Criticism.

[Lightsen]

We all love it right?

(This is a very TLDR post, but I felt the want to share my 2016 reflection on how criticism has been the best thing to ever happen to my channel Please share your own experiences and thoughts on it )

Back in 2013 is when my channel started to actually grow. I'd used youtube as a hobby site for years, but after getting a sorta-viral video, people were starting to comment more and more. it was uplifting, so many positive people, genuinely having a laugh from something silly I made. It made me so happy.
As the comments grew, so did the more serious criticisms. and it seemed the bigger the channel got, the more criticism I got.
I make parody cartoons mainly, things like pokémon and sonic, but i also made my own original series, with my own characters, and after posting the second episode of it, i got quite a bit of criticism.
"its not funny", "horrible timing" "bad sound" "bad script" - you name it. It was pretty bad.

I replied to these guys, thanked them for their input, and decided to put my original series on the back burner while i improve myself on all these things.
I acted like it didn't hurt, but in reality, it cut through me like a 1,000 degree knife cuts through a coca cola bottle.

just at the end of 2016, i decided to look back at my channel, and realised i had kept this series on a dusty shelf for well over 4 years now.

but what happened within that 4 years made me realise that the criticism had pushed me to improve so much! I worked on sound, and now have a musician to comission for my music and sound design, I worked on my timing, things were much faster, much more comical. I improved my animation, interesting camera angles, more frames, more movement, more silly faces.

It's clear to me now, that the criticism i had gotten was the best thing to ever happen to my channel. And I am genuinely grateful now, for every single one of those comments, no matter how harsh they felt at the time.

My 2017 resolution is to bring back my series, and be prepared. I know I will get far less views, likes, and still get criticism, but I look forward to seeing what i can improve on, and hope it can help my work become something I'm really proud of.

Please share your thoughts and experiences with criticism below, and sorry for how long and rambley this is

 

[GBeeTV]

Criticism can definitely be harsh. It mostly gets to me too whenever I get a less positive reaction but look at where you're at nearly 150k subs! Must mean you're doing something right.

 

[Lightsen]

Criticism can definitely be harsh. It mostly gets to me too whenever I get a less positive reaction but look at where you're at nearly 150k subs! Must mean you're doing something right.

thank you!
and yeah, at the time it did feel like a lot of negativity, but it did drive me to improve so its worth it in the long run!

 

[Conso1727]

As creators it's clear we put pride in our job, so getting criticism hurts even if we pretend it doesn't. But yes, the criticism that makes sense should be a starting point for the improvement of our creations. Maybe it can be seen as a way to get revenge on our detractors?

 

[adams eats]

Interesting post, and I'm happy that it made you improve. I've not had that much criticism yet, but then I am small. Some of the comments I've had are normally really supportive, although one or 2 have been a little critical (one on my pans was dirty - it wasn't, it's just a well used one. And cutting the times down on my videos) it's good though, because it allows you to improve like you say. I mean, I'm a very self critical person which also forces me the get better at something, because I don't want to fail or accept something I've done, even if it's rubbish. This has lead to great improvements across my videos. The difference from my first to my latest is huge in my view.

 

[Lightsen]

As creators it's clear we put pride in our job, so getting criticism hurts even if we pretend it doesn't. But yes, the criticism that makes sense should be a starting point for the improvement of our creations. Maybe it can be seen as a way to get revenge on our detractors?

no doubt, and i feel like sometimes people probably will judge a youtube video just as harshly as they would a tv show with a big budget and entire crew behind it. all things to take into consideration before we get too worried[DOUBLEPOST=1483705216,1483705084][/DOUBLEPOST]

Interesting post, and I'm happy that it made you improve. I've not had that much criticism yet, but then I am small. Some of the comments I've had are normally really supportive, although one or 2 have been a little critical (one on my pans was dirty - it wasn't, it's just a well used one. And cutting the times down on my videos) it's good though, because it allows you to improve like you say. I mean, I'm a very self critical person which also forces me the get better at something, because I don't want to fail or accept something I've done, even if it's rubbish. This has lead to great improvements across my videos. The difference from my first to my latest is huge in my view.

being able to look at your own work the way an outsider would is a great thing to do, i wish you all the best! ps: your thumbnails look delicious!

 

[PositivelyBrainwashed]

Being able to handle criticism has been really helpful for me. I forget what business book I read this from, but I learned that you don't need to pretend to like being criticized like some people try to do, just simply try to learn from them if they're valid. I kept getting criticized for my poor microphone which finally got me to invest in one. I also got criticize sometimes for the way I speak. I didn't know I mispronounced certain words like "defect, inspect, correct," where I don't pronounce the "T" at the end. So Youtube has really improved how I annunciate words.

 

[adams eats]

no doubt, and i feel like sometimes people probably will judge a youtube video just as harshly as they would a tv show with a big budget and entire crew behind it. all things to take into consideration before we get too worried[DOUBLEPOST=1483705216,1483705084][/DOUBLEPOST]
being able to look at your own work the way an outsider would is a great thing to do, i wish you all the best! ps: your thumbnails look delicious!

Ahh thank you!

 

[PureDangles]

I really dont mind getting a negative comment on my video, as long as the comment shows this person watched the video. They have the right to voice their opinion. But say its a comment like "This sucked!" tell me why at least.

On instance when the criticism and negative feedback got to me was when someone posted one of my videos that was going on a good thumbs up to thumbs down rate to a subreddit called /u/Cringe. Yes it increased my views on the video (that i was proud of), but the thumbs up rating went from 10 up to 1 down. to 10 up to 14 down. It just puts a bad taste in other viewers mouths when they see a video with more thumbs downs then up in my opinion.

 

[10ACITY]

While we all agree that criticism is good, many people are really awful at giving criticism. Gentleness and patience is very important when giving advice.