Four-minute rule for vlogbrothers videos (2007)

project history · status: last documented in 2023 (looked back on in 2025) · last event: rule change (2023-06-20) · last mentioned: 2025-05-02

The Vlogbrothers rule, set by Hank on 6 March 2007, that videos must be under four minutes, with exceptions over the years for birthday videos, an educational week and long videos Nerdfighteria approved. In 2023, after Hank's diagnosis, the brothers suspended it.

Parts: Grace Helbig: punished for an over-four-minute guest video (2013)

Punishments and asks under this rule: Hank: punishment for losing the Peeps contest and a video over four minutes (2008) · Hank: punishment for his over-four-minute 'Eight Days of Awesome' video (2008) · John asks Nerdfighters to vote on whether Hank should be punished for his 4:16 video (2008) · Hank: dress as Carrie Bradshaw, punishment for his 4:16 video (2008) · Hank: 15 hours in the Missoula Target for his 4:02 video (2009) · John: punishment for his over-four-minute health-insurance video, ruled not educational by Our Pants (2013) · John: punishment for his over-four-minute P4A 2015 video (2015) · John asks Nerdfighteria whether they will really punish him for his over-four-minute video on refugee camps in Ethiopia (2015) · Hank: punishment for his over-four-minute tenth-anniversary video, to be performed live at NerdCon: Nerdfighteria (2016) · Hank: punishment for accidentally uploading an over-four-minute Hank's Channel video to Vlogbrothers (2019)

About: Four-minute rule

date	event	what	video
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 (said on 2007-08-23, implied)	rule change	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	rule change	In the description John suggests the photo montage lets him go over the usual length, i.e. past the four-minute rule. (playful, hedged)	PEEPS Eating Contest Is Peepstacular, Painful video description
2010-11-05	rule change	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	rule change	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. (playful)	Reading Chapter One of The Fault in Our Stars 00:00:14
2011-11-25	rule change	John says he has Hank's permission to go over his four-minute limit with this long reading, so viewers should not punish him. (playful)	Chapter TWO of The Fault in Our Stars 00:00:37
2013-03-29	rule change	In the description Hank insists the video is not over four minutes, because YouTube adds a second. (playful)	Caviar Brownies - The Second Annual Hungry Games video description
2014-07-18 (happened 2007-01-01)	looked back	Hank says the brothers created the channel on January 1, 2007 with three rules: a video on your day, no video over four minutes, and no textual communication between them.	EVERY VLOGBROTHERS PUNISHMENT! 00:00:21
2015-10-16 (happened 2007)	looked back	Hank looks back on the Vlogbrothers' 2007 decision never to make a video over four minutes, an arbitrary restriction he calls great, and ends the video to enforce it.	Post-NerdCon Haze 00:03:28
2020-03-20	rule change	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
2021-02-19	rule change	For his first ever meme review Hank asked Nerdfighteria whether the video could be long, and they said yes.	Bean Meme Review 00:00:13
2023-06-20	rule change	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
2025-05-02	looked back	The description says Hank wanted a normal 4-minute Vlogbrothers video but feels he has lost that skill: it is hard to tell a story that fast and cut good material.	I Found the Dumbest Time Zone video description

Dates are upload dates, which set the order. Where the speaker gives a different recording date in the video, it is added as "said on YYYY-MM-DD, implied" (derived from the date said in the video).

What is said about it

69 statements, by date (the events above are the turns of the thread; these are the details).

