YouTube top earners: A seven-year-old making $22M • Hacker News Board

Re: YouTube top earners: A seven-year-old making $22M

#111

Post by alan_wade » Tue, Dec 04, 2018, 8:44 AM UTC

TravHatesMe wrote: post #16

What I find interesting is that many of these youtubers have created personas to appeal to their audience, like true entertainers. However loyal viewers are fooled into this false sense of reality, where they are friends with content creator and this is not a persona at all, he's my friend. Over time, the content creator and the audience share so many moments together, it becomes an emotional bond and a substitute fo…

You're putting a dark twist on it, but personally, I do feel like many of my favorite youtubers are my friends. I might not be their friend, but I love them, they have taught me a lot, and helped me to get through tough times.

If I'm sad I can always watch their videos and feel happy and connected to other people. I like people who create awesome stuff, I can relate to them a lot more than to the people I meet in real life.

I don't think these feelings are invalid. If people watch someone's content, and learn things, and feel connected, and that makes them feel good and happy - I think that's wonderful.

Besides, it's not like real life people are amazing at being real, everyone has a fake persona they're trying to project. What you can't fake is being funny, insightful, educational, likable, charismatic, talented, inspiring, etc. If you're creating something good, people will like you. Nothing wrong with that.

Re: YouTube top earners: A seven-year-old making $22M

#112

Post by jacquesm » Tue, Dec 04, 2018, 8:45 AM UTC

lazyjones wrote: post #69

zanek wrote: post #29

My 7 year old son watches Dude Perfect on YouTube, which I had never heard of. Apparently its all the rage, in elementary schools and he heard about it via other kids. I watched a few to make sure they were ok, but they mostly came off as older guys doing elaborate stunts that kids would do on a much smaller scale (like throwing balls off tall buildings, fat suits on cars, etc ) I'm not shocked they are making $20M o…

> I'm not shocked they are making $20M or so. I'm slightly shocked that the money comes from advertisers interested in influencing 6-7 year old kids.

Advertisers are always looking at ways to skirt the rules in non-obvious ways. There are a lot of laws around advertising to kids including total bans in some regions. Ways to legally side-step those rules are pretty rare and when one is found - until the loophole is closed - you can be sure of a lot of business going that way.

Re: YouTube top earners: A seven-year-old making $22M

#113

Post by anonymous5133 » Tue, Dec 04, 2018, 8:47 AM UTC

manmal wrote: post #78

TravHatesMe wrote: post #16

What I find interesting is that many of these youtubers have created personas to appeal to their audience, like true entertainers. However loyal viewers are fooled into this false sense of reality, where they are friends with content creator and this is not a persona at all, he's my friend. Over time, the content creator and the audience share so many moments together, it becomes an emotional bond and a substitute fo…

Pewdiepie definitely diverges strongly from Felix‘ IRL persona. Pewdiepie is an outgoing personality with misogynistic tendencies, playing with racial slurs every now and then, appealing to his Reddit/4chanish/incel followers (whom he now calls army of 9 year olds). IRL he seems to be awkward around other people, soft (nice), and obviously a bit depressed.

I've watched pewdiepie vids and think they're completely retarded but pewdiepie as a person is a genius because he knows the largest demographic on youtube are immature youngsters who have tons of time to watch youtube. So he creates content to cater to that demographic's quirks.

Re: YouTube top earners: A seven-year-old making $22M

#114

Post by campbellmorgan » Tue, Dec 04, 2018, 8:48 AM UTC

TravHatesMe wrote: post #16

What I find interesting is that many of these youtubers have created personas to appeal to their audience, like true entertainers. However loyal viewers are fooled into this false sense of reality, where they are friends with content creator and this is not a persona at all, he's my friend. Over time, the content creator and the audience share so many moments together, it becomes an emotional bond and a substitute fo…

I think this is the essence of most modern entertainment. I once produced a pilot children's animation and had written a "bible" - the text that sets out what you plan to do for a series - and was told by a senior commissioner in no uncertain terms that modern children's tv series "must take place in the same place with the same characters so kids can come home and watch the show at the same time every day and feel like they have a family while their parents are doing something else. That way they buy into the brand and parents buy all the merchandise". As you mention, it's the inevitable consequence of optimisation and why there should always be a space for government-funded programming and art.

Re: YouTube top earners: A seven-year-old making $22M

#115

Post by anonymous5133 » Tue, Dec 04, 2018, 8:48 AM UTC

peterlk wrote: post #46

TravHatesMe wrote: post #16

What I find interesting is that many of these youtubers have created personas to appeal to their audience, like true entertainers. However loyal viewers are fooled into this false sense of reality, where they are friends with content creator and this is not a persona at all, he's my friend. Over time, the content creator and the audience share so many moments together, it becomes an emotional bond and a substitute fo…

Yes, but there is a bright side too. Mr. Rogers developed a personal relationship with many of his viewers in the way that you are talking about, and I think he did a great service to the world

Mr. Rogers was different because he was using his influence for social good and to teach positive characteristics/skills/traits etc.

