Well, after some stuff happend on YT recently I was wondering if anyone .....

[TheBadDude]

In last 6-7-8-9 months, I think my local country YT scene had 2 or 3 like big big big huge scandals. So that led me to a thinking - does anyone here remembers YT in years around 2008 - 2010? I used to record faceless and voiceless let's plays back in the day. XD And the biggest issue of platform was PewDiePie having 250k subs and yelling on horror games. XD And I remember we were all glad that he got 250k subs, and on the other way around, we were all embarrassed cause of his yelling on horror PC games. xD I used to talk to regularly with bunch of nowadays internet celebrities back in 2008. , cause it was normal. I don't remember anyone being an a..... back in the day. Compared to that, nowadays YT is competition who will be more s.....d on platform, who will get more toxic comments in his videos, who will be more flexy on Instagram. Anyone else is just sad with mental state of platform nowadays, or am I the only one? Tnx.

 

[Jungle Explorer]

I totally agree. It seems like those that are willing lower themselves to what I call "Gutter Tactics" are the ones that are getting the most fame. But it is not them that concerned me. What concerns me is the general shift in the mentality of the general viewing audience to ACCEPT these tactics as normal and not be offended by them.

I was just having this discussion yesterday about a video I saw. The video was titled. "This is HORRIBLE! You should NEVER do this while fishing!" Being a fisherman who also produces some fishing videos for my channel, I was intrigued by the title and decided to watch the video. The video was nothing special, just a guy going fishing. The production quality was pretty good and I counted the use of at least three different pro-quality cameras that were used, and at least one other cameraman in the production. But the actual video had no valuable information. It was just a guy going fishing, nothing else. The title led me to believe that something horrible was going to happen at some point in time in the video. So to not waste time, I skipped around in the timeline trying to find this horrible thing that was supposed to happen. After not finding anything, I read the comments to see if I was just missing something. Turns out that at some point in time in the video, they guy spots a dead fish on the ground and casually says, "That's sad".

Personally, I was outraged at this guy. If I could have punched him in the face, I would have. But what upset me more was not that he was using these gutter style CLICKBAIT tactics, what upset me was that I seemed to be the only one outraged by it. The guy 187K subs and the video had almost half a million views and 13K like and only a few hundred dislikes.

This type of gutter style promotional tactics has become so commonplace nowadays, that people just accept it as the way it is, and do not see people that use it as, Dishonest, Lying, Deceitful, Disreputable, or any other negative adjective. I have worked my butt off four years trying to build a channel around honesty and providing real useful content, and I have less than 9K subs. But people who produce useless content (although well produced) and use the lowest form of promotional tactics to promote their videos gain fame and recognition, and people have no problem with it.

When I lived in Brazil, I saw the same mentality in the Brazilian people. During a Gubernatorial race, one candidate produced a 13-page newspaper ad show all the ways the current Governor was stealing public funds. One way he was stealing money was by hiring people as school teachers, that never went to. The books show that the person was earning a salary of one amount, but that the person was only actually receiving 30% of what their total salary was. The rest was pocketed by the Governor. There was over a thousand names on the list. As I was looking over the names, I found the name of a close friend. I thought surely my friend could not have a part in this, so I went to him and asked him. He happily admitted that it was him without shame. I was appalled. "How can you be a part of this?" I asked him. He very casually said. "All politicians are corrupt and steal money. If I don't do it, someone else will. I am just glad he chose me."

Now try to wrap your mind around this. All of this corruption information was in the newspaper for everyone to read. That governor won re-election many times! It is also a common and accepted practice in Brazil for politicians to buy votes. This is not even hidden. It is open and above board. As an American is is utterly appalling. When I have asked Brazilians about it, they just respond by says: "My vote is the only thing I have of value. If I don't sell it, I am an idiot! No politicians is ever going to do anything for me. The only chance I have to get something out of them is by making them buy my vote!" Say a town wants their streets paved, they will get the community together and agree to vote for a candidate if they sign a contract to repave their streets.