2007-03-06 · Brotherhood 2.0: Peeps and Genocide — announcement: Hank notes the video runs over four minutes, asks not to be punished since no such rule exists yet, and makes it one: from tomorrow videos must be under four minutes. — 00:04:28
2007-03-08 · Brotherhood 2.0: Giving Away Peeps — Hank ends the video because he has to keep it under four minutes. — 00:03:48
2007-07-25 · July 25: Brotherhood 2.0's Youtube Comments Are Answered! — John: Because Hank gets too many comments to answer, John will read and answer as many YouTube comments as he can until his four-minute deadline. — 00:00:10
2007-12-04 · December 4th: Question Tuesday!!!! — John opens Question Tuesday: though about 7,500 people are watching him talk to his camera, he will answer as many questions as he can within four minutes. — 00:00:00
2008-02-08 · QUESTION TUESDAYS (On Friday) — John confirms he is still sticking to the four-minute time limit. — 00:03:36
2008-04-21 · Belated Book-tacular Questions — John says Hank will be punished too: he lost the Peeps contest without participating and made a video over four minutes without a photo montage, which breaks the rule. (playful) — 00:00:00
2008-04-24 · Pills Pills Pills — announcement: Hank: Because the brothers are strict about the four-minute rule, Hank made two versions; the full five-minute one is posted elsewhere on YouTube (channel name unclear). — 00:03:41
2008-05-11 · Nerdfighting IRL — Hank says he went over time but has been granted amnesty because the video had a montage (several). (playful) — 00:04:12
2008-06-24 · Questions Answered! — announcement: Hank is making a Star Trek song longer than four minutes that he can't shorten, so he invokes the longer-than-four-minutes clause, which requires a Nerdfighting montage. — 00:03:12
2008-07-18 · Book Eight...Another Harry Potter Song — Hank pre-empts punishment for going over four minutes: there was a montage, and the montage exception covers it. (playful) — 00:04:36
2008-08-12 · Eight Days of Awesome — Hank admits the video is longer than four minutes and says he will accept whatever punishment John sees fit. — 00:04:09
2008-09-13 · Hank Vlogs (and a String Quartet) — Hank acknowledges the quartet will make the video too long but says it is okay because it is pretty much a separate video. (playful) — 00:03:30
2008-10-14 · Paper Towns Reading — John says the video will go over four minutes but he will get around the rule with a montage. (playful) — 00:00:56
2008-10-22 · Punish Hank? Save Hank? YOU DECIDE. — John says Hank's 4:16 video contained no montage, which is clearly against the rules. — 00:02:00
2008-10-24 · Talking to Myself — Hank: In a phone skit with another Hank, Hank says he can see 'their point' and concedes his video was technically longer than four minutes. (playful) — 00:00:00
2009-08-04 · Twitter Games and Truth or Fail — announcement: Hank hopes to fit all the sentences in, maybe not given his four minutes, and muses about working them into a song 'written by Twitter'. (hedged) — 00:01:22
2009-11-22 · Hank in FAMY — John says Nerdfighteria has long wanted to punish Hank, but Hank keeps the rules: a video every Wednesday, a song every other Wednesday, never more than four minutes. (playful) — 00:00:29
2009-11-22 · Hank in FAMY — John says that when Hank does break the rules, as when he briefly uploaded a seven-minute version of his Severed Hands of Star Wars video, he argues he broke the letter but not the spirit of the law. (playful) — 00:00:59
2009-11-22 · Hank in FAMY — John: After Hank posted a video of four minutes and two seconds last week (week of 9 November 2009), he called John saying the overrun was only the subscription screen and that he is on tour. (playful) — 00:00:59
2010-01-04 · It Hurts In My Toof: The 2010 Rules — announcement: John announces rule two: videos may not exceed four minutes, with the usual exceptions. — 00:02:09
2010-11-05 · God and Grain: The French Revolution, Part I — ask: John says no punishment is due for going over four minutes, since Nerdfighters allowed longer videos, and asks viewers to say how the brothers are doing. — video description
2010-11-05 · God and Grain: The French Revolution, Part I — announcement: John says that, with Nerdfighteria's permission, the brothers have temporarily suspended the four-minute rule to get through the week of educational videos. — 00:05:18
2010-12-07 · Tongue Twisters — Hank tells commenters demanding punishment for a video over four minutes that the 'Nerdfighter montage exception' applies, so he remains punishment-free. (playful) — 00:04:06
2011-10-28 · Reading Chapter One of The Fault in Our Stars — John tells Nerdfighters not to punish him: Hank permitted this longer-than-four-minutes, unedited video, which saves him time for signing books. (playful) — 00:00:14
