The Problems With YouTube | From The Perspective Of A YouTuber

KZbin has problems. Like, at least 99 of them.
But, what's wrong with KZbin at its core? Yes, it's "broken", but maybe all the clickbait and algorithm stuff comes...from the same place?
It's more likely than you think.
Follow me at:
/ nocturnalfudj
/ nocturnalfudj
Support me at:
/ nocturnalfudj
Check out Patchwork at:
/ patchworkgg
Buy some got damn merch at:
store.patchwork.gg/
Gita Jackson's "Mr. Beast's Squid Game Ripoff Is Exactly The Kind Of Video KZbin Rewards":
www.vice.com/en/article/v7dd7...
Julia Alexander's "The Golden Age Of KZbin Is Over":
www.theverge.com/2019/4/5/182...
0:00 - 2:19 Intro
2:19 - 10:26 Visibility & The Algorithm
10:26 - 26:45 The Actual Problem
26:45 - 29:09 Conclusion/Post-Video

[@NocturnalFudj]

I just wanna say it again for the sake of clarity - it is VERY cringe to go and be toxic to people shown/referenced in this video unless they're like, Jaystation levels of douchebaggery. Do not do it!!! Yes, even the react KZbinrs! They have feelings, probably! Anyway if you're as fed up with capitalism as I am then rebel against the system by consuming the merchandise of your favourite content spewer here; store.patchwork.gg/ socks and mugs and shirts, oh my! There's no better Christmas present!! Hating capitalism doesn't mean I ain't gotta make money

[@nannaogashawarmabrendan]

React KZbinrs have pride rather than feelings For reference: that one time I Hate Everything agitated them with one of his videos Edit: On a side note tho, streamers are kinda their own thing. The appeal of streamers isn't just them existing, it's them basically doing comedy and also when they manage to make entertaining and unique (or at the very least, uncommon) moments when playing a game. Among Us was a game that facilitated that greatly. Valkyrae was notable for what is called the Babushka Incident where one thing lead to another until it all culminated in one of the most entertaining rounds of Among Us Tho yeah I guess "content creator" has been loosely used. Kinda like "role-playing games" 😂

[@SakkaSays]

Secure that bag mate

[@jaredjameson3707]

Me when kaptism: 😳 *boom sound*

[@-aexc-]

I mean you hate capitalism but you need to make money to pay the bills that's not hypocritical

[@jamesgraham3789]

mandatory algorithm comment

[@Spiralr]

I haven’t gotten notifications for this channel for 3 months, but the one time they finally send me a notification you uploaded, it’s about how KZbin is extremely flawed. Ironic.

[@moldyshishkabob]

Same here. If that's not showing some of the bias YT algorithms loves, I dunno what is.

[@dameonpigeon2736]

The bell never works. At this point I just join discord servers of youtubers I like because they normally send a notification for every time they upload. You pretty much have to go out of your way to make sure you don’t miss a video

[@LunaticJ]

Yeah youtube randomly unsubbed me. I only saw this video on my home page and I realized I missed the last 2 uploads. I think the subscribe button is just useless now

[@TheSynthZone]

lol yeppers

[@HopCatSmash]

Good Video! I agree with the general sentiment but I also think you have to play the game to some degree, even if you plan on keeping your creative integrity. You can consider it similar to a DJ who plays at weddings and nightclubs to pay the bills while making their own music in their own time. You can't expect your own stuff to take off immediately, and you gotta do similar things in your field to get experience, skills, contacts and an audience. You have to make appealing videos to the KZbin audience occasionally to draw people in, and hope they stay around for the unique stuff you have to offer. I found your channel through your smash ultimate video, but stayed around for whatever you upload at this point. A lot of creators are 'playing the game' to try and build a baseline for their future in entertainment, so why wouldn't you do what is 'optimal' (thumbnail faces, arrows, interesting titles). Sometimes you gotta put the pride aside because there's no point making your magnum opus when you have no audience.

[@NocturnalFudj]

You're right and you make a very good point, unfortunately I'm far too prideful lol - every time I try and "play the game" as it were I can't help but hate it, but fwiw I think you're an example of someone who does a great job of treading that line and maintaining their integrity :)

[@KneelNoodles]

As I was watching this video I honestly thought “yeah but I’m different from the average KZbin consumer” but as the video went on, I realized I really wasn’t. Like yeah I don’t watch all the trending and super big channels and I try to curate KZbin to my interests which led me to this channel, but at the end of the day I still find myself skipping over videos that doesn’t immediately catch my eye with either the thumbnail or title, and even then sometimes I find myself clicking on and off a video over and over because I get bored within 5 or 6 minutes. Sometimes I’ll even do it with 3 or more videos at once. This video made me reflect on my role as a consumer and viewer on the KZbin platform and I thank you for that. So all in all, pretty good video 👍

[@armorelarmadura7807]

Uhh, clearly you didn't watch the video chief, he clearly asked us not to thank him at the end. Thanks for fucking nothing Fudj Good video tho, our attention span truly is getting fucked by the internet

[@KneelNoodles]

@@armorelarmadura7807 Don’t care if he said not to thank him, he helped me with self realization with this video and I will thank him regardless of his thoughts on the matter.

