Malachi Vargas
Well-Known Member
I want to share my thoughts on why I think people who want to grow their fan base should stop only making unedited Let's Plays. Last Thursday I posted a thread that poked at the idea of not watching YouTube videos anymore.
Why would I say that?
Well, I think that the majority of people creating videos are not being as creative as they should be and not sharing enough new experiences to grab attention. They are doing this without knowing and this type of unoriginality comes from spending too much time watching and not enough time (taking action/living life/discovering new experiences/making videos).
In this thread, I wanted to give an example of how you can unknowingly shoot yourself in the foot as a creator when you spend to much time watching your favorite channels.
Do you ever stop to think why you watch unedited Let's Play videos? When I watch a Let's Play video that is 15 minutes long of just gameplay it is because I've built a relationship with the creator and like their personality. The problem with wanting to post unedited Let's Plays that showcase just your personality is that you don't have a relationship with anyone. You are asking people to watch 15 minutes of you talking when they don't even know you.
How many times have you done that yourself?
Before I started watching Achievement Hunter Let's Plays it took me 10 (2-3 minute long) achievement guides over 6 months to even want longer content from them. It takes time to build a relationship with your fans. You're asking for too much if you think most people would want to spend 15 minutes to watch a video of someone they don't know.
So why are you thinking this is a good idea?
When you watch too many YouTube videos of your favorite YouTuber you trick yourself into thinking that the 30 minute long Let's Play is what people want to watch. This is incorrect. The reason your watching them is because of the relationship that you have built with that YouTuber.
You have to realize that many of your favorite YouTubers did not build a fan base because of long 30 min Let's Play videos. You are just seeing the aftermath of their success. They most likely started with action packed very well edited content that had only the funniest moments after hours of footage. They were able to attract mass amounts of people because their videos were short enough to be shared and had enough funny moments to want to watch another video.
While I do agree that you can build a channel with just long unedited Let's Plays. It is going to take way longer, you better have a standout personality, and you have to communicate with every single viewer to build that deeper relationship that will have them coming back. Your fans have to like you well enough to want to share your video.
But there is also another reason why people should stop watching their favorite YouTuber.
You start to like their videos so much that you even want emulate the same personality of the YouTuber. I've seen it plenty of times to the point that I can tell which YouTuber a person watches the most.
I have done this before myself. My thinking behind it was that if the person is getting millions of views they must be doing something right. So then I try and play the games they play or edit the same way they do or even make the same jokes they do. I totally gave up my creative abilities because I couldn't trust myself to play a new game or make a new joke.
To wrap this thread up, all of your content shouldn't have to be completely from your own ideas. I think before you should make any video it is important that you stop and think about the content as a whole. Ask yourself, How much of this video is content I've creatively made up and how much is from the content already out there?
Why would I say that?
Well, I think that the majority of people creating videos are not being as creative as they should be and not sharing enough new experiences to grab attention. They are doing this without knowing and this type of unoriginality comes from spending too much time watching and not enough time (taking action/living life/discovering new experiences/making videos).
In this thread, I wanted to give an example of how you can unknowingly shoot yourself in the foot as a creator when you spend to much time watching your favorite channels.
Do you ever stop to think why you watch unedited Let's Play videos? When I watch a Let's Play video that is 15 minutes long of just gameplay it is because I've built a relationship with the creator and like their personality. The problem with wanting to post unedited Let's Plays that showcase just your personality is that you don't have a relationship with anyone. You are asking people to watch 15 minutes of you talking when they don't even know you.
How many times have you done that yourself?
Before I started watching Achievement Hunter Let's Plays it took me 10 (2-3 minute long) achievement guides over 6 months to even want longer content from them. It takes time to build a relationship with your fans. You're asking for too much if you think most people would want to spend 15 minutes to watch a video of someone they don't know.
So why are you thinking this is a good idea?
When you watch too many YouTube videos of your favorite YouTuber you trick yourself into thinking that the 30 minute long Let's Play is what people want to watch. This is incorrect. The reason your watching them is because of the relationship that you have built with that YouTuber.
You have to realize that many of your favorite YouTubers did not build a fan base because of long 30 min Let's Play videos. You are just seeing the aftermath of their success. They most likely started with action packed very well edited content that had only the funniest moments after hours of footage. They were able to attract mass amounts of people because their videos were short enough to be shared and had enough funny moments to want to watch another video.
While I do agree that you can build a channel with just long unedited Let's Plays. It is going to take way longer, you better have a standout personality, and you have to communicate with every single viewer to build that deeper relationship that will have them coming back. Your fans have to like you well enough to want to share your video.
But there is also another reason why people should stop watching their favorite YouTuber.
You start to like their videos so much that you even want emulate the same personality of the YouTuber. I've seen it plenty of times to the point that I can tell which YouTuber a person watches the most.
I have done this before myself. My thinking behind it was that if the person is getting millions of views they must be doing something right. So then I try and play the games they play or edit the same way they do or even make the same jokes they do. I totally gave up my creative abilities because I couldn't trust myself to play a new game or make a new joke.
To wrap this thread up, all of your content shouldn't have to be completely from your own ideas. I think before you should make any video it is important that you stop and think about the content as a whole. Ask yourself, How much of this video is content I've creatively made up and how much is from the content already out there?
