What if YouTube just isn't the right platform for me?

Cassarilla

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(Forgive me if this is the wrong section, I wasn't entirely sure where to put this.) Also, I don't this to come across as an overly negative thing. It's simply a realization of sorts that I had that I think may just be true for me personally. I only want to use this as a talking point or perhaps a rethink of a content creation strategy.

Youtube is a wonderful thing. I LOVE it. Even if I someday decide to completely stop posting, I have plenty of Youtubers I will continue to watch and love. For over a decade I've admired them, people creating the content that they enjoy and being able to pay their bills while doing so.

I wanted to be a youtuber, it was my dream. (Saying that in past tense is a bit weird.)

In the past few months I've shifted my youtube channel, which was all over the place, to focus on art and music but in a tied together way. Since the channel has been more niche the average view count is about 25 views per video and I've gained 9 subs.

I've been posting on youtube under different channels for a long time. Of course YouTube has recently announced all that stuff about kids content and it had me thinking. My channel is kid friendly, focusing largely on animated shows, fanart of those shows/movies or songs from them. I thought about losing comments and engagement with my audience. I would hate that. But here's the realization that hit me like a ton of bricks.

My engagement with my audience is not on YouTube it is almost entirely on Instagram.

This is where I want to make it clear I'm not trying to be overly negative. I'm certainly not here to praise instagram as superior. YouTube is the perfect platform for a lot of people. However, maybe it's not the one for me as far as a main platform. I've looked into the strategies, watched the youtube advice channels, researched, downloaded browser plugins to help with the algorithm stuff, shared it on every social media, all of that stuff. Hours spent trying to figure out how to do YouTube successfully and really not doing such a great job. Meanwhile these same past few months my instagram has been growing naturally. (Don't take this as me saying it's blowing up, it isn't doing that, but the growth and engagement there vs Youtube is staggering. Especially considering the amount of time invested into sharing both. Youtube videos I share everywhere, including instagram. Instagram posts are not shared at all on other platforms.)

So yes, I'm still going to be posting to youtube but only occasionally. (Going to post this announcement on my channel tomorrow. I'm either going to laugh or cry if that's the video the algorithm actually picks up. lol) I'm moving that time and effort to instagram. For me this means creating more art and music without the extra step of making a youtube video to go with it.

I was hung up on this dream of being a "Youtuber" that I had a decade ago. I didn't realize what I really wanted wasto be a content creator. As much as I'd like that dream to be focused on youtube to fit with my past ambitions, maybe it's just not the right place for me to really focus on.

tl:dr - Youtube hasn't performed as well for me as instagram, despite putting more effort into promoting/learning the ins and outs of youtube.

What are your thoughts on this? Have you ever wondered if another platform would be better suited or had unexpected success on another platform with less effort?
 
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KatyAdelson

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Yeah, I think it's all about finding what works the best. If Instagram is working out for you, then I'd say run with it! =) But I think it's also good to experiment with other things as they pop up -- you never know when something new might click even better (the risk with that is that platforms seem to come and go...)!

For me, I discovered streaming my music on sites like Spotify seems to earn me more money than what I make on YouTube -- and I only have about 800 followers over there lol. It's good to try out different platforms! :)
 
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Cassarilla

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Yeah, I think it's all about finding what works the best. If Instagram is working out for you, then I'd say run with it! =) But I think it's also good to experiment with other things as they pop up -- you never know when something new might click even better (the risk with that is that platforms seem to come and go...)!

For me, I discovered streaming my music on sites like Spotify seems to earn me more money than what I make on YouTube -- and I only have about 800 followers over there lol. It's good to try out different platforms! :)
Good point!

The spotify thing is something I find really encouraging. I'm focusing more on that along with instagram of course. I've already made a small amount of money from it. Putting youtube time into getting more music up for streaming there definitely sounds helpful. Thank you for that! I hope you continue to gain followers and more listeners! (Your music is great btw had to go to spotify and follow you myself! )
 
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MarkRodriguez2012

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I guess it's different for everyone. I sometimes forget I have an Instagram cause nothing really photo-worthy has happened lately. I do like YouTube for actual videos though. I usually go for the 'do what you're passionate about' route and let the viewers come.

If Instagram is working for you, go for it. I've been getting a bit of success with LBRY. Since it's still a new platform there aren't too many shows with heavy editing and such on their yet so my review show is doing good there compared to the super oversaturated YouTube.