[@caldw615]

I think part of that is convincing yourself you are skipping over the trash content when you ignore it which, yeah you most likely still are if you are aware if what they tend to look like at a glance, but it does mean you've also likely ignored an actually creative video that either didn't play the game enough to get your attention or leaned too much into it for you to think it would be generic YT trash.

[@iseetheendisnear2416]

Yeah, the stuff I actually watch/listen to at length with pleasure takes long enough that my sub box has more popcorn vids than the stuff I actually come to KZbin for

[@kitemporal]

I felt exactly the same way and can relate.

[@Londe_e]

The sheer irony of me watching this video fade to black and getting a back to back crypto ad into a Raid ad will probably never be lost on me. But seriously, if this is any sort of goodbye to the Fudj channel as we know I gotta say I'm disheartened because you've acknowledged all of my greatest fears with making things. The fact that I have to cast aside my creativity in some eays for the sake of making content in a timely manner, grinding out and pandering to a low common demoninator if I want to get anywhere quickly, capitalism. I was always keeping a close eye on this channel because I thought it was a beacon of keeping your originality while still having an online presence and I want to do that. I'm hoping you find a way to keep yourself and keep making the things you want to make. Probably an overly sentimental comment for some other pink guy I don't know but hey, I really like this channel

[@JustJohn43]

the speech at 10:27 is why I love KZbin Peel back the layers and the look past the superficial stuff and you find just raw humanity. Dude, I love hearing you talk about your journey, you well and truly are a hero to me. Your stories are so relatable I moved into a room a few months back so I could downsize and focus on my passions. I sacrificed a lot to continue being a KZbinr. people in this building thought it was cool and that I was rich or something but I was like, nah mate, four years and it's been a huge loss. But I couldn't be happier. KZbin has still changed my life. I only started my channel to entertain myself and my best friend but somehow 300+ people also like what I do, and that's been the biggest reward for me. Connecting to other normal people on common ground and getting the chance to talk to genuine, amazing, ordinary people I recommend your deviews and world's worst reviews to other autistic small youtubers looking for inspiration About "reactionary content", does this include live streaming video games? Fudj's ability to bring me to tears by the end is unparalleled

[@brenomartins2762]

Finally!! Pink animal thing is back.

[@miner1226]

Correct me if I’m wrong but pretty sure it’s a manatee

[@reshi606]

@@miner1226 Seal

[@mistake1197]

@@reshi606 could be either tbh

[@berserk1437]

With the lazy accent

[@berserk1437]

With the lazy accent

[@Casual_PKBeats]

Loved the video, I like some of the points you bring up too. At its core, the issue is just in tandem with how society just is. Any site that tries to remedy it will eventually fall into the same bucket after a while. To me, video essays are some of my favorite types of content on this platform. I think they strike the PERFECT balance between playing the KZbin game, while staying intriguing and having plenty of room for creativity. I think the fact that you have to put effort toward a catchy title and thumbnail is just fair. Not only is it how the game works, but it's also just realistic. Like you said, we only have so much time in our lives, it's a currency. No one has enough time to watch every video in their recommended in succession. We've gotta pick and choose, we've only got so much time in the day, and only so much free time. I think, with video essays, we get that very easy-to-digest eye-catcher, that "here's what you can generally expect from this video" that let's anyone know if they're interested or not. And after that, it can be in any format, with any style of humor, with anything they want in it (as long as it's generally about what was advertised. Or not! If it's some neat twist). Perhaps not the most "creative" compared to what things could be before, especially since creative series titles usually need to take a backseat to the more eye-catching types of titles, but I certainly know it takes up the bulk of my watch time on this site since I love hearing analyses, opinions, history, all of that, in whatever wrapping that creator wants But I also know that my feed is a highly "trained" system of recommendations based on my YEARS of viewing KZbin and subscribing/liking very certain things. When I go to an alt account with basically no subscriptions, the basic feed and recommended videos are so... TV? Like, the same famous actors and shit that we've all seen everywhere else, and the same surface-level-appeal nonsense videos. And even outside of that, the feeling of so many channels I used to love heavily upgrading their quality to the point where it loses its homemade, down-to-earth feel is another thing that I've grown to really dislike. If I wanted to watch TV, I'd just... watch TV, y'know? It feels like I'm able to get loads of enjoyment out of this service due to how I've tailored my recommendeds and whatnot after YEARS of using this place. But at the top, and therefore the core of the service, it really is just very... bleh. I think some of the corners creators have to cut to get noticed are inevitable and fair, but others are just very sad.

