The problem with ‘authenticity’

Got a new jumper.

[@jonaragogna]

Yesterday I listened to the entirety of the conversation between Harley Finkelstein (president of Shopify) and Alex Hormozi and even though the entire talk was business focused the only thing I wrote down in my notes and the thing that really stood out to me was their definition of authenticity. "Behave like you couldn't be punished." cheers for another great one Jay, and yes you will rise with patience.

[@thejayalto]

I like it a lot. Hormozi knows. Appreciate it - patience is key.

[@agustinhernandez8461]

Im a simple man. I see a new Jay Alto upload. I click

[@thejayalto]

You’re also a good man, sir.

[@Clintus]

Great insight on the topic. Something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately. It’s what I needed to hear, thanks.

[@thejayalto]

My pleasure!

[@Humonoide]

The fact of being a non-native English speaker and still wanting to watch every new video of yours, makes me realise how good you are at communicating. Congratulations! 🎉

[@thejayalto]

That's a good sign. Thank you for watching!

[@abbi_page]

I just binge watched a bunch of your videos and even in the last 3 months your presence & authenticity are really shining. Thanks for breaking down these concepts into ideas that we can actually understand, digging deeper than the cliches.

[@lydsfizz]

You got me in the first half. I think every thing in this video is correct and you are right that you have to drop your ego to get there. By I would argue that you can rush it, just a bit, because if you’re able to tap into any childhood trauma and dissect to find out that the things you heard growing up, don’t define you. Then you’re one step closer to not letting anyone’s words have any hold over you. Hope this resonated with you 🪬✨ love your stuff!

[@GrandThriftAuto]

Very interesting and elegantly crafted, as always. People often tell me I'm not authentic, and I struggle with that: I really am like this.

[@thejayalto]

Rule number 3.

[@earthcolours_]

I think presence is key to being authentic because being present is the only way to react authentically

[@thejayalto]

Completely agreed. Similar(ish) to the charisma video I made a few weeks ago

[@JonDenton]

Love this mate. Missed your stuff on Twitter and glad to see you're on this path.

[@JakeyWakey]

Most people shouldn't "Just be yourself"

[@uncletj1]

God damn, loving your content! Only KZbin advice that’s is giving the truth!

[@camdenmusique]

great video.

[@KARATEbyJesse]

That jumper 🔥 tho

[@sgnoogle]

THIS is the real deal. That fun "bye" at the end is showing some of your "authenticity", Jay. But also the rest of the video, with zero cuts, definitely feels authentic. I make videos about topics I truly care, but I find reading from the teleprompter almost inevitable. And that makes me feel unauthentic. But I know that only authentic creators will enjoy the journey. I don't know what you think about this, but watching authentic content makes you better at being an authentic creator.

[@thejayalto]

There’s infinite ways to be ‘authentic’ - it just takes a lot of reps to find out what that is for you. I’m still looking but certainly getting closer (and having way more fun).

[@JayRuqo]

So true, thank you for making this video Jay (great name by the way) it does take a lot of patience. I feel like everyone at the beginning wants to emulate whomever they look up to. Doing this lets them learn what style they like and don’t like. It’s once someone ventures outside of the space they can start playing like themselves.

[@jaye5872]

Great video! 👏🏽

[@TheThinkersBible]

This is a most profound video. The ideas are not unique but they are overall quite accurate. The Miles Davis quote is absolutely priceless, thanks so much for sharing that.

[@FortheLoveofItVibes]

Such an excellent insight Jay! I would LOVE to have you on our podcast to flesh this out more! I discovered Ryan only a few years ago when he did his living on a penny series. I think his authenticity is the reason I enjoyed it so much. Also, I love that Miles Davis quote! Even something as simple as being yourself takes time; especially in front of a camera. I mean, when your mind isn't used to being social in front of a lens it's going to take a while for it to treat the lens like a person rather than a prop.

[@providedperspective]

Been thinking of how i want to represent myself online, this is a good insight bro keep it up!

[@robertjr8474]

my new favorite channel, i love seeing a new video on my homepage!

[@thejayalto]

My man! Plenty more to come.

[@TechTroublemaker]

It is harder to try and be yourself than it is to just be yourself.

[@thejayalto]

Bosh. That's good.

[@JamesTudsbury]

Yes, okay, fine, subscribed.

[@burnieclimber]

You're the reason I get up every morning.

[@thejayalto]

You’re too kind

[@Joe_Edits]

really interesting watch! keep smashing out the videos!

[@thejayalto]

Ain’t stopping any time soon!

[@ScottKilmartin]

Enjoying these Jay.

[@thejayalto]

Thank you, Scott.

