Channel mechanics
How the channel worked: who posted, on which days, how long, in which formats, under which rules and punishments, with which series, theme weeks and guests — and what drove videos in each era. Every count below is computed from the video cards and annotations; the sub-pages list each video with a timestamp link.
Pages: schedule · rules & punishments · series, rituals & theme weeks · guests & stand-ins · formats & content
Year by year
| year | videos | John | Hank | other | per week | usual days | median length | over 4:00 | top formats | punishments & challenges | guest videos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 258 | 128 | 129 | 1 | 4.9 | Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri | 3:21 | 10 | letter vlog 173, challenge / punishment 24, song 19 | 16 | 28 |
| 2008 | 130 | 61 | 65 | 4 | 2.5 | Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri | 3:51 | 18 | letter vlog 52, announcement 23, song 15 | 9 | 15 |
| 2009 | 185 | 90 | 95 | 3.6 | Tue, Wed, Sun | 3:31 | 10 | letter vlog 59, song 26, announcement 22 | 4 | 10 | |
| 2010 | 157 | 75 | 78 | 4 | 3.0 | Mon, Wed, Fri | 3:40 | 10 | letter vlog 69, explainer 26, list 15 | 3 | 21 |
| 2011 | 155 | 76 | 79 | 3.0 | Mon, Wed, Fri | 3:45 | 7 | letter vlog 56, explainer 25, list 22 | 7 | 14 | |
| 2012 | 111 | 55 | 56 | 2.1 | Tue, Fri | 3:40 | 2 | letter vlog 36, explainer 13, announcement 11 | 6 | 18 | |
| 2013 | 107 | 48 | 52 | 7 | 2.1 | Tue, Fri | 3:50 | 8 | letter vlog 38, list 16, explainer 13 | 2 | 30 |
| 2014 | 114 | 58 | 56 | 2.2 | Tue, Fri | 3:50 | 4 | letter vlog 44, explainer 22, announcement 12 | 33 | ||
| 2015 | 115 | 59 | 56 | 2.2 | Tue, Fri | 3:49 | 7 | letter vlog 54, explainer 15, list 11 | 1 | 19 | |
| 2016 | 114 | 54 | 51 | 9 | 2.2 | Tue, Fri | 3:44 | 14 | letter vlog 49, explainer 18, announcement 10 | 1 | 23 |
| 2017 | 113 | 57 | 56 | 2.2 | Tue, Fri | 3:52 | 11 | letter vlog 40, explainer 23, Q&A 13 | 13 | ||
| 2018 | 109 | 54 | 55 | 2.1 | Tue, Fri | 3:54 | 4 | letter vlog 57, list 10, Q&A 10 | 1 | 10 | |
| 2019 | 110 | 53 | 57 | 2.1 | Tue, Fri | 3:56 | 9 | letter vlog 47, explainer 26, list 8 | 1 | 9 | |
| 2020 | 108 | 54 | 54 | 2.1 | Tue, Fri | 3:56 | 6 | letter vlog 65, explainer 13, review / recommendation 8 | 7 | ||
| 2021 | 106 | 53 | 53 | 2.1 | Tue, Fri | 3:57 | 7 | letter vlog 58, list 10, explainer 10 | 3 | ||
| 2022 | 108 | 53 | 55 | 2.1 | Tue, Fri | 3:56 | 8 | letter vlog 47, explainer 16, announcement 9 | 7 | ||
| 2023 | 107 | 53 | 54 | 2.1 | Tue, Fri | 4:18 | 60 | letter vlog 55, explainer 17, announcement 11 | 6 | ||
| 2024 | 114 | 52 | 62 | 2.2 | Tue, Fri | 5:14 | 92 | letter vlog 52, explainer 18, collab / interview 12 | 12 | ||
| 2025 | 107 | 49 | 58 | 2.1 | Tue, Fri | 5:48 | 93 | letter vlog 62, announcement 12, explainer 12 | 10 | ||
| 2026 | 95 | 46 | 49 | 2.2 | Tue, Fri | 5:47 | 92 | letter vlog 61, explainer 8, announcement 7 | 11 |
Posting patterns (observed)
Consecutive half-years with the same usual video days — weekdays with at least 12 % of the half-year's videos, as observed in upload dates, not an announced schedule (announcements are listed below; details):
