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An Open Letter to Professional YouTubers

2019-05-14 · list · John · 3:48 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Internet & YouTube · mode: Advice & reviews · tags: civic or action cta

In an open letter to professional YouTubers, John shares lessons from 12 years of online video: careers are short like athletes', learn personal finance, weigh value against money, remember luck, stay a person amid adulation and hate, and, as Hank says, diversify your identity.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — Open letter framing; John's discomfort with, and defence of, the word 'influencer'

  • ★ John is somewhat repulsed by the word 'influencer', which makes him feel like a dystopian villain, which maybe he is. (playful) — 00:00:00
  • ★ John says he writes books and has been making YouTube videos for more than 12 years. — 00:00:00 · YouTube
  • ★★ John says 'influencer' is accurate: having an audience means shaping its worldview, both what to buy and what to believe and value; that is a weird job. — 00:00:00

00:00:29 — Six lessons for professional YouTubers and a closing wish

  • ★★★ First lesson: an internet career is less like being a doctor or lawyer than a professional athlete: unpredictable and often short, so learn things that help in your next profession. — 00:00:29
  • ★★★ Second lesson: many get no financial education in school, and young, money-inexperienced influencers struggle to prioritise finances and are vulnerable to exploitation. — 00:00:58
  • ★★ Though aggressively bad at math, John recommends learning personal finance from Gaby Dunn's book Bad with Money, the Planet Money podcast, and the YouTube shows Two Cents and The Financial Diet. — 00:00:58 · The Financial Diet, YouTube
  • ★★ Agents and managers can be wonderful advocates but have no lifelong investment in you and can find a younger influencer; you are your only you, so you must weigh short- and long-term interest. — 00:01:27
  • ★★★ Third lesson: on money opportunities Hank always asks John two questions: is this in line with our goals for our community, and are we adding more value than we're capturing? — 00:01:27 · Hank Green
  • ★★ John says they have made many mistakes, but from which shirts to sell to whether to promote loot boxes, asking those questions has helped them a lot. — 00:01:56
  • ★★★ Fourth lesson: success did not come from working harder or being more talented than anyone; you were also fortunate (high-speed internet, editing software, luck), and luck and hard work don't nullify each other. — 00:01:56
  • ★★★ Fifth lesson: you are a person; fans will see you as more than a person, which is intoxicating, while others will call you less than human, literal trash. — 00:02:26
  • ★★★ John says creators rarely discuss it because it can seem ungrateful, but receiving online hate can be really scary and painful, and he is sorry if you live with it. — 00:02:26
  • ★★★ John says it is important to find places to be a person, a Reddit account or offline, or you start believing both those who think you more than a person and those who think you less. — 00:02:26 · Reddit

  • ★★★ Last lesson, quoting Hank: diversify your identity; when friends, family, walks and Instagram all become your job, you can stop thinking of yourself as John Green the person, husband, father, AFC Wimbledon sponsor, avowed Hufflepuff, and see only John Green YouTuber. — 00:02:55 · Hank Green, Instagram, AFC Wimbledon, YouTube

    “diversify your identity”

  • ★★★ John says no career can healthfully carry all of your identity, let alone one as weird and unpredictable as online video. — 00:03:24

  • ★★ John wishes influencers the algorithm's wind and many new followers, but most of all a long and varied life of making helpful things with nice people. — 00:03:24 · recommender system

In the description and comments

  • ★★ The description says John hopes the video helps influencers and viewers, and asks viewers to share in the comments any advice for people who make things online. — video description

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: influencer

Also: People: Gaby Dunn

Projects: The Financial Diet

Works: Bad with Money · Fortnite · Planet Money · Two Cents

Organizations: AFC Wimbledon · Instagram · Reddit · YouTube

Concepts: loot box · Luck · personal finance · recommender system · talent agent

Characters: Hufflepuff

Also centred on influencer: Influencers and Insurrectionists · 'Influencer' Must Die.

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