Hmm. Well doll, what you’ve described here isn’t particular to youtube, or even the internet. The sad fact is that nobody’s ever gone bust appealing to the lowest common denominator, and the fact that this has insinuated its way into youtube should come as no surprise.
YouTube is a company. Google is a company. Companies are there for two purposes: to give you what you want, and to make you want they have.
It seems to me that you’d prefer money to be given, not on the basis of popularity, but on the basis of artistic merit (much along the lines of the Art Fund International, which sadly is limited to traditional media).
The real problem, in my opinion, is both the people who make the ‘safe’ shows and the people who watch them, because they’re safe. That’s what it is. That’s why people want you to keep doing what you used to do, because it’s safe and they understand it, they know what to expect. It takes a special kind of person to seek out new and different things, and there sadly aren’t enough of them.
I don’t think that there is a “cure” since the behavior has always been there, they just have a means of expression and an avenue to pursue it. They want to be popular, and the only judge of that they have are their views and how much money they make, it’s part of a celebrity culture and probably won’t ever change. To keep them in check you would need to remove page views and money from the equation, however, at that point you’ve lost any reason for most people to post videos. I don’t believe that their content would improve since they have nothing to improve it for, hell, they probably wouldn’t make any videos,But then again, neither would anyone. if i am not mistaken you care about how many are viewing your Haberdashery episodes (Awesome shorts, by the way). Do you think you really would have continued to make videos without the stimuli of viewers and other people to compete against? Would you have made so many videos?Would you have had enough stubbornness to continue making videos without having any idea weather anybody cared or watched?
Without actually partaking in the Youtube scene I suppose this is a very outsider point of view but I would think they use money and viewers in order to validate what they believe is a solid product.
I think “Selling Out” shouldn’t include those who continue doing the same thing without money involved. I don’t think you can treat the obsession with viewership the same as money. The goal of most people is to get to a point where they can make money doing something they like to do. For some that’s making shitty Youtube videos that get a lot of hits, for others it’s making shitty Youtube videos that make money. Well, At least that’s my opinion of the matter.
Yeah, YouTube Live sucked. It was basically a bunch of attention whores (sorry to use strong words like that, but it’s true) patting themselves on the back. After YouTube Live, I started unsubscribing like mad. Besides, after a while I get tired of hearing What the Buck’s high-pitched rants about Miley Cyrus.
I’m not sure you can change the opinions and perspectives of people you hardly know, especially when money is involved. [You] could keep doing what you’re doing, Ben. Good quality stuff, with how much money? Maybe someone will come across and see that you actually enjoy what you’re doing, become jealous, and give up all that possible fame and welth. Doubtful, but possible.
Ben, you just need to sit back, relax, and realize some people just don’t have the same moral code as you. I’d also like to point out that, some people are lazy, and have no real talent in anything…clawing their way to the top of the pile of every living person in the You Tube cesspool could be their only real way of making enough money to buy food and vibrators.
You kind of restated the same point in a few different ways for the first seven minutes of the video, as well. I mean, you’re beautiful, I’m sure people enjoy it, but I was becoming a little distracted. You’re a fantastic speaker as well, Ben. You don’t seem to have as many cut outs where “um”s and “ah”s (possibly) were.
Evan: agreed; I mean, I’m gonna be up till 4 probably, and I’ve got an early start monday morning… but it’s whenever B gets the urge, sadly. We are his internet booty call.
great video. i had the same reaction about youtube Live. i was disgusted. I watched the trailer to that terrible HBO series. I cant believe Cory did that bullshit.
not to be a solution killer
but what you’re asking for cant be done
greedy folks have greedy ways
and its instinctive to be that way
i mean, people have been trying
to kill this way of thinking for years
but it just never goes away
internet video is just the new
pile of cash all the masses
are shooting for.
its just a new direction
for the same sheep to go in
Well the culture of mediocrity is prevalent in all mediums of entertainment. It’s my opinion Ben that the only good artists are the ones that are never in it for the money, and only the extremely lucky get a nice fat check based on talent instead of viewership or fan fare. There are also people who make a product that is based on tried a true aspects of entertainment (most of which have been done and done better) which will draw the largest crowd. Not to sound like a cynic but the latter always makes the most cash.
If there is one thing that I learned about entertainment it was from a author Richard K. Morgan who basically said: if you want to make lots of money in the entertainment industry, find something in genre that’s been done before, change the names of the characters and the setting, turn it into a series and you’ll be able live on that for the rest of your life. If you want to make something different, which changes the way people look at art, film, or books; or introduces any kind of complexity expect to still be keeping your day job for a few more years (this was paraphrased I was too afraid of taking the quote from memory).
I think we all should just come to terms that mainstream entertainment for the most part is bad, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t an audience for the more sophisticated kind of art. Appealing just to the latter will still allow you to keep your house and feed you and if you’re willing to a slightly more modest lifestyle then it won’t be a problem.
