It seems to me that YouTube channels tend to have one “hook” and once that hook runs out they struggle to continue to deliver content.
For example, one channel I followed played the PC game “The Forest” inside and out over many months. Then once every aspect of that game had been covered attention switched to another game. But the “magic” was gone and the enthusiasm for the new game just wasn’t engaging enough. So then several “lifestyle” videos got uploaded including some about how to deliver YouTube content.
Similarly, channels that used to have “life hacks” now just do top ten run downs or the like, clearly the genius idea that got the channel started was a one trick pony. Then come the inevitable “my videos got de-monitised” rants.
So what I’m basically getting at is - do you think being a YouTuber is a legitimate career choice today and should uploaders be getting sympathy for trouble caused when they either run out of ideas or YouTube move the goalposts?
It seems to me that getting “money for nothing” by just filming yourself at no cost apart from your own time is a pretty lousy way to plan a future, but what do I know apparently there are YouTube millionaires.
I guess I sympathize as much as with any unsuccessful artist (e.g. my cousin the actor-director/Pilates instructor and my friend’s brother the dancer/physical trainer).
Do you have sympathy for any particular insect among the hundreds that smash into your windshield when you drive down the highway on a summer afternoon?
To a pretty good approximation, 100% of people in the entertainment industry will make zero money from it. And 0% will make squillions. People do it anyway because they like doing it. If you don’t like doing it, you probably shouldn’t be doing it. If you’re doing it because you honestly think you’re going to be the next DanTDM then … all I can say is I wouldn’t want to take you to the casino.
To be fair, getting money for nothing other than your own time is how pretty much everything works. What a lot of people are finding out is that it might not have been such a good idea to, literally, quit their day job and do the youtube thing full time because they had a few months where youtube was bringing in some pretty good money.
It’s no different then someone quitting their real job when because last week they made $250 for some MLM and they just need more time to do that. It works well until it doesn’t and now they don’t have a back up.
However, where I do feel bad for youtubers is when youtube messes with them. Some of their complaints sound awfully legitimate and there’s a reason so many of them are going to patreaon or even just quitting making content.
Electroboom has spoken about having his videos demonitized on the first day because someone clicked the report button. AvE gets his videos tagged as mature, Eric The Car Guy just up and quit, but I think he might have been a bit stressed out by the comments so that could be different. Someone, Phillip Defranco maybe did do some explanation on how they reworked how everyone gets paid and it basically meant they all woke up one day to getting just about nothing instead of quite a bit. IIRC that’s about when patreon took off.
So, yeah, I mean I don’t feel bad that some random person I don’t know put all their creative eggs in one basket and then ran out of ideas. But I do feel bad when youtube changes the rules on them.
Also, regarding the amount of time spent. It’s my understanding that with the more popular channels. Between filming and editing, a 20 minute or so video can take 4-6 hours to create. So if they’re putting out 3 or 4 videos a week it’s starting to turn into a full time job. I might be off on the numbers, but don’t think that a 20 minute video is put together in 20 minutes.
Its like asking if I have any sympathy for guys with a stall outside a football stadium selling scarfs, how sad for them that all the crowds go home…
No I have no sympathy, if you want to base your career around something as nebulous and subject to whims as being a “Youtuber” then that is your problem.
Sure, but it’s a choice that includes risk - like any other artistic endeavour, you could run out of ideas or creativity, or your style could go out of fashion. Unlike some other artistic endeavours, the hand that feeds you could just decide to stop doing so (or more likely, just make changes that result in an abrupt drop in your income that you cannot control).
Sympathy for running out of ideas? No. There’s no real excuse for that - it’s a factor entirely internal to the creator and within their control. At the very least, they should be able to see it coming and adapt or get out.
I feel sympathy for William Osman whose channel is probably suffering because his house burned down. I feel sympathy for CodyDon of Cody’s lab, when his channel was nearly destroyed by concern trolls.
I don’t personally understand it. I invest a lot of practical, creative effort in my channel, and it isn’t a viable income, it disappoints me just a little bit that some of the most successful channels are really just a person talking to a camera, then uploading. I mean, good luck to them, but I don’t really understand the value of it.
