Are Sword Contents Dead?... Well, NO. But... Answering to

[@FedericoMalagutti]

Please people, be respectful towards other creators, even if you don't appreciate their choices or have a contrasting political view it is not a good reason to be rude. I will delete any offensive replies. Here we are talking about content, not politics and the like. Sincerely Fede

[@iantheduellist]

You are one of the few people advocating for this sort of respect and tolerance and I'm here for it.

[@garrenbrooks4778]

Do not be respectful to shad. He's a bigot and bigots should never be tolerated let alone respected.

[@iantheduellist]

@garrenbrooks4778 This is not going to help anyone. I also disagree with pretty much everything he says about politics, ideology etc, but respecting him is the first step to fixing the issue.

[@garrenbrooks4778]

@@iantheduellistno, respect and being the bigger man and not taking a stance against this kind of ignorance is how we met our country slip back into the hands of fascists

[@dequitem]

Absolutely true! ❤

[@Skallagrim]

There seem to be a lot of different factors at work. Definitely what you mentioned, and also the fact that swords (and historical weapons in general) are not quite as niche anymore. Still niche obviously, but many people have already learned a great deal, and so many misconceptions have been debunked multiple times. So I suppose there is less demand to be educated on certain topics. Then there is the problem of habit, I suppose. Those who have been making KZbin videos for 10-15 years found out what worked best at an earlier time and settled into a particular workflow and mindset. But what you learned that long ago doesn't apply so well anymore because KZbin and its algorithms have changed many times. The audience has, too. And finally the algorithms as they are now seem to actively underprioritize older channels. People who are subscribed and have an active interest in watching their videos may not find them in their feed and forget about them. A newer channel can make a very similar video and get 3 times (or more) views than an older one. It all adds up.

[@FedericoMalagutti]

@@Skallagrim Hey Skall! I actually can see what you mean, and I forgot the prioritization of newer/smaller (and I would say that newer is even more important) channels in the last part, because it’s easy to see for me too, to a lesser extent. Anyway, I still watch a lot of stuff you post, great respect for what you achieved with your channel.

[@Skallagrim]

@@FedericoMalagutti Thank you! Nice to see you still being at it too, consistently putting out good content.

[@FedericoMalagutti]

@@Skallagrimthanks for the kind words ;-)

[@CrispyCircuits]

He makes a very good point about time to watch and the loooonger and loonger videos on world events. I don't mind watching 45 minutes. 1 hour OK. But the channels I watch about world events are starting to get about one and a half hours. That's just too long. The language issue is something I hadn't thought of. I fluently speak/read/write/think in Spanish (Mexican variety). I just can't get KZbin to send me hardly any recommendations in Spanish. Music on KZbin is under an even worse algorithm by far. I mostly listen to music in Spanish except for some country rap in English. But YT just repeats the same songs. Ugh. I really don't like the new Metatron style. I don't want to watch videos about other videos. I have already watched most of those videos anyway. I pulled my Patreon off of him and put it into Skall, this channel and Tyranth's channel. Plus a little more $ total. I don't mind niche topics. Perhaps making a variety of series really drilling down into a particular topic in depth could reveal some ideas, but maybe things are just the way they are. When I had a remodeling company, whenever a particular kind of work was slow, I added a new service in order to generalize into even more things we could do. Very difficult but it worked.

[@HEMA_Fight_Breakdowns]

Very happy to stay small and niche, it means the people who watch my stuff actually DO competitive HEMA. One extra detail though is that the shorts people need magnitudes more subs in order to reach the same kind of watch hours and ad revenue as a longform video. So while Robin and Sellsword have those massive numbers, they need almost all of them to watch every short multiple times to get the kind of watch hours you or I might get on our most watched 20minute+ videos

[@FedericoMalagutti]

True!!!

[@iantheduellist]

I think that competitive HEMA is a really great adition to the sport, but should not be the only focus. There's also the more academic side of HEMA that loves to read the manuals, collect antiques, geek out about diferent systems of fighting, and learn the broader context of a certian sword or system of combat. That part of HEMA is becoming more and more rare.

[@sinisterbohemian]

11:50 - We're seeing a lot of new HEMA youtube channels popping up, but there's definitely not a lot of QUALITY HEMA channels popping up. There are folks who go to a few classes and thing they're doing something totally novel and decide they want to be HEMA influencers. I think the folks who are worth listening to don't publish online. They're still found primarily at events giving classes in person.

[@FedericoMalagutti]

@@sinisterbohemian I would say that this is partially true. There are some good fencers/instructors publishing, and also neophytes improvising a little. I am kind with them because I started in a similar way, even if it was almost ten years ago now. But yeah, quality will be a future issue in our specific niche. On my part I’ll try my best.

