Real talk — you guys are the coolest. (Patreon)

Hey guys, Blue here just dropping in to thank you all so much for choosing to support the work we do here on OSP. I know we say it a lot in many different contexts: at the ends of videos, on streams, on the podcast, but it's difficult to articulate just how incredible it is that a community of almost 2,500 people enjoy what we do so much that you've chosen to monetarily support our silly internet videos.

I was actually just talking to some friends (all friends from fencing, of course) and we got on the subject of how communities like patreon afford such a valuable combination of job security and creative freedom. We're extraordinarily lucky that the youtube gods almost never do us dirty, but there are so many other channels that are either smaller or more vulnerable to demonetization, but are kept afloat almost entirely by the support of patreon. It's honestly astounding what such a small share of an audience (in our case, 2,500 out of 1,500,000) can accomplish.

It's because of patrons like you that smaller channels can continue to make content without fear that ad revenue will be low or inconsistent, and that radically lowers the bar to letting more creators participate in the online creative ecosystem part or full-time. Heck, Patreon is what gave Red and I the confidence to make OSP into our jobs out of college. In many cases the difference between an underappreciated gem of a channel and an established presence online can be a handful of supporters like you, whether you choose to support an artist on patreon or simply watch the content, subscribe, and tell your friends how cool it is. That's infinitely harder to get metrics for, so it's harder to explain, but it's a critical step towards success for any creator. It's still shocking to me that raw enthusiasm can make someone's hobby into a career, but we've seen it happen time and time again, most recently in the wonderful case of Max Miller's Tasting History, who took the leap into making the channel his full-time job in part because of his community on patreon.

My point here is not just to say thank you, but to try and articulate just how damn cool it is that you here on Patreon have made a difference for literally thousands of creators like us.

Best job in the world, best community in the world.
Thanks team :)
-B