You're hearing everyone talk about Patreon all of a sudden because we all just got a "our shit is more together but not fixed" email. (I wasn't paid in full last month, and I'm not alone).
If you support someone you know depends on pledges for things which *can't* be delayed (i.e. food, medicine - this isn't me!) you might want to toss a bit extra at them over a more reliable channel if you can for these first few days. Combined with etsy's fuckup, the creative community's on edge a bit.