Common pitfalls for content creators on the internet
- Thread starter Roboshi
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On that note, hiring people to do the right jobs is important, and failing to do so is the common pitfall.Fox12 said:
If you want to make a show or a comic strip or whatever, good for you. If it starts making a profit, good for you. But don't immediately jump into 'doing it full time', because there's a lot of shit you don't know how to do. Keep your regular job and reinvest the money into an accountant, some exterior market research, a webmaster for your site, etc. Specialize in doing your job of producing good content, don't try and be a one-man small business.
Similarly, a lot of people fall down when they put their money directly into making more. There's a limit to how much good unique work you can actually do. I think about Dungeons and Randomness, a podcast that I once listened to and supported. As it grew, the tiers were 'We'll add more groups! That way, there's more shows!' But it didn't work out well. Aside from the fact that there are only so many good roleplayers who are also good on-air personalities and who are willing to be on this show for free (a cap they hit about halfway through stocking Group 2), the actual pacing of the show slowed down tremendously. Now, instead of one adventure moving along every week or two, it could be months before a certain group could play; if you were invested in the original story, sorry, you're not going to hear them for a long while, because the GM is trying to manage 4 different groups (hard enough doing in real life for regular D&D games, near impossible when he also runs the website, edits the shows, is writing additional content for supporters, etc.)
Right on, not to even mention his Final Fantasy rants which are the stuff of legend, and actually contain genuinely deep and informed analysis on story creation and writing.inu-kun said:
On topic: the "Limbo", a state where no one knows for sure if the creator has quit, is on a hiatus, moving the content to new directions or moved to other things. Jon Lajoie, IMO one of the funniest comedy creators on Youtube, moved to acting for years without any notification on Youtube, and nowadays his channel posts mostly music videos of his band. Super Panic Frenzy, the only gaming channel I ever watched every video of because of the fantastic chemistry between the hosts, is on hold and no one knows what's going to happen to it. Animation Domination HD, a channel posting frantic, surreal and weird animated comedy shorts, just straight up ended after their block on FOX was terminated. All well and good, but some form of info would have sufficed. I guess Spoony could be dumped into this category as well, since his posting schedule seems to be vastly irregular, and mostly seems really indulgent on old 80s action movies and tabletop games.
The only one I can think of that straight up made a video saying "I quit, thanks for everything, bye" is JesuOtaku. Chris Stuckmann made one as well, but he came back less than a year later, so make of that what you will.
I think that since the internet moves so quickly, the content can get dated very quickly and some content creators fail to keep up with current trends and their audiences. I used to really like the nostalgia critic but in a short time my own nostalgia has changed and he no longer feels relevant. Team four star used to be great too but they just kept on repeating the same jokes and I got bored.
Nostalgia Critic is only called that because of brand recognition anymore. After all, there's only so many widely known old properties that are recognized as nostalgic. And since once something's on the internet, it's there forever, so the well of 80s nostalgia indulgence has been pretty much emptied and turned into scorched desert at this point. Which IMO is good, since it drives new creators to come up with fresher ideas than indulging on "hur hur those Transformers cartoons sure were bad and goofy hur".bluepilot said:
And I wish I could say that falling behind the times and failing to mature and evolve is one pitfall, but I might actually know more content creators who did manage that rather than the opposite. Philip DeFranco, Lindsay Ellis aka Nostalgia Chick and Todd in the Shadows have all remained steady and reliable while also developing their concepts further. Ellis' Loose Canon series is just fabulous.
I actually don't mind the idea of skits, it's just most are god awful because, yes, for many it's a one man show where they take on roles that aren't their strong suit (like writing dialog, plotting, acting, special effects). I mean, his politics aside, I did like The Game Overthinker's first couple of story arcs as much as they really needed a polish.
- Trying to please everyone
That's impossible. Look at Boogie.
- Being surprised that the audience changes
When the content changes or the audience grows, the attitude of the viewership most likely will change.
- Making your facecam bigger than the game (Let's Play)
I know of one channel I don't want to name that had big potential, imo. But they had a couch infront of a green screen, tilted the game footage as if it was a big screen in their room and edited themselves infront or besides it. Sounds cool, maybe, but it got really distracting. Especially if you had to read subtitles for the game if it was in a foreign language other than English in my case.
- Cutting your footage too much (Let's Play)
I personally hate when people cut their footage at all in a Let's Play if it isn't grinding or something really unnecessary. But cutting portions out of Metal Gear: Solid simply doesn't work for me. What the fuck?