The other personalities, do not specifically cater to this. They're more interested in creating a following and creating something that keeps people coming back for more.

Re: YouTube top earners: A seven-year-old making $22M

#116

Post by anonymous5133 » Tue, Dec 04, 2018, 8:52 AM UTC

zanek wrote: post #29

My 7 year old son watches Dude Perfect on YouTube, which I had never heard of. Apparently its all the rage, in elementary schools and he heard about it via other kids. I watched a few to make sure they were ok, but they mostly came off as older guys doing elaborate stunts that kids would do on a much smaller scale (like throwing balls off tall buildings, fat suits on cars, etc ) I'm not shocked they are making $20M o…

The only reason it works is because these youtubers know that the largest demographic on YT is 8-22 year olds who are immature. On the flip side, the advertisers think they're advertising to adults with disposable income....thus it because a huge waste of ad spend for the advertisers but they haven't realized that yet. All they know is TV viewership is decreasing and online media is rising...so they need to do something to push their products.

Re: YouTube top earners: A seven-year-old making $22M

#117

Post by matteuan » Tue, Dec 04, 2018, 8:56 AM UTC

manmal wrote: post #78

TravHatesMe wrote: post #16

What I find interesting is that many of these youtubers have created personas to appeal to their audience, like true entertainers. However loyal viewers are fooled into this false sense of reality, where they are friends with content creator and this is not a persona at all, he's my friend. Over time, the content creator and the audience share so many moments together, it becomes an emotional bond and a substitute fo…

Pewdiepie definitely diverges strongly from Felix‘ IRL persona. Pewdiepie is an outgoing personality with misogynistic tendencies, playing with racial slurs every now and then, appealing to his Reddit/4chanish/incel followers (whom he now calls army of 9 year olds). IRL he seems to be awkward around other people, soft (nice), and obviously a bit depressed.

I think Pewdiepie's main reason for success is the opposite of what you just said. Differently from other youtubers, he seems real and honest, not built artificially to target a specific audience.

Re: YouTube top earners: A seven-year-old making $22M

#118

Post by WalterBright » Tue, Dec 04, 2018, 8:57 AM UTC

TravHatesMe wrote: post #16

What I find interesting is that many of these youtubers have created personas to appeal to their audience, like true entertainers. However loyal viewers are fooled into this false sense of reality, where they are friends with content creator and this is not a persona at all, he's my friend. Over time, the content creator and the audience share so many moments together, it becomes an emotional bond and a substitute fo…

> art, so much of it is influenced (disrupted?) by money

Are you saying that if art pleases people so much they're willing to pay money to experience it, that makes it not art?

Re: YouTube top earners: A seven-year-old making $22M

#119

Post by alan_wade » Tue, Dec 04, 2018, 8:58 AM UTC

anonymous5133 wrote: post #108

TravHatesMe wrote: post #16

What I find interesting is that many of these youtubers have created personas to appeal to their audience, like true entertainers. However loyal viewers are fooled into this false sense of reality, where they are friends with content creator and this is not a persona at all, he's my friend. Over time, the content creator and the audience share so many moments together, it becomes an emotional bond and a substitute fo…

My GF is an elementary school teacher and she says the amount of kids who are developing anti-social behaviors is increasing pretty rapidly. Kids these days have computers and are basically simply "escaping" to the internet to live in a fantasy world that is disconnected from reality. Some even display active addictions to computer games, like minecraft, while others say they only have friends online in the games or…

Computers, internet, youtube, games - these things are a part of a real world. I mean, they aren't a hallucination, they don't exist on a separate plane of reality. Experiences are real, joy they bring is real, and for many people, it's far better than what the "real" world around them has to offer.

If people are tempted to escape into a virtual world, it might be because the real world around them sucks.

Re: YouTube top earners: A seven-year-old making $22M

#120

Post by WalterBright » Tue, Dec 04, 2018, 8:59 AM UTC

campbellmorgan wrote: post #114

TravHatesMe wrote: post #16

What I find interesting is that many of these youtubers have created personas to appeal to their audience, like true entertainers. However loyal viewers are fooled into this false sense of reality, where they are friends with content creator and this is not a persona at all, he's my friend. Over time, the content creator and the audience share so many moments together, it becomes an emotional bond and a substitute fo…

I think this is the essence of most modern entertainment. I once produced a pilot children's animation and had written a "bible" - the text that sets out what you plan to do for a series - and was told by a senior commissioner in no uncertain terms that modern children's tv series "must take place in the same place with the same characters so kids can come home and watch the show at the same time every day and feel l…

> there should always be a space for government-funded programming and art

Government funded art doesn't make it pure art, it makes it art that serves the political aims of the bureaucrats charged with doling out the money.