Much of what he said was pretty much spot on, and a lot of it I have said both privately and publicly for some time. The biggest problem being Youtube's decision to stop featuring people on a daily basis on the front page. As he quite rightly alluded to, the daily feature was something for little known youtubers to aspire to, to think that there was a possibility it could happen, was enough to drive many to keep on making videos and then want to continue to improve with each upload.
Why was this? Well at that time, for appreciation. For a small token of recognition. Andrew pointed out early in his video that “Youtube doesn't owe you subscribers or views” and that is correct, and the reasons in which people wish to 'make it' on Youtube have changed dramatically since when I joined in 2007. This was before the days of adsense and partnered channels. There was no monetary advantage at that point from being successful and well known, well not unless you made it pay-off through your own diligence. No, at that time, people just loved their moment in the sun. A day where thousands of people would see the little video that you made and maybe like it and subscribe.
In 2011, people are well aware of the benefits of popularity on youtube. Money! And who wouldn't want it? Who wouldn't want to prop up their career with a steady stream of money coming from making videos every so often and uploading them to the Internet? They know they can make money, can achieve fame, get opportunities for media work and benefit from award invites and industry parties. The reasons for why people are starting Youtube channels is now largely to see what they can get from it, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. These opportunities were not there in the past. If you wanted to get in to presenting or acting, you would likely need to move to London or get an agent. It's great that everybody now has a platform to get themselves seen.
Something that hasn't changed however is the necessity of having contacts. And that is something that AndrewBravener fails to cover in his otherwise excellent video. The problem with people 'playing the game' and trying to make a career from Youtube is that they are closing the doors for other people just as much as Youtube are.
Is it a coincidence that very popular youtubers have a circle of Youtube friends that also happen to be very popular? No. They seek each other out and it's mutually beneficial to them to be friends. I'm not saying that all of their friendships are superficial, or even that they initially intended to make friends with certain people in order to get a leg up. For instance, years ago when I first started, if I were to get a comment from a Nerimon or Jimmy0010, that would excite me more than a comment from a joeblogs100. At that point, those guys only had one or two-thousand subscribers, but at that point, they were still big names. I don't think it's anything to be ashamed of, it's just human nature to be slightly awe-struck by people with fame. It's no different to being more excited about getting a birthday card from David Beckham than from your mate Steve! So it's likely that these friendships blossomed initially from a mutual appreciation, but 'playing the game' has become hugely important to popular youtubers and they know that links with other youtubers with large fan-bases could pay dividends for them also. Because of this, thier 'friendships' outwardly appear business like.
This is why you'll likely find that all the people on top of Youtube, will have a section on their page linking to other people to subscribe to and this will be full of people that they know and are most likely already quite popular. In turn, their friends will link back to them and all the new subscribers are shared out among a few people. AndrewBravener is guilty of this himself and while on face value, it's not a huge crime, if he and others like him want to bring back the feeling of community, then don't just keep it in the family, branch out. I'm not suggesting that they should link to people that they don't know, but why not link to some of the lesser known people who you are subscribed to? Why only link to a select few who don't need the help?
Alternatively, you could continually rotate your channel links to include all the people that you rate over a period of time. Those at the top have a vested interest in staying there, so I can well understand why they are unwilling to change in order to help others. But to those like AndrewBravener, who do hold some Youtube clout, and do want things to change, they need to spear head the change and actively encourage others to be a part of it.
One thing I remember fondly from those early days on Youtube, was the buzz you got when somebody promoted your channel out of the blue and for no other reason than because they enjoyed your videos and thought more people should see them. I see less and less 'shout out's' now than ever before and even when I see them, it goes like this “Hey to all my one-hundred thousand subscribers out there, big shout out to such and such, go subscribe to them” and then when you go check them out, they too have hundreds of thousands of subscribers. Why not instead, promote that person that you are subscribed to, that only has a few hundred subscribers. You might not know them, but you enjoy what they do, so let people know about them.
I remember my first shout out from EmiliaTsontilis. She didn't have a great number of subscribers, but it didn't matter and I had no idea that she'd done it. One day I woke up and had about twenty more subscription emails than normal and it was brilliant, and it was so nice of somebody to do that. I also got great satisfaction out of promoting SeanieBlahBlah's channel. I can't remember how many subscribers he got from it, but it was enough and he really appreciated it at a time when we barely knew each other. It was those small acts of kindness that made youtube feel like a community, and it's something that people have the power to change just as much as Youtube does.
If a Charlieissocoollike were to mention that he liked a little known youtuber's videos, and that his fans should go have a watch and subscribe if they like them, do you think that would have any less affect than a front page feature? In fact, I'd bet it would have an even greater effect. That is the power that those at the top hold and they have the ability, if they want it, to breath new life in to the website that gave them 'fame'.
As for Youtube themselves. How much do they care about community? They were haemorrhaging money, the business model wasn't working, they changed it. I don't believe Youtube see any great benefit in changing the system to make new stars because at the moment, it's still working for them. Youtube are Chelsea F.C. They have the ageing team, but until the success completely dries up, they don't need to invest in creating new stars when they can invest in ones that already have name value.
About a year or so ago, I wrote to the editor of the UK site to express my anger at the spotlit videos. They were all people with many thousands of subscribers, one of the videos had a million views and was doing pretty well for itself. I wasn't looking for a feature myself, but I just wanted to highlight the absurdity of the videos that were given pride of place and my theory that these people were spotlit because they already had large fan-bases, which means more revenue, which means more money for Youtube. I never received a reply.
Youtube is a business, they seem to have found success and so they have closed the doors in order to concentrate on the 'stars' they already have. The change needs to come from those youtubers at the top, they can promote new channels and cause a trickle down effect. But how does that benefit them? It doesn't, whereas creating a bubble around all the most popular people, sharing the audience among themselves, allows them to remain at the top and make more money. So, how do you get popular of Youtube? Ferret your way in to that select group, make the right friends and ride them all the way to the top. And the people who are trying so hard to do that, stick out like a hard on in a pair of speedos. And they're just as off-putting!
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