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In the belly of the MrBeast

kevinmunger.substack.com

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Re: In the belly of the MrBeast

#401

Post by snoman »

cool_dude85 wrote: post #222
lalalandland wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The creators publication frequency is also an important factor. If you don't put out content at least once per week you fall off the recommended and lose a lot of views. Once your content is shallow, simple and without reflection, you are trapped in a hamster wheel of click bait vapidness.

Is this accurate in all cases? Isn't Jenny Nicholson one of the bigger YouTubers, with videos coming out maybe once or twice a year?

People seem to have a good reasoning for your specific example, but they’re not addressing the question. I can think of a number of YouTubers that have longer schedules that have had success (Mark Rober, Cleo Abram, to name 2 but there’s clearly more).

My guess is that if all you want to do is work the algorithm to get views then you’re going to get worked by the algorithm.

Re: In the belly of the MrBeast

#402

Post by oulipo »

worldsayshi wrote: post #184
oulipo wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly, intensification or acceleration, this is exactly the root of most issues. Since we've mastered energy (and in particular oil&gas), the world has been on an acceleration binge, which is now causing a lot of friction and overheating in the relationships and environment. We need to slow down and to connect back to nature

Slowing down is not a solution since we're heading for a wall in some dimensions and a cliff edge on others. We need to find ways to drastically change course. We need to build maps and steering wheels.

on the contrary, slowing down it's the only way forward

Re: In the belly of the MrBeast

#403

Post by lobsterthief »

hahamrfunnyguy wrote: post #113

I ran a YouTube channel seriously for a couple of years. Chasing the whims of the algorithm contributed to burnout and now I only release one or two videos a year. My reason for starting a channel was to have a discussion around some of the projects I was working on that I found interesting. This never materialized. I never had a ton of engagement, but if I did most questions asked by viewers that are answered in the…

I had a hobby electronics channel that was getting quite popular (~30k subs after ~15 videos). I burned out for a different reason: it’s hard to do this as a side gig. If I could’ve done it full time I would’ve continued doing so, but YouTube just doesn’t pay you enough despite each video getting >100K views. I paid zero attention to the algorithm and just focused on creating unique, creative, high-quality content that showed a level of effort was put forth. This “side gig” burned me out.

So it’s possible you would’ve burned out anyways, despite any algorithmic considerations.

Re: In the belly of the MrBeast

#404

Post by snowfarthing »

mrguyorama wrote: post #164
qskousen wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I realize I'm probably in the minority for this, but for me when people create a "persona" for their media, it turns me away. I prefer watching people who are more genuine, whose content is less entertainment and more just themselves, even if that isn't what the internet seems to be looking for.

The people you consider "more genuine" are just cultivating a different persona. Don't ever believe you "know" someone you don't. Parasocial relationships are harmless at the low level but quickly become toxic. Always meet your heros so you can understand they are normal and flawed humans

I think it's even more complex than that. There's only one human I can understand pretty thoroughly, inside and out, and that's me -- and even then, there are a lot of limitations!

We cannot know all the thoughts and experiences of another human being. Even when that person is 100% genuine, there will be aspects to that person that will surprise you!

And that doesn't even get into the weeds of autistics, ADHDers, and intelligent people (I happen to be all three) -- who learn from an early age they have to pretend to be something they aren't, otherwise they'll face intense bullying and ostracision. And even then, there's going to be something "off" about them ....

Re: In the belly of the MrBeast

#405

Post by gitaarik »

UncleOxidant wrote: post #319
iambateman wrote: post #4

First of all – the essay is phenomenal and his book is available online for free – https://www.cambridge.org/core/elements/youtube-apparatus/36... > “Communication within the YouTube Apparatus has no meaning.” The rapid feedback loop between creators and audiences (as constructed by platform metrics) means that the system more and more responds to itself. Rather than trying to go somewhere (as is the case with politi…

This is similar to what Vlad Vexler refers to as "being captured by the algorithm". That there are people on YouTube (and other platforms) that begin to mold themselves to fit into the algorithm's dictates so as to increase views and engagement. This means they may drift from their original political stance, for example, in order to please the algorithm. And this drift isn't always conscious - in fact it likely isn't…

I guess this just comes down to people losing themselves in the pursuit of money and power and status etc. That is the reason they please the algorithm. They lost touch with themselves, who they really are and their true passions and interests. Usually because of a trauma in the past they're trying to compensate for.