[@PozzoPersonal]

Love the last quote, I'm going to steal it lol

[@ideanomada]

nice, man ❤

[@Unscripted_Vibe]

thanks for touching on this topic , I have a 100k channel and ı wasn't happy coz I wasn't my self , I was creating content for the sake of views and money, so ı decided to start over with a new channel , it was so hard to be myself at the beginning , sometimes after shooting the entire video i feel like i wasnt 100% me so ı repeat it again , so it took me time to just 10000% be myself , now ım happy with what im doing and with being 100% authentic even i dont get much views , but mentally happy and satisfied

[@thejayalto]

Great story - keep going sir

[@StrangeGingero]

It's just impossible not to click on this guy's video. The same goes for likes and comments

[@KYLETISZAI]

Can you please get another new jumper? Pink is preferred.

[@Oddwright]

Nice jumper 👍😂 It's wild to think it's difficult to be your true self but I couldn't agree more. I've realised until you become truly authentic, truly yourself, views and followers are futile because they're not there for you...they're there for the character you portray or the concept they're watching. I'm interested in your opinion on this...since 99% of short form content is somewhat retention-based, I'd argue this is why there's little to no sense of community on the platform.

[@thejayalto]

Completely agree - ‘sensationalism’ has been defined by interest in the idea, not the person doing it. That can work, but it means you’ve got reinvent the wheel every upload. In terms of short form and authenticity, I think the most difficult thing is building a connection/relationship with viewers in such a short amount of time (with engagement being driven by surface level stimulus).

[@PozzoPersonal]

I recently tended to associate authenticity with "unedited videos", but as you said, that's not it. It's not in the 5 points. An authentic style could be super-edited, or not at all. It could be about 3 minutes long videos or 6 hours. Thanks to this video I understood how authenticity incapsulates the whole expression of the person, including topic, style, editing.

[@thejayalto]

Absolutely - it’s just whatever is your true self (Instagram philosophers are right…)

[@Joshetcetera]

In the context of "authenticity", I'm curious what you all think of Dream's advice (paraphrased) that to make great stuff on KZbin, "You can't just be yourself, you need to be the best version of yourself." Still you, but better. For example, recording three times and taking the best of all three. Don't know where to draw the line...

[@thejayalto]

Yeah, you’re right, it’s a fine line. And it can also work both ways. For me, yes, when I record I’m trying to be myself, but certainly the best version of myself. Someone like Emma Chamberlain found enormous success by being herself regardless.

[@AlexeyShort]

Аутентичность или харизматичность это соответствие твоего поведения архетипу. Твой архетип это продвинутый студент. Ты сам пошел в этом направлении.

[@BrahmanLabs]

Respect all your videos but I have one genuine question at around 2:03 of your video you blurred out points And understand that it is for retention. But how can you achieve the same in an authentic way ? Or is that you should not care about retention if you are following authenticity ?

[@thejayalto]

Very good question - personally, I try to do anything like that in a very ‘meta’ / self-aware way. But also yes, authenticity doesn’t mean you can’t think about retention, but rather how you think about retention.

[@BurhanWani-ew9xx]

In the intro, ryan is on the right side and sam sulak on the left.

[@thejayalto]

Easy mistake to make

[@LOL_MANN]

Why I am here 30 seconds after upload? 🤔

[@thejayalto]

Hardcore fan alert

[@dannydoodoo]

I worry about the potential ceiling you could hit and stop at from continuing to make "meta-how-to-be-a-youtuber" videos. If you want a million subscribers, do you think there are a million active creators who would want to hear this content? I guess I am just trying to figure out the target audience of this channel and I worry it may be too niche for the potential success you so viscerally seem to want.

[@franpalokaj]

It depends on what your goal is. I think it would be really awesome to have a channel with a few thousand subscribers, who in turn might have a few million subscribers combined. Could be a great way to have some influence on the social media landscape without getting caught up in the numbers =)

[@JMRabil675]

The Total addressable market for this kind of audience is fairly large, enough to get a decent sized channel. 1m subs would be hard for sure, though. You dont really have any idea what youre talking about. I am one of his target audience and I thought it was a helpful vid

[@PawFromTheBroons]

VidIQ is close to 2Mil, doing just that.

[@thejayalto]

I think the total market for creators is very big - but for this very specific analysis within that group, probably not so big. I just want to make want interests me. As I’ve been finding my own style etc, I’ve defaulted to what I know/love (KZbin). But I also have much wider interests that will definitely expand the ‘niche’.

[@PawFromTheBroons]

@@thejayalto I wasn't equating you to VidIQ, I was merely pointing to the fact that the Total Addressable Market for would-be KZbin creator is not as limited as Danny thought it was.

[@ARCHAPEL999]

the wrong editing lol

[@user-yl7kl7sl1g]

But you're not authentic at all. You're doing a fake gravely voice, fake cadence, fake word choice, and formatting things into a story sequence you think others will enjoy, rather than presenting things that you would most enjoy. Your Ideas are good though.

[@BobbyMasteria]

authenticity is not a skill

[@thejayalto]

*It’s like a skill

[@BobbyMasteria]

@@thejayalto it's the opposite of a skill

[@menmustpray]

I love the authenticity of @sabbatical

[@thejayalto]

Just checked him out - fascinating