- 2007 H1 – 2008 H2: Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri · 388 videos, 3.7 per week · from Brotherhood 2.0: January 1st (00:00:00)
- 2009 H1 – 2009 H2: Tue, Wed, Sun · 185 videos, 3.6 per week · from Brotherhood 2.0.0.9 (00:01:19)
- 2010 H1 – 2011 H2: Mon, Wed, Fri · 312 videos, 3.0 per week · from It Hurts In My Toof: The 2010 Rules (00:01:45)
- 2012 H1 – 2026 H2: Tue, Fri · 1638 videos, 2.1 per week · from Changes to Vlogbrothers (00:01:08)
Schedule changes announced:
- 2007-01-01 · Hank launches Brotherhood 2.0: no more textual communication, alternating daily video blogs from January 1st for the year, punishments for a missed weekday video. — Brotherhood 2.0: January 1st (00:00:43)
- 2009-01-01 · Hank launches Brotherhood 2.0.0.9: news videos from John on Sundays, free videos on Tuesdays, his original songs every other Wednesday, surprise videos, punishments for missed duties, and textual communication allowed again. — Brotherhood 2.0.0.9 (00:01:19)
- 2010-01-04 · John launches the 2010 vlog rules: alternating Monday/Wednesday/Friday videos (exceptions for major holidays and his paternity leave), a four-minute limit, optional Monday theme weeks, and punishments chosen by Nerdfighters and the other brother, due within a week. — It Hurts In My Toof: The 2010 Rules (00:01:45)
- 2011-01-03 · John says the vlogbrothers will continue Monday-Wednesday-Friday videos in 2011 and, having heard viewers, add more question videos, Thoughts from Places and info-tational videos. — Is bronchitis contagious? Is black a color? (00:02:24)
- 2012-01-02 · John announces the 2012 schedule: two Vlogbrothers videos a week (John on Tuesday, Hank on Friday), to ease his illness and free time for community projects, with Crash Course and SciShow adding content. — Changes to Vlogbrothers (00:01:08)
- 2014-09-09 · John launches Tuesday bonus videos of his Ethiopia conversations with Bill Gates, posted every Tuesday for about a month before his regular video. — Bill Gates and John Green Discuss Global Health (00:00:08)
- 2015-11-09 · Hank opens Pizzamas: two weeks of daily videos and Pizza Johns in various styles for pre-order only during Pizzamas. — Enjoy My Stupid Dancing! (Pizzamas Day 1) (00:00:06)
- 2016-11-07 · The description says the brothers make a video every weekday for two weeks of Pizzamas; since this year (2016) falls in Hank's leave, guests will fill his days so there will still be 10 Pizzamas videos. — It's Pizzamas!!! (Thoughts From the Place Where they Print Our Shirts) (video description)
- 2020-10-05 · John announces Pizzamas: for two weeks the brothers trade videos every weekday as in 2007 and sell stuff with John's mustachioed face, a reference to something from 2008 he doesn't remember. — Thank God It's Over and PIZZAMAS IS HERE!!!!!!! (00:00:00)
- 2022-09-26 · John announces Pizzamas: two weeks when he and Hank make videos every weekday like in 2007 and sell items with John's mustache at pizzamas.com for charity. — PIZZAMAS IS UPON US (00:00:00)
Rules and punishments
51 punishment and challenge threads, 41 reported done (full record). By year of assignment: 2007: 16, 2008: 9, 2009: 4, 2010: 3, 2011: 7, 2012: 6, 2013: 2, 2015: 1, 2016: 1, 2018: 1, 2019: 1.
