"Very dramatic shift" - Linus Tech Tips opens up about the channel's declining viewership
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I used to watch LTT all the time. I stopped watching some years back after he installed a six figure Wi-Fi system on his "estate." I had enjoyed watching a relatable everyman review computer hardware, and more often than not break things. I didn't sign up to watch a millionaire dick around with exotic tech in his McMansion.
Doesn't help he has actually gotten dumber over the years.
He very clearly has fallen out of touch and basically is just a personality at this point.
So your not even watching a tech enthusiast millionaire dick around with things.
Your just watching a rich white dude dick around with tech and his company.
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What does that have to do with being able to watch videos on a free ad supported platform?
Also this isn't just something happening to LTT, this is happening across the board with many many channels speaking up about drop in views. YouTube did something and it's hurting content creators both large and small
If someone can't afford to be part of the hobby then they arnt goanna watch videos on that hobby
They're going to move on. Find a new hobby that they can't afford to participate in. Then find new creators that do content in that new hobby
Tech has priced out most of the lower and lower middle class. We can't play anymore so we need to find something new to do
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Folks here are missing the point blaming LTT for the drop. This has been a sudden drop, too sudden to be fatigue or audience tastes changing.
Also I can see the same on my own channel. About 2 weeks ago views suddenly dropped to a third of the usual views. And even high performing videos have had trouble getting views since. Even videos with a high impression percentage are getting lower than average views.
The same wsd also reported by Second Wind (old Zero Punctuation) and their experience is the same: way too sudden drop to be anything else except YouTube adjusting their algorithm.
I wonder what they’re going to prioritize now
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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?
Are people pretending that Youtube doesn't tweedle the knobs and intervenes massively in the al mighty algorithm like it's not just a audience mind puppet but some kind of transcendental meritocracy ?
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As much as I do complain about Peertube, I do like how it's like the old personal blog days. Just kinda quietly do your own thing. I'm actually thinking of starting a channel to teach Japanese. I'll probably have a few lines of my diary and break down the vocabulary and grammar in English and French. It's like shit nobody would give a crap about, but it'll get me to keep up with my diary and maybe someone will find the info useful, which I think the earlier days of personal websites and blogs were like.
That sounds like a great idea. I think the independence of the old web is something we should aspire to, it's a big part of what gave the internet its soul, and that's what big tech has suffocated with ads and monetization and platform-control.
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I wonder what they’re going to prioritize now
AI slop most likely. Well, to be serious, I think the drop is due to them trying to fight AI slop and miserably failing.
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Thanks for the analysis.
I've got to say. We on Lemmy can be vicious.Yeah, it's easy to bark at influencer we don't like.
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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?
They've spent the last several years playing into "The Algorithm", to the point where most videos felt unnatural. Tight posting schedules affecting quality, topic choices, sudden endings, etc.
Not that I care, but I'm curious to see if they will switch to making content they actually care about, or double down and start doing proper brainrot.
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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?
Try peertube?
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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.
Very true. The last decade and a half have just been switching between round and square corners with mild spec bumps. VR was supposed to be it I think, but it just isn't useful enough.
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It's interesting that no one seems to be mentioning the fact that new generation is using TikTok and older generation is watching media less and less. To me it looks like YouTube itself is cooked in the long term, and they brought it upon themselves. Restore the gotdamn dislikes so I can at least navigate the damn platform.
That doesn't explain a sudden drop.
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Me neither. And it's probably contributing to þe declining viewership.
ooh, look an Islander
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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?
wrote last edited by [email protected]I literally never watch a YouTube videos, as they are just a waste of time. For a given video on a given topic, the same amount of information can be obtained by a decently written blog or article that can be read in a 1/10 of the time it takes to watch q video filled by nonsense blabbering and sponsored segments for revenues. In some extreme cases, if the topic seems really, really , REALLay interesting, I may ask an LLM to summarize the video for me. People should stop linking YouTube videos altogether.
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He will look for answers literally anywhere, except for within.
The tech scene is just not as interesting anymore, and the stuff he specifically covers is even less interesting. But the bigger issue is that everything LMG do is just corporate jank. It was fun when it was home garage jank, with 2 employees, but now it's just miserable and frustrating. And thats not even taking any of the interpersonal issues, or legal drama from recent history
Why is Yahtzee complaining about the same issue? He does games, not tech: https://youtu.be/cpVnx4_yqTo
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The most recent findings from Brodie Robertson were that the vieas to likes ratio skyrocketed, something that LTT also has confirmed on their side in the newer stream, and what seems like similar behavior in DarkviperAU's channel. It seems that the likes are the same or higher, and the actual pay for the ads are basically the same, but the views are reduced. It's as if views were the same but are being displayed lower than usual.
Not that most people here would care apparently, because the majority just wants to shit on Linus above actually having any worthwhile look into any of this stuff
Edit: Some direct links to said videos for whoever is interested
- https://youtu.be/1hVwUjcsl6s
- https://youtu.be/qPen-cHdYmk?t=1074 (timestamp 17:54)
Yahtzee is complaining about the same issue: https://youtu.be/cpVnx4_yqTo
Something has changed in the last few months
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I dunno. Something about the content I think.
A few years back some of their content was fun and interesting. Now lately it's all either "here's a bunch of comparisons of hardware you can't even afford" or "Linus puts some ridiculous tech in his own personal house - thanks for subsidizing his home improvement projects by the way"
I will still watch an occasional video but there are other tech related channels that I enjoy a lot more.
wrote last edited by [email protected]Then why is Yahtzee complaining about the same issue? He does games, not tech: https://youtu.be/cpVnx4_yqTo
Has the Second Wind channels quality gone down too, AT THE EXACT SAME TIME as LTT?
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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?
YouTube is hostile to viewers unless you pay them £20 a month.
It’s like 15 ads per 2 mins screen time with 2 being unstoppable and 1 being 3 minutes long.
Slightly exaggerated but not far from the truth. It’s horrible. And they slow everything down too, the main video fake buffers whereas when you’re in premium it doesn’t.I didn’t mind paying a fiver but had to do it via the moon to get it cheap but now they have stopped that.
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If someone can't afford to be part of the hobby then they arnt goanna watch videos on that hobby
They're going to move on. Find a new hobby that they can't afford to participate in. Then find new creators that do content in that new hobby
Tech has priced out most of the lower and lower middle class. We can't play anymore so we need to find something new to do
So people who couldn’t afford expensive cars didn’t watch Top Gear or Grand Tour?
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That doesn't explain a sudden drop.
How dare you use facts to challenge our beliefs!!
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Maybe post actually interesting content instead of pumping out a bunch of variations of the same video about building yet another PC on a dozen of channels. After the whole drama about video quality we got a few more citations but the overall video quality got worse. And then 1/3 videos are paid as if Linus weren't a multi millionaire. Realize it LTT sucks.
Then why are other channels noticing a viewer drop too?