Balancing Authenticity and Algorithm Success

Here's why I had to reset my computer . Um , I record everything to ecam . I haven't used a memory card in forever , so live streams , zoom calls , pre-recorded videos , vertical content , whatever . It's all recording to my computer and every single live stream , including the couples table , youtube . Huddle up all of that .

Two years ago , I started a gaming channel and I was mostly playing final fantasy 14 , which is , at the time , not mac compatible , so I was down . I downloaded this like bootleg run final fantasy 14 on a mac program that was , for some reason , 100 gigs , which , in terms of 4k , this is like us .

But now the new expansion for final fantasy 14 is coming out on my birthday in two weeks july 2nd , playing on the playstation , though , oh you're right . Yeah , well , I want to stream , though , maybe right , yeah , that's , that was the problem . So right , it's also . You can also play final fantasy 14 on a console like playstation .

But I can't , I don't have , I don't have this setup . I mean , I could set up the playstation 5 here that's so complicated .

Jeremy is here on Fuego .

That's like when people say it's just minutes away , it's like , well , technically , isn't everything minutes away ?

And it has come down to the same freaking matchup from last season , which is the Coachella Valley Firebirds and the freaking Hershey Bears , and today is game one and we lost last season .

Which means when I get my mr softy , soft sir , which is usually a swirl of chocolate and vanilla , no swirl anymore , straight vanilla only available . Which means I unknowingly had my last swirl like two and a half weeks swirl the pearl uh

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I want to show the video , yeah the face cam and the , the mic and all that kind of stuff , um , and so the thing that you really need is some sort of 4k pass through , so that way you can't just run the console into a cam link or into an ATEM Well , atem , I guess , does have a pass through maybe because then there's gonna be a delay and what you're

seeing is you're trying to control is like slightly off . So you need 4k pass through so that way you can have a signal going out to your display that has no latency and you can play like normal , but the signal is still being captured .

So the thing that we have is the road streamer x , which is probably our best bet for a you know , maybe at the end of this we'll show you what we got sure because it's all hooked up yeah , you have the ati .

I mean , the streamer x is kind of the way to go for that one , especially with the ps5 yeah yeah , it'll just look better the new elgato capture device yeah , they came with a new one that has passed through , but we have the streamer x and we already have it .

Versus buying something , yeah , but elgato stuff is usually the way to go for a lot of things yeah , oh , I realized .

I think it has been updated and the times I've played with it since it's , it's a lot better and for gaming and stuff , I was trying to do like 24 frames per second 4k video capture , which is very different than trying to stream a console game in not 4k see , this is the best thing about having everyone who uses ecam here .

I just closed it , you saw it right , and then it popped up again .

Yeah , maybe from having never streamed like consistently ever really yeah , it hasn't .

it has been . In addition to my video , I've been able to do a stream every week for the past couple weeks .

That's a good question In terms of like performance and community cultivation .

Um , and something that means a lot to me is either in the chat there , especially at the end of the streams , or even in the comments that people leave on the replays . Is people like the words helpful ?

thank you , right , yeah a lot of like helpfulness has popped up and I kind of can't help but approach streams with those streams with like a customer service mentality of like someone took the time to be here , especially because they're totally random .

It's like I'm just suddenly going like going live right now , in 10 minutes , and then like people just show up and so when they ask a question I need help with something , I really try to like hit every one of them at least as much as I can .

Yeah , um , and I feel like that does make them stand out a little bit , to like get to kind of dive in and get some help , because I do .

I do sometimes watch streams where you know someone will say like hey , how do I connect my microphone to a whatever , and the person's like , oh , I don't know , you just do it like look up a tutorial and like you know there's almost which I get .

Play button and above 100,000 subscribers and above , I think what you do is that you are still a viewer .

Yeah , I would think I would go so far to say that you're more of a viewer than a creator , like I think you watch as many youtube videos as you do it's probably pretty even , I mean , I would say it's but I think the the thing there that I think differentiates you is that you can say oh , I noticed on other people's streams , here's this like missing piece

, and so you can . You know , you can actually be like well , when I do it , I want to make sure I do this Not knocking on the other person , but it's like , you know , you can kind of see the experience of what it's like to be a viewer .

