Some Youtubers who are failing at Steemin - Do they know why?

in #steem6 years ago (edited)

There has been a number of youtubers that have joined our platform since the beginning of Steem, only to give up a short time later. I often wonder if these youtubers know the reasons why the experiment didn't work for them, or if they know but not care. I suspect some imagined that solely with name recognition they could have made tons of money on Steem, but soon found out it was a lot more complicated than that.



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Is it a perfect match?


It sure seems ideal to me, at least I imaged it to be ideal when I first thought about inviting some. After youtube starting cracking down with the "adpocalypse" many of its original stars started to look elsewhere for refuge. I remember thinking that the somewhat tragic reality, could be a blessing in disguise for hard working content creators who where getting the raw end of the stick.

A few of them join, a few of them had great success for a little while, but then... What happened? I mean, I'm asking a serious question, most of the support dried up, their momentum came to almost a complete stop. Yes, there are some youtubers who "made it" here too, who where able to adjust to the different dynamics, but I'm convinced they are in the minority.

People expect different


I think I don't speak only for myself. If a youtuber jumps on to the platform and posts and runs sort of speak, I will probably stop following him and supporting him. Does that make me a bad person? someone who doesn't care? I don't think so. I seriously expect different, and I'm not talking about upvotes from the content creator on my comments, I'm talking about interaction, conversations, civil disagreements and engagement with us, the audience.

If there is no audience engagement, Why would people visit the content creator on Steem? specially if the youtuber is just embedding files. It makes very little sense to me. We all have the ability to visit youtube and watch the very same video, so its as if we are running in a circle before entering our own house.

This is why I'm asking these questions, because I doubt that most of them are that unaware of the dynamics at play here. I doubt that successful content creators on youtube, who had to work hard to grow their channels believe that the Steem journey was going to pre-digested for them.

And also....

Investors want to see more


If they see that the youtuber stopped promoting Steem on their other social media, they are likely to stop sending those big votes their way. Why would they effectively reward copy pasting? Because they have a name? Honestly without interaction and conversation at times some youtuber accounts look like fakes, as if someone is just impersonating the content creator.

I wonder if youtubers who are failing to garnish support know this. I wonder if they think at times the reasons why the generous whale upvotes have dried up. I wonder if they think - "Well, my video on vegan pudin was awesome, they are idiots if they don't upvote it" and leave it at that.

Are they really that clueless? I'm not trying to be insulting, I just want to understand the logic or lack thereof. What is the equation that landed them there? I seriously want to know.

The long breaks are Steemian Suicide


I wonder if they figured that one out yet, I seriously do. If they are active one week and then stop posting for 14 days, I wonder if they are confused as to why the post made close to nothing. They might be seeing the follower count increase and wrongfully think that's organic growth.

I don't know what the percentages are, but most of the followers accounts get, specially the semi-inactive ones are spammers and bots. Would that knowledge be news to them? Would knowing that give them a good idea of what is going on?

I'm not saying a youtuber needs to upload every single day to dtube or dlive. I'm just suggesting they should be active, commenting somewhere, maybe sharing a freaking selfie, I'm serious. People forget quick, people are hungering for some sort of special connection.

Why so different?


I imagine a youtuber might ask. I don't have an uncomplicated answer, I just have a long rant that I can share that maybe, just maybe will land in deaf ears. I'm starting to think that most youtubers won't ever make it on here, at least not with the current dapps and social culture. Most of them will find this too confusing, too alien.

A few days ago @ankapolo and I where having breakfast with some friends, she drew something on a napkin and her thoughts eventually became a great post on this very topic.




I think this image speaks volumes, I think the lack of "social weight" on Youtube is what has made a lot of youtubers inept when it comes to interacting with their audience on Steem. I'm sorry if that sounds offensive, but I'm observing the results myself and I'm standing in awe. I don't think they see it, I don' think they get it.

I realize this post, this akward rant is quite incomplete. I have more questions than I have answers, but I wish I could sit down and have a conversation with a youtuber that is considering leaving Steem. I would love to get their input, listen to the reason why they say "Yeah.... its not working out".


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Until Steemit gets hit with the deluge of general internet population, most established people are going to struggle to get or keep any traction. This is currently a platform full of people who are trying to BUILD SOMETHING.