2012-07-10 · Feeling More Alive: Fahrenheit 451's The Hearth and the Salamander — In the description John notes that educational videos are allowed to run over four minutes by extensive precedent. — video description
2012-08-17 · Open Letter to the Wizards — The description offers proof that the video is less than four minutes long. — video description
2012-10-23 · Understanding the National Debt and Budget Deficit — John: In a P.S., John reminds that educational videos are allowed to be over four minutes. — 00:06:28 · also in: Understanding the Central African Republic
2013-06-21 · New Channels, New Songs, and Just Plain News — Hank says Grace's video went over four minutes, but he is unsure whether the four-minute rule covers videos on the Vlogbrothers channel or only videos made by the Vlogbrothers. (unsure) — 00:00:00
2013-06-25 · Thoughts from Places: Dog Days of Summer — Hannah Hart: She stops recording because she does not want to go four minutes like Grace did. (playful) — 00:03:24
2013-07-05 · Egypt....Explained! — Hank's description jokes that educational videos are exempt from time limits (the video runs over seven minutes). (playful) — video description
2013-08-20 · Why Are American Health Care Costs So High? — John reminds viewers that educational videos may run over four minutes; commenters calling him punished did not watch to the end. (playful) — 00:07:43 · also in: Bigger Pizzas: A Capitalist Case for Health Care Reform, Understanding Ukraine: The Problems Today and Some Historical Context, Food Is Weird: Understanding Agriculture in the Developing World
2013-09-06 · Undigested Lump (A Song) — Hank says he cut a verse from the song because it was a bit dirty and because the video would not have fit into four minutes otherwise: "Vlogbrothers rules". — 00:02:39
2013-10-08 · Applying for Health Insurance: Then and Now — John acknowledges the video runs over four minutes, says he thinks it counts as an educational video, and leaves viewers to discuss it in Our Pants. (hedged) — video description
2013-10-15 · Thoughts for Nerdfighteria — John says his last video ran over four minutes and Nerdfighters in Our Pants ruled it not educational, so he is punished. — 00:02:39
2013-10-15 · Thoughts for Nerdfighteria — John: For new viewers John explains: Our Pants is the forum; videos may not exceed four minutes unless educational; he likes pizza, Hank corn dogs; Nerdfighters fight to make the world suck less. — 00:02:47
2014-07-18 · EVERY VLOGBROTHERS PUNISHMENT! — Hank: After 2007 the brothers abolished the textual communication rule, changed the schedule, and exempted educational videos, montage videos and 4:01 videos (YouTube adds a second) from the time limit. — 00:01:32
2014-09-09 · Going to College (in Ethiopia) — The description notes that YouTube adds a second to videos and that, by precedent, this is not punishable under the four-minute rule. — video description
2015-02-10 · Understanding Boko Haram — video description: In the description John gives the 'standard reminder' that educational videos are allowed to be over four minutes long. — video description · also in: The Woman Who Invented Stuffed Animals
2015-10-16 · Post-NerdCon Haze — Hank says in 2007 the Vlogbrothers imposed an artificial four-minute limit on their videos, as arbitrary as the 24-hour day, and it's great they stuck with it. — 00:03:28
2015-10-23 · Benghazi: Explained — Hank says they have made videos like this since the beginning of Vlogbrothers; he likes being able to go past the time limit, but they are hard and stressful to make. — 00:07:31
2015-12-11 · The Refugee Crises: Project for Awesome 2015 — John says Hank always tells him to make an end screen, and admits the video ran over four minutes, so he will probably be punished and accepts it. (playful, hedged) — 00:04:22
2015-12-29 · How to Give Away Over a Million Dollars — ask: John playfully asks whether Nerdfighteria will really punish him because his video about refugee camps in Ethiopia ran over four minutes, calling them monsters. (playful) — 00:02:22
2016-10-21 · Coming Out, Goats, Government, and Attack Ads with Denise Juneau — Hank reminds viewers that educational videos are exempt from the time limit, so they should stop talking about punishments in the comments. (playful) — 00:08:34
2016-12-30 · The Most Interesting Thing I've Ever Done — announcement: Hank admits the video is longer than four minutes; he hasn't made many overtime videos but couldn't help it this time. (playful) — 00:05:16
2017-01-03 · 10 Years on YouTube (...and MORE GREAT NEWS) — announcement: John: Since Hank's last 2016 video went over four minutes without being educational, there is a vlogbrothers punishment for the first time in years, to take place live on stage at NerdCon: Nerdfighteria. — 00:02:59
