Earlier this year YouTube lost one of the nicest, most mature, genuine, & original LEGO-related channels as a result of, as I understand it, uncalled-for drama & betrayal by members of "the community." A couple weeks ago, quite by chance, I learned of yet another YouTuber in my
previous hobby calling it quits due to the never-ending tide of random anonymous commenter ugliness and an atrocious work-to-reward ratio. Then came the whole sudden announcement of that 12
million subscriber channel owner calling it quits because, as it turned out, he had been hating what he was doing for a long, long time.
It's Rough Out There...
This kind of stuff sucks. Especially the first example above. There's a lot of it going on, too. YouTube/Google itself, like nearly every company that profits off user-generated content, has done a horrendous job of fostering even the most basic semblance of humanity on its platform. It has, however, done a fantastic job of funneling viewership away from hard-working independent producers who make quality content and towards a mix of heavily corporate-sponsored media groups and channels based on what most fully-functioning adults would consider senseless lunacy.
Staying relevant as a video-maker on YouTube today requires, on the whole, either more work or more luck than ever (or both). It's still possible to put out low-effort and/or non-unique content and get tons of viewership if the secret algorithms magically decide they want to recommend you all over the site or to notify more than 1/40th of your subscribers when you upload a new clip. However, there's simply no reliable way to
earn that sort of privilege.
...But I'm Okay
In the face of all of the bad stuff that's so easy to dwell upon, I find myself more thankful than ever for my YouTube situation. Viewership numbers are well off the highs of The Good Old Days (TM), but still fantastic. Bored, bratty trolls & perpetually, senselessly angry haters still exist, but my skin is thicker than ever and the
overwhelming majority of commenters on my videos are cool people. Let me just drag that last point out a little farther. The LEGO & brick-built construction crowd is, on the whole, one of the coolest groups I've seen in my 25+ years online. There's just a tremendous amount of what I consider normalcy, which is particularly unusual on the Internet today. I see people who can give constructive criticism, disagree with each other with civility, and recognize that toys are just toys & not sacred religious artifacts to war over. I see young kids, teens, and adults alike sharing their enjoyment of a hobby equally, letting their imaginations wander, being silly, and getting into character in the fanciful worlds of their favorite themes.
Balancing Multiple Balancing Acts
One of the big risks for YouTube stress comes from over-eagerness to please fans or to focus on whatever type of content will generate the most views. Thankfully I do not suffer from either of these. If I did, I would have a huge permanent Star Wars layout, 1/4th to 1/3rd of my city would be discarded to put in a giant airport runway, half of my videos would have titles beginning with "TOP 5," and I would shove my face in the camera incessantly while making exaggerated expressions of awe and narrating in kind. "Awesommmmme!" Of course I pay plenty of attention to viewer feedback as it'd be crazy to not do so, but I don't stop doing things I enjoy to start doing things I hate just because one person suggests it and a handful of others hit thumbs up. If I find myself doing something I don't like, I just stop.
Another thing that leads to content creator burnout is acting. Specifically, I mean acting out a manufactured, usually over-the-top persona for the sake of entertainment. Some YouTubers enjoy acting, and I see nothing really wrong with it. Others hate it, hate themselves for it, and hate the trapped feeling of building up a fanbase that expects you to constantly be something that you're not. I, myself, don't have a YouTube persona. I'm just me. Because I know JANGBRiCKS in particular is watched by an extraordinarily wide range of ages, I do take extra care to avoid language that kids & parents alike have said they find inappropriate. However, that's a simple matter of showing basic respect to my audience. Staying away from a word for poo that starts with a 'c' doesn't change who I am. I don't fundamentally try to act how I think anyone wants me to. I don't try to act "cool." If I say something in a video that makes you cringe because it's not in line with this instant's fleeting guidelines for what people of my exact age and position are supposed to say, according to a specific online clique you associate with, well, so be it. I guarantee I didn't say it just for that video, and I guarantee I would and do say it in real life among actual, real-life, friends and family.
Personal Demons
Speaking of friends & family, over the years (JANGBRiCKS isn't my first solo gig) they helped empower me to combat the single biggest risk to my online ventures, which is my own work ethic. I'm what many would call a workaholic. When I'm not doing something productive, I start to feel guilty. I'm readily willing to sacrifice sleep and general physical & mental well-being to get a job done. It's not noble. It's unhealthy and unsustainable. Thanks to my support network, though, these days I'm able to simply take a break when I need to, without beating myself up about it. It's a novel concept, but important.
The biggest struggle that I've
not been able to overcome is a lack of enough hours in a given day. There's a lot that I
want to do that I'm not reasonably able to, and that always bothers me. It's one problem I don't think I'll ever be able to fix, but at least it's manageable. I might not be able to create time out of thin air, but of course I can always shift priorities around and get creative with my schedule. When really needed, pulling an all-nighter isn't such a terrible thing, just as long as long as I don't make a habit out of it.
A Good Place
Ultimately, I'm happy with who I am and what I do, I have a lot to be grateful for, and the biggest threats to the YouTube channel you all know me for are presently well managed. For now at least, it's full steam ahead with no major obstacles on the horizon. Of course, I'd really appreciate it if someone could invent an affordable time dilation device, but if nobody does, I'm still not quitting YouTube.