[@LunaticJ]

As someone with 43k subs who only had 50 subs a year ago, I have some thoughts about KZbin content and the algorithm, and why I don’t think it’s impossible to grow doing something you love in the current year: (gonna be a long one so buckle up) While watch time and clickthrough-rate are very important for getting into the algorithm, there’s a third element that gets overlooked: your genre and competition within that genre. The algorithm suggests videos that you want to watch based on your interests, and it does a pretty good job at it. Your interests can range from very oversaturated genres (Fortnite gameplay, reactions, video game essays/reviews) to more niche topics. You have a hard time blowing up in a saturated genre unless you can get a higher CTR and average watch-time than the top dogs. A specific genre that is less saturated however, has great potential (provided the topics/format are interesting). I chose to make speedrunning video essays because I have absolutely adored speedruns since 2012, I am very knowledgeable about various runs and the history, I keep up with mew developments, and that it is a very popular genre on youtube now, although it is still undersaturated. I had many ideas that would make for great videos people would want to watch, but don’t exist yet, such as “The History of the BLJ”. As a result, I gained an audience doing what I love, I feel motivated to be more creative with my format, and I’m excited to make videos out of all my ideas! However, it is VERY important to make videos that both you and your audience want and expect, otherwise like Fudj said, you fall into a trap. I had my big flop with a Minecraft speedrun video in August, since there was nothing in the title or in the video that made people believe it had any value. Up until that point, I had only made speedrun videos on Mario games, and that scared me that I pidgeonholed myself into making only Mario speedrun videos. Despite this, I made a video on how speedrunners beat the timed Ocarina of Time demo in Smash Bros Brawl, and it is now my most viewed video. The point with this is that you can make videos on your greatest passions and still succeed on KZbin in the present-day. If you can present your passions to an audience you know will be curious about a topic from the title/thumbnail alone, you can make them enjoy anything, especially if it’s something you clearly care about. But also know that if something flops, you may wanna think of a new format/ideas (even if you love it) and double down on something that works (as long as you love it). If you are a creative, you can experiment and find a format you really enjoy and find successful simultaneously. It’s still possible!

[@souptaels]

KZbin went from "Broadcast Yourself" to "Broadcast Your Desperation for Money"

[@poacherthenn]

this vid got recommended to me but none of your other recent vids, guess youve proven your point

[@BaselardFE]

I just wanna appreciate you for a moment. Your videos have been a constant highlight over the years, The Deview/WWR definitely being your best work. Believe me you're allowed to toot your own horn, they're seriously that good. Guaranteed hearty laughs each upload. I remember years ago when people half-joked about 'why do videos I spend literal minutes making always blow up, while the bigger projects flop haha'. Yeah? It's still the case. People just don't have the time nor attention span to watch videos where they're not gratified within the first minute, not even that. Probably far below that. It's difficult, and not to mention discouraging for creators to even create. Why pour hours upon hours of passion and creativity into something if there's little to no payoff? And I don't necessarily mean money; most people won't even see your video to begin with. The worst bit about posting anything creative is receiving no attention, feedback or recognition for what you've done. Anyway uh, gloom and doom aside, you've really inspired me to do content I want to do, rather than content the algorithm would like. The bank account hates it, but my mental health and general happiness appreciates it

[@shoenessperson]

Wow, another fun, wacky, and zany video from Fudj, the creator of the best content for my ear holes. You, sir, are my favorite background noise! On the real though, you're one of the few I actually watch. So much of the content these days work as podcasts. I listen to many video essays as they don't use the medium to their advantage. There tend to be no visual gags and they say exactly what they mean over one or several clips of what they're talking about.

[@Shelltoast]

Really good video. It’s unfortunate to hear your situation but I guess it really is the sad truth of KZbin’s situation. I constantly contemplate making more video essays about stuff I’m passionate about but the fact that it simply won’t get recognized in the current KZbin climate just dejects me. Really wonder if there will eventually come a point where this cycle breaks.