I think a similar mentality has taken over YT viewers (and social media in general). They have grown so used to people using corrupt underhanded tactics, that they now see them as perfectly normal and acceptable.

 

[MyLumoLife]

Jungle Explorer, what you say makes sense. But you re speaking as someone living outside the system. If you were a part of the system, your perception would be different. Corruption is everywhere, but who has the power to change something so deeply ingrained?

 

[Jungle Explorer]

Jungle Explorer, what you say makes sense. But you re speaking as someone living outside the system. If you were a part of the system, your perception would be different. Corruption is everywhere, but who has the power to change something so deeply ingrained?

I have no idea what you are talking about, "If you were inside the system". I am a YouTuber. What system are you talking about?

 

[Min/Max Munchking]

YouTube is mainstream and has been for a few years at this point. All the bad stuff that comes with that is now a norm on the platform. Unfortunately, pandering to the lowest common denominator is often the easiest path to growth, recognition and success, so it's only a question of how low are you willing to go to get there.

I'm sort of in the middle. I never do blatant clickbait, but I make sure my thumbnails and titles are as eye-stabby and often obnoxious as possible, so that the videos get noticed and clicked on. I always deliver on the promise, but the line is very thin and blurry and my self-imposed standards and minimums are already not good enough for some people in my comment sections.

I still think integrity and honesty pay off in the long run, but in the short term, all the flashy, bombastic clout chasers who will do anything for a like or subscribe will always outperform you.

 

[Jungle Explorer]

YouTube is mainstream and has been for a few years at this point. All the bad stuff that comes with that is now a norm on the platform. Unfortunately, pandering to the lowest common denominator is often the easiest path to growth, recognition and success, so it's only a question of how low are you willing to go to get there.

I'm sort of in the middle. I never do blatant clickbait, but I make sure my thumbnails and titles are as eye-stabby and often obnoxious as possible, so that the videos get noticed and clicked on. I always deliver on the promise, but the line is very thin and blurry and my self-imposed standards and minimums are already not good enough for some people in my comment sections.

I still think integrity and honesty pay off in the long run, but in the short term, all the flashy, bombastic clout chasers who will do anything for a like or subscribe will always outperform you.

I am the same way. I will use keywords which border on exaggeration, but always deliver something to validate those words in the video. Thumbnails, of course, are key and must stand out, so over enhancement is a must, but that has to do with the fact that they are small and hard to see. I must be pretty good at walking that line because no one has ever complained to me about my titles and thumbs being clickbaitish. I get complaints but they are about the lack of information the person wanted. Take for example the video I uploaded today

"How to Replace the Multi-function Turn Signal Switch on a Ford E-350 "

I will get complaints that I did not mention what year model this is for. Well, I did not mention it for several reasons.

1. The title is already way too long as it, just trying to describe what the video is about.
2. This repair actually covers about 10 years' worth of Ford makes and models from trucks to vans.
3. Leaving it sort of vague without a specific year model broadens the scope of potential viewers.

Now a clickbait title for this video would be, "WOW! Next Level! Ford E-350 Repair! AMAZING!" I will not use this title, because it is not true. It is just a normal repair, nothing more.

 

[Min/Max Munchking]

@Jungle Explorer For example, in one of my videos earlier this year, I claimed a D&D character can run 1 mile in 6 seconds. Ignoring the real-world physics, because D&D is just a game after all, that's technically true, but it requires 2-3 rounds (12-18 seconds) of setup/preparation and that's enough to p/i'ss some people off, because they just assume you can do it instantly for whatever reason. I still use averages when calculating damage, distance or whatever, and I never claim something that's entirely unlikely to happen, but people have different tolerances and sometimes I just know some people will get angry in the comment sections.

On the flipside, those types of videos easily get 10k, 30k, 50k views in a span of 1-3 months, so I just feel like that's the best course of action for me.