If you are not also trying to build it or at least understand that is the attitude here...you're going to struggle. This isn't a place where you can just slap some hashtags up and wait for people to find you. You have to go out and find them. You have to interact, make friends, find like minded people with like minded interests.

This is a creator friendly platform, different that just a platform where you can put up content...meaning a little personality goes a long way. Say you put up some great video...good for you...but who the fuck are you? How did you do it? what are you trying to accomplish? Just slapping stuff up here is like having a DVD with no directors commentary or deleted scenes.

Steemit (currently) isn't just another social media site to post to, it's a different kind of site, with a different type of denizen.

Me, myself, personally...this is just what I've been looking for. The people here are enthusiastic, ambitious, understand that content has value...AND you have to earn it. Fine by me!

share your idea and i think steemit helpeed me (still does it) a lot to understand how to interact and give some more of me than my product, i think that's the north, be more you than the things that you do. you feel? ahahaha

I think you are kicking some butt... I see the way you interact with people, you figured this one out quick.

Thanks, I think getting out of the gate okay. It's less of me figuring things out and more of "oh...this is a place that's actually close to a level playing field...game on."

^^ Why this guy is one of my favorite new posters.

aw shucks (blushes)

Don't you have more pressing matters....like running out for some more toilet paper.

I don't need toilet paper, my metabolism is so highly evolved that every single molecule I intake is converted into energy.

I don't know why this site sometimes mixes up the replies, the reply was meant for the guy above you....sorry about that.

I recently wrote a blog about my experiences in a blogging community 14 years ago (!) (yes, quite similar to Steemit, minus the 'real' rewards!), and at some point wrote the following:

[...] the whole social media era became more pronounced and I feel that started an era where a lot changed: people either stopped blogging on a platform and turn to short 'I just ate lunch' updates on Hyves (Dutch) / MySpace / Facebook, or became the pioneers in 'name branding' where you would gather a following around your name, brand, and individual website.

That whole 'name branding' (identity marketing) is what made 'social media' actually 'narcissism media'. People made a name, got followers, and those followers would (do) treat you like a celebrity. (Which you are in a way of course.)

Steemit is going back to that old community again where I already had so much fun 14 years ago. Steemit reminds me of that. But as it was then, and as it is now: this is not 'post and run' as you call it, this is 'post and connect', or else your stuff won't even be seen or read or commented on...

The change will take a bit longer for those who got big in the narcissism era, but for us here: we already get it. The rest will follow. It's simply time to really connect again, instead of put people who don't give (back) on a pedestal.

My VP is shot, shot to smithereens, but your observation is so freaking accurate, i had to put one more nail in the coffin!

That is precisely it...

That vote takes you literally hours to recover from, so I appreciate it anyway :') :D

(If I were from the narcissism era I would now run and never come back though ;-))

Yes, that would be the case... I'm grateful thats not where we stand today... I really am

So, I gotta ask, any tips for the whole post and connect strategy? Should I just be basically following everyone and commenting as much as possible? Or is there more to it than that. Everywhere you turn on here....well everywhere I turn on here...it seems like someone's trying to sell me engagement. I find your suggestion that I could organically connect with people intriguing, and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

I think you and @ankapolo have it nailed; reading this I realize that even on YouTube itself I tend to follow content creators who do engage with their public... And I know at least one who does so much interacting and posts daily... I may invite him yet! ;-)

Thanks for some good thinkythingy... :-)

Congrats on your last Curie my friend, you are kicking some butt... really enjoyed it.

thanks brother :-) dunno what happened there, but I'm not complaining ;-)

Completely agree. @Ankapolo was also totally spot on with her infographic Venn diagrams.
This place is special, and it is different.

It does require a different kind of mind-set to succeed. It requires an appreciation for the novelty of this model of social media, the up-to-know still very raw and undefined potential of it, and what sets it apart from other forms of social media.

This is a niche community. It's unique.
It should be viewed as such, respected as such...

The idea that because someone has achieved success on the mainstream Instagram/Twitter/Facebook/YouTube trail does not mean that can easily convert on here...

Steem is a radically-different beast, and so far, @ankapolo and you have both explained in wonderfully illustrative terms the variety of complex factors that allow people to make it, or break it here.

Steemit does require a kind of omnipresence and certain works better for the individual who can gather and harness momentum and a crowd of active followers.