[@em731]

Commenting for the engagement! Fudj ur channel is goated and I love what you make. Ik i’m just one single fish in the ocean of this hell platform, but I am speaking up and voicing my lil fish heart when i say: thanks for not just making such good content, but also for being so transparent and real w/ your audience as you pursue ur creative career. fellow creatives are watching, and relating, and rooting for you and your work. i know that i, for one, definitely feel very very seen by ur journey as you document it here on this channel

[@shieldsurf]

honestly, i was thinking about this last night but this feels like the perfect video to say it on, which is that i genuinely can't comprehend you still being such a small creator. your content is unbelievably high quality, and your wit and humor is top tier. plus, you just have a nice voice to listen to. it's ridiculous

[@awittypseudonym2520]

The Matpat interview with the head of youtube you briefly clipped is fascinating. For all the flak one may give him, that one video is, in my opinion, a must watch to understand how the platform truly works, and sadly is more relevant now than when his grievances were aired.

[@remulous]

I'm pretty sure that's Bo Burnham, not MatPat, unless I completely missed a second interview in the video.

[@seraaron]

I recently installed a browser extension called 'unhook' that removes YT's video reccomendations and automatically dumps me on my subscriptions page rather than the home feed when I click on the youtube symbol in the top left, and my experience with youtube has been much better since then. Weirdly, I also think I've subscribed to more channels since then too. Despite never seeing any reccomended videos anymore, discoverability of new content hasn't gone down because I actually use the search bar a lot more often. I feel, somewhat, like I'm back in control of the content I want to watch, instead of letting dumb thumnails catch my eye or leaving auto-play turned on. I've also been rewatching older videos a lot more too. I do think I still have a screen addiction. But unhook has given me to tools to control that a lot better I think.

[@CaptainAstronaut]

Excellent Video!! I feel like you reached into my brain and put my exact thoughts on this platform into video form.

[@Yuti640]

2:02 I instinctively skipped forward when this showed up Just shows how numb I’ve gotten to this

[@SquidwardSmellsGOOD734]

I’m a sucker for video essays, but I will admit that most of them are pretty much the same tired rants we all hear dozens of times. The video essays I like are the informative ones that go into depth about movies, cartoons, historic moments, etc. Emplemon is a great example of that, he makes really good videos about just about anything.

[@LunaticJ]

I think it helps that Emp makes videos on topics you don’t really hear too many people talk about. Also his editing and visual gags put him way above your average video essay guy

[@SquidwardSmellsGOOD734]

@@LunaticJ Agreed

[@aidankocherhans9861]

I literally never use the trending page. If a video I would like is trending, it's from someone I'm already subscribed to and they show up in my recommended tab anyway.

[@MrJFL]

24:16 - 24:28 you have no idea how hard this hits home for me. I never want to forget that I want to make stuff because I myself enjoy it. I want to live a good life, but I also don't want to fall victim to a system that forces my hand.

[@Nathanatos22]

15:41 I decided to fact-check this. One of the first articles I encountered is the BBC article “Busting the attention span myth” which states that actual scientists in the field “have no idea where the numbers come from” and that “there is no evidence human attentions spans are shrinking.”

[@NocturnalFudj]

Yeah I also saw that article when researching it, the BBC are not a remotely reliable source and there's tons of articles out there debunking *them* lol

[@WingedPlatypus]

I really fuck with your stuff man. Been fucking with you for a long time at this point. I imagine it can get really frustrating if you have fewer views or subscribers than you want, but you videos are genuinely good and stand out from the crowd. Keep trucking and doing your thing man (at a healthy pace) and you can find the success you’re after ✌️

[@eanderson9599]

16:59 it’s kinda like in how recent years, movie trailers show you the main points of the trailer before the real trailer even begins

[@TaleOfTheToaster]

The one thing that keeps me interested in Nebula is that footage to show what Nebula is always contains a documentary about Majuro, the capital city of the Marshall Islands which is a country I've researched into the ground for no good reason and the Nebula cameo in this video was no exception I'll certainly never give up on this old website, for every flash in the pan clickbait video you will occasionally find a marvellous gem like a Super Eyepatchwolf or a constant source of comfort like a Scott the Woz and I'm tolerant enough to ignore the BS to build my own experience... no doubt there's problems though of course. Still pleased that I myself could claw up to nearly 14k subs just by doing whatever I felt like and I know that I could never do that again from scratch without a college/uni lifestyle to afford enough free time to consistently upload out of pure passion, but y'know what, KZbin really could be so much worse and the algorithm is honestly pretty determined to feed me bangers I wouldn't have found otherwise But what do I know, I watch blummin Coronation Street in 2021

[@Lich1]

