make sense.
Take, for example, a format like scishow.
Or if you were doing scientific experiments in your videos, which obviously have substantial material costs.
If you used Patreon with your current videos, it might look like begging, because it would be difficult for most people to see the necessity in it. If you don't need the support (or it doesn't look like you need the support), and you get along well without it, the best bet is to not ask for it. If viewers are interested in donating money, you could ask them to donate to an animal rights organization, or an organization for secular advocacy.