Otherwise it's very easy to sink to the bottom of the pit and never see the light of day here.

I love this platform.

At times, it has really treated me well, especially when I was giving it was it actually deserves. Quality, care, attention, responsiveness, passion, creativity...

Give it anything less, and it'll start telling you "Okay, you're not really adding any value here. Why would we be allocating resources your way?"

Great post @meno
Xx

At times, it has really treated me well, especially when I was giving it was it actually deserves. Quality, care, attention, responsiveness, passion, creativity...

Give it anything less, and it'll start telling you "Okay, you're not really adding any value here. Why would we be allocating resources your way?"

Excellent attitude to have, if more people adopted it, they would do so much better.

Followers on Utube are exactly that, followers, not content producers, if they were content producers they wouldn't be followers they'd be producing content. Unless you make worth people's time to be talking to themselves making comments they aren't going to stay they will always go back to where the live action is at....unless you live in a third world country and you really, really need the pennies.

interesting observation. This is currently the case, no doubt.

That @ankapolo post is great. (Even if my first urge seeing that Venn is to try to put all social media on the McDonalds chart.) Thank you for pointing me at it.

I gave her major props for it... the visuals really help understand it all.

I wasn't really into this topic but I can see why/how this might be a problem.

Posting content regulary and constantly is important and also helps with socializing with your fanbase, so not upholding that will hurt you in the long one run, no matter whether you are on YT or here on Steemit.

Someone who has had success with Youtube should know this, especially if that someone is a bigger youtuber who also uses other social media like instagram of twitter.

I also find that a lot of bigger youtubers do not interact all that well with their viewers. A lot of times, you see comment sections where there is maybe one comment of the creator where he says something about the video and then, most of the time, nothing else.

A lot of youtubers also just create entertaining low quality content which may be entertaining to some but might be more geared towards another audience than the one Steemit offers.

I agree 100% low quality content is frowned upon here, which is both good and worrying. I mean, if a youtuber can be succesful making terrible videos, but can't do the same here. What does that say about us? Are we into elitism? I'm asking a serious question, as stupid as it may sound.

"Oh no, you must be an intellectual to make it on Steem". That does not sound like a good sales pitch.

Are we into elitism?

Personally I am very into elitism. I want to be the best at it.

I don't think anyone needs to be an intellectual, but it's important to have something compelling about your content or your story. There are all sorts of directions that can go. With very few exceptions, humans are pretty interesting to other humans.

I get you poly 100% because I share in your disdain for stupidity however, is that culture a blockade for mainstream adoption?

I'm not being facetious, I'm serious. Are we going to let the grandma's share their prayers with spelling mistakes? Or are we going to flag them, because they spelled jesus without a capital letter like I just did?

Now im being facetious. But my point stands.

I was thinking about replying to this comment when @whatsup said a lot of my same thoughts about mainstream adoption but better than I would have. https://steemit.com/steem/@whatsup/user-retention-this-is-our-community

I can be quite an elitist myself if the topic I am concerned with is something I am passionate about. Thing when it comes to blogging is that there is no definition of what is "the best". It is about having topics or styles that are supposed to suit certain tastes. Not everyone likes everyones style and there are more people who do not care about a topic like exotic butters than the other way around.

Yet if someone is passionate about that topic and wants to write here, thinking that he may actually reach a couple people, he should be allowed to do so. If he doesn't, he will stop eventually and if he just makes one persons life better, even by a little, he has done a great enough job in my book.

Not everyone who starts with Steemit has to become a great contributor of the highest class, in fact, I think that Steemit would be very frustrating to deal with if that were the case.

We can also observe this on youtube. There are channels that handle all kinds of obscure topics, some with actual high quality and indepth videos, others just entertain for the sake of entertaining and there is a demographic as well for that.

Steemit has great plans for growth and for that to happen, either the target demographic has to broaden up or people in general have to become much more picky and interested in quality content that they can't get on places like Reddit.

I think the specific niches might do better when there are more active users on the platform. Its a numbers game, but I get where you are coming from.

Steemit also always has the appeal of being a very crypto centric platform in times where crypto is as relevant as it has never been before, so over time, that will draw in even more people as well.

on my way to read it, thanks for pointing it out.

In my personal opinion it's the biggest obstacle Steemit faces.