Damn this hit the nail on the head. I've been struggling lately because I spent 50+ hours making a video I was really proud of and that a lot of people enjoyed, only for it to flop because it doesn't exactly copy whatever trending bs there is right now. I'm slowly coming to the realisation that in order to make it, i'm going to have to give up my creativity at least along the way and just make rubbish videos that trend chase the latest nonsense so that the algorithm can actually recommend my content for once. I see so much terrible uninspired content go viral, juxtaposed with loads of amazing and well thought out videos expressing the full creativity of a given creator flop. Hell even creators like MrBeast and Dream had to trend chase some nonsense that they didn't care about in order to blow up so that they could eventually siphon their creativity into their content and enjoy what they do. Overall, KZbin as a platform is starting to suck it's original heart and soul of what made it a platform for creators out, whilst replacing it with manufactured android content that has already been done 10 billion times over in order to keep the modern consumer on the platform for as long as possible, and it kinda sucks...

[@TheIinLiyzz]

Seeing Little Kuriboh in your video reminded me of a conversation i was having with my freinds awhile back. I told them how I miss the days of YGOTAS and how theres no way that in the current day we'll never get something like that again. And now watching this video i realized how right I was and how sad I truly am now with how KZbin is going. I still miss YGOTAS but Ill also deeply miss the de-views from this channel :(

[@poopydick6870]

This video is perfect. I've had many instances to where i ask myself if i should just step back from KZbin, not just uploading, but everything all together. Having to watch a lot youtuber's (that i'm subbed to) newest videos just feel like an obligation. I remember when i used to watch anything that popped up, not inherently clickbait, but just regular ass videos about anything which would have passion put into it. I didn't force myself to watch' em, but now i feel like i gotta give a portion of my time to this long ass essay about some game that people just convinced themselves they don't like. *cough* TLOU2. (I watched your video with desire btw, REAL DESIRE...so good job) When i started uploading videos for the first time i thought "Damn, this is a new start. I can't wait to do whatever shait", however i really rapidly started shifting to quick gratification type of videos that take like 2 minutes to make and i am not proud of those videos. They were lazy, uncreative, bland, they were just shit. I've noticed that this is not who i wanna be, this is not what i wanna make, so i tried to push myself, make stuff that seem interesting and fun, of course there was some pressure to making those videos, but it was the healthy kind of pressure and it's something that any good artist would need. I feel proud of my more recent videos and it makes me want to do more, but i don't think this platform is meant for me anymore, which sucks cause i have been using KZbin all my life. As Glink put it in his 'The Golden Age of the Internet Is Over' video, he said "It's no longer about YOU. It's about THEM" I will still keep on creating, but i don't know if it should be here anymore. The more months that go by, the less i am enjoying this platform and it's not specifically this one platform, but the internet as a whole. I might move my stuff to Nebula, but like you said, it might fall into the same vicious cycle. I'll give it a try anyway, cause WHY NOT? Yeah... Thank you for reading my long, LONG, weary essay about this whole thing. Thanks to you as well Fudj for making this.............................for YOURSELF! And to anyone who is reading this, remember to not feel obligated to check out whats going on in your social media stuff. Do whatever the fuck you want.

[@BBWahoo]

Yeah!!! Your videos are appearing on my home feed! Let's fucking go KZbin, give this man what he deserves!!

[@ATalkingSock]

Your metacommentary on "thanks for watching" at the end really gave me pause for thought.... Thank you

[@tristanneal9552]

I saw the fake sponsored ad from a mile away, and yet still about 4 seconds into it I started questioning if it was actually real and I should skip a few seconds forward lol

[@brenomartins2762]

Also, I love bo burnham so much. I really enjoyed Make Happy some years ago and I really love seeing him being mentioned when I'm not expecting

[@River_StGrey]

Just wanted to say, because supporting however I can and because I want to, but your stuff is always a genuine source of thoughtful joy, or laughter, or puzzling over something for me. There's plenty of channels I look for just to occupy time or to fill the space around me with sound, and their videos tend to be ridiculously long and repetitive, where if you zone out for an hour and come back, it doesn't matter because they're still saying the same thing, so you never feel like you've missed out. ANYWAY, I consciously come here to see if there are new videos and put myself in a more alert state of mind before watching new videos of yours, because I enjoy them best that way. I do feel like I missed out on something when I zone out for like ten minutes in one of your videos (which, ADHD, yay). So, I don't know. I like your thoughts and what you make, whatever it is. And while I'm too poor right now to be a patron, if you were somewhere else than youtube, I would definitely want to be there too. Like, virtually, obvs. Cheers!