Punishments for breaking the four-minute rule:
- 2008-04-21 · Hank: punishment for losing the Peeps contest and a video over four minutes (2008) — performed — Belated Book-tacular Questions (00:00:00)
- 2008-08-12 · Hank: punishment for his over-four-minute 'Eight Days of Awesome' video (2008) — performed — Eight Days of Awesome (00:04:09)
- 2008-10-22 · Hank: dress as Carrie Bradshaw, punishment for his 4:16 video (2008) — performed — Punish Hank? Save Hank? YOU DECIDE. (00:00:36)
- 2009-11-22 · Hank: 15 hours in the Missoula Target for his 4:02 video (2009) — performed — Hank in FAMY (00:01:57)
- 2013-06-21 · Grace Helbig: punished for an over-four-minute guest video (2013) — performed — New Channels, New Songs, and Just Plain News (00:00:00)
- 2013-10-08 · John: punishment for his over-four-minute health-insurance video, ruled not educational by Our Pants (2013) — performed — Applying for Health Insurance: Then and Now (video description)
- 2015-12-11 · John: punishment for his over-four-minute P4A 2015 video (2015) — accepted, no report it was done (2015–2026) — The Refugee Crises: Project for Awesome 2015 (00:04:22)
- 2016-12-30 · Hank: punishment for his over-four-minute tenth-anniversary video, to be performed live at NerdCon: Nerdfighteria (2016) — performed — The Most Interesting Thing I've Ever Done (00:06:01)
- 2019-05-10 · Hank: punishment for accidentally uploading an over-four-minute Hank's Channel video to Vlogbrothers (2019) — performed — The Worst Product Ever (00:03:24)
Videos over 4:00 by year: 2007: 10 of 258, 2008: 18 of 130, 2009: 10 of 185, 2010: 10 of 157, 2011: 7 of 155, 2012: 2 of 111, 2013: 8 of 107, 2014: 4 of 114, 2015: 7 of 115, 2016: 14 of 114, 2017: 11 of 113, 2018: 4 of 109, 2019: 9 of 110, 2020: 6 of 108, 2021: 7 of 106, 2022: 8 of 108, 2023: 60 of 107, 2024: 92 of 114, 2025: 93 of 107, 2026: 92 of 95. Videos that talk about the rule: 2007: 5, 2008: 12, 2009: 3, 2010: 3, 2011: 1, 2012: 3, 2013: 9, 2014: 5, 2015: 5, 2016: 2, 2017: 2, 2018: 2, 2019: 6, 2020: 4, 2021: 4, 2022: 5, 2023: 5, 2024: 1, 2025: 1.
Four-minute rule changes and exceptions:
- 2007-03-06 · launched — Hank makes it a rule that videos must be under four minutes from tomorrow; this is the last longer one. — Brotherhood 2.0: Peeps and Genocide (00:04:28)
- 2007-08-24 · Hank says the video is too long but birthday videos are an exception. — August 23rd: John's Secret Project Part 1 (00:04:58)
- 2008-03-27 · In the description John suggests the photo montage lets him go over the usual length, i.e. past the four-minute rule. — PEEPS Eating Contest Is Peepstacular, Painful (video description)
- 2010-01-04 · launched — John launches the 2010 vlog rules: alternating Monday/Wednesday/Friday videos (exceptions for major holidays and his paternity leave), a four-minute limit, optional Monday theme weeks, and punishments chosen by Nerdfighters and the other brother, due within a week. — It Hurts In My Toof: The 2010 Rules (00:01:45)
- 2010-11-05 · John says that, with Nerdfighteria's permission, the four-minute rule is temporarily suspended for the week of educational videos. — God and Grain: The French Revolution, Part I (00:05:18)
- 2011-10-28 · John says Hank permitted this unedited, longer-than-four-minutes live-show video, so Nerdfighters should not punish him; he repeats this at the end. — Reading Chapter One of The Fault in Our Stars (00:00:14)
- 2011-11-25 · John says he has Hank's permission to go over his four-minute limit with this long reading, so viewers should not punish him. — Chapter TWO of The Fault in Our Stars (00:00:37)
- 2013-03-29 · In the description Hank insists the video is not over four minutes, because YouTube adds a second. — Caviar Brownies - The Second Annual Hungry Games (video description)
- 2014-07-18 · looked back — Hank recalls that the brothers created the channel on January 1, 2007 with three rules: a video on your day, a four-minute limit (which Hank actually added on March 6, 2007), and no textual communication. — EVERY VLOGBROTHERS PUNISHMENT! (00:00:21)
- 2020-03-20 · Hank asked on the Community tab whether he could make a video longer than four minutes, and the resounding answer was yes. — The Sudden Obliteration of Expectation (00:00:00)
- 2023-06-20 · In a channel comment John says the four-minute rule is off at least until Hank gets better, since 4-minute videos take too long with the current workload. — Reflections from a Terrible CEO (creator comment)
- 2023-08-08 · looked back — John says that since Hank's diagnosis they have suspended the four-minute rule for more flexibility, which he kind of loves; this video will run over four minutes. — TAKE IT UP A NOTCH (00:03:42)
- 2024-07-09 · looked back — Asked whether they should go back to four-minute videos, John says no, but they should make them more often. — Is the Inside of Your Mouth a Soup? (a vidcon reunion video) (00:03:05)
Series, rituals and guests
Most frequent rituals and series (all): Punishment: 163 videos mentioning it (2007–2026); Question Tuesday: 145 videos mentioning it (2007–2026); Four-minute rule: 85 videos mentioning it (2007–2025); Thoughts from Places: 57 videos mentioning it (2010–2025); Brotherhood 2.0: 48 videos mentioning it (2007–2023); Happy dance (practice): 46 videos mentioning it (2007–2025); Song Wednesday: 38 videos mentioning it (2007–2025); Reunion video: 34 videos mentioning it (2007–2026).
