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Ads Work...but for Whom?

2013-03-20 · letter vlog · John · 4:00 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Internet & YouTube (also: Personal life) · mode: Personal essay · tags: on location, community lore

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

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

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
  • ★★★ 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
  • ★★ 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 · Kickstarter, YouTube
  • ★★ 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 · The Brain Scoop
  • ★★★ 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 · 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”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: online advertising

Also: People: Craig Benzine · Hannah Hart · Henry Reich · Ze Frank

Projects: Brotherhood 2.0 · The Brain Scoop

Works: Doctor Who

Organizations: Kickstarter · Kiva · YouTube

Concepts: crowdfunding · paywall · public broadcasting · sponsorship

Places: Los Angeles

Products: Roomba

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