I think I've noticed when I watch channels where the person is not especially if it's a larger channel , where the person clearly is not much of a viewer themselves is people in chats will bring up things , they'll ask questions or they'll reference something that's happening on the platform or whatever , and the person around the channel almost like has no idea what

they're talking about . And I think that is different where if you're like also a viewer , then you can go like oh yeah , I saw that , I noticed this , I heard about that Like you're in it as well , which is not like a strategy , it's just like I watch YouTube .

In terms of views , growth total , everything has not been this low in four years .

let me use this computer instead of that one , like I have so much more flexibility just because of how things have been rearranged and the the lack of pressure I used to put so much pressure on . Like this stream is about this and I'm going to have 15 cameras connected . We're going to go to this and I have these graphics ready tom .

A month , I was like a week , what the heck Okay yeah , so every other week there was going to be a stream , a schedule amount . I even had like different thumbnails made for each . You prepped , I prepped . It was going to be very consistent , and what ended up happening was I just ended up getting sick a lot .

You know there were times where I would like send out a newsletter like the night before .

It ended up being surprisingly quick , but the setup was all there and everything looked good and I was like I don't want to just like turn all this off right now .

Yeah , I don't know what that was , I just copied your settings . I don't know why suddenly it clicked . But yeah , basically like I didn't these .

I didn't even change my settings , because obviously I reset everything well , your camera's not a 4k camera , so I think by default that's helping , and then you just adjust your ecam so I had to turn my camera to 1080 30 instead of 4K 24 . So that's like a change . I just have a custom button for streaming and it switches all those settings .

I was thinking about a new lens for the zoni zoni cv10 that's what it was face sv the sony zv10 e10 well , I mean , it depends on what you need , since that's a crop sensor camera , I am I think you already have the sigma 16 , which is like the default , right , I would maybe , depending on what you would , what you want to use it for , especially if you

maybe want to take it out into the world the tamron 17 to 70 , 2.2.8 . Pretty awesome . I have the Tamron 20-40mm , which is a full-frame lens , but they have a longer lens for crop sensor . They're the same price . I don't know . That's my recommendation .

I don't think we're going to be able to do it this summer .

, some ideas . But one thing I also have wanted to do for a long time is , uh , do a live thing . Yeah , it's like a live class instead of a go at your own pace .

Yeah , like a zoom thing not like a live in person , but obviously I just mentioned showing up consistently for a thing has been , so that's why like breaking it down into like six weeks , six week cohorts .

I understand that I almost feel like there's a little shift happening now , going in the other direction , but I understand that things feel different and like what happened and because it seems like everyone's doing the same stuff , right , like we're making the same videos talking about the same things . Why does it feel different ?

And that's where , like , the camera niche is a great example , because this is a thing that has popped up a lot and kind of came to a head relatively recently , where it's like it sort of went from enthusiasm of like hey , look at this , look at that , look at this , to just like here's the next commercial for a new product release and it's like here's 10 of

the same video about the same product , telling you the same specs , and it's like , well , yeah , who wants to watch that ? Like nobody . Nobody wants to watch that , and that's very different . It a very different feeling .

And so there's a channel I've followed , actually since like 2017 , when I was getting my drone license , and it was the first time I dipped a toe into aviation YouTube . I actually found this channel before we met . And it was one of the channels , even though it's in a totally different niche . It was one of the things that made me go like God .

Having a YouTube channel would be really fun . Like this looks so cool it's largely based around paramotoring , okay , which is basically you have a big fan on your back and a parachute . So you have a parachute and a motor paramotor and you fly around like it's a really big fan and you turn it on , you run and then you fly okay it's pretty cool .

Uh , it's not something I would ever have the guts to do . It's also very dangerous , but you always obviously have to be a licensed pilot and everything . And so I found a channel . Uh , that had been that's been around for a long time , but I found it in 2017 and at the time , the channel had just published , or recently published , a video .

