Youtubers taking advantage of other Youtubers?

Shout outs can work but it's ultimately up to the audience to decide whether or not they want anything to do with that person in the shout out. For example, there is a channel that popped up recently and it was supposed to help the Call of Duty Community by uploading COD content from other channels. Instead, it turned into a Team Channel with the leaders trying to recruit "Superstars" who have potential to grow. The problem with that is you can give someone the spotlight but you can't make a superstar out of them on YouTube because it's up to the audience to decide whether those people are entertaining enough for them to subscribe, watch and continue watching.

My biggest problem with shout outs is how YouTubers will charge others for those videos. Some years ago there was this channel that was taking upwards of two grand for a shout out from others on their channel. The problem with that is very little results came of that. Unless you were offering something truly unique, entertaining and interesting you wouldn't get any sort of growth. However, I would argue that whatever the worth for the cost of a shout out is solely up to the person paying for it.

If you are going to pay for a shout out keep in mind that people have to decide if they want to go to your channel. That's the first thing. If they go to your channel (which most people usually don't do) they have to have decide based on the videos they see whether they want to watch a video. If they do watch a video they have still have decide whether they will stay to watch your video. If they happen to make it thru the video, that viewer still has to decide whether they want to subscribe. Even if they do subscribe you have to hope they will become an active viewer.

I wouldn't pay for a shout out in any way shape or form. The main reason being is that its best if people find out about you thru word of mouth WITHOUT hearing that you paid for a shout out.
 
LJay said:
Shout outs can work but it's ultimately up to the audience to decide whether or not they want anything to do with that person in the shout out. For example, there is a channel that popped up recently and it was supposed to help the Call of Duty Community by uploading COD content from other channels. Instead, it turned into a Team Channel with the leaders trying to recruit "Superstars" who have potential to grow. The problem with that is you can give someone the spotlight but you can't make a superstar out of them on YouTube because it's up to the audience to decide whether those people are entertaining enough for them to subscribe, watch and continue watching.

My biggest problem with shout outs is how YouTubers will charge others for those videos. Some years ago there was this channel that was taking upwards of two grand for a shout out from others on their channel. The problem with that is very little results came of that. Unless you were offering something truly unique, entertaining and interesting you wouldn't get any sort of growth. However, I would argue that whatever the worth for the cost of a shout out is solely up to the person paying for it.

If you are going to pay for a shout out keep in mind that people have to decide if they want to go to your channel. That's the first thing. If they go to your channel (which most people usually don't do) they have to have decide based on the videos they see whether they want to watch a video. If they do watch a video they have still have decide whether they will stay to watch your video. If they happen to make it thru the video, that viewer still has to decide whether they want to subscribe. Even if they do subscribe you have to hope they will become an active viewer.

I wouldn't pay for a shout out in any way shape or form. The main reason being is that its best if people find out about you thru word of mouth WITHOUT hearing that you paid for a shout out.
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Wow, two grand for a shout out? That's insane! I can't even bring myself to spend that much on pretty much anything. Thanks for the reply! I completely agree, there's a lot of "ifs" that are associated with shoutouts.
 
I don't really see the appeal of watching those videos, maybe the odd shoutout for someone they genuinely believe in but if there's a shoutout every week just for the fun of it I don't see that being good viewing. From the creator point of view I don't really have an interest in asking those accounts for a shoutout, especially if my new subscribers are only going to participate to get a shoutout of their own one day.
 
I have never been overly keen on giving shout outs unless its as part of a collaboration especially on evergreen videos, I think it makes them seem a bit tacky. Shout out series I find very tacky.
 
Kate's Adventures said:
I don't really see the appeal of watching those videos, maybe the odd shoutout for someone they genuinely believe in but if there's a shoutout every week just for the fun of it I don't see that being good viewing. From the creator point of view I don't really have an interest in asking those accounts for a shoutout, especially if my new subscribers are only going to participate to get a shoutout of their own one day.
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Thanks for the reply, and I completely agree. I want people to watch my videos because they enjoy them, not because they want shout outs.

Michael said:
I have never been overly keen on giving shout outs unless its as part of a collaboration especially on evergreen videos, I think it makes them seem a bit tacky. Shout out series I find very tacky.
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I agree, if I have other youtubers in my videos, I'll tell people to check them out really quick, but I won't have an entire video dedicated to them :) Thanks for the reply!
 
The more times you tell someone "you've got to check this out!" the less meaning it will have (and less likely people will even pay attention) If a friend of mine who never shares anything on social media suddenly said "guys, you HAVE to see this!" then I would click on it immediately.

As for the other stuff. There are s****y human beings all over the world. YouTube is no exception.
 
I never really got the idea behind shout outs. For me, shout outs should be things you mention in regular conversation about whatever. Like if I saw I'm anxious to get Avengers Age of Ultron on Blue Ray while talking to someone, that's giving them a shout out.

My recent FNAF review mentioned how Markiplier and Game Theorists helped make the indie game so popular.... which is true. They obviously don't need my non-existant channel to promote them, but I was stating a fact on how the game became so popular.

Just focus on making a cool channel and be cool to others so they can be enticed to watch your channel and possibly give you a shout out.
 
This is something recognizable for many YouTubers. The one thing I did to slow down the pace of video degradation was tell myself I will not vouch for anyone. Even if they're my family. This is because anything can turn rotten and you'd never know it was going to happen.
 
NcrRangerGaming said:
Hey, I have kind of an interesting topic today, and I want to know your opinions!

In my time as a dedicated youtuber ( actually working to better my content ), I've seen lots of shoutout videos asking people to subscribe, like, and comment to be entered into their shout out series. Now, I have mixed opinions on this.

I believe shout outs, can be extremely helpful to a small youtuber who's not really getting the recognition he/she deserves. It will bring their content to new and potential viewers!

However, I think "shout out series" do not help, and in all honesty are a scam. ( Most of them ). I see tons of time where youtubers ask you to subscribe, jump through a hoop, and donate your left kidney just to get a shout out. I personally believe they only do these shout outs to take advantage of these small channels who will subscribe. They aren't really trying to help, just get that extra subscriber. This leads to my next point.

These shoutouts are given to EVERYONE. I've seen channels with hardly any work put into them, get a shoutout for their "amazing" content. And more often than not, it's these types of channels that get the shoutout. Now, there may be a good channel or two in there, but they are quickly swallowed by the sea of channels with no effort put into them.

Also, even if every channel is deserving, a lot of times, they won't gain any subscribers? Why? Because half the time, the people watching are tired of having all these channels crammed down their throats. I think shoutouts are best used conservatively and when a channel REALLY deserves it.

What do you guys think?
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You make some excellent points about these types of videos. I will say, however, that they can be helpful if, and only if, they're done right. Most of the people you've described most likely got the shout out because of something they did for them. Or, it could be the case of the old "shout out 4 shout out" (yes it's a thing, like sub4sub). Either way, that's the advantage of doing your own shout out videos. You could actually feature people that are truly good in content, instead of people who "paid" their way into it. The only reason it doesn't help would be because most of the subscribers aren't into what that person that you're shouting out is doing on their channel. When you give someone a shout out, it may be going to your subscribers, but there's more than a good chance that they won't follow those people for various reasons. However, there's always something for everybody, I believe.
 
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I give shoutouts every month but only for participation. I don't do random shout outs and they are not for promotional purposes.
 
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