Monetizing fandom?

There's been a lot of talk about monetizing fanworks recently. I haven't been able to participate in the conversations, but it's something I think about a lot.

One, I don't think it's all that different from the past. It's just easier now. There's more of an infrastructure for it - but I've been on the net since the early nineties and I've always seen the occasional tip jar/PayPal link on the sites of writers, artists and such.

Two, I don't think it's just plain monetizing, not like multi-level marketing schemes (which is one comparison I've seen.) I don't doubt that some people use Patreon and similar sites as ways to monetize their relationships with others, but I think they're in the minority. I think that for the most part they are ways to ask for help without feeling like they're begging. Asking for help is difficult, even among friends and family. Having something that makes it feel less like desperation and more like an actual thing you can do for them in return? That helps a lot.

At any rate, that's all I have... right now I just know I need to finish something for a friend. I've just been busy applying for jobs and sleeping off being sick. (Let's hope I can either fix my insurance so I can get to a doctor, or recover without one.)

Links:
https://cesperanza.dreamwidth.org/589520.html
(The Multi-level Marketing comparison)
https://fairestcat.dreamwidth.org/657484.html
(Counterpoint to the first link)

Signal Boost: New Meta Newsletter, Signal Boosting, Linking, Dogpiling, and History.

muccamukk posted: New Meta Newsletter, Signal Boosting, Linking, Dogpiling, and History

Preview:

The place I'm coming from, personally: I'd like people to talk to about Thing I'm Currently Most Interested In (hereinafter known as Thing), and I would also like people interested in talking about Thing to come talk to me. As my profile says, PLEASE DO link my posts around, to each other, to newsletters, to outer space (unless I'm currently writing NASA RPF, then please don't link it to outer space). That will mean people are more likely to come talk to me about Thing. Also, link to your own or other people's posts about Thing, so I can find them! We shall all talk to each other in an unending comment party that is completely unlike kd lang's cover of "Heaven."

The flip side of that, however, is when you're linking to something you think is Wrong On the Internet (hereinafter known as Wrong).

(I am testing out this Signal Boost thing that was created by astolat here, to see how it works. You can feel free to signal boost my stuff on either here or personalapocalypse as long as it isn't access locked, BTW. Posting a comment on the post that says that you signal-boosted would be a nice ego boost!)
(Note: Yeah, definitely be careful using JS that someone else wrote on your own site... I program in JS so I checked it and it looked safe to me, but it should go without saying, it IS dangerous.)