Building Community with Chats

What is a community chat?

A community chat is a space for group conversation among your Patreon community, helping you foster deeper connections among your members beyond the comment section. These improved chat features make it easier than ever to connect with your members and allow them to build relationships with one another.

Accessing Community chats

Community chats on Patreon are available to all creators. If your work is categorized as Adult content you must complete ID verification before you’ll have access to chats.

Using community chats

Create a chat

You can create up to 10 chat spaces, customizing them by name, topic, and emoji. Access to a chat space can be given to all members (free and paid members), all paid members, or selected tiers.

• Follow the instructions below while viewing your creator profile. You can switch to your creator profile by clicking your profile picture in the bottom left corner and clicking on your creator profile.

  1. Select Community from the left menu to visit your chats page
  2. If this is your first time creating a chat: Click on Create — Your chat will only be visible once you send your first message
     • If you have existing chats: Click the New Chat option. This chat will be visible immediately
  3. Customize your chat! Pick an emoji and choose a name. You can also change the default all members access to all paid members, or selected tiers
  4. Once you send your first message in any chat you create, you’ll be asked to agree with the chat guidelines

• Follow the instructions below while viewing your creator profile. You can check which profile you’re viewing by tapping your profile picture in the top right corner of the home screen. Use the switch button to toggle between your creator and member views.

  1. Go to the Patreon mobile app (Android or IOS) and tap the Community tab from the bottom app menu
  2. If this is your first time creating a chat: You’ll see a default chat. You can tap on the chat to Edit the chat or to send your first message — sending a message will make it visible to members
     • If you have existing chats: Tap the + button at the top right corner to create a new chat space
  3. Customize your chat! Pick an emoji and choose a name. You can also change the default all members access to all paid members, or selected tiers
  4. Once you send your first message in any chat you create, you’ll be asked to agree with the chat guidelines.

• Make sure you follow this guide while in your creator profile. Click on the menu in the top left corner, and then click on your profile photo at the bottom of the menu. Select your creator profile.

  1. Tap on the menu in the top left corner
  2. Select Community  — You’ll land on your chats page
     • If this is your first time creating a chat: Click on Create — Your chat will only be visible once you send your first message
     • If you have existing chats: Click on New Chat. This chat will be visible immediately
  3. Customize your chat! Pick an emoji, choose a name, and select who can access that chat
  4. Once you send your first message in any chat you create, you’ll be asked to agree with the chat guidelines

Your new chat will show up on your creator page on the mobile app, as well as your Community tab on both web and the mobile app.

Chat with your members

There are several ways you and your members can interact with each other through chats:

• Start/reply to a thread — Both you and your members can start and reply to a thread
  
  • App: Press and hold the message you want and tap Reply in thread
  • Web: Click the message you want and type your reply on the right-hand side of the page
• React to messages — Both you and your members can react to chat messages
  
  • App: Press and hold a message until you see the option to add a reaction with an emoji
  • Web: Click on a message and select the emoji from the list that pops up
• Share photos directly from your device – You and your members can share photos directly from your device by tapping on the photo icon  
• Share previews of your Patreon posts – Whenever you share a direct link to a Patreon post, it will automatically generate a preview, giving your members a glimpse of the post

Some ideas on how you can use your chats

• Let your audience get to know you: Enjoy direct, immediate communication with your community! Offer a Q+A or AMA to share more about yourself and your work
• Get to know your audience: Ask questions about your audience… likes, dislikes, content recommendations! Try an icebreaker like
  • If you could have dinner with 3 people living or dead, who would you choose?
  • What’s one thing you want to accomplish in your lifetime?
  • What’s one great piece of advice you’ve gotten, and who gave it to you?
  • What’s something you hope to get out of this community?
• Let your audience get to know each other: Encourage members to introduce themselves to one another so that they can connect and engage!
• Share content: Promote new and upcoming content! Generate audience excitement for what is to come and receive feedback on the latest
• Develop a routine: Spark a weekly trend! For example, ask your community to share something they’re grateful for on Wednesdays

Managing community chats

Edit your chat

• Make sure you follow this guide while in your creator profile. You can switch to your creator profile by clicking your profile picture in the bottom left corner and clicking on your creator profile.