- Shoving your political views into your content
I did this, actually. And then I realized how much that sucks for me when I disagree. Andthen I realized how much that sucks even if I agree. And it seems that this is nothing strange. A bit is OK, some people really can't help it. Sometimes, it even is appropriate like in analysis and interpretations, even though it should be merely a suggestion and by no means meant as a fact. But in general, shut the fuck as much as possible up.
That's impossible. Look at Boogie.
- Being surprised that the audience changes
When the content changes or the audience grows, the attitude of the viewership most likely will change.
- Making your facecam bigger than the game (Let's Play)
I know of one channel I don't want to name that had big potential, imo. But they had a couch infront of a green screen, tilted the game footage as if it was a big screen in their room and edited themselves infront or besides it. Sounds cool, maybe, but it got really distracting. Especially if you had to read subtitles for the game if it was in a foreign language other than English in my case.
- Cutting your footage too much (Let's Play)
I personally hate when people cut their footage at all in a Let's Play if it isn't grinding or something really unnecessary. But cutting portions out of Metal Gear: Solid simply doesn't work for me. What the fuck?
- Shoving your political views into your content
I did this, actually. And then I realized how much that sucks for me when I disagree. Andthen I realized how much that sucks even if I agree. And it seems that this is nothing strange. A bit is OK, some people really can't help it. Sometimes, it even is appropriate like in analysis and interpretations, even though it should be merely a suggestion and by no means meant as a fact. But in general, shut the fuck as much as possible up.
Something that has come to bother me in recent times, all the collaborations between Youtubers. It's like guest stars on a TV show, they feel tacked on, and usually aren't as entertaining as the people you know and love from the show.
One channel that does this a lot is Game Grumps these days. "Game Grumps Guest Starring Steve from Steve's Gaming Show!" Nothing against this Steve person, but I'm here for Hey I'm Grump, and Not So Grump. I get that the Grumps are friends with a bunch of online personalities, but it creates this weird club of people, which further separates the content creators, from the fans. At least to me. And while I'm at it, creating a Grump head for everyone makes it far less special. I'll stop myself before I go into a real rant, but modern Game Grumps has really turned me off, despite that, I still watch some of their stuff. But I used to watch everything they did.
And a big one for me, which has already been mentioned several times on the thread, over politicizing your show, if it has nothing to do with your theme. I would never stifle people's opinions or beliefs, but if I was a friend of a big Youtuber, I would advise they remain silent on such stuff. You will only create divides in your fanbase, since the comment section will erupt in pointless bickering, and people who disagree with you may feel like they don't belong in your fanbase. Besides, the more topical you make your humor, which most political jokes are, you will only make your content dated within a month or so.
And finally, Let's Play channels on the side. Yes, Let's Plays are popular, and much easier than producing a main show. I don't blame people for doing them, but if it affects their main show negatively, then it will only hurt in the long run.
One channel that does this a lot is Game Grumps these days. "Game Grumps Guest Starring Steve from Steve's Gaming Show!" Nothing against this Steve person, but I'm here for Hey I'm Grump, and Not So Grump. I get that the Grumps are friends with a bunch of online personalities, but it creates this weird club of people, which further separates the content creators, from the fans. At least to me. And while I'm at it, creating a Grump head for everyone makes it far less special. I'll stop myself before I go into a real rant, but modern Game Grumps has really turned me off, despite that, I still watch some of their stuff. But I used to watch everything they did.
And a big one for me, which has already been mentioned several times on the thread, over politicizing your show, if it has nothing to do with your theme. I would never stifle people's opinions or beliefs, but if I was a friend of a big Youtuber, I would advise they remain silent on such stuff. You will only create divides in your fanbase, since the comment section will erupt in pointless bickering, and people who disagree with you may feel like they don't belong in your fanbase. Besides, the more topical you make your humor, which most political jokes are, you will only make your content dated within a month or so.
And finally, Let's Play channels on the side. Yes, Let's Plays are popular, and much easier than producing a main show. I don't blame people for doing them, but if it affects their main show negatively, then it will only hurt in the long run.
Cool, I will check it out. When you mentioned brand marketing it reminded me of another pitfall. The one where marketing forces become a bigger drive than the original intent, and it just somehow makes you as the viewer die a little bit on the inside and need to take a shower. Wish I could think of a good examplebartholen said:
If you have a pre-set intro to your videos that is longer than 3 seconds, you need to remove yourself from the internet until you correct yourself.