"Very dramatic shift" - Linus Tech Tips opens up about the channel's declining viewership
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9 days on Lemmy and you are already being a jerk and using votes. Miss reddit do you?
Your insecurity is showing.
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Reasons I see:
a) the generation that grew up watching LTT is now at age where they don't watch as much YT as they did before
b) increasing amount of things happen which put viewers off
c) consumer technology peaked and is now "boring"
d) new generations don't have as much interest in technology altogetherLet's explain:
a + c) people watching LTT years ago were living in an exiting tech era where it boomed and you had mayor leaps in tech basically on a yearly basis. Moving from floppy disks to CD's to USB sticks. CRT to LCD displays. 16-bit to 32-bit color. Solitare and Minesweeper to Call of Duty 4 and Need for Speed. Symbian and Blackberry to Android and iOS. Tons of manufacturers, tons of competition, tons of new and exctiting stuff.
Let's observe the state today: iPhone looks the same for the past half decade. Android is basically just Google and Samsung. Storage is now all in cloud. New games are recycled and upscaled old games. Every new generation of hardware is same thing just 10% better/faster. New OS releases are just refinements without new features. Most changes are done just for the sake of change. Existing hardware can basically be enough for 5+ years. What is LTT realistically supposed to talk about that is interesting? There is simply no more interesting tech.
This ties in into d) - tech peaked, new generations "just use it as it is", there is no need to tinker with it, prebuilt PC's are more than fine for years to come. Since AI the IT job landscape seems to be in decline, both in demand and in pay. People do other stuff now that is more lucrative.
LTT is dependent on stuff happening so that they can make videos about it. But, stuff kinda just isn't happening. Or the stuff that happens is just not noteworthy news anymore.
Or google just twiddle our knobs and youtube is not a meritocracy ?
I mean, we don't need to post hoc ergo propter hoc on occam's razor here, we know google, we have their game plan.This is a powerplay, youtube reigning in the talent and intervening in the algorithm, its "meritocratic puppetry".
NO DOUBT, they are NOT shutting them down, but they have REMOVED a previously existing "unfair boost". -
A lot of Youtube channels are reporting declining viewership lately.
EX1: https://youtube.com/watch?v=cpVnx4_yqTo
EX2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF0tmhEtVJEFun times. Looks like a lot of channels are seeing a decline not just Linus. Hes just the latest to talk about it.
Then I saw this article as well and thought I would share.
Anyone here youtube creators? Are you seeing the same thing, a general downturn in viewership?
This guy seems really fake, I have only watched a couple and it too much personality for what I want. I just want to hit the topics and move through quickly, MKBHD and the boss guy are solid.
Other than thatnIbhave only ever heard of these guys when they have been acting like dicks internally and externally.
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A lot of Youtube channels are reporting declining viewership lately.
EX1: https://youtube.com/watch?v=cpVnx4_yqTo
EX2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF0tmhEtVJEFun times. Looks like a lot of channels are seeing a decline not just Linus. Hes just the latest to talk about it.
Then I saw this article as well and thought I would share.
Anyone here youtube creators? Are you seeing the same thing, a general downturn in viewership?
Maybe if he did videos that were interesting again...not like my wife hates our tech at home videos or whatever
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This guy seems really fake, I have only watched a couple and it too much personality for what I want. I just want to hit the topics and move through quickly, MKBHD and the boss guy are solid.
Other than thatnIbhave only ever heard of these guys when they have been acting like dicks internally and externally.
wrote last edited by [email protected]Isn't MKBHD a bit of a brat? Doesn't he spend most of his time doing flashy low substance "reviews" just so he keeps getting invited to Apples gigs?
His reviews are mostly just b-role anyway, there are actual reviewers out there.
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A lot of Youtube channels are reporting declining viewership lately.
EX1: https://youtube.com/watch?v=cpVnx4_yqTo
EX2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF0tmhEtVJEFun times. Looks like a lot of channels are seeing a decline not just Linus. Hes just the latest to talk about it.
Then I saw this article as well and thought I would share.
Anyone here youtube creators? Are you seeing the same thing, a general downturn in viewership?
People are jumping the gun on Linus here, but it's real, the Second Wind crew do a great job and their recent videos, even the Fully Ramblomatic series are doing way worse.
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That’s what bugs me the most, it used to be everyone making awesome fun videos, but then Linus is now the host of EVERY video. It’s just not the same
wrote last edited by [email protected]He definitely seems to host fever videos then he used to.
People just like to hate on him and apparently he's done some bad things, but I don't know about. Anyway this article isn't really just about him, it's apparently about all of YouTubers so what he's done isn't really relevant.
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This guy seems really fake, I have only watched a couple and it too much personality for what I want. I just want to hit the topics and move through quickly, MKBHD and the boss guy are solid.
Other than thatnIbhave only ever heard of these guys when they have been acting like dicks internally and externally.
MKBHD the one that drove over the limit on a school zone for a car review, his also very light when reviewing Tesla stuff.
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There is a difference between those willing to change something and those trying something out.
I use Apple devices at work and the sometimes ass-backwards way of hotkeys or UI decisions is really aggravating annoyance in regards to logically understanding the task needed to do something comparison to another OS like Windows.
E.g. deleting the app data of an app on iOS.
Why can't I just reset a damn app? Why do I need to uninstall and download it again from the store??Nah sure there are some annoyances with MacOs. But most things are just because it works differently. Different doesn’t automatically mean worse. I use all three OSs on a regular basis, they all have their pros and cons. But Windows has the most bs out of the three.
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VR still is it. If you have €€€€
Take the bigscreen beyond 2.
A vr-headset starting at 1300 (incl. taxes/import).
Uhhh yeah.
