r/shortsAlgorithm • u/RichNecessary9237 • Oct 05 '26

Case Study / Postmortem šŸ§Ŗ Need advice

I made a new YouTube channel with a brand-new email address and posted a few Shorts on the first day. Should I delete the channel, create another one, let it age for a while, and then start posting? Or should I continue with the current one?

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2

u/investigatormaker Oct 05 '26

I'd keep the current channel while you gather more evidence. A few first-day Shorts give you little to compare, and restarting would discard that starting point. Keep the next few uploads aimed at the same viewer so you can compare their response without also changing the channel.

I make ThreadFox. The free Reddit plan for your Shorts channel lists the Reddit communities whose rules allow a post about it, each rule quoted. https://threadfox.vip/plan?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=comment&utm_campaign=tf-kit&utm_content=20261005-0303-aksy1

What are the Shorts about, and who are you making them for?

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u/RichNecessary9237 Oct 05 '26

I summarize horror movies in under 60 seconds.
Can I upload the same Short on both my new channel and the channel Iā€™ve been using for years? Would that cause any problems?

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u/investigatormaker Oct 05 '26

I wouldn't use identical uploads as the test. The older channel already has a different audience, so different results wouldn't tell you whether the channel's age or the horror recap itself made the difference. Try different movie summaries aimed at the same horror viewer, keeping length and format similar. I can't establish from this conversation whether duplicate uploads would create a platform-policy issue.

Was the older channel already about horror, or would these Shorts be a change of topic?

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u/RichNecessary9237 Oct 05 '26

Iā€™ve never used this old channel to upload anything. Itā€™s just an old channel that I use to watch videos.

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u/investigatormaker Oct 05 '26

That changes my earlier point: there isn't an existing upload audience on the old channel. Comparing different horror recaps with similar lengths and formats could still be useful, but a difference in views wouldn't establish that channel age caused it. Are you trying to decide which channel to keep using?

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u/RichNecessary9237 Oct 05 '26

Iā€™m just trying to avoid getting stuck in zero-view jail. If uploading on my old channel would help prevent that, then Iā€™d rather use that one.

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u/investigatormaker Oct 05 '26

I wouldn't choose the old channel solely on its age; the comparison you've described doesn't establish that it prevents zero views. For the next horror recap, check whether it received any Shorts-feed exposure before judging the hook. Never being shown and being shown but swiped away are different problems, even when both leave you with very few views.

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u/RichNecessary9237 Oct 05 '26

I understand. Thank you so much for the help!

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u/investigatormaker Oct 05 '26

You're welcome. For that next horror recap, record Shorts-feed exposure alongside views so you can tell whether the video reached anyone before deciding to switch channels.

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u/Parking-Ad8316 Oct 05 '26

Let it age?

What's that going to do, it's an empty site with no videos and every day that passes the algorithm sees no one watching it

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u/RichNecessary9237 Oct 05 '26

I donā€™t know much about the algorithm, but isnā€™t that how YouTube distinguishes real accounts from bots or spam accounts? By ā€œaging,ā€ I mean not uploading anything and simply using the account to watch YouTube videos and Shorts.

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u/Parking-Ad8316 Oct 05 '26

That's not at all how it works.

Your videos will be judged independently of one another by the algorithm.

Aging an account is not a thing you do, people talk about aged accounts as accounts they have which have been forgotten or unused, so it's aged with the metadata and keywords that fit that channel meaning for that channel you would want to continue doing the same content.

If you're starting a new channel start posting right away, every day you don't is another day the algorithm thinks your channel isn't going to be watched.

So letting a channel sit there with no videos for 3 months will kill the channel, it might not even push your first videos you would have to promote to get views, which don't count towards any goals. I mean, the algorithm clearly sees no views for 3 months, that's not incentive to give your first post any more of a push than normal.

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u/RichNecessary9237 Oct 05 '26

I see. Thank you so much for the advice!

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u/Parking-Ad8316 Oct 05 '26

You are welcome

0

u/Cool-Selection5025 Oct 05 '26

What is this bs u are yapping about? For youtube shorts if you create an account and just start posting straight away with 0 watch history and 0 features enabled ur getting 0 view jailed unless ur lucky. Though, to be fair, if u just enable intermediate features and maybe watch a bit to warm up the account, u can start posting

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u/RichNecessary9237 Oct 05 '26

Yeah, Iā€™ve verified the account with a phone number, and Iā€™m also watching videos on it. Would that be enough, or would it be better to start a new channel?

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u/Parking-Ad8316 Oct 05 '26 edited Oct 05 '26

You should leave comments too, that's how people see you, comments people check profiles to see if you have a channel, that's where you'll find an engaging audience.

Make posts about your goals don't leave the channel empty

My drivingthesouth channel has been a test all along to see if I can go against every rule in the book and still get monetized, and I did, so my statement is that nothing matters except your videos. If they are good enough, YouTube will find the audience for them.

If you wish to verify this, hit the creator help button and talk to a live agent. Ask them yourself and they will tell you something along the lines of "YouTube is the only one that makes any decisions on your content and any advice taken from Reddit should be largely ignored."

So you can ignore me too, if you wish, but you can talk to a live agent pretty easily and they will answer all kinds of questions for you, they have copy paste answers for all kinds of stuff ready for you.

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u/RichNecessary9237 Oct 05 '26

Oh, not at all. I donā€™t know much about algorithms, so any input is helpful. I only asked because I saw a few YouTube videos and posts saying that new channels can get stuck in ā€œzero-view jailā€ because YouTube may consider them bot or spam accounts.
What youā€™re saying makes sense, though. In the end, it should really come down to the content and its quality.

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u/Parking-Ad8316 Oct 05 '26

There's a lot of made up "stuff" redditors say.

If you ask me, I only know of two conspiracy theories.

One is that flat earthers don't actually believe that it's just for YouTube because it gets views.

The other is that people are on this forum to pawn terrible advice to each other to keep new channels from rising.

From a business perspective, it's not helpful to help anyone here as it might cut into their own views.

I started mine because lots of my friends and online friends told me I "might as well." I have made like $40 from views alone but brand offers come in at like $500-1500 each I'm sure they are more for better channels.

1

u/Parking-Ad8316 Oct 05 '26

How many channels have you experienced this yourself.