  1. Click on Community  from the left menu to visit your chats page
  2. Click on the chat you want to edit
  3. Below the chat’s name, click Edit chat settings
  4. On the right-hand side, click on the Edit option
  5. You can edit:
     • The chat emoji
     • The chat name
     • Who can access that chat
  6. When you’re done, don’t forget to click on Save

• Make sure you follow this guide while in your creator profile. Tap your profile picture in the top right corner of the home screen to use the profile switcher. This switcher button allows you to adjust your view of the app between creator and member view.

  1. Go to the Patreon mobile app (Android or IOS) and tap the Community tab from the bottom app menu
  2. From this screen, tap on the chat you want to edit
  3. Tap on Edit chat settings below the chat name
  4. Tap the three dots in the top right corner and tap on Edit chat – You can edit:
     • The chat emoji
     • The chat name
     • Who can access that chat
  5. When you’re done, don’t forget to tap on Save at the top right corner

• Make sure you follow this guide while in your creator profile. Click on the menu in the top left corner, and then click on your profile photo at the bottom of the menu. Select your creator profile.

  1. Tap on the menu in the top left corner
  2. Select Community — You’ll land on your chats page
  3. Tap on the chat you want to edit
  4. Below the chat’s name, select Edit chat settings
  5. On the right-hand side, tap on the Editoption 
  6. You can edit:
     • The chat emoji
     • The chat name
     • Who can access that chat
  7. When you’re done, don’t forget to tap Save

Delete a chat

• Make sure you follow this guide while in your creator profile. You can switch to your creator profile by clicking your profile picture in the bottom left corner and clicking on your creator profile.

  1. Click on the My Page button from the left-hand if you aren't already there
  2. Select Community  — You’ll land on your chats page
  3. Click on the chat you want to delete
  4. Below the chat’s name, select Edit chat settings
  5. On the right-hand side, click the Delete option

• Make sure you follow this guide while in your creator profile. Tap your profile picture in the top right corner of the home screen to use the profile switcher. This switcher button allows you to adjust your view of the app between creator and member view.

  1. Go to the Patreon mobile app (Android or IOS) and tap the Community tab from the bottom app menu
  2. From this screen tap on the chat you want to delete
  3. Below the chat's name, tap Edit chat settings
  4. Tap the three dots menu at the top right corner and tap on Delete chat

• Make sure you follow this guide while in your creator profile. Click on the menu in the top left corner, and then click on your profile photo at the bottom of the menu. Select your creator profile.

  1. Tap on the menu in the top left corner
  2. Select Community — You’ll land on your chats page
  3. Tap on the chat you want to delete
  4. Below the chat’s name, select Edit chat settings
  5. On the right-hand side, tap the Delete option

Deleting a chat will permanently remove it from your members' chats. This action can’t be undone.

Disable notifications

You can disable all notifications for a particular chat. Note that this will disable the notifications for you and not for your members.

Here’s how:

1. Go to the Patreon mobile app (Android or IOS) and tap the Community tab the bottom app menu
2. IOS: You can mute/unmute by swiping left on a chat
   Android: You can mute/unmute by pressing and holding the chat

Alternatively, you can also manage your notifications by tapping the Notifications tab from the bottom app menu — From this screen, you'll find a Settings icon at the top right corner where you can enable/disable email and push notifications for your chats.

Moderating your chats

Chat guidelines

There are guidelines specifically designed for community chats, which members are presented with any time they choose to join a chat. These are separate from Patreon’s Community Guidelines, which act as the guardrails detailing the sorts of behaviors that are permitted and prohibited on Patreon. We encourage you to review, uphold, and enforce both sets of guidelines to keep your community safe.