Uh , that was just the . The guy who runs the channel is like out I don don't know where he is in the Midwest of the United States , somewhere like that , maybe , the East Coast , lots of lush green farm ruralness and the video is I flew to McDonald's and so it's him on his paramotor .

He's at like a park , like a soccer park , and he flies , and he found a McDonald's that just had a large field next to it so he could land there . He went and got his burgers , went back up and then it was just eating the burgers on the way home and then landed at the park . But the whole video this was videos .

You know , 2017 , the whole video is so like let's see if I could do this kind of is the thing Like ? And it's literally like he has a GoPro strapped to his foot and so the way that he films himself is just to stick a leg out while flying so the GoPro can film him . I think he has another GoPro on his head . That's basically all the production value .

I think he has a headset to talk . You know , because you're flying you need a headset and I think you can hear him through the headset and that's kind of it . It's literally just like it feels like it's a Sunday night and he just had an idea to try to go . I think it ended up being the most popular video on his channel .

It has like 50 million views at this point . But his channel was very small at the time . The video was just kind of a goof around , whatever . And there's something about that video that's just like it's so enjoyable to watch and it's so much fun and , and you know , I've sort of kept tabs on the channel over the years .

And so last week when you were going to our friend's wedding it was a multi-day event you went to a couple events I didn't go to so one of the nights , um , his channel popped up in my recommendations . It was a more recent video , um , which was cool .

And then I kind of went back and looked at recent videos and I realized , because that video that mcdon McDonald's video was so popular . He ended up doing a whole series of like flying to every fast food restaurant , and so I looked for the most recent one . Maybe it's not the most recent one , but this was about two years ago , I think , maybe three .

He redid the McDonald's one , okay , and I was like it's the most popular video . I'm redoing this . But now there's like three other pilots that are flying too and we're all going to go to McDonald's and do a thing . And it's funny because I rewatched the original one and I had the same feeling I had seven years ago .

And what was crazy was watching the comments . There were so many people in the comments of that video that said every couple of years , youtube recommends this video to me . People in the comments of that video that said every couple years , youtube recommends this video to me . I watch it every time and it's so comforting , it's so nostalgic .

It's weird that , like we're all having the same feelings about this video .

Um , the comments on the video are largely positive . I didn't like it at all and it was . It felt like it was very much . I mean , mean , it starts with literally , like you know , another , like creator on a one wheel going up like hey , we're going to McDonald's and this .

That , oh bro , like this , it's very like creator , bro , feeling which , watching more recent videos on the channel , I feel like kind of like went back to sort of like a regular vibe .

But they replicate the same thing , they kind of go in and it's like so many times to sort of talk about like , oh , it's like the original and oh , we're redoing this and we're doing that . It's the classic thing we got . It's just so like over the , it's like over the top in a way .

Um , it obviously does not have the same charm no , um , and to me , the reason I bring this whole thing up is not to be critical , but it to me it showed the difference between making a video and making a youtube video .

Oh wow , and I I think it's the core of this thing that people are , that this , this thing that feels off where it's like we're all like it's all the same stuff . The video , the newer video , arguably is better because it's better sound , better video yeah , but that's production and it's the same thing . It's the same thing .

We're gonna fly to mcdonald's get some burgers . Fly back , eat the burgers in the sky . So why does the same video feel different ?

The first one is somebody who is literally like I have an idea for a video , I'm just going to share this . I'm they're sharing something and the way to share it is through video . The second one is we're making a youtube video . It's going to be edited for retention .

It's the old school thing of like kind of the camera or the gopro or phone or whatever , like pointed down so you can see the counter , like , oh , could I get a mcdouble or whatever . And this one it's gopro on the helmet . Like , yeah , we're filming a video , we're going here and we're doing . It's like . And the workers like , right , like it's very that .

And even going back to camera , youtube , there's such a difference like you could watch a camera review from , you know , six , seven years ago . You watch a camera review from today , six , seven years ago . It's something whether the person bought it themselves or it was supplied to them , it's something they're excited about , like , oh , this is the new thing .

We've been waiting for this , because the current one has these issues here and it seems like it's fixed here and I can't wait to see if that's actually fixed .

