Is it good for online video to become mainstream?
Hank has been ambivalent since 2014: as YouTube goes mainstream it becomes less special, and in 2026 he called it a high-status place he helped build and still feels mixed about. In 2026 John said he worries about the Hollywoodification of YouTube.
Axis: good: more people and resources ... bad: it becomes less special
Positions by date: 7 records in 6 videos. The position was refined (2016), never reversed, in these records.
John
| date | how | position | video |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-15 | first on record | John owns an artwork rendering the Hollywood sign as a YouTube sign; he once read it as the YouTubification of Hollywood, now worries it is the Hollywoodification of YouTube. | YouTube Says This Video Has 683,183 Views, It Actually Has 312,584 00:04:22 |
Hank
| date | how | position | video |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-10-17 | first on record | Hank is a little ambivalent about the push to bring more people and money to YouTube: as it splits into plural communities and goes mainstream it becomes less special. | MY FACE ON A BUS 00:03:10 |
| 2015-07-17 | restate | Hank says online culture is becoming mainstream culture with VidCon part of it; he doesn't necessarily want online new media to become mainstream media, but it is happening. | Is YouTube Good for Humanity? 00:02:25 |
| 2016-02-05 | restate | Hank expects YouTube to keep changing, with fascinating, weird, independent work always happening there, but such work will likely never again be at the top, which he feels weird about. | Honest YouTube Talk Time video description |
| 2016-02-05 | refine | Hank says the pure meritocracy that is perhaps part of YouTube's mythology is long gone. | Honest YouTube Talk Time 00:02:37 |
| 2026-07-10 | restate | Hank says being a YouTuber in 2007 meant goofing off in a small scene of weirdos with no cultural relevance, status or money; nearly 20 years later it is a high-status identity that can make you very rich. | How Status Destroys Us 00:04:15 |
| 2026-09-18 | restate | Hank says the fun little place where they did stupid little things in 2008 has become so important; he has been part of that and is ambivalent about it. | John was Wrong about YouTube Views 00:06:48 |
Background
| date | how | position | video |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-07-24 | background | John thanks the giant corporations for making everything fancy and asks them to stay on YouTube but be cool about it. (playful) | From the Main Stage of VidCon! 00:02:27 |