I don’t see anything wrong with people trying to make money off of their videos. Even if they’re pushing out the same shit day in and day out and hating it. It’s just like people who work at places like Tim Hortons or McDonalds. They hate their job and they don’t want to improve on it. When they get bored they’ll move on, but people need money to live. And seriously if I could make more money online then at my job, I’d quit in a second.
I don’t mind sell outs. They keep me entertained. When I go to sites like YouTube, I go to relax and laugh. If I’m in the mood for learning I’ll read a book or Google something. :)
Maybe you need to change the way you look at things. Instead of hating YouTube Live for whatever reason, just look at it from the way I see it. It’s just a bunch of people having a giant party. People have so much crap going on in their lives, everyone needs time to relax and have fun.
I really do enjoy hearing what you have to say BoBo. You seem like you need to relax a bit though. Go watch an sxephil video. Hahahaha. Sorry.
You’ll be amazed how many “YouTube celebrities” have sold out.
Watch for subtle product placements (ie: Macbooks, iPhones & Flipcams) in their videos.
These items are not cheap and were not paid for by viewers ‘clicking on Google ads’. They were most likely provided by sponsors, utilizing the Internet market and using trusted, familiar Viral Video faces to sell their wares.
Merr, it’s not really about learning as such, it’s more about discovering.
You know the feeling you get when you discover something original? Something creative? It’s like what Harry Potter was at the beginning, and now we’ve got a thousand rip-offs and parodies. Loads of people though HP would never sell; plenty of publishers turned down the manuscript; and nobody thought it would get so popular with adults too…
My point is this: Nobody knows what the public will want, so most people play it safe by retreading old ground. But if you dare to break the mold, you’ll either fly or fall on your arse. Riches or poverty, no inbetween.
Fortunately B is a man of extremes… it’s poverty now, sure, but I would LOVE to see him create something amazing that takes the world by storm.
great video Ben. i was actually goin to ask if you checked out youtube live. I think alot people can agree on the mtv movie awards angle that youtube were tryna go for. I also think youtube picked the most popular youtubers for that show under the assumption that they were good live – - which alot of them werent!
Hard to say what to do. I Think Renetto is having a stab by creating vloggerheads…
Follow me on Twitter
Hmm. Well doll, what you’ve described here isn’t particular to youtube, or even the internet. The sad fact is that nobody’s ever gone bust appealing to the lowest common denominator, and the fact that this has insinuated its way into youtube should come as no surprise.
YouTube is a company. Google is a company. Companies are there for two purposes: to give you what you want, and to make you want they have.
It seems to me that you’d prefer money to be given, not on the basis of popularity, but on the basis of artistic merit (much along the lines of the Art Fund International, which sadly is limited to traditional media).
The real problem, in my opinion, is both the people who make the ‘safe’ shows and the people who watch them, because they’re safe. That’s what it is. That’s why people want you to keep doing what you used to do, because it’s safe and they understand it, they know what to expect. It takes a special kind of person to seek out new and different things, and there sadly aren’t enough of them.
I don’t think that there is a “cure” since the behavior has always been there, they just have a means of expression and an avenue to pursue it. They want to be popular, and the only judge of that they have are their views and how much money they make, it’s part of a celebrity culture and probably won’t ever change. To keep them in check you would need to remove page views and money from the equation, however, at that point you’ve lost any reason for most people to post videos. I don’t believe that their content would improve since they have nothing to improve it for, hell, they probably wouldn’t make any videos,But then again, neither would anyone. if i am not mistaken you care about how many are viewing your Haberdashery episodes (Awesome shorts, by the way). Do you think you really would have continued to make videos without the stimuli of viewers and other people to compete against? Would you have made so many videos?Would you have had enough stubbornness to continue making videos without having any idea weather anybody cared or watched?
Without actually partaking in the Youtube scene I suppose this is a very outsider point of view but I would think they use money and viewers in order to validate what they believe is a solid product.
I think “Selling Out” shouldn’t include those who continue doing the same thing without money involved. I don’t think you can treat the obsession with viewership the same as money. The goal of most people is to get to a point where they can make money doing something they like to do. For some that’s making shitty Youtube videos that get a lot of hits, for others it’s making shitty Youtube videos that make money. Well, At least that’s my opinion of the matter.
~Sean
i didn’t think you were gonna make this kind of video any more.
you can not change other people. you can not change the world. you can only change your self and hope other people will follow you.
Although then you would probably call them a bunch of sheep and tell them to fuck off.
LOL DBM, you’ve got a point.
Yeah, YouTube Live sucked. It was basically a bunch of attention whores (sorry to use strong words like that, but it’s true) patting themselves on the back. After YouTube Live, I started unsubscribing like mad. Besides, after a while I get tired of hearing What the Buck’s high-pitched rants about Miley Cyrus.
I’m not sure you can change the opinions and perspectives of people you hardly know, especially when money is involved. [You] could keep doing what you’re doing, Ben. Good quality stuff, with how much money? Maybe someone will come across and see that you actually enjoy what you’re doing, become jealous, and give up all that possible fame and welth. Doubtful, but possible.