And the new one is just like here's the thing uh , it says that it has this , it says that it has this , it has this , it has this , it does this well , I like what you're bringing up because it's you're pointing out two things um .

right , because you can even say the opposite of like production value can all , can go all the way up , but the connection right doesn't necessarily correlate right , right and then the other .

The other thing is , um , I don't even know how to explain it , but it's that , it's , it's the solo , it's , it's the person who's like , it's the person who's figuring it out , not to say that super polished content is not interesting and engaging , and , uh , you know something that people want to watch regularly .

I think there's a place for that , but I think the thing that you're talking about , that you gravitate towards , is like , is is the like , the tinkering , tinkering independent tinkery shit .

Yeah , it's like , oh , it's like I don't know why there's something else there's like this third person here in this like relationship and I don't want them here well , it's interesting because , um , I think especially as I feel like in the last month , ai has just been insane and it's only going to get more insane , I think in terms of , like the summer , I

think it's getting so good . It's getting so good , and I think that it's just something to think about , as we are creating content but then also watching content . How do we , how do we like , how do we lean into the connection ?

Um , like the youtubers making a youtube video versus making a video yeah yeah , I so I don't know .

I don't think anyone would want to watch that . But it is different when it's like this topic is trending right now . I need to jump onto this .

It's so hard because it's like I can be that person , though like I'm not . What's wrong with it ? There's nothing , there's nothing and this is it . There's nothing wrong with it . Right like yesterday , you , you filmed a quick instagram clip on rollerblades and you were just like , oh , the rollerblades are nice because it's so smooth and the action's really fun .

Like there's something really interesting about just filming in that in that way . But I think I think it goes back to like you're making a video because you thought it would be cool to make a video about flying McDonald's versus .

We're making this video because this is going to get more like I'm on a one wheel , because I'm interested in this like electric vehicle thing and it's fun to ride around and sometimes it pops up on videos versus like I'm a YouTuber in 2022 . I need

to have a one wheel .

But you feel like like even in my YouTube dashboard , it was like double your channel's growth by live streaming at least once a week , and I was like very ironic , you're telling me this .

You do because you're seem like you're punishing my channel for streaming , but if you get that , then you're gonna feel like oh , I don't want to stream , but yeah , okay , I guess I should because I'm doing and it's like that's already .

You've already kind of lost , like , oh well , I I like the videos I make , but I feel like I should mix it up more versus like I want to mix it up , I want to try something new , that internal motivation to it versus the external yeah , I know it's hard because it's like obviously you want to , you want to do what you know is going to be successful , um ,

and at least when you do what youtube is telling you , you have data to back it up .

I think it does take that experimenting , experimentation and tinkering to be the one that like , oh , that's the new thing . Like you know , you have to do something that's never been done , which is hard . There's no proof of concept , you have no data to back it up , you know . And you have to do something that's never been done , which is hard .

There's no proof of concept , you have no data to back it up , you know . And so I guess what ends up happening is you follow what is successful by getting a one wheel , or Well , algorithms and platforms don't know intent .

Good discussion , positive comment . It's a useful video and the reason I wanted it on the channel was because it's as much as I know . A video about parametric equalizers isn't going to hit the trending page .

I want that on my channel so that way , forever , or at least for a long time I always have that resource there to refer people to , so there's an intent and a purpose there that is not going to be reflected in what the algorithm sees . Not a lot of people are clicking on this .

The watch time is not very good , Whatever , that's not what that video is for . But all it's telling me is this video is a failure , and then , as the person who made it , you have to be in a spot where you can say no , I wanted it to do this . It's not a failure , even though you're telling me it's a failure .

By McDonald's by anybody , or just ever . Oh wow , there was no sponsor .

I think it's the authenticity and when you at least when I watch it , you can , when you do youtube long enough I've said it's like seeing the matrix right , you can start to see the matrix behind the video and that's where it's like , when I watch the other one , I see the matrix and you see the authenticity for lack of a better , less cliche term and when

you watch the other one , you see the matrix and you see algorithms , like you see the other version of it and you just can . I don't know how that's so hard . And again , I'm not trying to be hypercritical , because also credit is due this channel . The more recent videos are original , I feel . I feel they're very original , authentic , maybe matured a bit , um .