Your members can report messages that they believe are violating these guidelines. Once you create a chat space, you can access a Moderation Hub that allows you to choose whether you would like to keep or delete these reported messages.

Reported messages

Your members can report messages that they feel are violating the chat guidelines directly to you. When a member reports a message, you’ll receive a notification letting you know that a message has been reported, and you can choose to keep or delete that message from your Moderation Hub.

How to access your reported messages:

• Make sure you follow this guide while in your creator profile. You can switch to your creator profile by clicking your profile picture in the bottom left corner and clicking on your creator profile.

  1. Click on Moderation Hub button on the left-hand panel
  2. Select the Reported Content panel
  3. You’ll find a list of all messages reported from the chat and and the reason for the report. You can choose to keep or delete the reported messages

• Make sure you follow this guide while in your creator profile. Tap your profile picture in the top right corner of the home screen to use the profile switcher. This switcher button allows you to adjust your view of the app between creator and member view.

  1. Go to the Patreon mobile app (Android or IOS) and tap the Community tab from the bottom app menu
  2. From this screen, tap the chat you want to check
  3. At the top right corner, tap the Moderation icon next to your profile
  4. You’ll find a list of all the messages reported from that chat and the reason for the report. You can choose to keep or delete the reported messages

When you delete a message, the person who sent the message won’t know you deleted it, but everyone in the chat will see it as a deleted message.

Moderators

You have the ability to assign a teammate or trusted fan from the community as a Moderator for all your chats. This means they can see messages that members of the community have flagged for review.

These Moderators have access to reported messages through the Moderation Hub on the Patreon app, and they will show up with a Moderator tag on their profile. Once a message is reported, Moderators can decide whether to keep or delete that message.

Note that Moderators must be members of tiers that have access to chats to be able to view chats gated to paid tiers.

Here’s how to nominate moderators for your chats:

• Make sure you follow this guide while in your creator profile. You can switch to your creator profile by clicking your profile picture in the bottom left corner and clicking on your creator profile.

  1. Click on Community on the left-hand panel
  2. From here, select any chat you want
  3. At the top right corner, click the Moderation icon next to your profile
  4. You’ll automatically land in the Reported Content tab
  5. Switch to the Moderators tab
  6. From there, you can use the search bar to add or remove moderators

• Make sure you follow this guide while in your creator profile. Tap your profile picture in the top right corner of the home screen to use the profile switcher. This switcher button allows you to adjust your view of the app between creator and member view.

  1. Go to the Patreon mobile app (Android or IOS) and tap the Community tab from the bottom app menu 
  2. From this screen, tap on any chat you want
  3. At the top right corner, tap the Moderation icon next to your profile
  4. You’ll land on Reported messages
  5. Switch to Moderators at the top of the screen
  6. From there, you can add or remove Moderators

Temporarily mute a chat member

You can mute a person in a specific chat for 24 hours if they are not following chat guidelines or are going off-topic. Muting is a great way to issue a warning without removing members from the chat or blocking their membership.

How to mute a person for 24 hours

1. Visit the specific chat that you’d like to mute the member in
2. Find the member’s most recent message
3. Tap on the member’s name to pull up the actions menu
4. Tap on Mute person
5. The member will be muted for 24 hours

Tips for temporarily muting

• Only the creator and designated moderators can mute a member
• You can mute members for 24 hours at a time

Members will see that they’ve been temporarily muted

If a muted member visits the chat space, they’ll see that they’ve been temporarily muted and won’t have the option to message or comment on a message until the mute period has ended. Whenever a muted member visits the chat space, they’ll see how many hours are left before they can message again. During the muted period, a muted member won’t be able to message, or thread within the chat or emoji react to existing messages.

Currently testing

Video Stickers for chats

Video Stickers with chats is a feature we are currently testing with a small group of Android users and will roll out to more creators throughout the year.

Creators with access to Video Stickers can now react to member chat messages by recording a short video and attaching it directly as a reply to the original message.

If you have access to this feature, here’s where you can learn more about Video Stickers.