[@Ivy64_]

I tried uploading (not on this account) for a few months. I made roblox live commentary with varying upload gaps, the most views I pulled within a week was about 50. I saw this and was buzzing, told my classmates at secondary school, and got laughed at. I can't really blame them. People are used to seeing these huge view counts and then they forget about the tiny numbers at the bottom. Even external perception is incredibly upsetting for me. It hurt having those people I trust look at me like a joke because I wasn't pulling thousands of views.

[@pissqueendanniella4688]

One thing that would help the issues with helping smaller creators get noticed is to start doing your own version of Thought Slime's The Eyeball Zone or Salari's Boost Bus. As your platform grows, you'll have to decide how you want to use that power.

[@japoonboals718]

10 days ago!!! Absolutely crying and screaming and pissing all over that I missed this upload. Commenting before I start watching to hopefully add to my engagement.

[@SourSalty]

As a trans woman, I keep getting Transphobic videos being recommended to me. And all I wanna do is watch you, one topic and so much more friendly creators

[@saff2375]

Thats cruel

[@DannoTA]

As someone who is trying to create videos on this platform, and really putting effort in, I like seeing something like this. It makes me question what my approach is. Am I making art, or "content". Soul vs Soulless... Fudj, if you ever read this, I hope you know you inspire me. And from one human to another, I wish you all the best man.

[@tristancollins-pellington9382]

For your next April Fool's Day video you should actually make 'All Second Mario Levels Ranked from Most to Least Orange'.

[@matthewlynn6108]

For what it’s worth, your videos and talking points on Minecraft actually inspired me to check the “game” out and I’m having an insane amount of fun with it. While there are hundreds upon hundreds of Minecraft “content creators” that never made me bat an eye, your unique take and opinions on the “game” are what eventually pulled me into checking it out. My son and I are having a ton of fun with it. We built a small fort and he shrieked with glee when we tamed our first sheep. I feel the need to share this because it’s an aspect of a KZbinrs work that they don’t get to see or monetize from. While playing video games with my son isn’t the greatest impact you could have on someone’s life, it is a small influence on a total stranger that would not have happened in the before times of KZbin. I dunno. Something to think about maybe? Also, I can’t find any iron god fucking damnit.

[@SwiftRelish]

It always shocks me when you mention how your deview videos are unsuccessful, I love them! Your videos never cease to entertain bro.

[@sitodev]

21:15 I hope the past tense here doesn’t mean they’re done, that’s my favorite content you make

[@caravaneerkhed]

Right as you were talking about those people who want people to make money, I got an ad for some book that sells you on the idea of selling you the idea :) I love it…

[@donnylurch4207]

Damn Fudj, way to make me feel called out for long-form opinion pieces being my favorite youtube content. My friends all have zero interest in it, but I love me a good video essay that can make me think deeper about a game or a movie; I think the weird part is how many I've watched about games I haven't played or movies I haven't seen. Sometimes they can get me really excited to play or watch something new after I've been hooked by a glowing recommendation, but I can also lose interest in something I wanted to play or see because someone on youtube said it's ultimately underwhelming - and I hate that. I've been trying to unlearn my parasocial adoption of video essayists' opinions ever since I let the Nostalgia Critic make me rethink a lot of childhood favorites in a poor light, as I discovered him in high school just when he started making videos. Yet, I still love a good 5+ hour retrospective on the Gameboy Advance Pokemon games to get me through the day at the job I hate.

[@epicgamner1139]

at least there's still good stuff, like this channel! i just wish people could find it easier.

[@TheGamersState]

Oh no, is Fudj leaving KZbin? Please do not man, I genuinely love your videos and still tune in when a new one pops up. Even if it's just 1 video a week or even one a month, I'd still be happy to have you around.

[@trenchwarfare9518]

I feel very connected to you fudj, just because of how similar we seem to be. I hope that you'll have at least some sort of sporadic update about whatever you want to say. Idk I care a lot about you as a person now and I think your speaking/writing is great and you're so insightful. What I mean to say is I hope there's not a day where we lose track of you forever, anywhere on the internet

[@Silentstaraptor]

Love to see another well made and actually researched video on the platform.

[@BillehBawb]

"this may be the last video for a while"? "see you later... kinda"? i need answers

[@aymanaboufarise4346]

Now I feel bad for ignoring the initial notif. You guys must have a though life trying to do what you love and make a living out of it and I'm sincerely grateful for the quality entertainment you smaller channels put out. Great vid Fudg 👍 Edit: You know what forget it I'm not thankful I hate you (didn't reach the end when I made the comment)

[@seapineapple1239]

I really have to hand it to you with this vid Fudj, it's honestly just so good. That being said, while the general feel and destiny of youtube is set in stone, I don't feel it's all bad. KZbin is certainly only going to get more and more corporatized with time, we have definitely seen improvements over the years. As we saw with animators, people adapt. Is it as good as the Old days, maybe, maybe not. Sometimes things get worse, but what separates youtube from tv and cinema is the freedom. No matter what, people are ultimately free on youtube, even if it doesn't feel like it. Politics is improving on youtube, satire is reemerging, and some video essayists like yourself genuinely have begun making content I think back to and reflect on in my daily life. KZbin is certainly messy and only going to get worse, but I know it's still worth fighting for. Real art is still out there, you just have to find it. Again great vid man, I can't wait to see your take on WALL-E.