Re: In the belly of the MrBeast

#406

Post by worldsayshi »

oulipo wrote: post #402
worldsayshi wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Slowing down is not a solution since we're heading for a wall in some dimensions and a cliff edge on others. We need to find ways to drastically change course. We need to build maps and steering wheels.

on the contrary, slowing down it's the only way forward

It wont happen. Not without apocalyptic wars.

Re: In the belly of the MrBeast

#407

Post by BriggyDwiggs42 »

patcon wrote: post #268
ericmcer wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They were dedicated to the craft though, there have been countless people who dedicated themselves to pushing the boundaries of their profession and lost their personal lives in the process. Losing yourself to achieve something new in math, art, science, etc. can be seen as a worthwhile sacrifice. Content creators feels more perverse because they are sacrificing themselves to making metrics go up. The act of creation…

I am very skeptic of the creator economy, but to play devils advocate: Could it be that "craft" until now has been a high dimensional and abstract conceptual navigation exercise, for which some people had both (1) the compass of intuition and (2) the drive. Replacing craft with metrics means that people without the high dimensional intuition/compass (but with the drive) can still play a part in the game. So maybe thi…

It’s not really more equal access, just different people have access than before. There’s still only so much room at the top.

Re: In the belly of the MrBeast

#408

Post by patcon »

puffybunion wrote: post #355
patcon wrote: post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am very skeptic of the creator economy, but to play devils advocate: Could it be that "craft" until now has been a high dimensional and abstract conceptual navigation exercise, for which some people had both (1) the compass of intuition and (2) the drive. Replacing craft with metrics means that people without the high dimensional intuition/compass (but with the drive) can still play a part in the game. So maybe thi…

I created an account after many many years on this site to tell you I have had the same thoughts about this navigation in a higher space, akin to spelunking in a cave system of concepts, this is just another way to explore viable concepts. It's a horrid part of the cave system imo but it's obviously viable.

Oh wow, then I feel very honoured :) It's neat to have that feeling of one of your "weird" or "niche" thoughts being captured (even if poorly) by someone else, living a different life. I love that feeling when I encounter it here!

I often think of minds as very spatial as well, in that introducing new concepts to a mind requires it be tailored to specific characteristics of that mind, like tuning the parameters of a autonomous vehicle before sending it off on its own into the mind, hoping it makes it deeply within.

The truly impressive and powerful concepts (which I understand to have very specific and complex high dimensional symmetry), are those which I assume are the ones that we call poetic or beautiful or resonant. They are the ones whose shape is finely tuned to resonate deeply with the shared shapes of many many human minds.

Often I think of people in their minds as people in mazes, and there are certain areas of the maze people go to, that sometimes certain neurotypes can imagine well, but others can only treat as a black box (though really, they are the maze itself)

Re: In the belly of the MrBeast

#409

Post by lesostep »

physicles wrote: post #346
nmeofthestate wrote: post #62

I'm interested in how many people here on HN watch Mr Beast - I've never watched any of his videos ever, and I spend far too much time on YT.

Nope, on principle. I’ve tried to make YouTube as “healthy” as possible — disable shorts, disable watch history, only watch subscribed channels — and I’m still not convinced it’s a net positive in my life. The trick is finding something else to replace it during that time at the end of the day when I don’t feel like I have the mental energy for anything else.

did you try https://ytch.xyz/ ? It even has its own HN submission: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41247023

Re: In the belly of the MrBeast

#410

Post by physicles »

lesostep wrote: post #409
physicles wrote: post #346

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nope, on principle. I’ve tried to make YouTube as “healthy” as possible — disable shorts, disable watch history, only watch subscribed channels — and I’m still not convinced it’s a net positive in my life. The trick is finding something else to replace it during that time at the end of the day when I don’t feel like I have the mental energy for anything else.

did you try https://ytch.xyz/ ? It even has its own HN submission: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41247023

Fascinating! Definitely get the old school TV vibe when I'm watching it. I'm curious whether I'd find it more or less addictive/mindless than actual YouTube.
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