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The Real Difference Between YouTube and TikTok

2022-09-23 · letter vlog · Hank · 3:57 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Internet & YouTube · mode: Personal essay · tags: on location

At the YouTube Creator Summit, Hank argues that the real difference between YouTube videos and Shorts, TikToks or Reels is not length or format but whether you choose to watch or choose to keep watching, and that both systems are good, feeds especially for discovering new creators.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — Hank at the YouTube Creator Summit, the first in a long time

  • ★★ Hank is at the YouTube Creator Summit, an event YouTube used to throw for creators, the first in a long time; he is excited to see old friends and make new ones. — 00:00:00 · YouTube

00:00:29 — Shorts as YouTube's biggest shift; YouTube is culturally different from TikTok; the difference is choosing to watch vs to keep watching

  • ★★ Hank says YouTube is undergoing one of its biggest shifts in how content works in a very long time: Shorts, which are what YouTube calls TikToks. — 00:00:29 · YouTube, TikTok
  • ★★ Hank says Shorts are best not called TikToks: YouTube wanted to clone TikTok's effectiveness, but YouTube is culturally very different and it won't be the same thing. — 00:00:29 · YouTube, TikTok
  • ★ Hank shows the thing that says he doesn't have COVID. (playful) — 00:00:58 · COVID-19 pandemic

  • ★★★ Hank says the real difference between a YouTube video and a Short, TikTok or Reel is not being vertical or short, but whether you choose to watch it or choose to keep watching it. — 00:00:58 · TikTok, YouTube

    “it's whether you choose to watch it or whether you choose to keep watching it”

00:01:47 — Choosing videos by title and face vs feeds; feeds open viewers to new creators; the greenhouse analogy

  • ★★ When choosing a YouTube video Hank sees titles, thumbnails and faces of people whose stories he has followed for years; with a feed he only decides which video to keep watching. — 00:01:47 · YouTube
  • ★★ Hank thinks people watch many things in feeds they wouldn't expect to, like fail videos and football highlights, not all of it great. — 00:02:16
  • ★★★ Hank thinks that when you decide whether to keep watching rather than whether to watch, you are much more open to new creators. — 00:02:16
  • ★★★ Hank says both systems are good, though both can work badly if used poorly; he is glad to have both, which at first he wasn't sure of. — 00:02:16
  • ★★★ Hank says systems that allow discovery of new, talented creators are important, and TikTok-like feeds are great for discovery and for building early in a career. — 00:02:45 · TikTok
  • ★★ Hank compares TikTok to a greenhouse: much energy in a small space allowing diversity and thriving, but most things must move out of it to keep growing. — 00:02:45 · TikTok

00:03:14 — Subtle platform differences have massive cultural impact; Pizzamas begins next week

  • ★★★ Hank is amazed how massive an impact subtle changes in content platforms have on culture; they are hard to notice, but noticing them is valuable. — 00:03:14
  • ★★ Hank says he will see John on Monday because Pizzamas begins next week (week of 26 September 2022). — 00:03:44 · Pizzamas

Threads in this video

Mentioned

Central: TikTok · YouTube · YouTube Creator Summit · YouTube Shorts

Also: COVID-19 pandemic · culture · Instagram Reels · Pizzamas

Also centred on YouTube Shorts: Whatcha think???

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