Not happening for what little VR could offer me in my current situation (and I don't watch porn).Facebook is the best and worst thing to have happened to VR. The Quest is an affordable headset that basically killed all competition and innovation in VR for years. Still holding out hope that the next Valve headset will come out eventually and shake up the scene again.
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I never considered that the tech scene isn't interesting anymore, but you're right. Everything is boring incremental upgrades these days. Things are having the fun squeezed out of them for profits (in app purchases, proprietary lockin, cloud shit that dies or has permanent bugs, etc), lots of stuff just feels like it's plateaued or is junk.
And all the big "innovations" have been in venture capitalist bubbles like AI, NFTs, etc. or soured by the companies and people behind them. I hear SpaceX has been doing some cool stuff, but all I can see is Musk making a flying Cyber Truck for his ego on NASA's dollar. One of the reactors at 3 Mile Island is coming back online, the first US nuclear power project in who knows how many years...in order to fuel Microsoft's AI data centers.
Advancements in tech used to be about pushing the boundaries of what we're capable of. Now, it's all about pushing the boundaries of how much money the oligarchs can stuff into a single pocket.
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Yeah, because Linus is kinda shit more and more. Hes wholly turned me off from his content over the years because of how he acts, what he says, etc. And you can 'trust me bro' on that.
I really like and appreciate people like Steve. I like what he's doing and how he's doing things. He hasn't become a greedy corpo and hes just a very intelligent and caring person who believes in standing up for what's right; Even if that means calling out a friend in the industry.
I feel like Linus is out of touch with reality. He's not at all down to earth anymore.
Steve and GamersNexus is a gem.
They've figured out what viewers want: honesty and transparency. -
A lot of Youtube channels are reporting declining viewership lately.
EX1: https://youtube.com/watch?v=cpVnx4_yqTo
EX2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF0tmhEtVJEFun times. Looks like a lot of channels are seeing a decline not just Linus. Hes just the latest to talk about it.
Then I saw this article as well and thought I would share.
Anyone here youtube creators? Are you seeing the same thing, a general downturn in viewership?
Probably doesn't help that a bunch of the decent channels were bought by private equity and are now churning out boring, safe and uninteresting content.
https://youtu.be/hJ-rRXWhElI (a yt link, lol).
A brief summary from https://www.dailydot.com/news/youtube-channel-private-equity/
Some channels like Donut Media, Veritasium, and Task and Purpose have been acquired publicly. Others, such as Dude Perfect and Coco Melon, have been acquired more privately, with no public disclosure.
Plenty others. A key giveaway is when a channel diverges their risk. When the front man who is the reason you have watched the channel suddenly has co-hosts and large segments from other channels in their regular content.
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A lot of Youtube channels are reporting declining viewership lately.
EX1: https://youtube.com/watch?v=cpVnx4_yqTo
EX2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF0tmhEtVJEFun times. Looks like a lot of channels are seeing a decline not just Linus. Hes just the latest to talk about it.
Then I saw this article as well and thought I would share.
Anyone here youtube creators? Are you seeing the same thing, a general downturn in viewership?
This might be another example of over reliance on AI to judge what’s good or not to show users: https://news.clownfishtv.com/p/reddit-asks-did-youtube-break-itself
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MKBHD the one that drove over the limit on a school zone for a car review, his also very light when reviewing Tesla stuff.
wrote last edited by [email protected]over the limit as in doing 96 in a 35 (mph)
move through quickly
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This guy seems really fake, I have only watched a couple and it too much personality for what I want. I just want to hit the topics and move through quickly, MKBHD and the boss guy are solid.
Other than thatnIbhave only ever heard of these guys when they have been acting like dicks internally and externally.
not sure which videos you checked. LTT is paced faster than MKBHD though mrwhosetheboss is definitely faster than both.
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Isn't MKBHD a bit of a brat? Doesn't he spend most of his time doing flashy low substance "reviews" just so he keeps getting invited to Apples gigs?
His reviews are mostly just b-role anyway, there are actual reviewers out there.
could you elaborate?
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LTT had multiple pretty bad scandals, didn't they? I recently needed to find some technical information and other places had better information. LTT seems to be more of a pop culture tech channel? I don't even really know how to describe what I mean. It's like the reviews are more like fluff pieces I guess? They aren't super duper technical. But I also don't watch them much so maybe I missed something.
Top Gear
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Broadly maybe the viewers are just getting sick of all of the shilling for cheap shit that goes on with the ever increasing sponsor segments so many channels have these days. Arguments will be had about just how needed all of those marketing dollars are for the creator to keep doing their thing vs them getting used to a lot of money and wanting even more of it. But the end result is a worse viewing experience for the consumer. I know there are a lot of channels that make good content that I've stopped watching because they spend a quarter of the video shilling junk. Sure sponserblock would get rid of those sections, but it won't send a message like unsubscribing and stopping watching them completely will.
Also maybe this is a larger Youtube usage hit due to their aggressive anti-adblock nonsense and uptick in ads and shitty UI design.
For Linus specifically, he has the above issues as well as having been very publicly outed as a slimy deuce. What his channels put out is not unique enough these days to justify dealing with the shilling and his companies bad behavior.
wrote last edited by [email protected]though i get the other things you mean, LTT's sponsor sections have roughly stayed the same length over the years: two minutes every half-hour
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I can't talk about the others but LTT went form a tech channel to a luxury products channel. I'd blame some of their loss on that and the controversies.
wrote last edited by [email protected]that's not my impression. they definitely don't really get technical beyond the pop culture depth, but just last week they reviewed budget chromebook options, continued the US$1400 PC battle series, did something on the Switch 2's proprietary port against aftermarket accessories, and finished a switch-to-iphone challenge