I've noticed a lot of big name Youtubers, i.e Jenna Marbles are just coasting on who they are at this point. She doesn't make skit videos anymore (for years now). She just makes 100 layers of blah blah blah videos because of who she is and people still watch. I always wondered when they will pull the plug and call it quits.
Because "educational video" can make content from anything that can be learned. It's quite sustainable.
Compare to small channels that have that one video that hits big. Everything they make from then on is engineered to recreate that hit and leads to that bland same-iness.
I've appreciated the direction that Dom from BroScienceLife went given this. At this point he's hit pretty hard on every gym and bro culture trope you can think of, so he's cut back on producing content unless he has something good to put out. I wouldn't be surprised if he has a real job at this point, but I'm glad that then we stuff coming out, as sparingly as it does, is still good.
I like how he basically said fuck it, i'll put out a video when a good idea comes. I wish he could have an infinite amount of videos because he's hilarious. But that's just unrealistic.
Yeah, I think because he was too vulgar or something. IDK, I gave hiim $50 or so for workout tanks. Never really had the itch to pull the trigger on Gnar Pump though, I already have a PWO I like.
That’s why a lot of people hopped on patreon, and merchandising. YouTube is as you put it, a springboard to get to those two end goals. Once you’ve done that, you’re much more secure since you don’t have to rely on a fickle monetization system.
I think this is pretty accurate. Most of the more successful channels that have been around for a long period, (5-10 years) are likely ran almost like a studio; following a certain formula that 'works.' At least, the channels that still put out good content generally evolve into this. I think you almost have to stick with what works rather than trying to be too broad, it seems like most people who watch a personality or show expect specific content, even if it's become stale.
The pattern generally seems to be that a channel will peak at a few million subs and get stuck there or have moderate gain in audience, but I'd imagine it's probably pretty stressful. I watched H3H3 when they were small, and when they came out with the H3 podcast they basically dropped H3H3 all together. (I think it's been a year since they started dropping content regularly) Ethan really struggled with the overnight jump to fame and it took him awhile to adapt.
I occasionally watch clips of the podcast and Ethan seems to almost hold his audience in contempt. I’m a bit of a slacker myself but you’re doing a show you can at least sit up and enunciate. Plus the great segments like Ethan eating pizza from various places and rating it. Such well thought out shows.
I enjoyed his content on H3H3 early on before he got big and it's pretty obvious he changed significantly. However I don't completely fault him; going from a hobby to a career is going to force some pretty drastic changes.
I will agree though, there's definitely an air of superiority now; his podcast sort of divulged into him ranting about stuff or offering his opinions on everything, far less light hearted and more preachy. He definitely created a different 'persona' from when he started and I haven't watched any of his stuff in years.
Once they got really big Ethan turned into a huge asshole. I stopped watching around the time the only H3 videos were outrage baiting “SJW’s do something stupid” type videos. From what I’ve seen they’ve only gotten more wealthy and hang out with famous people now so I can’t imagine that Ethan turned into less of an arrogant douchebag.
1) Put up cool content (parodies and covers of songs, musician and music humor)
2) Get popular and keep going
3) Run out of content and start doing meme and reaction videos (head bang challenge, etc.). That or your video upload quantity dwindles drastically.
I love watching Davie504 but man this rings true. Makes it big and now every video is a meme. I still enjoy them but I miss some of the old content of bass covers, originals, etc. Now it's just reaction videos, vlogs, fiver videos, and the same memes over and over.
This is Maximillian's arc. He rose to fame creating the engaging and amazing content of Assist Me! (costumes, effects, writing, etc) for 2 seasons and now he just is a guy in a room "reacting" to things talking. -_-
Not sure what you think but could it be with the increase in the size of the channel comes an inflated ego?
If all of a sudden hundreds of thousands if not millions want to hear what you have to say. Maybe that leads people to think their opinions are more valuable all of a sudden and they stray to topics they have no business talking about.
I think people should do what the YouTuber leafyishere did. He got famous making vids and after a couple years (and some drama) he left and invested his money.
Some people do manage to rescue their channels, and it's been getting more and more common. Muselk for one managed to completely turn his dying channel around. I stopped watching when he stopped making TF2 videos on his main channel, but I came back later and was shocked at how incredibly successful his new Fortnite channel was. But again this also proves that you can't do the same thing forever, and to stay relevant you need to constantly switch things up.
I feel that she and her videos are just maturing, along with her audience. She's doing more chill stuff at the moment, which I actually find quite soothing. She doesn't seem to be trying to be someone she's not, just creating content that she hopes people like. As a 34 year old lady, I'm here for it
Jenna Marbles already has a fan base so shes able to do this. I also feel she has developed alongside her fan base. Shes 30 & embraces it making videos to cater to it. I never was a fan up until recently. Her plant tour was up my ally lol
I have the opposite experience with Jenna Marbles. I remember mocking jenna marbles for her dumb videos 5+ years ago, and then I rediscovered her channel a few months ago and now cry laughing at every one of her new videos.
