I’ve been vlogging on YouTube for just over a year now. In this year, I’ve managed to meet so many wonderful people, Declan Proud (Moohalaa), Tom Milsom (Hexachordal) and Chris Lomas (Lomasca) to name a few.
The first gathering I went to was the Nerdfighter Gathering in June 2009. It was organised by Charlie McDonnell (Charlieissocoollike) and Maureen Johnson. I went there and was very nervous as I recognised everyone but was too scared to say anything because I felt, for some reason, that they were better than me.
The only person I could talk to was Tom Milsom, as I had spoken to him on Skype several times and he seemed like (and indeed is) a normal person. I had no problem talking to him.
I left that gathering thinking; ‘that was a lot of fun’ but then it was only a few days after I thought: ‘no it wasn’t, I didn’t do anything’.
After a while I went to a few more gatherings and got to know more people, georgieBOOM, CheekTV, Nerimon, just really nice, down to earth people. These people are willing to talk to people and go round a group just asking if you’re ok.
But some people will only stay with the people who are “famous”. Tom from RandomProdInc only stays with his “famous” friends. Tino from Tinoforever only stays with his “famous” friends. I just don’t get it.
‘Hi how are ya?’
That takes no effort at all.
It just seems to me that if you have fewer than 1,000 subscribers, to some people, you’re invisible.
This was done purely to catch the attention of bigger YouTubers. Please, make the effort to see people who are your fans.
At the Nerdfighter Gathering, someone who I found very approachable was Myles Dyer a.k.a. Blade376. He makes the effort. I’m not asking to spend 5 hours having a chat with one person then another 5 hours with another person, I’m simply saying, please just say “Hi” to the people that think you’re brilliant, instead of just ignoring them.
To conclude, if you are a big YouTuber and have a moderately large following, please say “Hi” to the people who take the time to do what you ask them to: rate, comment and subscribe.
well said tim! this is why your one of my fav youtubers, u always take the time to talk to me :)
ReplyDeleteThere is a lot of truth in what you say here. I've been going to Gatherings now for neatly 18 months and there has been a definite change in atmosphere in the more recent ones, a change not for the better.
ReplyDeleteA shame, as the first ones I went to were such amazing things.
Well, it's those Youtuber's loss, Imorale actions make imorale people...
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't take a whole lot of effort to interact with online friends and fans either though!,I mean it's generally the nicer and more appropriate thing to do. Fame at ANY level is something that can grab people even if that level of fame does range to a Youtuber with 1000 subscribers.
Nice Blog Tim.
This blog post should be required reading for any YouTuber who ventures forth to any real world gathering. Hope those going to vidcon will read it.
ReplyDeletethat would really suck if all the "popular" YTers stayed to themselves! i mean, at the end of the day, VidCon is a super-organized mega-gathering. and that's all. no one is better than anyone else, though some are a bit more talented.
ReplyDeleteYouTube itself is really to blame for the change if anyone is. The moment they started paying partners on a basis of views, subscribers etc, they divided YouTubers into two classes. Stop all payments to amateur YouTubers and the problem would go away. In the 'old days', well 2 years ago, people just did it for fun and there were no fans.
ReplyDeleteFame is an over used word and in my book there are probably no YouTubers who deserve the description. May be I would allow it for any who makes more than £100k/year solely from YouTube payments.
I don't expect anything from YouTubers regardless of how many subscribers they happen to have. Commenting or voting are isolated actions for which I don't expect any thanks.
The person you see on a video may be a very different person from the one you meet in the flesh. That is relatively common amongst media types and it doesn't mean they are a nasty person. It is just a consequence of their personality. It doesn't matter. You may be better off not meeting a YouTuber you particularly admire as your illusions may be dashed!
So may be some advice for YouTubers who make money out of YouTube. If you make more than £1000/year from YouTube and you go to a gathering, mingle with strangers. If you don't enjoy mingling, don't go to gatherings. If you earn less than £100k/year from YouTube, you are not famous!
Keep in mind that if someone isn't talking to you, it might not be because they're being rude. I myself am quite a shy person and I find it hard to talk to people at Youtube gatherings, especially people that I've never met before. Just be careful not to generalise.
ReplyDeleteIt might sound like I hate socialising by that comment haha, but I just meant that I find it difficult. I love meeting the people that watch me on Youtube, I just hate that the image they get of me when they meet me is that I stand awkwardly looking at my feet.
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice if one or two of these 'celebrities' might care to remember who it was that made them celebrities - the average YouTube viewer clicking on the Subscribe button!
ReplyDeleteHowever,
you've also got to remember that for many who put videos up onto YouTube, they do it because they are not good at directly interacting with other people, but feel safe doing things like videos from the security of a known environment (usually home). So from here they come across as a fun, relaxed, easy-going person, and that is of course how the rest of the population perceive them. So when they come to Gatherings , something outside their comfort zone, they tend to act in a way totally unexpected by the crowds there.
The thing is, life requires you to interact with others, and if you can't get used to doing this from the relatively safe situation of a Gathering, then come the time of leaving school and finding jobs and living life as an adult, you're going to be in the shit.
So for those 'shy' celebrities out there, use Gatherings as a way of forcing yourself to practice interacting with others - however much you may find it difficult.
And for the confident celebrities, just remember who it is who views your videos and boosts up your subscription numbers, so go and be nice to them.
For without them you would be nothing.
@StressedTechnician I agree about how people can be different on camera because they're more confident in their own home, alone.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that shy people feel unsafe at social situations like gatherings in the sense that they're going to get attacked or anything, just a bit scared of speaking to people in general. Well, I'm only speaking for myself here, I don't know what other Youtubers views are on this.