DON'T READ THE COMMENTS... (Patreon)

Happy Sunday! So, off the back of posting on Twitter a response to a comment I got on Digitiser2000.com (the one I posted on here a couple of days ago)... I got a lot of comments telling me not to read the comments...!

I love reading the comments - good or bad - because it's how I interact with the audience. I wouldn't read them if I couldn't take the bad ones. That said, probably one out of a thousand does get under my skin, and make me feel I need to address it.

And because this one comes from one of you lovely Patrons - who is no doubt reading this, unless he has already cancelled his pledge - I thought I needed to respond to this from "Mr Bass" (in response to the comment I posted on here recently):

"Woah Biffo, talk about acting like a spoilt little kid "It's MY channel." actually no, its not. Your channel wouldn't be what it is without the community that surrounds and supports it, hobby or not. 

"Also, as a patreon patron, I'd argue that anyone putting financial input in to support you should also be able to have at least some kind of collective influence to a degree (this is shaky territory I'll grant you) over how the channel is run. 

"Without us, you'd not be able to do all the things you want to do on the channel as easily or as quickly. This is the choice you made when you signed up to patreon. Your attitude has been, on occasion, quite abrupt with anyone who wants to raise a complaint, and it's not gone unnoticed."

I hope the majority of you know how much I appreciate your support, and how much I try to reward it, so it does make me a bit sad (only a bit, mind!!!!) when my efforts don't pay off.

Here's how I replied (yes, I was rude and sarcastic to him - guilty as charged! Most of you know my writing style is sarcastic and snippy):

"Not gone unnoticed"??? Oh noooo! They're coming for me! 

"Look, here's how it works: people DON'T get a say, and the channel is mine to make of it what I want. End of. 

"You might pay a quid a month or whatever, but I'm the one who has to spend hours making content, and sinking a lot of my own money into it. Patreon enables me to make Mr Biffo things in whatever way my creative instincts lead me.

"Simply put, if I ever feel forced to make things under the Digi brand that I don't enjoy making... I'll stop doing it, and you ain't gonna get nothing.

"What people DO get, however, is a choice: to support what I do... or NOT support what I do, either financially or by watching/reading it. That's what's on the table.

"Voluntarily paying to support somebody's hobby or creative endeavours doesn't entitle you the right to dictate those endeavours. That's how it works.

"So, a little bit entitled there, Shirley."

There were a bunch of replies to that - probably because I called him Shirley - most of which felt I'd been rude in my replies. 

Such as this one from BabyBlueEyes:

"All Chris was asking was for some variety on the Digi Mini episodes, You've had a long stretch of nothing but you and gannon videos, can you mix at least one in with Octav1us or Larry, that's all he was saying.

"I like Gannon too, but your best episodes have been ones like the stranger things coke test, the VR flight game and one on piracy and so on. all he's asking is for you to mix things up once in a while. 

"and Mr Bass's comment was about you throwing your toys out of the pram at the slightest hint of criticism, which you've done multiple times now. Jesus you need to stop that, as that only leads to losing your viewerbase and replacing them with trolls knowing they can get a reaction from you."

Which is a shame about the Chris thing, because it hadn't actually bothered me; I just used it as an opportunity to explain why there was less Larry and Octav1us. 

Then there was this from a Paul:

"These replies are very rude. No one expects any meaningful input for our meager donations and Kickstarter pledges. However, people are allowed their opinions. A bit of recognition for the support you have enjoyed over the years also seems lacking in these replies 'Support what I do or f-off'."

Which is sad, because I think I regularly recognise the support I've had... but anyway. 

And then Mr Bass came back with this: 

"Riiiight then. I was, as has been correctly pointed out, basically telling you to stop behaving like a snivelling little spoilt brat. Which is what you do everytime anyone criticises you. Calling me entitled isn't going to make your argument any easier to win, Biffo. I'm not acting like a shareholder, I'm acting like a person who pays a damn sight more than a quid to your channel every month and who is asking to be shown a bit of flipping respect for it. 

"I, myself am not asking you to make any specific content, but what I am doing is asking you to stop being a dog in the manger about things when people do ask you to make content which they think they'd enjoy. Even if you don't think you'd be making any stuff with Larry and Sarah soon, you could have just said that, instead of the essay on "its my channel so nyaahhh". 

"I expected better of you Biffo. If any other patrons are reading this, I don't expect they'll vote with their wallets and pull funding on this occasion, but you keep doing it and they will...and...it'll inconvience you for a bit. But the financial impact isn't where you should be concerned."

So, while I don't really want to continue this any longer than it needs to be, it has come from a Patron, so I sort of feel I needed it to be addressed, and I wanted you all to see my reply. 

Which was this:

"Right. Let's see if I can do this without calling anybody fart-features or Shirley... They don't like it up 'em! 

"Mr Bass: Mate, I honestly don't know what you want me to do. I mean, I can apologise that YOU (and Lizzie and Paul) thought I was being rude to Chris, or throwing a tantrum, but I don't think I was. Believe me, I know I can be a grumpy, impatient, sod at times, my style of writing is often sarcastic and snippy... but not in this case. 

"Chris's comment hadn't bothered me. It was just time for a long overdue setting-out-of-stall, and he gave me the opportunity to do that. 

"The reason it might seem to *you* that I can't take criticism isn't because I can't take it (try being a professional screenwriter: every draft comes with a bunch of red text, and a phone call, telling you why you're shit), but because it's not helpful to a creative process. I have to dismiss it in order to make stuff that is completely true to me.

