This article completely misses the point. It is not glossy fine hd quality that attracts, it is the soul and heart that youtubers put into videos. Be it Jenna Marbles showing an example of a strong woman, Shane Dawson who gives hope and inspiration to bullied kids across the country - you can't do the same if you will be just pouring dollars.
And no, they have someone to be 'good' for - Jenna has 8,785,657 highly engaged subscribers on youtube only, who value her sincerity above video quality.
The Jenna Marbles Paradox: Why Are YouTube Videos So Terrible?
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Re: The Jenna Marbles Paradox: Why Are YouTube Videos So Terrible?
#12I don't know that this author has his ducks in a row. For example, in the USA, The Bell System provided an amazing quality of phone service. Uptime of the system was just astonishing, voice quality beats cell phones hollow. But clearly, the voice quality and reliability of the system wasn't all that necessary. Cell phone systems don't provide anywhere near the reliability or voice quality that The Bell System used to…
> voice quality beats cell phones hollow
Really? Not in my experience.
> Why not believe that the Media Monopoly (ABC, NBC, CBS) used their monopoly rents to make programming with lots of flourishes and quality?
It did for a certain definition of 'quality'. For a while, it raised the sitcom to a level of perfection few art forms ever reach, but if you don't like the traditional sitcom that means nothing to you.
Certain kinds of stories were told as well as they could be told, but the limitations of the funding model (mass media, so you can't piss off too high of a percentage of the general public; ad-funded, so you can't piss off too many potential advertisers; FCC regulated, so you can't piss off the vocal minority who whines to the FCC) prevented any other kinds of stories from being told well, or told at all.
Re: The Jenna Marbles Paradox: Why Are YouTube Videos So Terrible?
#13What is being run, unintentionally by YouTube and its army of content generators, is a massively parallel search algorithm that evolves and optimizes itself to find every facet of human weakness. Networks effects on the internet allow it to run at an unprecedented speed and scale.
There is a certain ironic beauty to how destructive the system as a whole becomes. Everyone gains. The content producer, YouTube and the advertisers are locked in an addictive feedback loop. Even the users gain through the quantity and diversity of content.
Exactly like the housing bubble, everyone including the rating agencies did well right up till the end.
Re: The Jenna Marbles Paradox: Why Are YouTube Videos So Terrible?
#14I'm just surprised that there's that much revenue in youtube videos
Re: The Jenna Marbles Paradox: Why Are YouTube Videos So Terrible?
#15The author assumes that there is a linear relationship between the amount of money that a creator has at their disposal and the resulting "production quality". So, once Jenna Marbles starts making some real bank, out come the camera crews and director and post-production effects and... No. There is no path from Jenna Marbles to the traditional kind of television that the author is used to. They're just...different. J…
I think what you're really saying here is that these current YouTube stars will not make the jump from their current content to TV-ready content. But they do play an important role in creating the ecosystem, bringing the viewers, and showing that there is a market for content through this distribution medium. Hopefully that will make people more willing to drop the money on a good pilot, but it won't be the current generation of creators that will be doing it.
Re: The Jenna Marbles Paradox: Why Are YouTube Videos So Terrible?
#16The author assumes that there is a linear relationship between the amount of money that a creator has at their disposal and the resulting "production quality". So, once Jenna Marbles starts making some real bank, out come the camera crews and director and post-production effects and... No. There is no path from Jenna Marbles to the traditional kind of television that the author is used to. They're just...different. J…
> "but it's still unclear exactly how they're going to get there."
Technology is a good bet. Camera technology as well as cost has come down by orders of magnitude in recent years - the Canon 5D Mark II was the turning point (the first DSLR capable of shooting 1080p video at acceptable frame rates), but we're way beyond that now.
And we're not talking about "making cameras cheaper so anyone can throw one on a tripod and make amateur videos", we're talking about the democratization of previously very capital-intensive equipment. There are now cheap steadycams almost as good as the expensive real thing, follow focus units, and a massively growing segment for cheap cine lenses that are suitable for video work, but don't cost $20-30K a pop like traditional cinema lenses.
We're dramatically lowering the cost of entry for effects that were previously associated with high production value (thin depth of field, follow focus, smooth camera movement, etc).
The entertainment world of the future is a friggin' exciting place.
Re: The Jenna Marbles Paradox: Why Are YouTube Videos So Terrible?
#17Alternatively, why are our standards so damned high?
Is there not a decent chance that many people watch what seems like "lower quality" stuff because it is more relatable.
Re: The Jenna Marbles Paradox: Why Are YouTube Videos So Terrible?
#18No mention of Devin Graham's channel? High quality consistent videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/devinsupertramp
Comparing the quality of TV to YouTube is like comparing the design of a website vs the design of a newsletter. The expectations are much higher with TV shows and websites. With email and YouTube, as long as it's readable/watchable and the content is good, people will come back.
Re: The Jenna Marbles Paradox: Why Are YouTube Videos So Terrible?
#19Video production is a team sport. It's only going to look professional if you hire a crew of experts.
And buy / rent a lot of expensive gear.
Someone like Jenna Marbles needs to focus on her content. Writing, recording, and editing a weekly show is more work than you think.
Re: The Jenna Marbles Paradox: Why Are YouTube Videos So Terrible?
#20I suspect that this article makes more sense if you've read his book, which hits on the same themes with a lot more context, and a lot more history.
Youtube optimizes for grabbing attention in well-defined bite sized chunks that people think they can spare. A little dopamine hit, followed by another, followed by another, followed by..why didn't I get anything done today? The interaction isn't meaningful. It isn't rich. It doesn't improve our lives. But it is addictive.
If you don't see what is wrong with this, I recommend reading http://www.highexistence.com/why-you-should-avoid-the-news/ until you think you understand it. Then re-read the article above with that in mind.