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The ultimate fate of YouTube stars

sinkfla87

Member
My 10 year old stepson likes to watch some dude who plays Minecraft and calls his channel "Preston plays". One day last year, he asked his mom and I if he could have 5 dollars so he could chat in his stream as chat was disabled unless you "donated". We both thought that was fucking ridiculous and dumb but said fuck it, if it makes him happy we'll be nice and let him do it one time. So he gets access to chat and was happy that this guy gave him a shout out. Shortly thereafter, my stepson asked if he (Preston) would subscribe to HIS YouTube channel (which is quite barren as he doesn't really know what he's doing but just wants to be like this Preston Plays guy) and the dude rudely called him out for "self promotion" which he "should know is not allowed". Fuck that guy.

So I hope that guys fate is failure lol.
 

MGrant

Member
My 10 year old stepson likes to watch some dude who plays Minecraft and calls his channel "Preston plays". One day last year, he asked his mom and I if he could have 5 dollars so he could chat in his stream as chat was disabled unless you "donated". We both thought that was fucking ridiculous and dumb but said fuck it, if it makes him happy we'll be nice and let him do it one time. So he gets access to chat and was happy that this guy gave him a shout out. Shortly thereafter, my stepson asked if he (Preston) would subscribe to HIS YouTube channel (which is quite barren as he doesn't really know what he's doing but just wants to be like this Preston Plays guy) and the dude rudely called him out for "self promotion" which he "should know is not allowed". Fuck that guy.

So I hope that guys fate is failure lol.

Sad story. Never meet your heroes.
 
My 10 year old stepson likes to watch some dude who plays Minecraft and calls his channel "Preston plays". One day last year, he asked his mom and I if he could have 5 dollars so he could chat in his stream as chat was disabled unless you "donated". We both thought that was fucking ridiculous and dumb but said fuck it, if it makes him happy we'll be nice and let him do it one time. So he gets access to chat and was happy that this guy gave him a shout out. Shortly thereafter, my stepson asked if he (Preston) would subscribe to HIS YouTube channel (which is quite barren as he doesn't really know what he's doing but just wants to be like this Preston Plays guy) and the dude rudely called him out for "self promotion" which he "should know is not allowed". Fuck that guy.

So I hope that guys fate is failure lol.
:(

I'd subscribe to him!
 

RedHill

Banned
As a casual watcher, I much prefer the You Tubers over the f**king beggars on Twitch ... asking for f**king money.

I just find it fucking pathetic... putting on makeup and showing a bit of cleavage and asking for donations.... you have working hands... legs... get off your ass and get a job...
Why are you so upset? Someone is making money on their own.
 
The smart ones continue in the media business somewhere behind the scenes or use their contacts to get a job at another company. The really smart ones save up their money and retire early if the income allows it. The others will just be like everyone else and get a job wherever.
 

Phased

Member
As a casual watcher, I much prefer the You Tubers over the f**king beggars on Twitch ... asking for f**king money.

I just find it fucking pathetic... putting on makeup and showing a bit of cleavage and asking for donations.... you have working hands... legs... get off your ass and get a job...

I mean I've never seen someone do that and I wouldn't watch them if they did. It sounds like you need to expand who you watch.

Most people have a donation thing in the top corner but it sounds like you have some other issues with them besides that.

I also don't think you realize how much work it takes to be a successful streamer or youtuber. You're usually easily surpassing a 40 hour work week, especially if you want your channel to grow. They're not just sitting on their asses and making money, they're working for it and props to them.

It's a new generation and they're finding new ways to make money and a living. Just because it doesn't mesh with what is traditionally a job doesn't mean they aren't working for it.
 

daegan

Member
As a casual watcher, I much prefer the You Tubers over the f**king beggars on Twitch ... asking for f**king money.

I just find it fucking pathetic... putting on makeup and showing a bit of cleavage and asking for donations.... you have working hands... legs... get off your ass and get a job...

You sure the problem is that they're begging? Because this reads hella misogynistic.
 

sn00zer

Member
I think they are going to have a real hard time locking down jobs in their respective fields if their resume has 5 years of streaming video games on it. Im actually curious how ppl would feel about it from a recruiters standpoint
 

daegan

Member
I think they are going to have a real hard time locking down jobs in their respective fields if their resume has 5 years of streaming video games on it. Im actually curious how ppl would feel about it from a recruiters standpoint

Means they're great self-promoters and either learned how to do their own graphics and technical aspects or teamed with someone who did. A lot of these ppl if they want to move to standard employment should be able to take on, say, broadcast work for local sports.
 

Max_Po

Banned
You sure the problem is that they're begging? Because this reads hella misogynistic.