"I'm baffled as to all these instances of it that you mention, because they obviously didn't bother me enough for me to remember them. 

"I explained everything in my reply to Chris; I'm simply not changing the channel for Patrons - which would be me making content that *I* don't enjoy doing.

"And because I'm not going to do that, and because you seem to want something different to that, I mean it in all sincerity when I say you have the choice not to support me. That's fine! Like, completely, one hundo percento, fine. 

"I do try to give Patrons value for money... in terms of getting content from me, and I think I overdeliver on that in terms of early access to videos twice a week, written content on here most days, exclusive blog posts... I appreciate their support hugely. 

"If you are giving me money with a different expectation... then I'm sorry about that. As I said to Chris... you know what to do.

"I simply don't need *creative* support from Patrons. Any creative or artistic endeavour is not helped by having 250 executive producers breathing down your neck. It's hard enough in my day job with one or two. Most Patrons seem to understand that. I do, however, love interacting with them. It's a great community, full of lovely people.

"In the case of Chris's initial complaint - that there was too much me and Gannon, and not enough Larry and Octav1us - I felt it was important to explain why that is. I mean... it's a shame for Chris, but they do have their own channels if he wants more of those two. Also, there may be reasons that I haven't stated as to why they've not appeared more, which I may not be able to talk about...

"Nonetheless, the bio on my Patreon page clearly makes no mention of Larry or Octav1us (or even Gannon for that matter), and Digi existed for 25 years, on and off, before they came along. 

"Unfortunately, calling me names really won't do anything other than make me dig my heels in even further. With the greatest respect, if anyone appears to be acting spoilt, and throwing their toys out of the pram here, it's you.

"For a start, the threats about me losing my audience, if I continue not to listen to them, just wash over me. I'm not doing this to have a big audience. My self-worth isn't tied to that.

"If it was, do you really think I'd be making such weird content? I'd be doing click-bait listicles if so!

"Bottom line: Supporting a creator on Patreon allows them to do what a creator does - make stuff that's honest and true to them. Regrettably, calling them a spoilt baby when they make stuff you don't like, and state - in very clear terms - why that isn't going to change, is the definition of entitled. 

"I was only being sincere when I said to Chris that he doesn't have to watch stuff he doesn't like (none of you do). As I stated before, I've got a career where I already have to write for others.

"When it comes to Digi and whatnot... the whole appeal of it is the creative freedom. Patreon gives me the chance to expand and make better looking/sounding stuff (as I said on there recently, I bought a couple of new cameras, lights and sound this month alone). But I'd shut it down before I let it dictate what I make.

"And again, my reply to Chris wasn't said with any degree of annoyance; I thought it was important to lay out the state of the channel, and how things will be going forwards. That's what I did, and I wasn't rude to Chris - it was simply a long answer, which I accept that a few of you have read as rude. Not a lot I can do about that.

"I evidently needed to explain that Digitiser The Show is not the entirety of the Digitiser channel, and why he shouldn't expect Larry and Octav1us as regular co-hosts in future.

"I have legally trademarked Digitiser, I created it almost 27 years ago, and have been writing it more or less solo on-and-off since then. When I say it's my channel... it's not being spoilt... It's literally my channel. Like... literally *literally* my channel. Creatively, everything that has ever appeared on the channel, from Digi the Show, to Found Footage has been driven by me. It IS mine! Which is why Patreon makes no mention of anyone else. 

"Lastly, I just want to say... I really don't like this notion that content creators or people in the public eye are held to a higher standard of politeness than their audience. 

"I get the perceived power imbalance, but it seems somewhat hypocritical when somebody can come at any of us with a foam-flecked, red mist, rage, and we're meant to just go: "OMG! I AM SO SORRY I'M SUCH A NASTY PERSON... HOW CAN I MAKE IT UP TO YOU?!"... 

"And if we don't do that it's all "FFS - STOP THROWING YOUR TOYS OUT OF THE PRAM!!!"

"That's stupid and annoying. Not least when I'm generally very nice with people online.

"Paul: Of course people are entitled to their opinions! They totally are. I don't censor any comments, and I respect people's opinions... This isn't really about opinions or criticism though is it? It's explaining why supporters don't get a say in the creative direction of what I do (unless I invite that).

"So please try not to have a knee-jerk response to me ignoring, dismissing or responding to criticism as being another creative person who can't take criticism. 

"Yeah, I was a bit rude to Shirley (dammit!), but I just thought I was being helpful in explaining it all to Chris, for the benefit of everyone.

"Also... I dunno if any of this nonsense has come from how I am in the Digi Mini videos, but - and I accept that it's death to have to explain a joke - when I rant about comments on there... it's meant to be a joke. 

"We're playing heightened versions of ourselves for comic effect; a pair of idiots constantly undermining their own attempts to do YouTube videos. Of course I don't care if somebody criticises our shit plastering.

"I mean it is shit. It really is."

And that's it. I've said all I can say about it, so I'm drawing the line there as far as my responses go, but I want to say to all of you... I am sorry if any of you have ever felt I've not shown sufficient gratitude, or that things I've done have not gone in the direction you wanted. 

I can only, at the end of the day, follow my muse... or make content that rings hollow, because I'm trying to make stuff I *think* people want to see. 

The community on Patreon - and beyond - is very special to me. It has made my life better. It has always been lovely, I'm deeply indebted to it... and I'm sad that there has been a bit of a backlash here that I've somehow failed to live up to the standards that have been set for me. 

Not that sad, mind. I mean... whatever, y'know.

Paul