Does YouTube dictate content trends?

 

You might have come across this YouTube thumbnail recently. By the end of this blog, I can confidently assert that YouTube has been prominently featuring it to grab your attention, urging you to click on it repeatedly. So, you might be wondering why. What makes this particular video go viral? I'll explore that in this video, but let's start with something seemingly unrelated - YouTuber burnout.

 

Lately, several YouTubers, including Casey Neistat, Superwoman, Ryan Higa, Grace Helbig, and many more, have openly discussed burnout. Despite their diverse channels and experiences, they seem to share a common element, and I believe it's worth delving into what might be at play.

 

I'll present a comprehensive theory about YouTube, spanning from YouTuber burnout to the phenomenon of videos going viral on the platform.

 

As a viewer, your initial response to burnout might be to label these YouTubers as entitled or sensitive, thinking, "You have the best job in the world; why complain?" Alternatively, you might argue that burnout is prevalent in every industry, so why should we care about this YouTuber thing? However, I believe YouTuber burnout is a distinct phenomenon with unique factors.

 

It all begins with the YouTuber life cycle. When a YouTuber complaining about burnout has experienced success, with rising views, it feels great. However, as views start to plateau and decline, despite increased efforts, a psychological struggle arises. The gap between expectations and reality, especially when a certain number of subscribers no longer translates to a satisfying number of views, contributes significantly to YouTuber burnout.

 

Reviewing what these YouTubers are saying reveals a trend of self-blame and establishing cause-and-effect connections. They assume that views reflect video quality, creating a mindset where decreasing views imply lower-quality content. I question this assumption and challenge YouTubers who solely blame themselves, as I believe there's a systemic influence at play.

 

To delve deeper, I turn to Google Trends, examining search patterns for various channels, including Veritasium, Numberphile, and AsapSCIENCE. Surprisingly, these educational channels, with different creators and content, follow a similar trajectory on Google Trends.

 

Why is that? The obvious answer is the algorithm. Unlike traditional media with limited content creation, YouTube witnesses an overwhelming volume of uploaded hours daily. The algorithm serves as the platform's brain, connecting an audience, unaware of most content, to specific content they may like. YouTube contends that the algorithm mirrors the audience's preferences. However, creators use their content to chase the algorithm, creating a cyclical relationship.

 

YouTube creators strive to align their content with what's popular on the site, attempting to please the algorithm. When content successfully caters to the algorithm, an ironic situation arises where the algorithm becomes the content.

 

In a hypothetical scenario, if YouTube wanted more snail videos, they could make it happen by promoting videos with "snail" in the title, without creating actual snail content. This dynamic creates a scenario where the algorithm dictates content trends.

 

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