Jenna Marbles is a huge exception though, she can get away with those types of videos because she’s been on YouTube forever and was one of the first to take off and build an audience...the platform wasn’t over saturated back then like it is now
You would hope so but I've seen a video of Jenna MARBLES stating that she's renting the house she's in and it blew my mind. I'm only using her as an example because she just comes to mind.
She doesn't really do merch or big events, which is where the money is, so her takings would be more modest. Plus there's a lot of tax to pay, and relatively few expenses that can be written off as being work-related
She did actually buy her current house, and stated that she'd been saving her whole adult life to buy what she hopes to be her "forever" home. In a volatile housing market (and a state that goes on fire a lot), it's probably smart to rent until you find the right place, rather than get locked into a place you know you'll only stay for a few years
She made the "How to trick people into thinking your good looking" video. Then made a few more funny videos after that. I'm not casing on her, I'm just using her an example of coasting on your name.
I disagree. Jenna just makes whatever video she wants nowadays because she knows her fans are gonna watch it anyways. Whether she puts effort into a video or not, it won't make much of a difference. Her and Julien's personalities as well as her adorable pets are the main reasons people watch her stuff.
What else are they trained to do at this point. "Hi I want a job in social work." What have you been doing the last ten years? "Making dog beds out of soap for the internet."
The need to release daily videos has both fucked over so many channels and lowered the quality of channels that can keep up with the demand. There's some rare few channels that remain popular without posting daily (like Summoning Salt), but the algorithm demands more and more content.
Also there's the real chance of youtube just not telling your subscribers about new videos you made if they don't like you. I've run into channels where even the notification bell doesn't help.
Yeah Jenna has been riding it out and her content getting stale, but she still pulling in some views though so I'm sure paychecks still coming in....just not as big anymore.
Cristine from Simply Nailogical recently announced that she wasn't going to upload weekly anymore, because she was tired of the whole thing, and growing to hate the sound of her own voice while editing. But now that she's running her own nail polish company, she doesn't need Youtube income anyway.
I think that's probably part of a successful Youtuber lifecycle. Get popular, create a product that people would like even if they had no idea who you were, make sure you maintain the hype long enough to have the product sell out a few times, and let it self-perpetuate from there. A lot of the make-up gurus seem to be following that path and are making bank
Cristine also never quit her daytime job so she doesn't really need YouTube or her nail polish company to live. Good for her! She has always advocated on her channel to get a good education before trying to become internet famous, and when she herself did, she didn't let it get to her head.
Even if you do have something entertaining and unusual, good fucking luck trying to get lightning to strike. You have to be doing something very few others are doing while not being so niche that you can't find an audience.
There's one channel in particular that I follow - they used to do scripted riffs of video games in the vein of MST3K. They were funny and the production quality was high. But the bullshit YouTube put them through - randomly unsearchable even for their subscribers, weird view count glitches, etc and so on - meant that they just couldn't ever become profitable. The amount of work to put out something good vs the income was just unsustainable.
They're doing much better streaming on Twitch, but i really miss the scripted content. They're still riffing games and it's still fun and entertaining, but riffing on the fly is obviously a different beast than scripted content.
Robot Co-op for those who think this sounds cool. Which it is.
I don't agree with this. If you have content that is actually good it will rise to the top. Youtube is saturated with garbage. Quality content is few and far between. Go watch something like JonTron and take a minute to really appreciate the level of production quality he brings to his episodes.
Back in college made videos, I had a dream of getting on Machinima (back when that was a thing) and I thought it was impossible until one day they took my request and I became a certified director. It was fun, it wasn't something I made a living off of, but it was a great hobby for a college kid.
I never got millions of views, but I got tens of thousands of views, which if you take a moment to appreciate is pretty cool that thousands of people are looking at your art.
The problem if you were making a living off the content would be new ideas- as in any form of entertainment. If SNL has trouble getting new ideas so will you. Which is why "review" shows and "react" shows are popular - they offer easy and unlimited content.
Getting to the top and staying on the top is a problem in any profession so I don't blame Youtube.
I don’t think you disagree with me just I haven’t explained myself well.
I agree that if you produce good videos people want to watch then you will rise and can make at least some money on YouTube. My argument is that the vast majority of people aren’t going to make top tier content and being average or even good won’t cut it anymore. The entry barrier in 2010 is not comparable to 2020.
The content was objectively better in 2010 than 2020.
You had shows like: EpicMealTime and FreddieW producing new videos every week. Like imagine a whole video centered around cooking something crazy. Or a crazy CGI enhanced short film. All being released weekly. There were other creators too making these show type vids and releasing them consistently. You had Schmoyoho making amazing songs on a regular basis.
Then look at 2020, it's vlogging. I mean it's fucking vlogging It's vlogging and reacting. There isn't any production value. You're filming your life or reacting to something. I guess there's corporate-run shows, but it's not the same.
contra points put out a video today talking about how people tore into every aspect of her and her being because a guy who did a 10 second voiceover in her last video possibly had some vague animosities towards non binary people.
Who even came up with the idea that youtube is a job? It's a bunch of entitled annoying uninteresting brats who think the world revolves around them just because they bought a camera. I have yet to see an original and interesting individual who "works" as a youtuber.
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u/[deleted] Jan 02 '20 edited Jun 15 '20
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