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I ain't she was with well and I so and it's and but so and I'll and

2020-10-02 (said on 2020-10-01 — implied: date said in the video; uploaded 1 day later) · letter vlog · Hank · 3:58 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Nerdfighteria (also: Internet & YouTube) · mode: Personal essay · tags: community lore, calendar ritual

Celebrating the end of five months of video titles taken from Smash Mouth's All Star, Hank says the bit made 'negative sense' but showed that constraints inspire and that the brothers truly don't want to grow the channel: unlike Crash Course and SciShow, Vlogbrothers is about community, and audience did not drop; he announces daily Pizzamas videos.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — Five months of All Star titles: every word of the song now used

  • ★★★ Hank celebrates that after five months of titles taken only from Smash Mouth's All Star, with this not-great title they have used every word in the song. (playful) — 00:00:00
  • ★★ Hank says being done feels good; it means nothing, but they assigned value to it and he is amazed and proud of them. (playful) — 00:00:00

00:00:32 — Begun April 21, 2020; why it made negative sense (YouTube titles matter); constraint is inspiring

  • ★★ Hank says they began the idea on April 21, 2020, as everyone was getting used to a big deal changing their lives for a long time. — 00:00:32 · COVID-19 pandemic
  • ★★ Hank says it has been nice to have the constancy of this meaningless endeavor through a somewhat difficult time. — 00:00:32
  • ★★ Hank says the bit made negative sense: the creator of the memed work sometimes does something dumb, and YouTube titles are one of creators' main tools for getting people to watch. (playful) — 00:01:01 · YouTube
  • ★★ Hank says the first reason was that constraint is inspiring: not every constraint, but adding constraints can juice up the creative process. — 00:01:01

00:01:30 — Proving they don't want to grow: Crash Course and SciShow aim at reach, Vlogbrothers at community; no audience drop

  • ★ Hank sometimes hated himself for the decision, but some ideas were so good he would never have had them without the constraint. — 00:01:30
  • ★★★ Hank says the more important reason was that both brothers wanted to prove they really don't want to grow the channel anymore; saying it differs from enacting a policy that limits growth. — 00:01:30 · Vlogbrothers, John Green
  • ★★ Hank likes growing things, but says it is very important to understand your goals and how they inform your strategy. — 00:01:30
  • ★★ Hank says growth is the easiest goal; for Crash Course and SciShow it is the goal: reach more people to educate them and make them passionate about learning. — 00:02:13 · Crash Course, SciShow
  • ★★★ Hank says the goal of Vlogbrothers is creating a community, which feels less real past some size: a breeding ground for ideas, weirdness, community and change that enables things like Crash Course. — 00:02:13 · Vlogbrothers, Nerdfighteria, Crash Course
  • ★★ Hank says the channel is more about connection and engagement than audience size, and after a certain size you get less of those. — 00:02:44
  • ★★★ Hank says that although they gave up titling their videos, the channel's audience has not fallen at all over the last five months. — 00:02:44 · Vlogbrothers, YouTube

00:03:13 — Lessons and new ideas; Pizzamas daily videos for two weeks from Monday, titles can be anything; sign-off

  • ★★ Hank says that is how he knows this channel is a different, special thing. — 00:03:13 · Vlogbrothers
  • ★★ Hank says the five-month dumb experiment taught him a lot and inspired new things the brothers can do together, though he is ecstatic it's over. — 00:03:13
  • ★★★ Hank says they finished the video before Pizzamas: for the next two weeks from Monday he and John will trade videos every weekday, as in 2007. — 00:03:13 · Pizzamas, John Green
  • ★★ Hank says the titles of those videos can be anything, which is exciting and terrifying. (playful) — 00:03:13

In the description and comments

  • ★★ The description says this title is the leftover interstitial bits of All Star not yet used in Vlogbrothers titles, so they are done; Pizzamas begins next week (week of 5 October 2020). (playful) — video description · Pizzamas
  • ★ The description notes Hank made the video the day before, when there was less news, but he doesn't know if he would have done anything different. — video description
  • ★★★ The description says compassion is not forgiveness and not something done for someone else, but something that helps Hank understand the world better. — video description · empathy
  • ★★★ The description says Hank doesn't want Donald Trump to suffer, from illness or from his terror of losing power, his mistaking cruelty for toughness, or his belief that illness is a character flaw. — video description · Donald Trump
  • ★★ The description says Trump's suffering has caused suffering for millions, and not wanting him ill does not change anyone's fury and sadness at that. — video description · Donald Trump
  • ★★ The description says Hank doesn't know what Trump's diagnosis means; he is sick of this year's (2020) uncertainty but shouldn't pretend to know things he doesn't. (unsure) — video description · Donald Trump

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: All Star

Also: COVID-19 pandemic · Crash Course · Pizzamas · SciShow · Smash Mouth · YouTube

Only in the description or credits: Donald Trump · empathy

Also centred on All Star: hey now · YOU'RE AN ALL STAR! · Didn't Make Sense Not to Live for Fun · All That Glitters Is Gold

Later videos replying to this one

Part of an exchange of 5 videos, 2020-10-02 – 2020-10-09.