So you know , maybe this was just a chunk where the , the person behind the channel was trying something that didn't work out or they didn't want to stick with , creatively at least .

It's the least exciting thing in the world to spend $400 on .

Let me tell you who never sends a text like that Any real human being . This is spam . Sorry , kat says . At a conference last week , I saw Ali Abdaal present about creating YouTube videos and it was so refreshing because he focused on connecting with enjoyment of creating Interesting .

edge . It seemed to be the difference of going on trip with a friend and staged videos for making a video right it's the thing of um , oh , I was , oh , this is I know it's so hard because like okay . So here's what I've been working on . Sorry , I cut you off I'm sorry it's fine , I've been talking the whole episode I don't need to talk .

It was her wedding last week and , uh , I wanted to do an instagram post that had pictures from her wedding , but then , as I was putting it together , I was like , you know , it'd be more fun , you know , and especially like on my Instagram , because my Instagram , my YouTube channel , are documenting my journey .

I was like , oh , I should talk about , like what YouTube was like before Tom . Right , like how I figured all this out and all my first tutorials , my first vlogs , my first live streams , that was all . My roommate , she was the one who was there and she was down , she helped me and all that .

So I went through all my hard drives and like , dug up and I was like making this video . Hard drives and like , dug up and I was like making this video . Um , but the reason why I bring that up is because , you know , I I found so many things of like . My very first , I thought my very first brand deal was an electric skateboard .

Turns out it was a case of wine , um , and I had her help me with it because she is a sommelier . So she's like the . It's like the certification that you take for , like , wine aficionados or whatever , um , and so she was gonna help me make this video .

We didn't end up making anything with that video , but it's funny case of wine , we just drink the wine but it's funny because , like you can see , you can see the misalignment of like I don't want to be making this , I don't know how I , I don't know I said yes to a thing because it sounded like a good thing and you're kind of forcing it now you can see

my entire body language . Like I know me , that girl did not know her . She was all like , why ? Like , what is the point of this ? It's just so like you could just see it in my face .

I have like no idea what's happening , which is why , like to , I feel like every single youtube creator goes through that for the first time of like someone offers you which is a bad feeling yeah , it's like it's not bad . Yeah , case of wine cool and like all you do is make a video and I had no idea anyway .

um , so I went through the whole journey of figuring out tutorials and vlogs and you know what it means to be a YouTube creator . And then I met this guy , okay , and I feel like we could be this exact thing , right , like , okay , yeah , before it's me just figuring it out , it's just me . And then I met you and everything is intentional , purposeful .

We stage things . Arguably , I mean , it's not staging , but you know , we storyboard and every time we make a video , we're like , we always say like okay , we're gonna make sure this is in it

and this in it . Why is it different ? Like , how are we not doing the same thing ? How ? How do we maintain ? Do we maintain authenticity ? Let me ask that first . Like , are we even being ? What is the difference ?

Authentic , because I'm aware of you put on makeup like yeah , okay , so maybe that's I don't know , I don't think that , uh , derails authenticity or anything . I think it's . It's the thing . It's making a video versus making we'll call it , call it making a youtube video . That's the difference . You can be doing the exact same thing and that's kind of my point .

It's a lot of it is the motivation and the tone behind it , the purpose , motivation and tone , even though it's the same thing . I feel like you and I make videos . That's what we try to do , and the difference is making youtube videos and that's where people go , you know , that's where people get burnt out , people get frustrated .

Viewers feel like something has changed all that and you're you , you are making .

I would hope so , because if you're talking about sustainability of the channel , then focusing on making the videos that only you can make , versus what YouTube wants you to make . Yeah , like this will probably make you . This will probably like be more sustainable .

But I feel like that's the thing that lets you , because you're . It's such a different motivation , you know it's .

It's a very different thing between , like you know , I will go in right every day and do bass lessons in my studio , right , like , yeah , sit at the bass practice scales , learn a little bit about theory , practice songs , and I want I like try to find time to do it because I love it so much .

