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I Know How to Fix YouTube Rewind

2022-12-02 · letter vlog · Hank · 3:53 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Internet & YouTube · mode: Personal essay · tags: timely hook

Hank says YouTube Rewind failed once YouTube stopped being one community and a YouTube video became a kind of content rather than a genre, and proposes reviving it as a personal recap like Spotify Wrapped, with stats and messages for viewers and 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 — History of YouTube Rewind from the 2010 top-10 list to Rewind 2014

  • ★★ Hank says YouTube Rewind began in 2010 as a top-10 list of the year's most popular videos, possible when a viral video happened maybe once a week rather than a hundred times a day as now. — 00:00:00 · YouTube
  • ★★ Hank says Rewind became itself in 2012, bringing many top YouTubers into studios together to be part of the memes. — 00:00:00 · YouTube
  • ★★ Hank felt left out not being in Rewind that year or the next, then they slipped into Rewind 2014, maybe the series' peak. — 00:00:00

00:00:29 — Genre versus kind of content; the Spotify rewind thought experiment and Wrapped; the disliked 2018 and 2019 Rewinds

  • ★★★ Hank says even Rewind 2014 shows the problem: a YouTube video was already shifting from a genre of content to a kind of content, a shift that happened between 2016 and 2018. — 00:00:29 · YouTube
  • ★★ Hank's thought experiment: a 'Spotify rewind' video summing up the whole music industry's year in six minutes, which no one wants because it makes no sense. (hypothetical) — 00:00:29
  • ★★ Hank says that since 2016 Spotify does Wrapped, a recap of what each user enjoyed in music and podcasts, which people liked then and still like. — 00:00:57
  • ★★★ Hank says by 2018 YouTube was very big, complex and full of scandal: a YouTube video was a kind of content, not a genre, and YouTube was many communities, many disliking each other. — 00:00:57 · YouTube
  • ★★ Hank guesses YouTube must have known people would dislike the 2018 Rewind, but did it anyway because it was the thing they do. (speculative) — 00:01:36 · YouTube
  • ★★ Hank says the 2018 Rewind became the most disliked YouTube video ever; 2019's more polished top-10 was disliked too, and there has been no Rewind since. — 00:01:36 · YouTube

00:02:04 — Proposal: a Wrapped-style personal YouTube Rewind for viewers and creators

  • ★★ Hank says some find Spotify Wrapped annoying, as non-users left out or because music taste doesn't make one interesting, but he is neither kind of person. — 00:02:04
  • ★★★ Hank says Wrapped delivers a lot of value to creators, users and the platform: it shows him whom he loves and gives shareable content that promotes Spotify and its musicians and podcasters. — 00:02:04
  • ★★ Hank says Wrapped especially gives smaller podcasters and musicians a chance to feel appreciated and connect with their audience. — 00:02:34
  • ★★★ Hank proposes bringing back YouTube Rewind, still under that name, as a breakdown of each viewer's year: whom they watched and liked, and whether they are a creator's top fan. — 00:02:34 · YouTube
  • ★★ Hank's recap would count comments, likes, Super Thanks and Super Chats, ideally let viewers message a favorite creator, and the next day give creators their own Rewind with stats and messages. — 00:03:03

00:03:32 — Rewind's original problems fixed; 'put me in coach' and sign-off

  • ★★★ Hank says this fixes Rewind's original problems: having to pick winners, portraying YouTube one particular way, and YouTube no longer being a unified culture. — 00:03:32 · YouTube
  • ★ Hank offers YouTube his consulting: his rates are high but consist entirely of donations to Partners In Health. (playful) — 00:03:32 · YouTube, Partners In Health

In the description and comments

  • ★★ The description says rewatching old Rewinds makes YouTube feel very old and much changed; their vibe differs completely from today's social internet. — video description · YouTube
  • ★★ In a channel comment John calls Hank's proposal an astoundingly good idea. — creator comment

Mentioned

Central: YouTube Rewind

Also: music industry · Partners In Health · Spotify · Spotify Wrapped · Super Chat · Super Thanks · viral video · YouTube

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