[THIS POST CONTAINS A POORLY-STRUCTURED POST THAT FAILS TO ACTUALLY EXPLAIN THE TITLE...]
Some time ago, when people seemed to believe that the PewDiePie shoutout would soar my subscriber count into the millions, I had an absurd amount of requests for 'collaborations'. Although I still have quite a few today, the way the requests behaved back then were far more mischievous than they are today.
These wishful collaborators clearly didn’t watch the videos they were commenting on... or they share Max Caufield’s powers of time-manipulation and are able to watch the video, then rewind time only to post their comment seconds after it being uploaded.
Simply put: it was clear to me that they only wanted to piggyback off of the amazing opportunity I had been given to share my content with more people. But now that the jig is up and it's obvious that jerkface Intelligic isn't the booster they thought he'd be... they've vanished from my channel. Off to comment on someone else’s videos.
Before they vanished, however, they kindly provided some criticism:
"Dude, if I got a shoutout from PewDiePie, I would be posting three videos a day!"
When I look back on it, they're probably right. Perhaps I didn't capitalise on the opportunity as much as I could have. I could forgotten about school work, forgotten about my frenzy for editing - heck, I could have gone with daily Chunk Error Survival episodes and PewDiePie-like games to ensure that I could capture as much of the oncoming audience as possible.
But I didn't.
And I still don't.
For some, the idea of being a YouTube Gamer is a dream job, and there's no secret as to why it is so desirable. There's no office-work, no manual labour - and the most obvious part... you get paid to play games.
They always say that the best job you can have is one that you enjoy doing... and people enjoy playing video games.
I'm sure that many YouTube Gamers will argue that there's a lot more hard work involved than you would think. I certainly see people arguing in the comments about it. But to be honest, it's one of the quickest forms of content you could choose to produce. You don't have to write a script, work out plot-points, proof-read or cross-check - the game gives you the story and you go from there.
I've produced short films that are 7 minutes long over the course of six months, yet I can push out a 30 minute gaming video in 4:00 hours - and that's only because I edit my gaming videos, some people, who are entertaining regardless of editing, upload them as-is. If I did the same, it would only take me 30 minutes to produce a 30 minute gaming video...
Gaming videos are so streamlined to produce in comparison to other forms of video content, that I actually struggle to produce content for my other channels now. It skews your mind and gives you an un-realistic idea of what 'productive' looks like. I can't produce Upload the Download videos at the same rate as I can Intelligic videos, and so it seems like I'm wasting my time. This is something I've been working on changing.
I guess my incredibly ambiguous point is, although it would be fantastic - 'YouTube Gamer' isn't my career choice. I've said this a few times before, but I didn't start my channel with the intention of it being my source of income. Thanks to my channel, I can play games without feeling like I'm wasting time, I can entertain people and put a smile on their face - plus I make a few dollars every few weeks that I can buy more games with.
The other major benefit is that I keep improving my editing skills with the constant pressure that YouTube provides. I'm always finding new ways to improve my graphics and speed up my workflow, and this has really helped out on professional projects, and I'm hoping it will help once I implement these same techniques on my other channels.
It's for this reason, the fact that I make videos because I enjoy making them, that I'd like to think my presence on YouTube isn't, fake. I'm not saying that YouTubers generally are fake, nor am I saying that earning a living on YouTube is lazy or 'not a real job.' All I'm saying is that, I'm not pretending to be someone that I'm not, nor am I trying to copy successful YouTubers in order to gain views for my AdSense.
I mean, who the heck clicks on a video called: "Chunk Error: Behind the Chunk / #3 / "Immense Amounts of Melon" / Minecraft" ??
(Without knowing about my videos first of course.)
If I wanted views and moneh, "S**TLOADS OF MELON! - Minecraft" would suffice. Along with a thumbnail following PewDiePie's advice.
Geez this post is long and poorly-structured... I think I'll write a warning just to let people know. Just, agh...
Promise me one thing.
Tell Me When I'm Fake.
If it ever gets to me. If things change. Tell me.
Don't let me ever, ever - be fake.