[@troutcooker6949]

I really enjoyed this video and think you approach the wider issues of KZbin with some good nuance in places. However, despite your comments in the introduction, there is a slightly distasteful undercurrent throughout the whole video which makes things come across as a bit of a self-pitying ego trip. Your channel is generally excellent, but you do start leaning very close in this video to a bit of a pompous, artistic superiority complex. There's always been a nice humorous subtext in your videos regarding your perception as an unrecognised artistic genius - but this video, whether you may admit this consciously or not, can't get around largely being a pretty naked resentment of your more successful peers. I remember once seeing someone give you feedback on a video previously, saying "Maybe you should be more concise in your introductions, as they're a bit too long?" and you responded with "I'm just rambly - that's just how my videos are!" And hey, maybe fair enough, but this feels indicative of an ongoing vibe of 'I'm not the problem, it's everyone else who is the problem!' I think you have a propensity to avoid constructive criticism in favour of doing things ‘your way’ and this may come from your own admittedly inflated ego. You clearly want to have your cake and eat it on KZbin and seem quick to blame everything but yourself when things don't work out how you want. Fair enough in criticising the blatant cash grabs of reaction channels and other lazy spectacles that aim to take advantage of people's short attention spans, but some of the other things you take issue with in this video are... a bit odd. You get within touching distance of outright saying that your videos are creatively superior, artistically superior and less morally compromised to other gaming videos - even good faith analysis videos. You appoint yourself as the ‘good guy’ on KZbin and everyone else by default as the bad guys. This might sound harsh, but I feel you're trying to hide behind your extreme pride and unflinching moral superiority as an excuse for why you haven't been more successful. Perhaps this is just more convenient than swallowing your pride, deflating your ego and trying to materially improve things. Life is absolutely not fair, but self-pity in the face of adversity is an ugly human emotion when combined with a self-righteous superiority complex. I'm afraid your brief analysis at 24:21 seems pretty much on the nose. Your analysis of ‘capitalism is the problem’ is somewhat valid but also pretty low-resolution. This topic is obviously a wider point of discussion, but again I think this leans into your temptation to boil things down to 'I'm not the problem, it's everyone else who is the problem!'. Briefly, I also think your nostalgia of the yesteryears of KZbin is seen with rose-tinted glasses. People like Bo Burnham have always been the exception to the rule, and while granted it would be more difficult for him to have thrived today, we're still on a site where Fred was the first channel to hit 1m subs and Smosh were the first to hit 10m. I feel that, despite the *undeniable* issues with KZbin, you need to develop more of a capacity to look inwards in dealing with your problems, even if the deck is stacked against you. Because what are the alternatives? Self-righteous wallowing, which achieves little. Your channel is something I sincerely adore, but you've said before that you should criticise the things you love the most. That is the reason for this comment.

[@RandomSquare]

Fudj is back 🔥🔥🔥! It is crazy that one video blows up on a certain niche and as a content creator you kind get stuck into just that or you lose your "livelihood"

[@penqui5604]

This video encapsulates so much of what I've been thinking lately about youtube, twitch, and gaming as a whole. The combination of late stage capitalism and diminishing attention spans from social media has created a nightmare of competition for attention and monetization of that attention. Even in real life, it feels disgusting that I sort of need to compete against someone's smartphone for their undivided attention. People don't play games because they enjoy them, but because everyone else is playing them and games nowadays fall ("die") just as quickly as they rise. Very little feels real or genuine anymore. Everything needs to be monetized or built to maximize attention. Everything is just "content". Perhaps I'm conflating ideas, and I don't want to be that guy whose obsessed with the way things "used to be", but it really frustrates me to see the direction the internet and we, as a hyper-connected society, are going. I'm glad someone put in the time and effort to describe what many of us are thinking so eloquently.

[@Hentacle]

Wow, I quite enjoyed this video essay about KZbin! Very interesting! But now said video essay is over, and I am bored. I shall go find something else to keep me occupied.