Ben, you just need to sit back, relax, and realize some people just don’t have the same moral code as you. I’d also like to point out that, some people are lazy, and have no real talent in anything…clawing their way to the top of the pile of every living person in the You Tube cesspool could be their only real way of making enough money to buy food and vibrators.
You kind of restated the same point in a few different ways for the first seven minutes of the video, as well. I mean, you’re beautiful, I’m sure people enjoy it, but I was becoming a little distracted. You’re a fantastic speaker as well, Ben. You don’t seem to have as many cut outs where “um”s and “ah”s (possibly) were.
*wealth
is there any way you could host the live chats on a different night? perhaps friday?
Evan: agreed; I mean, I’m gonna be up till 4 probably, and I’ve got an early start monday morning… but it’s whenever B gets the urge, sadly. We are his internet booty call.
great video. i had the same reaction about youtube Live. i was disgusted. I watched the trailer to that terrible HBO series. I cant believe Cory did that bullshit.
aww i miss you, filthywhore, thewinekone and renetto (;
not to be a solution killer
but what you’re asking for cant be done
greedy folks have greedy ways
and its instinctive to be that way
i mean, people have been trying
to kill this way of thinking for years
but it just never goes away
internet video is just the new
pile of cash all the masses
are shooting for.
its just a new direction
for the same sheep to go in
cant be fixed
just must be dealt with
but with patience it will stop bothering you
have a good day Ben
~Garth
Well the culture of mediocrity is prevalent in all mediums of entertainment. It’s my opinion Ben that the only good artists are the ones that are never in it for the money, and only the extremely lucky get a nice fat check based on talent instead of viewership or fan fare. There are also people who make a product that is based on tried a true aspects of entertainment (most of which have been done and done better) which will draw the largest crowd. Not to sound like a cynic but the latter always makes the most cash.
If there is one thing that I learned about entertainment it was from a author Richard K. Morgan who basically said: if you want to make lots of money in the entertainment industry, find something in genre that’s been done before, change the names of the characters and the setting, turn it into a series and you’ll be able live on that for the rest of your life. If you want to make something different, which changes the way people look at art, film, or books; or introduces any kind of complexity expect to still be keeping your day job for a few more years (this was paraphrased I was too afraid of taking the quote from memory).
I think we all should just come to terms that mainstream entertainment for the most part is bad, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t an audience for the more sophisticated kind of art. Appealing just to the latter will still allow you to keep your house and feed you and if you’re willing to a slightly more modest lifestyle then it won’t be a problem.
Damn…sorry paragraphs one and three have gammer errors forgive me.
Damn, Garth really loves his enter key.
I don’t see anything wrong with people trying to make money off of their videos. Even if they’re pushing out the same shit day in and day out and hating it. It’s just like people who work at places like Tim Hortons or McDonalds. They hate their job and they don’t want to improve on it. When they get bored they’ll move on, but people need money to live. And seriously if I could make more money online then at my job, I’d quit in a second.
I don’t mind sell outs. They keep me entertained. When I go to sites like YouTube, I go to relax and laugh. If I’m in the mood for learning I’ll read a book or Google something. :)
Maybe you need to change the way you look at things. Instead of hating YouTube Live for whatever reason, just look at it from the way I see it. It’s just a bunch of people having a giant party. People have so much crap going on in their lives, everyone needs time to relax and have fun.
I really do enjoy hearing what you have to say BoBo. You seem like you need to relax a bit though. Go watch an sxephil video. Hahahaha. Sorry.
You’ll be amazed how many “YouTube celebrities” have sold out.
Watch for subtle product placements (ie: Macbooks, iPhones & Flipcams) in their videos.
These items are not cheap and were not paid for by viewers ‘clicking on Google ads’. They were most likely provided by sponsors, utilizing the Internet market and using trusted, familiar Viral Video faces to sell their wares.
Maybe I should stop now before I expose too much…
:D
Merr, it’s not really about learning as such, it’s more about discovering.
You know the feeling you get when you discover something original? Something creative? It’s like what Harry Potter was at the beginning, and now we’ve got a thousand rip-offs and parodies. Loads of people though HP would never sell; plenty of publishers turned down the manuscript; and nobody thought it would get so popular with adults too…
My point is this: Nobody knows what the public will want, so most people play it safe by retreading old ground. But if you dare to break the mold, you’ll either fly or fall on your arse. Riches or poverty, no inbetween.
Fortunately B is a man of extremes… it’s poverty now, sure, but I would LOVE to see him create something amazing that takes the world by storm.
great video Ben. i was actually goin to ask if you checked out youtube live. I think alot people can agree on the mtv movie awards angle that youtube were tryna go for. I also think youtube picked the most popular youtubers for that show under the assumption that they were good live – - which alot of them werent!
Hard to say what to do. I Think Renetto is having a stab by creating vloggerheads…
First thing I thought of when I saw this was “Uh-oh, sxephil bashing.”