Theme weeks recorded: Childhood stories: Hank's proposed vlogbrothers theme week (February 2010) (2010-02-22); Top 10 Week: a vlogbrothers theme week of top-10 list videos (2010) (2010-03-22); Vlogbrothers How-to Week: a week of how-to videos (2010) (2010-05-21); Open letters to our 15-year-old brothers: a vlogbrothers theme week (September 2010) (2010-09-20); Vlogbrothers educational week: a week of videos making a solid effort to be educational (November 2010) (2010-11-01); Animal sex week: a vlogbrothers week of videos on animal mating (2010) (2010-11-29).
Most frequent guests (all): Katherine Green 36; Sarah Urist Green 26; Henry Green 19; Maureen Johnson 18; Michael Aranda 11; Nat Wolff 10; Alice Green 9; Charlie McDonnell 8; Emily Graslie 8; Hannah Hart 8. 25 videos where neither brother speaks (guest-hosted, wordless or quoted).
What videos contain, by year
Share of each year's videos (examples); proxies from tags, format, domain and reply pointers.
| driver | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| answers the other brother | 38 % | 12 % | 12 % | 25 % | 20 % | 17 % | 20 % | 18 % | 17 % | 12 % | 6 % | 13 % | 11 % | 10 % | 9 % | 8 % | 14 % | 9 % | 18 % | 18 % |
| news or timely hook | 15 % | 18 % | 32 % | 23 % | 23 % | 27 % | 19 % | 25 % | 30 % | 32 % | 22 % | 19 % | 20 % | 33 % | 19 % | 20 % | 21 % | 32 % | 28 % | 21 % |
| launch or self-promotion | 8 % | 45 % | 36 % | 25 % | 46 % | 50 % | 38 % | 46 % | 48 % | 34 % | 54 % | 49 % | 43 % | 48 % | 43 % | 41 % | 39 % | 64 % | 54 % | 57 % |
| calendar ritual (birthday, holiday, anniversary) | 4 % | 6 % | 8 % | 10 % | 8 % | 11 % | 8 % | 18 % | 16 % | 14 % | 16 % | 15 % | 16 % | 16 % | 19 % | 23 % | 21 % | 14 % | 14 % | 23 % |
| community lore | 79 % | 70 % | 58 % | 47 % | 55 % | 45 % | 43 % | 45 % | 30 % | 29 % | 27 % | 22 % | 15 % | 34 % | 31 % | 18 % | 33 % | 17 % | 22 % | 26 % |
| heavy topic | 3 % | 4 % | 8 % | 4 % | 11 % | 3 % | 8 % | 18 % | 10 % | 13 % | 12 % | 8 % | 13 % | 21 % | 14 % | 18 % | 44 % | 25 % | 28 % | 18 % |
| explainer format | 1 % | 3 % | 11 % | 17 % | 16 % | 12 % | 12 % | 19 % | 13 % | 16 % | 20 % | 9 % | 24 % | 12 % | 9 % | 15 % | 16 % | 16 % | 11 % | 8 % |
| personal life (main domain) | 26 % | 12 % | 10 % | 17 % | 9 % | 16 % | 8 % | 5 % | 7 % | 9 % | 12 % | 6 % | 3 % | 6 % | 7 % | 6 % | 17 % | 11 % | 9 % | 6 % |