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Honest YouTube Talk Time

2016-02-05 · letter vlog · Hank · 3:56 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Internet & YouTube · mode: Personal essay · tags: self promotion

Hank, now CEO of a roughly 30-person media company, argues that YouTube has grown crowded and professional, that the pure meritocracy of its mythology is gone and attention flows to those who already have it, likens it to the music industry, urges support for small creators via tools like Patreon, and resolves that he and John should stay authentic even if less relatable.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — Authenticity versus professionalism; Hank as CEO of a media company with about 30 employees and unrelatable problems

  • ★★★ Hank says online video has always been about relatable, authentic, independent content anyone can make, but it has gotten much harder and much more mainstream. — 00:00:00
  • ★★ Being both authentic and relatable becomes very hard when doing online video professionally. — 00:00:12
  • ★★★ Hank says he is now the CEO of a media company without quite knowing how: with VidCon, SciShow, Crash Course, DFTBA Records and other productions they have about 30 employees. — 00:00:17 · VidCon, SciShow, Crash Course, DFTBA Records
  • ★ Hank stresses it is still a small business, with fewer employees than the average McDonald's. (playful) — 00:00:32
  • ★★ Hank has had many unrelatable problems this year (2016) he won't discuss in videos, such as how to classify employment insurance for Crash Course freelancers. — 00:00:37 · Crash Course

00:00:50 — Love of weird independent work, attention going to those who have it, the brothers' grants and own businesses, the lost meritocracy

  • ★★ Hank loves all of YouTube but especially independent, weird work where a creator finds a niche or format perfect for their skills and style. — 00:00:50 · YouTube
  • ★★ Hank cites the Super Carlin Brothers, who after years of making content for a very small audience recently found a hugely successful format. — 00:01:00
  • ★★ Hank recommends Bill Wurtz's History of Japan, a weird art piece from a creator who came out of nowhere, which he thinks everybody should watch. (hedged) — 00:01:06

  • ★★★ When they started there was lots of attention and little content, so getting noticed was easy; now it is crowded, and the number one thing you need to get attention is attention. — 00:01:15 · attention economy

    “the number one thing you need to get attention is attention”

  • ★★★ Most people and companies with attention turn it back on themselves or sell it to advertisers, so creators of great but unseen content find it ever harder to get a leg up. — 00:01:22 · online advertising

  • ★★ Hank says his team helps some creators get a leg up through shows like The Financial Diet, Healthcare Triage, Sexplanations and Animal Wonders. — 00:01:34 · The Financial Diet, Sexplanations, Animal Wonders
  • ★★ Through the Vlogbrothers ad revenue grants, this month (February 2016) the brothers sent money to Science With Tom, Eternally Curious, SimonOxfPhys and Unacademy, India's largest free education initiative. — 00:01:39 · Vlogbrothers
  • ★★★ Hank admits it is always easiest to turn attention and money to the brothers' own new things, like NerdCon, Dear Hank and John, SciShow and Crash Course. — 00:01:48 · Dear Hank and John, SciShow, Crash Course
  • ★★ Those projects, which they love and think good for the world, are businesses and traditional productions with management structures, unlike Vlogbrothers, where Hank simply writes, talks, edits and uploads. — 00:01:55 · Vlogbrothers
  • ★★★ Hank says that solo way is the spirit of YouTube, and it seems a little unfair that he can use money and attention to launch projects and gather talent when most people lack those resources and can't compete. (hedged) — 00:02:17 · YouTube
  • ★★★ Hank says the pure meritocracy that is perhaps part of YouTube's mythology is long gone. (hedged) — 00:02:37 · YouTube
  • ★★ Hank wonders whether the lost meritocracy is creating frustration and reducing the number of people taking chances on weird, wonderful things on YouTube. (speculative) — 00:02:41 · YouTube

00:02:52 — YouTube as the music industry: a polished top and dedicated niches below, supported through Patreon

  • ★★★ Nobody really knows what YouTube is, but Hank thinks the best analogy for its creative, personality-driven parts is the music industry. (hedged) — 00:02:52 · YouTube
  • ★★ At the top, a rotating cast of well-known people in a few big genres will make polished, appealing content that many love but that may be a tiny bit bland. (hedged) — 00:03:01
  • ★★ Below, cascading levels of creators with smaller but more dedicated audiences in sub-genres or no genre will do the really creative, weird work that sometimes bubbles up and affects everything. — 00:03:13
  • ★★★ Because such creators usually won't bubble up, Hank thinks it is very important to use tools like Patreon to support them. (hedged) — 00:03:31

00:03:36 — The brothers should remain authentic and open with the community, even at some cost to relatability

  • ★★★ Hank tells John that, though their lives are no longer normal or relatable, it is important that they remain authentic, even at some cost to relatability. (hedged) — 00:03:36 · John Green
  • ★★ Hank wants to be open with the people of this community, and this video is part of that. — 00:03:50 · Nerdfighteria

In the description and comments

  • ★★ The description says YouTube is becoming more business-like, even corporate, and Hank is part of this: he runs a business making content he (not his collaborators) owns, and VidCon with a business-of-YouTube track. — video description · YouTube, VidCon
  • ★★ 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. (hedged) — video description · YouTube

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: attention economy · YouTube

Also: Projects: Animal Wonders · Crash Course · Dear Hank and John · DFTBA Records · Healthcare Triage · NerdCon: Stories · SciShow · Sexplanations · The Financial Diet · VidCon

Works: Eternally Curious · History of Japan · Science With Tom · SimonOxfPhys

Organizations: McDonald's · Patreon · Unacademy

Groups: Super Carlin Brothers

Concepts: meritocracy · music industry · online advertising

Places: India

Only in the description or credits: Bill Wurtz

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