I remember when I was like 11 and trying to learn to play the violin turns out I didn't really like the violin as much as I thought I would , and I remember my mom telling me like every day you need to practice . Right now you need to practice at least 45 minutes , and it's like I don't want to do this .

In both cases I'm practicing an instrument but like the motivation and the purpose behind is so different . In the one it's internal and it's me , so there's I can just keep doing this Like I have to stop , usually because I ran out of time , and the other one it's external .

This other force is making me do it , and it's like the time couldn't go any slower and it couldn't be any less fun . And I don't play the violin anymore . I sold it , bought a Nintendo .

It's hard to communicate it , much less get someone you know interested in it that doesn't know they might be interested in it anyway yeah , yeah , uh , obs is here .

Hearing and seeing other people on the microphones is actually very right , yeah , someone that isn't your voice . It's a and it's a fun way to bring people in . I feel like a lot of times you can connect with someone you can completely get along . We should definitely make a video together .

And then I have found myself like almost feeling so forced and feeling not like myself making it , because it's like this is not a video I'd make , this is not like , this is not how I would maybe some not a video I'd make . It's not how I would make this video normally .

And it feels so foreign and I think in the time I've tried to just be like well , you're going out of your comfort zone . That feels uncomfortable and you should push through it .

But in reality I've learned over the years like it's the same thing with like I shouldn't have a consistent upload schedule because that's so old school and nerdy and I should be real free flow YouTube , bro , just upload whinevs . Man , it doesn't work for me . Who is this ? Is this a person ? It's a lot of .

Instagram requested messages that start with you should . Hey , bro , you should , and it's just also what I see a lot of other people doing and what people have told me to do directly .

It doesn't work for me , and so just becoming comfortable with like , yeah , most of my videos are probably going to be in my studio I don't know , if you don't like that , I don't want to watch those videos yeah , and just sort of being okay with that , that's kind of the takeaway .

Well , you could I mean , if it were a little wide you could always crop in with the cam and then you never have to touch it Whoa Max crop , max crop .

We've seen collabs on youtube , you know , obviously , but then like well , I mean for me .

I didn't want to do that and it was literally like in the hotel room one morning , before doing something . I was like , oh , I think it might be helpful to do this and like it just sort of made sense . Like it was like how do I show this ?

Oh , it could just be me walking around with these different microphones but hearing them on different voices , and especially I'm talking about interview microphones I'm going to need another person .

Right , so it makes sense and then you know , like Bronson from Audio Hotline , it was kind of like the three of us were like a main group the whole time and you know , like we knew he was also going and that we're going to spend time together .

But I don't know if we all knew that we're gonna spend that much time together and I think when we realized that it was like , oh cool , well , we can kind of shift it like there's so many combos , you can film the two of us , he can film the two of us , I can film too . Like right we can . It actually helped with this specific topic .

It helped it be better free flow youtube , bro . It's the way to go we just said enhance when you zoom in .

I don't want you to get us anything . What I'd really love is you took this really great photo of us . I've heard my stepdad . Can you , can you like send me the file ? I think you know I was gonna be like oh I'll you know , I'll blow it up , print it out , send it to you and stuff .

And I was like , yeah , of course , and I went through because we have our nos . And I went through and looked and I was like I cannot find this picture I know what photo she's talking about . It's a great photo outdoors , the beach . It's beautiful . I was like I can't find this one .

I searched everywhere and like months went by and she's like where's the photo ? I'm like , I'm trying to find it , I couldn't find it and finally I had to tell her like I lost the photo . I don't , I don't have the photo , um , and I felt really bad . And then I forget how this was ? You zoomed in . No , I did , I didn't . It was actually my mom .

Oh , my mom found a different photo from that day and she zoomed in . It was a photo of her . She zoomed in on her sunglasses and saw you in the reflection with a phone and I was like , oh my God , okay , that means the photo I'm looking for .

I was like at this point it'd been close to a year of me trying to find this photo feeling bad , getting sent on guilt trips left and right and it turned out I never , I didn't even take the photo and never had the photo . I was not involved with this look at this .

, I guess that's it .