2017-08-29 · 40 — John says next week's (week of 4 September 2017) video, his reading of the first chapter of Turtles All the Way Down, will be over four minutes but is not punishable, citing precedents from 2011 and 2008 when he read the first chapters of The Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns. (playful) — 00:02:51
2018-10-12 · Hank Reads from 'An Absolutely Remarkable Thing' — Hank says the reading video is exempt from the four-minute rule, so he can go on as long as he wants. — 00:00:00
2018-11-30 · We just had our first interstellar visitor...and it's weird. — Hank notes that educational videos are exempt from the four-minute rule, and thanks the exemption for letting him ramble. (playful) — 00:09:24
2019-01-29 · Do You Believe in Miracles? — In a comment John says the 4:01 runtime is no punishment: YouTube has added a second since 2007, and by precedent 4:01 videos are not punishable. — creator comment
2019-03-22 · How to Get a Colonoscopy — Hank: Editing on the Friday of his colonoscopy, Hank says the video is at least educational and hopefully leads more people to screen for colon cancer, which is why it runs over four minutes. (hedged) — 00:06:55
2019-05-10 · The Worst Product Ever — announcement: Hank says he accidentally uploaded a Hank's Channel video to Vlogbrothers that ran over four minutes, so he has another punishment brewing. — 00:03:24
2019-07-19 · In Which Hank Consumes the Juice of Over 400 Gushers — Hank says that at VidCon he did his punishment for uploading a 4:02 video meant for Hank's channel to Vlogbrothers: drinking the juice of Gushers. — 00:00:29
2019-09-17 · 'end the stigma' — In a comment John says the four-minute rule constrains videos like this one; the brothers have been reluctant to propose eliminating it. — creator comment
2019-12-13 · Is This the Cutest Animal Noise? — Hank: Replying in a channel comment to a viewer who felt the video was setting up a longer lesson, Hank says this is life under the four-minute rule. (playful) — creator comment
2020-03-03 · Consciously Experiencing Human Dignity — John signs off hoping he didn't go over four minutes: it's always a worry. (playful) — 00:03:24
2020-04-24 · The Sharpest Tool in the Shed — announcement: Hank says he will spend way more than four minutes on this, so there is a long version on Hank's channel. — 00:00:29
2020-06-26 · You Might as Well Swim! — Hank has felt limited by Vlogbrothers' four-minute limit, because there is a lot to say about these animals. — 00:02:57
2021-08-13 · How We Fix the Climate — Hank closes with a reminder that education videos are allowed to be over four minutes. (playful) — 00:16:14
2021-10-07 · We're Thinking About Facebook Wrong — Hank says this very long video is educational, which exempts it from the vlogbrothers four-minute rule. — 00:01:27
2022-03-04 · The 2022 P4A Meme Review!!! — Hank says meme reviews are exempt from the four-minute time limit, as established last year (2021). — 00:21:03
2022-05-06 · Why I Didn't Quit YouTube (yet) — Hank notes Dan's video is 85 minutes long while the brothers have a four-minute limit. (playful) — 00:00:00
2022-05-06 · Why I Didn't Quit YouTube (yet) — In a channel comment Hank says without the four-minute limit he would feel he had to make something as good as Dan's work, which would be impossible. — creator comment
2022-07-05 · Director Hannah Marks Is Nervous To Meet You — sponsor: In a comment John says YouTube adds a second to the runtime, so the video's 4:01 is not punishable. — creator comment
2022-10-07 · Planets Don't Exist — Hank reveals the educational framing was a trick to get a long, chatty last-day Pizzamas video, which the description calls a loophole in their YouTube rules. (playful) — 00:11:51
2022-11-08 · Dr Pepper Enthusiast John Green Taste Tests Dr Pepper and Its Misbegotten Pretenders — The description admits the video is over four minutes and probably not educational, so John technically probably owes Nerdfighteria a punishment. (hedged) — video description
2023-01-13 · Why is There an Egg Shortage (And More) — In a comment, Hank says he very occasionally hits the length exactly, but usually records 4 to 4:30 minutes and cuts down; over 5 minutes is a big problem. — creator comment
2023-08-08 · TAKE IT UP A NOTCH — John explains that since 2007, with a few exceptions, their videos must be under four minutes, a rule to force concision and intentional use of people's attention. — 00:02:55
2023-11-07 · NaFaDoYBIMSCoM — John: In a later channel comment, John says he thought about cutting the video to four minutes but concluded it would have made it worse. — creator comment
2025-09-19 · Let's Just Be Stupid For a Moment — Hank thanks Milo for editing and Nerdfighteria for letting the brothers publish longer videos, since the Quadragocon was fun to do in more than four minutes. (playful) — 00:08:42