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Ads Work...but for Whom?

2013-03-20 · John · watch on YouTube · Internet & YouTube · reflection essay

Answering Hank's call to discuss funding, John argues that advertising rewards the most views rather than the best, weighs five funding models from the comments and favours a public-radio-style model in which people support what they value because they want it to thrive.

What is said

00:00:00 — Tooth removed yesterday; John unexpectedly finds himself in an airport on the way to Los Angeles; turns to advertising

  • ★★ John says that yesterday he had a tooth forcefully removed and is in a lot of pain. — 00:00:00
  • ★★ John feigns surprise at finding himself in an airport and warns never to make a video about not being in an airport for six months, because the fates will conspire against you. (playful) — 00:00:00
  • ★★ John says he is on his way to Los Angeles "to do things". — 00:00:26 · Los Angeles
  • ★ John says he and Hank are perhaps the only two people in Nerdfighteria bothered by advertising, but he is still bothered, so he makes the video for Hank. (playful) — 00:00:33 · Nerdfighteria, online advertising

00:00:39 — What bothers John about advertising: advertisers do not care whether you watch a kitten on a Roomba or MinutePhysics, they want lean-back viewers; TV with the strongest communities is not ad-funded; ads reward most views, not best

  • ★★ John says he is not inherently bothered by corporate sponsorship of art. — 00:00:39
  • ★★★ John says advertisers care who the viewer is (age, income) but not whether you watch a kitten riding a Roomba or MinutePhysics; they want you leaning back and enjoying yourself when their ad plays. — 00:00:47 · online advertising
  • ★★ John says television people constantly brag about making "lean back entertainment". — 00:01:18
  • ★★ John argues it is no coincidence that the TV shows with the strongest communities, such as Doctor Who, are not funded by advertisers; much good TV is on cable, funded partly by, as he puts it, "crowdsourcing". (hedged) — 00:01:24 · Doctor Who
  • ★★★ John says the problem with advertising is that it incentivises the most views, not the best: it values YouTube communities for their size, not their passions or achievements. — 00:01:41 · online advertising, YouTube

00:01:53 — Small communities do important things (early Nerdfighter Kiva loans); five funding models from the comments on Hank's video: paywall, Kickstarter, volunteers, merchandise, public radio

  • ★★ John recalls that in 2007, with a few hundred regular viewers, the Nerdfighter community did interesting things: Nerdfighters made their first thousand dollars in Kiva loans with under a hundred subscribers. — 00:01:53 · Nerdfighteria, Kiva
  • ★★ John asks how to make interesting, important projects without a million views sustainable, and says the comments on Hank's last video offered five models. — 00:02:07
  • ★★ John objects to paywalls: he doesn't think it strengthens a community to consist only of people who can afford to pay to watch. (hedged) — 00:02:14
  • ★★ John says Kickstarter is awesome but suits projects with an end, like a movie, album or game, not a YouTube channel meant to last. — 00:02:22
  • ★★ John likes the all-volunteer, zero-budget model, which is basically what they did with Brotherhood 2.0, but finds it often impractical because grown-ups need to eat and pay rent. — 00:02:40 · Brotherhood 2.0
  • ★★ John calls selling merchandise, which lets people support and brag about what they love, a good idea. — 00:02:58
  • ★ John plugs Brain Scoop merchandise, saying he has no involvement with the Brain Scoop except loving it. — 00:03:03
  • ★★★ John describes the public radio model: money from many sources (memberships, underwriting, tote bags, grants, public money); listeners are asked, not required, to give and told where it goes; he is happily a member. — 00:03:09

00:03:38 — John supports communities out of gratitude, not perks; wants to thank creators for making him lean forward, which ads alone cannot do; sign-off

  • ★★★ John says he supports a community he values not for secret perks but because he likes it and wants it to grow and thrive. — 00:03:30
  • ★★★ John wants a way to thank creators such as Ze Frank, Wheezy Waiter and Hannah Hart for making him "lean forward", and does not think advertising alone can do that. (hedged) — 00:03:38 · Ze Frank, Craig Benzine, online advertising

Humor (significant)

  • Complaining about his tooth and his bad mood, John suddenly notices his surroundings. — 00:00:00 > «What? What? Am I in an airport?»
  • Two weeks after a video announcing he would stop flying, John is back in an airport. — 00:00:00 > «never make a video about how you're not gonna be in an airport for six months because then the fates will conspire against you.»
  • John says advertisers probably care what your favourite pony is, then corrects himself. — 00:00:39 > «I hope I didn't just alienate the entire brony community by calling ponies what's.»
  • Explaining why an all-volunteer model is impractical: grown-ups need to eat and pay rent. — 00:02:22 > «proper grown-up people like myself, who sit around in airports pointing cameras at themselves, making everyone around them uncomfortable»

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