For fun or profit?

[FAM0X]

Well when I stared youtube it was just as a fun thing I did with my friends... but then I started taking it more seriously, and I got addicted lol. Its still fun for me to record, edit and interact with people, but if I was being 100% honest... if I stopped getting paid I probably wouldn't do it anymore. At least I wouldn't put as much effort in as I currently do.

 

[GameramaTV]

The majority? I'm not sure, I'd think that the majority probably do it for fun.

Ideally, of course most people would like to have fun and make money. But at the moment we are making videos for fun, obviously want people to watch them too but "fame" doesn't come into the picture. Would we like to make money from them one day? Of course, but that's not the reason that we started doing it.

I don't really frown on those people who say that they want to profit from their YouTube channels though. If they can - why not, if they can't - oh well. But I would say that I would recommend that people start YouTube channels only if they enjoy and have fun with the content they are creating.

 

[Sopada]

Nothing wrong with trying to make a few bucks, by doing something you love.

Well, unless what you love is illegal haha. I am just sorry then.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

Sometimes I feel like certain spots put a "shame" on wanting to make money or become popular with YT'ing, like there's a "purity" in creating videos for the love of creating videos.

I really do challenge everyone who claims to do this solely for the fun of it, with no interest in fame or money, to set their channel to private. That should have no effect on your enjoyment if you intentionally make sure no one can see your videos.

The fun of YouTube IS the community of it. The fun of it is in sharing, spreading, talking about it. It's not "fame" in the sense of wanting to be on magazine covers, but "fame" like having a lot of people who enjoy what you do. Wanting validation for what you do is NOT a bad thing. It's a GREAT thing. It can drive people to create and grow. I've read about YouTubers who managed to get over shyness and fear of public speaking through YT, something they definitely wouldn't do just by recording videos and leaving them sitting on their laptop, hidden from public view.

As long as you're not choosing what you make on YouTube JUST because it will get viewers and you can monetize it (meaning, making videos you have no interest in beyond what they can get you), then by all means reach for that brass ring!

 

[enzerutomoshibi]

Sometimes I feel like certain spots put a "shame" on wanting to make money or become popular with YT'ing, like there's a "purity" in creating videos for the love of creating videos.

I really do challenge everyone who claims to do this solely for the fun of it, with no interest in fame or money, to set their channel to private. That should have no effect on your enjoyment if you intentionally make sure no one can see your videos.

The fun of YouTube IS the community of it. The fun of it is in sharing, spreading, talking about it. It's not "fame" in the sense of wanting to be on magazine covers, but "fame" like having a lot of people who enjoy what you do. Wanting validation for what you do is NOT a bad thing. It's a GREAT thing. It can drive people to create and grow. I've read about YouTubers who managed to get over shyness and fear of public speaking through YT, something they definitely wouldn't do just by recording videos and leaving them sitting on their laptop, hidden from public view.

As long as you're not choosing what you make on YouTube JUST because it will get viewers and you can monetize it (meaning, making videos you have no interest in beyond what they can get you), then by all means reach for that brass ring!

It's not as fun if you're just sharing it with yourself. So no one is setting their stuff to private and asking them to do so is an insult to their videos.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

It's not as fun if you're just sharing it with yourself. So no one is setting their stuff to private and asking them to do so is an insult to their videos.

You missed my point COMPLETELY, and in the process proved the point I WAS making.

Obviously I'm not telling people to set their videos to private. My point was that no one will do that, BECAUSE no one is uploading videos sheerly for the fun of making videos. We are ALL trying to reach an audience, to find ways to engage that audience, and to help that audience grow. The claim of "I'm just doing this because it's fun to make videos" is disingenuous, and my challenge was an illustration of that.

IF it were true that people were making videos for the pure fun of making videos, then they wouldn't be on YouTube. They wouldn't have tags and titles and descriptions to help people find them in searches. They wouldn't make attention-grabbing thumbnails and advertise the channel in their signatures on a forum that celebrates subscriber/view milestones and helps users with monetization.

 

[enzerutomoshibi]

You missed my point COMPLETELY, and in the process proved the point I WAS making.

Obviously I'm not telling people to set their videos to private. My point was that no one will do that, BECAUSE no one is uploading videos sheerly for the fun of making videos. We are ALL trying to reach an audience, to find ways to engage that audience, and to help that audience grow. The claim of "I'm just doing this because it's fun to make videos" is disingenuous, and my challenge was an illustration of that.

IF it were true that people were making videos for the pure fun of making videos, then they wouldn't be on YouTube. They wouldn't have tags and titles and descriptions to help people find them in searches. They wouldn't make attention-grabbing thumbnails and advertise the channel in their signatures on a forum that celebrates subscriber/view milestones and helps users with monetization.

It looked like you talked in a big circle to me. It went from 'might as well make it private' to 'no one will do it because sharing part of it'. So either you want people to or you don't.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

It looked like you talked in a big circle to me. It went from 'might as well make it private' to 'no one will do it because sharing part of it'. So either you want people to or you don't.

Whew, okay... I'm going to try and take this really slowly because you seem to be struggling here.

If someone says "I only make YouTube videos for the fun of it," then I ask why they don't just set everything to private? If it's true that the motivation to make videos is to have fun making videos, why are they posted publicly? Why did they give it tags and search terms and advertise on here? Someone who is making videos just for fun wouldn't care about publicity and wouldn't put the work into SEO. They would have fun making their videos and that would be all.

The POINT is that we ALL are doing this for the "public" aspect of it. That's why we're on YTTalk. We're looking for ways to grow our channels, to get views, likes, comments, and subscribers. When I say "you might as well set your channel private," I'm not TELLING them to set it to private, I'm getting them to take a moment and realize why they WON'T do that. Because, not to repeat myself, no one on here has no care about publicity and traffic.

Okay? You following me now?

 

[enzerutomoshibi]

Whew, okay... I'm going to try and take this really slowly because you seem to be struggling here.

If someone says "I only make YouTube videos for the fun of it," then I ask why they don't just set everything to private? If it's true that the motivation to make videos is to have fun making videos, why are they posted publicly? Why did they give it tags and search terms and advertise on here? Someone who is making videos just for fun wouldn't care about publicity and wouldn't put the work into SEO. They would have fun making their videos and that would be all.

The POINT is that we ALL are doing this for the "public" aspect of it. That's why we're on YTTalk. We're looking for ways to grow our channels, to get views, likes, comments, and subscribers. When I say "you might as well set your channel private," I'm not TELLING them to set it to private, I'm getting them to take a moment and realize why they WON'T do that. Because, not to repeat myself, no one on here has no care about publicity and traffic.

Okay? You following me now?

That was rude. Please stop posting in my thread now.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

That was rude. Please stop posting in my thread now.

I'm not being rude at all (and please don't tell me to stop posting, that IS rude).

See, what worries me is that I've seen it around before that there's this sense of "shame" attached to saying you like the money and fame aspects of YouTubing. Like that's selfish. "Fun" isn't separate from those. You said it yourself, and I totally agree! Videos aren't FUN if they're just sitting unattached from the community. The fun is IN sharing and getting a little community built up and interacting with viewers and fans, and if you can turn it into your primary job? Well then you struck oil!

It's just a trend I see and it bugs me. If it makes me "rude" that I want to stop people feeling bad about their motivations, then I guess I'm proudly rude.