Yeah, well what can we save about a guy who doesn't value the marginal up votes of the small fish to begin with, as in your own words you rather manipulate the system for selfish gain. We got that I don't think you need to keep repeating it.

Exactly. I've been saying that since day one on here. Basically there are creators of content then there is those who read it and comment on it. The problem with Steemit is there is no live action interaction...why?...because most those people who do that well (blog) left offended and/or bored. This site may pay but it doesn't pay well enough to be offended and/or bored.

A lot of good questions here Meno.
I think you're right that they're clueless with how this particular platform works.
Platforms like Instagram require daily posts and story posts.
Facebook is kinda similar, but the posts don't need to be daily.
Youtube doesn't work well that way. It's more like watching your favourite TV show. The Youtuber post must be at least once per week, but probably not more than a few per week. Of course, that greatly depends upon the type of content and audience, but if a Youtuber has become successful, it is because they've spent years working that platform (or they made a video that went viral or both) whilst working intimately with the analytics.
It is vastly different to Steemit and I am guessing that many of them don't want to start from scratch again or perhaps their model of business strategy excludes spending so much time on interaction, rather than high-quality content creation.
This is where I think there are potential flaws in Steemit.
If it leans too much on interaction then it inspires lower quality content creation. Yet, if there's not enough interaction then you lose your audience.
I'm still excited by Steemit, but the interactivity, whilst a lot of fun, can be a distraction from attaining goals of making high quality content.
I personally want to find a balance somewhere in the middle of those two poles.
I can understand why a Youtuber wouldn't feel like starting from scratch.
That could be rather despiriting.
But it might also be laziness and with the nature of how quickly platforms can and will get replaced by newer platforms in this digital era (and that process will speed up), it is probably dangerous to get lazy with adaptation.
They'll probably find themselves coming back to Steemit or something similar and realising that they'd have to start from scracth anyway if they wish to keep up with the changing times.
But if they are already earning good money for their efforts on Youtube, they probably don't yet see the benefits of dropping the ball on that platform just yet in order to adopt a vastly more time consuming platform like Steemit.
Anyway, they're some of my thoughts inspired by your thoughts...
:)
Blissful blessings and smiles
in joy
Nathan
NK

It is vastly different to Steemit and I am guessing that many of them don't want to start from scratch again or perhaps their model of business strategy excludes spending so much time on interaction, rather than high-quality content creation.

That might be the main reason... I'm trying to think like one, this one would make sense... I think its short sighted, myopic, but this one would make sense.

I agree that it's short-sighted and myopic, but it's the most likely reason they aren't sticking with it...

You are not ranting at all, you are speaking sense though in such an hard way. Lol

Truths are bitter, remember!

Comparing the two platform to be operating in the manner is the mistake anybody Youtuber can make. You can dump your videos on Youtube, you don't need to be actively online before people would check on them, but not on steemit.

Another thing that's killing them here is ago, because their content don't struggle before people see them on youtube due to the reputation they have built for such a long time, they think such a reputation can be easily transferred here. Hell no! It can't work. You have to build your rep here too

If you don't interact, I don't see you amounting to anything on steemit...

Thank you as always dear friend.

It's almost as if we have to remind some of them of the meaning of the word "social" right?

I agree Steemit puts way more emphasis on social commitment than youtube does. Youtube growth is highly linked to it´s ranking algorithms.

There are basically 3 kinds of viewers. The ones super interested in the topic of your video, the ones slightly interested and the ones who don´t give a flying fuck. The first group is likely to click on your video and watch it entirely which gives you plenty of watch time. The size of this group is just not so big.

The second group is the one you want to drag to your video by optimizing the video wherever you can. Make them click on the video by having a good title and thumbnail, than try to make them watch the video longer than the 20-30 second mark etc.

On steemit only upvotes and the value of the upvotes count. That means you have to make the second group not only to click on your video and watch it you have to convince them to sacrifice voting power. That´s why it is a good idea to basically make friends that will upvote your posts on a regular base.

So, I guess they just post their stuff here and expect to be successful. Just as you basically said they don´t give their viewers any incentive to upvote them regularly.

Rants are fine if they are well reasoned imo ;-)

Excellent way of breaking it down. Maybe this is the one line that will give them the cold water bucket moment.

"You can't expect alogorithms to do your heavy lifting" <---- I will use this line one day, I'm sure.

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