Friends.. why?

[UhoohExtra]

well don't listen too much to me.. I'm a grumpy one. And my experience of youtube is different in that I keep it a secret activity - my family and friends don't know about my youtube channel.

 

[Crown]

I disagree. I don't see why close friends have to watch it. They can be supportive, doesn't mean they should put it in their schedule to watch things that might not interest them.

I agree. Expecting friends and family to watch your videos is very unrealistic.


OP- They can "support" you by encouraging you to keep it up but that doesn't mean they have to watch all your videos. I have a friend who likes fishing. He's really passionate about it and I support him in that I'll ask him how his fishing trips go (and he'll give me a brief trip report) but no way I'd go a fishing trip with him and he wouldn't expect me to either.

Don't waste your time trying to get views by friends and family. Forced views will have terrible retention rate (because they'll only watch a few seconds - as you have found out for yourself) - Spend time and energy getting views from your target audience.

 

[daniel burgio]

well don't listen too much to me.. I'm a grumpy one. And my experience of youtube is different in that I keep it a secret activity - my family and friends don't know about my youtube channel.

My old employers found out about mine once and that was an interesting time...

 

[KatyAdelson]

Your friends most likely aren't your target audience. Some of my friends actively try to seek out my channel to figure out what I'm spending my time on, but I rarely tell anyone I know in real life about it. The few friends I have talked a lot about my channel with are the ones who discovered it because YouTube recommended it to them. We're into the same kind of music, so it's fun to talk about it in that case...but I don't expect anyone to sit through my awkward videos lol (and if they do watch them, I'd prefer to be farrrr away from the situation. Nothing seems to be more awkward than watching my own videos with someone else lol)...

 

[OldManTenno]

I think there's a difference between friends and fans. Hardly any of my friends watch any of my content. I know a big reason is that it is mostly about a game, and most of them don't play games. I've come to accept it, and don't feel disappointed.

 

[MarkRodriguez2012]

I get mostly support and the occasional comment, but they usually don't watch my content unless they happen to cameo. We just have different interests.

 

[UserU]

To put it bluntly, don't bother relying on friends on gaining stardom/ support. They might just watch a video or two but after that go their own ways. Mainly because of diversity of interests.

Your best bet is to rely on outsiders (basically the world) to start. Just like Facebook, your 1,000 friends doesn't reflect the real deal if you know what I mean.

 

[Gaijillionaire]

Without seeing your videos, if your best friends are skipping thru, that’s telling you something is wrong, and should look into fixing. My own mother won’t watch my videos as wont many friends because it’s just not in their routine and it’s really hard to break through that

 

[Boki]

I've known some people that will flat out stop talking if a conversation switches to me talking about streaming/uploading. I don't do it very often either and it's not in a way to promote myself because there's no reason to. They already know I exist and do this stuff. I guess they see it that way and will just ghost me for a while.

Wholeheartedly agree with this.
I am on Patreon for some three years now. Only yesterday did I get a pledge from someone with whom I hang out on semi-regular basis.
My friends, in general, don't watch my vids. When they mention it, the dialogue always goes like this:
"Oh, I haven't been watching your videos / Oh I haven't watched your video on _____!"
"You don't have to! Watch if it if it interests you and if you find the time!"
However, while I say that, I do opposite myself. I try to go to their exhibits, read their books, watch their content etc. I don't think that they're bad friends or anything of the sort, it is just how I like to show support. But yeah, in general, friends make a very poor fan base.

 

[daniel burgio]

Wholeheartedly agree with this.
I am on Patreon for some three years now. Only yesterday did I get a pledge from someone with whom I hang out on semi-regular basis.
My friends, in general, don't watch my vids. When they mention it, the dialogue always goes like this:
"Oh, I haven't been watching your videos / Oh I haven't watched your video on _____!"
"You don't have to! Watch if it if it interests you and if you find the time!"
However, while I say that, I do opposite myself. I try to go to their exhibits, read their books, watch their content etc. I don't think that they're bad friends or anything of the sort, it is just how I like to show support. But yeah, in general, friends make a very poor fan base.

There's some weird inherent tendency for people you know to just avoid your ventures sometimes. I really don't mention my stuff all that often at all, but people get so turned off by it when I end up doing it.