Well, as I stated.... I watch one twitch video... maybe once every 3 months only to see the pathetic attempts at asking .... for money again and again...
 

sn00zer

Member
Means they're great self-promoters and either learned how to do their own graphics and technical aspects or teamed with someone who did. A lot of these ppl if they want to move to standard employment should be able to take on, say, broadcast work for local sports.
That I don't disagree just curious about someone in STEM
 
I think theyll have a small legion of fans but for the most part will disappear into obscurity. Just like 1-hit wonder bands etc. theres always someone new for the youth to get addicted to. Look at the musician turnover rate.
 
so basically youtube stars are like porn stars

Ehhh. I don't think there's a porn star who's earned a tenth as much as some these youtubers, excepting the ones who own their own studio/production pipeline.

They're more like TV stars who can't make a reasonable transition. That is, how they're viewed will be largely dependent on how successful they are while they're active; no one's going to say Jerry Seinfeld is a failure just because he doesn't really work anymore.
 

Squire

Banned
Do most people work a constant job in their 60s?

I think it'll be like many entertainment industry stuff, in all honesty. Some will remain relevant, most will die out, some will make a place in history.

In the US most people don't max their retirement plan until ~65. His is assuming they even have one, too.

Edit: You're well-informed!
 
My best mate is a youtube star, one of the OGs so he's been doing it for ages.

He doesn't need to work now due to having serious cash to sit on. He has finance advisors who invest his money carefully. He is doing other stuff like making card games and writing a show for Disney and that.

It's the same as any famous people really, you just have to be smart how you move on after the moment passes. He still makes videos for fun tho.
 

Volimar

Member
I mean, most people don't keep their same job for their whole lives, why should we expect youtubers and twitch streamers to be any different? In the meantime they get paid to do what they love, meet some pretty interesting people and network with folks that can help them get into something else eventually. I don't knock anyone for doing it as long as they can.



Also I don't mind the like and subscribe reminders because I often forget. <.<
 

soultron

Banned
Not sure how much longer YT will last as a major source of income for some, seeing as how it seems even harder to make money from it as a result of the latest changes to monetization.
 
I find YouTube way more annoying than Twitch. I can't stand those edited thumbnails designed specifically to mislead people into clicking on it. You can tell a video is mostly phoned in if it's just past 10 minutes in length since that's the minimum length needed for whatever reason. I get that some people don't like Twitch for the overlays and the subscription and donation notifications, but that's the heart of Twitch streaming. With Twitch it's really important to engage your audience and people just like having their shoutout live on stream.
 
This always makes me laugh. Like, bruh, I know how YouTube works. I'll subscribe if I like your content enough, relax.

Statistically speaking, you absolutely get more likes, comments and subscribers if you say that. By a very noticeable amount. So if you want to do as well as possible on Youtube you have to. If you don't you are losing on subscribers.

Like, comment, subscribe is that one item in a game that literally every single character build needs because it's so powerful but it sucks that there are no other options.
 
As a casual watcher, I much prefer the You Tubers over the f**king beggars on Twitch ... asking for f**king money.

I just find it fucking pathetic... putting on makeup and showing a bit of cleavage and asking for donations.... you have working hands... legs... get off your ass and get a job...

You can call them beggars but that's an outdated way of thinking.
 

Amory

Member
I think they'll be around for a good long time in some form, I mean what else are they gonna do? YouTube in a lot of cases is their career. They need money.
 

Ray Wonder

Founder of the Wounded Tagless Children
I see a lot of them fading out. The Creatures were huge, now their main guy Kootra has 942,126 subscribers but gets less than 5,000 views per video on average.
 
I think they'll be around for a good long time in some form, I mean what else are they gonna do? YouTube in a lot of cases is their career. They need money.

That they need it is a given. The question is whether they'll keep getting it.

I can't see most big YT people today still producing content and making career-worthy money on it in say, 5-10 years.

Of course, the biggest people, like Pewdiepie, will be fine financially.
 

depths20XX

Member
Well, as I stated.... I watch one twitch video... maybe once every 3 months only to see the pathetic attempts at asking .... for money again and again...

So basically you have no clue what you're talking about, cool.

To you twitch is "boob streamers with too much makeup". You sound like an ass to be honest.
 
As a casual watcher, I much prefer the You Tubers over the f**king beggars on Twitch ... asking for f**king money.

I just find it fucking pathetic... putting on makeup and showing a bit of cleavage and asking for donations.... you have working hands... legs... get off your ass and get a job...

Did you realize halfway through this that fuck wasn't censored here or...?
 
You don't see how a single man with no kids would have more time to dedicate to his work than a married man who has to help raise children?

He also goes into how he doesn't really feel comfortable shouting "fuck!" at the top of his lungs for a gag now that he has a child in the house, so he has to work around the family's schedule.

