Why Christopher Shinn Left Twitter for Patreon

Playwright and essayist Christopher Shinn (Photo: Sam Wallander)

For this final episode of season one, I am joined by playwright Christopher Shinn for a conversation on how writers can use Patreon. Shinn has a long list of plays and accomplishments, including a Pulitzer nomination, an Obie Award, and a Guggenheim Fellowship, and some of plays include Dying City, Where Do We Live, Now or Later, Teddy Ferrara, Against, and an adaptation of Hedda Gabler that appeared on Broadway in 2009.

While Shinn used to be on Twitter, he became frustrated with the platform and has since instead begun putting his personal reflections on Patreon, the subscription-based crowdfunding site. I was curious how this experiment was going; there are, of course, other blogging subscription services out there, like Substack, and I don’t normally think of Patreon as a blogging platform. But could this be the answer to an issue many writers have? The desire to put their writing online, but in a way that can still be potentially curated and monetized, away from the free Wild West of social media?

I was also curious about his thoughts on social media more generally. Shinn has written about how he feels these platforms are drawing us into a less loving and intimate society, and while I feel social media has both benefits and harms, I do wonder, too, how it is affecting our personal relationships and our national discourse. Why is it these sites, that on one hand offer such a convenient way for us to keep in touch with one another, are also yet incapable of fulfilling our most seemingly basic expectations, like suppressing toxic and hateful speech or protecting their users’ data. And what impact does this constant interconnectivity have on our attention spans, mental health, and capacity for introspection? While we don’t reach any clear conclusions, I think the questions Shinn raises here are essential for anyone who uses social media, and I hope they will inspire you to think critically about your own online habits.