[@DigitallyTwistedOutlaws1178]

Factors that also should be considered are: 1. KZbin demands that Shorts be made for growth. Those who focus on Shorts grow more aggressively but those Shorts must provide good engagement. Not just junk. 2. The engagement quality between the Content Creator and their audience also seems to be a factor. As those who are smaller seem to grow rapidly due to discussions. 3. The frequency at which the channel publishes and the quality of the content will either pick up and carry away the viewers or push them away.

[@HatiTheMoonChaser]

The only thing I have against this video is giving Shad clicks :D

[@BigBoySloan]

So real

[@andyedwards9222]

I am interested in niche. Especially niche done well. One of the advantages of small content creators over mainstream media and larger YT creators is you can specialise. Keep it up I love your content.

[@FedericoMalagutti]

@@andyedwards9222 thank you!

[@MysticPaladin]

Niche has a wider chance of keeping a more consistent audience, I've found.

[@gavinmoss3653]

well put. It would be nice if total number of people interested in sword content was increasing. But If the total is constant, then the increased competition for attention shrinks the amount of attention each creator gets.

[@FedericoMalagutti]

The number of interested people may increase, and to an extent is happening, it seems. But it can't anymore keep up with competition and specialization the same way it did 5 years ago, for instance.

[@greghenrikson952]

The format is just changing. Robin swords and Sellsword Arts are putting out a ton of content right now on the short videos with a lot of views. They tend to make a single point only, in less than a minute or two. The longer form has been disfavored on YT for a few years now, so it's not surprising to see a decline. I think the controversy and controversy-baiting on Metatron and certainly from Shad is a major turn-off for those of us who do NOT want politics mixed in with our fun stuff. But I do not think this is a zero-sum game. More people interested in HEMA means more people watching the videos. And indeed I've seen a significant increase in technical quality with these new short form videos. Combined with easier access. Wave of the future folks.

[@ArfooHuroo]

sword content might also be viewed less because people can't afford to blow tons of money on swords in general because of economy fears

[@FedericoMalagutti]

@@ArfooHuroo this is definitely a component of it. Eating > Swords. XD

[@jankarieben1071]

HEMA gear is expensive, this can’t be argued, but I think people need to know that there are other, less expensive tools you can find like leather dussacks, I haven’t found a source for inexpensive longswords though. 🍻

[@MairsMate]

Quality Federico Malagutti content. I think one of thr most important points you hit on is the rise of "Shorts". A lot of channels now pepper the site with small Videos getting straight to the point. Especially for the "water is wet" type of video this format just works better. Somebody actually fencing will probably not get much out of these type of videos and the masses now have many more options than in the past. Beautiful mountains in the background. Will there be more spear content in the future?

[@FedericoMalagutti]

I would love to bring more spear... And Sword and Buckler, and also other stuff. But I don't want to rush for them because I need to train some people with dedication in both this weapons before delivering paired drills or sparring. I will anyway try to do it relatively soon. Especially spear, because I really like it.

[@MairsMate]

@FedericoMalagutti Spear is so cool. Spear (thrusting), pike and flail are about the only polearms you can actually do somewhat quick sparring with. Looking forward to it (and Sword and Buckler)!

[@tisucitisin1]

I unsubbed from Metatron and Shad since they started talking about everything else except sword content and going into weird politics stuff. Skal is still great and I watch most, if not all of his videos.

[@JuliaFnord]

Exactly same. I just couldn't stand metatron's and shad's political bullshit anymore, they were slowly turning into channers throughout the years I've been following their stuff. It's funny how they keep blaming the youtube algorithm or the woke left or ghosts or whatever for their declining views, when anyone who's been following for long enough could see their videos have been presenting little to no actual content for years now, only extremely cringe reacts and anime-adjacent shit. Meanwhile Skall is still just a cool guy talking about cool stuff, he and Matt Easton are the best.

[@BusesAreFatCars]

He started talking about politics once upon a time too. In many now deleted videos.

[@lokuzt]

same here, the thing that bothers me most is that they're still very popular - and the image of historical sword stuff becomes tainted for newcomers. A lot of people I know have expressed that part of the lack of interest in trying out one of my (free!) armizare classes was that they thought that all HEMA has some relation to far-right fascist ideology groups :/

[@liagson]

​@@JuliaFnord metatron is actually getting more subs since he switched back to daily videos

[@FedericoMalagutti]

Well this is what happens when a channel changes the subject treated partially or, sometimes, completely. You inevitably make people unhappy and go away while other comes in exchange. Politics is also one of the most divisive subject nowadays, so it adds to it. I respect all the old school youtubers, but I prefer to keep my channel as free from politics as possible because this is not the place to discuss such things. Politics must be discussed in person, possibly in a civil and respectful way, one person or two at a time, because it's a complex and divisive topic and requires a mature and calm approach, while the Internet in not adequate for this.