The ‘my videos got demonetized’ thing is because of a recent change that YouTube made - their advertisers want advertiser-friendly content, so they implemented an AI that would try to figure out whether a video was worth monetizing or not - in the early days, the AI needed a lot of training and was just demonetizing everything, even completely family-friendly and ad-friendly entertaining content - typically it did so at the peak of initial views, cutting off a big chunk of revenue. This made people sad.
It’s getting better now. I haven’t had a video demonetized for a week or two now.
Even then I find sympathy in short supply. Maybe some rule change does yank the rug out from under their feet, but if you are going to piggy back on some private company’s infrastructure then thats just a risk you’ll have to accept.
I don’t have sympathy for them at all. I don’t condemn them, either. Business is a hit-and-miss proposition. I can start any business, online or off, and either be a one hit wonder or hit it big. It just depends. YouTubers are just like any other small business. Isn’t the stat something like 90% of all small businesses fail in the first year? Why wouldn’t YouTubers be any different? Especially since they’re putting up much less capital than a local business like Steve’s Pizzeria.
If I put up a video on YouTube, my expectation to actually make money from it is pretty low, unless I’m willing to work at making it work. Just like any other business. Otherwise, I’m just doing it for fun and personal enjoyment.
There’s a lot of TV shows or musical artists that run out of steam after a single season or album and struggle to drag it out. Only difference here is that there’s no filter keeping people from getting on YouTube with a half-baked and unsustainable idea.
But, like people said, that’s show business. I don’t feel sorry for them the same as I don’t feel sorry for a one-hit wonder band.
actually, I admit I feel a bit of schadenfreude knowing that the really annoying prats like Jake Paul are blowing what money they make from their vids pretty much as quickly as they get it, and once their audiences grow up they’re toast.
Not just artistic endeavours - a career as a YouTuber carries risk just like any other entrepreneurial career, such as restaurant ownership.
I feel more sympathy for brick-and-mortar entrepreneurs (such as restaurateurs) because they typically invest a huge amount of time, effort and money upfront (often tens of thousands of dollars) that they don’t get back if their venture fails. YouTubers generally don’t have nearly as much upfront investment; in some cases, they have nothing more than a camera and some video editing software, less than a thousand bucks in total, and they can recover most of their investment if they sell those. Your YouTube career fizzled? That sucks, sorry; now go get a job and get on with your life.
Don’t really have much sympathy for Youtuber’s as a class - the vast majority of people who were making money then aren’t are people who got lucky and managed to get paid for filming themselves rambling while enjoying a hobby or for adding commentary to stuff they were going to do anyway. Being an entertainer is a legitimate career choice, but it’s a risky career that either takes a ton of raw talent or a lot of training to do well at. Slapping up a Youtube video is fine as a hobby, but if you want it to be taken seriously as a career then you need to be prepared to work and deliver what your audience wants. You don’t get to just declare that it’s your career, start uploading, and never do any real work for the rest of your life.
Most Youtubers who make a bit of money, then don’t are like people who won a small prize in the lottery, then expected to keep winning the lottery instead of finding a regular job. It just doesn’t work that way.
Look it up - it’s between shit and syphilis in the dictionary.*
I have no sympathy for youtubers, but then, I never give them any thought at all. I’m reminded that old Farside cartoon called Hopeful Parents. Larson never guessed it would come true, I’d bet.
*I never got that joke. but I never got a chance to use it before, either.
Not just entertainment. There are a few industries, I think economists call them “glamor industries”, where the vast majority make very little, while a few stars make huge amounts. Others are sports and publishing.
I suppose i have some sympathy for some who want to make a career of YouTubing. The same for those who attempt to become professional athletes, actors and artists of all types as well. Someone may have decent talent, but in these highly competitive and market limited environments not every one will succeed. The very best who attempt it have a good chance of success, but there will be a significant portion of the success due to good fortune and others equally talented will fall off the map.
So yes, I have some sympathy for anyone who strives for success but fall short just because their stars do not align. But for those who just think “I could do that”, don’t have the talent and don’t put in the effort I just give them my most sincere “Meh”.
Personally I thing the guy with the red hot nickel ball has just scratched the surface of possibilities. He just needs to get off the dime and make more videos. I’m sure plenty of people are sending in possibilities. But no, he’s branched into liquid nitrogen and then tapered off.