Well, most people have children and still work a 9-5 job. If AVGN is his job than I don't see the big problem. In fact, if it allows him to stay home he might be better for it.
 
i always feel a little bad for the youtubers that drive around in lambos and live in huge appartments and then freak the fuck out everytime youtube adjusts their algorithms a bit.

i'm sure many will be fine but save a little goddamn and diversify.
 

Ray Wonder

Founder of the Wounded Tagless Children
i always feel a little bad for the youtubers that drive around in lambos and live in huge appartments and then freak the fuck out everytime youtube adjusts their algorithms a bit.

i'm sure many will be fine but save a little goddamn and diversify.

Ad revenue shot down across the board on any channel that's not PG. A lot of them have basically stopped making the content they used to make, because they couldn't afford to keep up that style of video where no ads would run. It's a big deal, these are jobs.
 
Ad revenue shot down across the board on any channel that's not PG. A lot of them have basically stopped making the content they used to make, because they couldn't afford to keep up that style of video where no ads would run. It's a big deal, these are jobs.

i know but they are jobs that are completely at the mercy of youtube. you don't have a contract with job security. if you don't make yourself independent from ad revenue and save a little you are doing it wrong.
 

Murkas

Member
Complain about advertisers pulling out ruining their livelihoods rather than evaluating their content or blaming the more popular youtubers bringing in PR disasters in the first place, instead stand by them.
 

Ray Wonder

Founder of the Wounded Tagless Children
i know but they are jobs that are completely at the mercy of youtube. you don't have a contract with job security. if you don't make yourself independent from ad revenue and save a little you are doing it wrong.

No you're right, they should have a back up. But I don't mind them freaking out, because that shits scary. If the company I worked at told me they couldn't get anymore contracts, and started cutting time, I'd be scared af.
 
No you're right, they should have a back up. But I don't mind them freaking out, because that shits scary. If the company I worked at told me they couldn't get anymore contracts, and started cutting time, I'd be scared af.

that's different though. you can't really get employed full time by two different companies. i have my own firm, if i only had one client and that client dropped me i would be in huge trouble but it would be my own fault for not pursuing other clients. i wouldn't blame the company from moving on. they sat on their ass for years thinking that the money train will never stop.
 
Complain about advertisers pulling out ruining their livelihoods rather than evaluating their content or blaming the more popular youtubers bringing in PR disasters in the first place, instead stand by them.

Even completely innocuous news channels have been hit extremely hard by the adpocolypse. I'm talking stuff that is comparably innocuous to NPC and other major outlets. Shit's rough for everyone.

i know but they are jobs that are completely at the mercy of youtube. you don't have a contract with job security. if you don't make yourself independent from ad revenue and save a little you are doing it wrong.

That's the problem with a monopoly. If you want to make video entertainment on the internet Youtube is the only game in town.
 
Even completely innocuous news channels have been hit extremely hard by the adpocolypse. I'm talking stuff that is comparably innocuous to NPC and other major outlets. Shit's rough for everyone.



That's the problem with a monopoly. If you want to make video entertainment on the internet Youtube is the only game in town.

I suspect we'll see a split over time, between the people who started making video content because Youtube exists and they use it and it just seems a natural fit, and the people who, like generations before them, just want to make content, and Youtube happens to be the best platform for it today.

The latter group will be fine. The former, I'm not so sure about.
 
As long as people keep watching they'll stick around. People like the GameGrumps like to joke that they won't be around in 5 years anyway, (They've already been around 5 now.) but pretty much all of them in their group have other jobs. Danny's a musician, as is his sidekick, Arin does voice work a lot and acting. These people already know the well could dry up any day so they're not just standing around.

I'm not 100% sure that most of them really treat it that way. I think GG is kind of one of the more unique examples, in that they used their income to basically turn a 2/3 person operation into a proper office and studio from which everyone in the group can do their work + GG videos. They've also been very good about networking, hiring a manager, etc. I'd argue that they're probably one of the more "ready" Youtube channels when it comes to dealing with what happens when/if things go south.

But a lot of other channels are still mostly solo-ish operations, which tends to lead to people saying stupid shit publicly or making a boneheaded move, etc.

Ultimately I think people need to be smart about this whole thing and evolve with the times. Use your money wisely, hire people who can figure out your finances, invest, work toward something else off to the side.
 
What do you think? Will guys like PewDiePie go down in history as equivalents to some of Hollywood's golden age stars, or are they all just a flash in the pan?

they will go down in history as the people who commented on Hollywood's golden age stars. everyone still remembers Clark Gable nobody cares about the critics that were around at the time. nobody remembers the bottom feeders.
 

Kthulhu

Member
Entertainment on the internet is still in a relatively early stage. We have no idea how it will evolve as time goes on. The people who started it may end up as dominate forces like Machinima or Rooster Teeth, or them may move on to do a more normal job.
 
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