[@NevisYsbryd]

Concentration vs diffusion. More competition, more diffuse distribution of audience/money. Algorithmic changes probably contribute as well without necessarily deliberately shuttling HEMA stuff (although that is possibly also done).

[@jasonbaldwin2171]

In the blue vs red socks with gray jackets: Obi Federico vs Darth Federico?

[@NevisYsbryd]

Side note, I wonder if you could find some success doing short historical films in period kit? Because _man_ do you have some great environments to use as a backdrop for it. Some of that mountain footage was striking, for example. Test out footwork in a variety of locations like how you did with period footwear?

[@FedericoMalagutti]

@@NevisYsbryd it’s a project I have for the future

[@ingni123456]

You're responding to three people I unfollowed because their content was too "teenage boy" for young man. I'm still here.

[@FedericoMalagutti]

Well, thanks for being here then! Hehe

[@petritzky]

I'm just not interested in the general stuff. It's very shallow and doesn't touch what interests me. So I watch channels that are smaller and more niche, but the stuff is actually interesting to me.

[@FedericoMalagutti]

It's basically what I do too, on average XD

[@MysticPaladin]

Making content on KZbin had become a challenge. Many creators either need to pump out at least 1 video or more a day, every day, or they have to use a guarenteed consistent income like Patreon to keep going, or they make multiple channels to make multiple kinds of content, which on one hand enables the audience to better engage in content they're more interested in, but could also lead to either creative burnout or alienating the core audience.

[@maaderllin]

Very good overview. I'd like to add a few little points. 1-Growth model. The attention economy, as is all economy under capitalism (sorry for being political here, but I'm just stating facts), follow a model of constant growth. If a channel's growth is slowing, the algorithm will percieve it as if it was already shrinking. As KZbin's money come from ads, watchtime becomes more important than number of subscribers. And if you can't always get your watchtime rising, the only way to get recommended is to be niche enough for a specific public's algorithm so that public will come back to the video. 2-Sharing audiences. Channels part of a community tend to find ways to avoid actually competing together by doing collabs, mentions, responses, etc. All of this allows for a kind of "olligopoly" of attention. This can even be useful when they are in adjacent niches, rather than in the same one. But for this to work, content creators needs to be able to collaborate. Which becomes pretty hard when *certain* members of the community starts having beef with half the community over minor things and calling them elitist, and then going off the deep end with politics that WILL alienate at least parts of the other content creators and their audiences. And write a god-awful fantasy book that is so bad that it makes us doubt the moral qualities of the writer. And then put the blame entirely on the algorithm because they don't get recommended without thinking about the fact that many people who used to be in the community you were part of just clicked on "Do not recommend this channel" (Ok, rant about that *specific* individual over). 3-Rythm of content. 2010s KZbin was the youtube of unstructured rants. But in the second half of the decade, video essays started popping up. And then shorts. And the "chapter" functionality in the progress bar. In the fast paced attention economy, it is still possible to do long videos. But they need to be structured, and have little breaks between segments of informations, and the information must be organized. It's that, or shorts.

[@krystofsamal7067]

I think the sort of gradual shift from generalized towards a bit more specialized content creators is, besides the points made in the video, also the natural process. Simply put, the general content creators educate their audience to the level where the general content is not enough. However, they still continue with creation of general content, basically forcing their viewer go look somewhere else for deeper, more specialized stuff.

[@NevisYsbryd]

Generalization tends to be comparatively optimal at the time of few hands or new frontiers. Specialization tends to be comparatively optimal once networks and systems are established.

[@FedericoMalagutti]

@@krystofsamal7067 you are right

[@ArizonaTengu]

I’m here for the martial arts. I’m a martial artist and I spend most of my time on martial arts. Those other channels are good and entertaining, but they aren’t martial artists. The true martial arts community is always a “niche” market, because not everyone can do it.

[@armingarcia2189]

I already expect Shad to start another drama within the next 48 hours.

[@DctrBread]

What you do may be niche, but you show thoughtfulness. Many hema creators feel like they're just making shit up on the spot .

[@jritchey267]

I suspect it doesn't help that those short form channels routinely get more actual substance into their tiny vids than two of the three referenced larger channels got into their long vids on their best days. Novelty and bluster can only carry you for so long. Even without the politics, their schtick wore thin a long time ago.

[@lucam2541]

Grazie a te ho ripreso in mano la spada, grazie hai solo drill. E ho testato qualche tecnica con amico. Non potendo più frequentare una scuola d arme, per via della distanza ed impegni lavorativi e famigliari . Grazie per l ottimo lavoro svolto.

[@FedericoMalagutti]

@@lucam2541 Grazie :-)