Well today (February 14th) is both Valentine's Day and birthday of Youtube! In honor of the latter, here are some general reflections on the state of Youtube on it's 19th year!
(1) YouTube is a great tool for bonding.
There's nothing like seeing in someone else's brain to see their favorite videos and bond over having shared Youtube interests.
(2) There is a balance between uploads and quality.
Constand small uploads used to be a great way to build a following, see the era of daily bloggers, but with chat, shorts, and community functions, the relationship between artist and subscribers can be maintained without constant videos. There has been proven to be a dedicated fan base for Youtubers who only issue videos twice a year (see Jenny Nicholson). Consistency does help, especially when people associate a day with an upload and make it part of their routine.
(3) If you stop uploading for years, and come back, your video will do poorly. To make a comeback you have to be consistent in uploads.
Best example is Bart Baker who left, came back, and then his comeback flopped so he never made anything more. The comeback flopped because he never made anything more - people are burned by the leaving so need more content to feel safe and there's something there. News article on his leaving.
(4) Bitterness is a turn off.
It can be hard for people to come-back after a break and never recover a fan base. It can be hard to see other people succeed but never break out of a certain ceiling. It is uncomfortable when Youtubers compare their success to others in an envious way. Some things should be kept secret.
I really appreciate My World Melissa's pivot of her channel as she stopped doing videos with her child and focusing just on the videos that bring her joy and Kick the PJ's seamless "come back."
(5) YouTube needs to be regulated better.
How we regulate social media needs to change. Youtube can't be regulated into oblivion where they can only show PBS Kids content, but also, we need to limit misinformation. Youtube needs to protect copyright owners, but there are also needs to be a clearer way to handle copyright strikes that isn't so final for artists.
(6) YouTube needs to allow personalized feeds.
I subscribe to a lot of different YouTubers but the subscription feed throws them all together. What if I just want to watch cooking channels? Or just the vloggers I'm subscribed to? They should let us create folders to personalize our feeds.
(7) I'm thankful for all the joy Youtube has brought.
With a lot of other streaming services, there gets to be a point I feel like I've seen it all and I'm bored. There are so many amazing artists, educators, and regular people just doing their thing, it's wonderful.