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Outer space // 5SOS

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A Big Ocean

A few Youtube videos have appeared recently targeting “The Death of the Youtuber”, or the inability to create a platform for yourself when competing with larger creators. For years now I’ve had my own take on this. I’ve made a few videos in the past discussing my opinions however I decided I wanted to write it down, so I could reference other videos and posts as well as solidify my opinions.

As a small creator, I find it is difficult to find a place where you belong. I know a few people who have managed to wade their way through the grass and come out the other side, but often I’ve seen people give up trying due to being lost for too long. I am one of these people. For years I made Youtube videos and discussed a variety of topics, yet never truly decided where my content fell or the type of creator I wanted to be. A friend of mine, Aaron, is very similar to me in this aspect because he also feels that he is lost in this big ocean of Youtube. He previously made a video addressing this topic and I highly recommend you watch it, because it gathers the thoughts I have shared over the years into one. https://youtu.be/OUYr1_qe2S8

The Youtube community is huge, and there are so many different types of creators who share so many different types of videos. This can make it difficult for smaller creators who want to add to existing conversations, as well as contributing to the community in their own way. Personally, I came to a point where I could no longer battle the community in order to be heard. I found that viewers had found the people they wanted to watch, and were only willing to reach out to new creators if they had a connection to someone with a larger audience. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it allows smaller creators to make a name for themselves, which ultimately we all want. However, it meant that some people were left feeling that they couldn't increase their audience and presence in the community unless they knew someone who was already popular. 

This links into the creator and viewer divide, which for me is a huge issue and is most relevant at conventions. I have attended three Summer in the City’s and I absolutely adore the event and believe it is a wonderful way for viewers to interact with creators and discuss topics with them outside of a screen. However, this divide means that small creators were left floating around not knowing where they belong. As a small creator myself, I found that I never had a place at SITC because I didn’t want to stand in a queue just to say hello to a creator who's content I enjoy, take a photo and leave. But then I couldn’t go onto a panel and discuss the topics I want because the only panel open to us is the ‘Small Youtuber Panel’, which still requires you to have a couple thousand subscribers. One conversation I will never forget which highlights this issue was with Lucy Moon, in which I asked her ‘What would you consider a Small Youtuber?���. Her response was anyone under 30K. In addition to this, in order to attend most events at London’s Youtube Space you are permitted to have over 1K subscribers, which means that any creator with less is unable to interact with other creators in professional environments so they are continued to be seen as a ‘fan’ (not that there is any issue with that).

I have found that since ending my battle with the Youtube Community, I have began to lose interest in the watching YouTube except for when I strongly care for the creator and their content. I will ultimately always love Youtube, and I am fortunate now that I work in a position where I can continue to have an input in the community without creating my own visual content. There are many pros to the community however, I’ve seen so many people give up or lose their audience due to Youtube’s algorithm and the lack of viewers interaction with smaller creators. I do believe that Youtube is beginning to die, especially with the reveal of more creators being problematic, such as Logan Paul or Chris Ingham. I wanted to share some of my thoughts in this post and I would absolutely adore to hear other people’s take on this. Everything stated here is solely my opinions and nobody is required to agree, however I ask that you please respect my opinion as I will do yours

~ Beth

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