[@gamejitzu]

Yeah, while KZbin could probably try making better features to help creators take off (or even just, actually improve the site's functionality instead removing features), that would still amount to using a wad of gum to patch up this crater of a problem. Unless, KZbin can pull out a very, very stretchy wad of gum ... Anyway, most of the life and creativity has definitely been sucked out of the platform, you make a good point that it was a triple effort on everyone's part. Nothing lasts forever though, so I hope KZbin can either somehow fix itself, or others use it's history to pave the way for a better platform

[@sambenneeett9407]

I'd love to say that the de-view and worlds worst review are some of the most creative and funny video series' in recent times.

[@ferrugemj18]

0:41 OMG I remember watching this guy's videos all the time! What was his channel again? does it still exists?

[@nongmotrash]

27:20 nah, you don't have to make a video for _me specifically_ (or your audience) for me to want to show appreciation! im just glad that this pink walrus guy exists and made a funny amogus video

[@BRTenshi]

As someone trying to start KZbin, seeing videos like this is disheartening, however it's definitely true. KZbin has been a major part of me for the majority of my life, and seeing what it's become has been horrible. As a hopeful beginner in this field, a lot of the things in this video still applied to me in shocking ways. Wanting to make "content" rather than art, copying what bigger channels do, pursuing content with marketable ideas, and being more derivative then creative. KZbin really isn't a proper home for creatives anymore, and that's incredibly sad to see. Still, it's something I want to try at, because the kind of art KZbin can facilitate is wholly unique, and, like you said, there are no real alternatives

[@mr.crow6490]

It's really depressing how accurate this video is..

[@Vashkey]

I like all your videos. Sorry if you feel burned by this whole experience and I understand if you wanna quit. But either way, thank you for what youve made. It's made me happy. I hope you find success and happiness in your future.

[@andriypredmyrskyy7791]

Succinctly put; entertainment industry is an oxymoron.

[@scroptels]

I'd like to see another platform really take what youtube used to be and take it further. So far decentralized peer2peer platforms have the best chance of this because they won't be concerned with making profits, instead everything is truly made by the people. But as it looks now it's gonna be hard for people to move away from what they are already familiar with to find something that's better.

[@TheMoonPersonTV]

"I grew up on the internet. not having a positive male role model in life will do that for ya" had to look at myself in the mirror for a good 10 minutes after that

[@LoaphMeat]

It's finally here!

[@derpp9994]

thank god SOMEONE FINALLY TALKED ABOUT THIS it took too long christ.

[@mr.pickledpenaut8363]

The point of human attention span was very interesting, earlier in the video I was about to leave when I remembered what you said about it hurting a video. Later you talked about the reduction in average human attention span, and I thought, "oh, this doesn't happen to me" when I realized that it did literally minutes ago.

[@kaizorro03]

I agree on pretty much everything you diagnosed here. I think craving for profit regardless of the content produced is poisoning a lot of jobs in many fields. When creativity / innovation can't provide the required benefit, what's left is repetitive mediocrity and quantity over quality strategies. Its true on youtube, but also in hospitals, schools, industries... As you said, this is a systemic problem, and this system is the capitalism.

[@scarlettwiddowson4245]

Oh fudj, I really love your channel. I'm so glad i discovered your stuff. I love listening about your life, experiences and opinions. As an autistic person myself I feel a sense of kinship too.

[@editorgt8623]

I really like a lot of the points in this video, I think it does a great job of illustrating the fundimental problem with KZbin and the way it operates. With it basically being less about the content and more about being a calculated dopamine machine. One thing I gotta say though is I find myself disagreeing with you on your own actual content and the idea of an idea not needing to be directly communicated. If I'm being honest, it feels like you're using this as a way to justify the de-view not doing as well as you'd hoped. I've always found thay the best writers are the ones who can communicate ideas clearly. The most basic rules of writing styles are "point proof explanation". And while there are some reviewers out there who really do just say "it bad, haha stupid" they're few and far between I'm not nessisarily looking to have an opinion fed to me so I can mindlessly form my own opinion. But instead looking to see other opinions so I can look at something I like or dislike in different angles, or perhaps even on occasion feel reinforced in my own opinion. It's not a negative thing to directly say if something is good or bad so long as you are able to communicate why or why not exactly. You talk about de-view, and about how its unique for not using this style, and requires people to listen. I want to say I am a fan of deview just not for the reasons you'd nessisarily hope. I'm a fan of it because I find you're very articulate, and I enjoy your style of story telling and speaking. I find your very personal way of approaching things to be refreshing in this day of extremely separated reviews and opinions, where most professional reviewers try to communicate on a common ground with the entire audience, your style of self awareness and differing in experiences is wonderful to listen to. However the de-view, at the end of the day, does Actually still say good or bad, just in a sentence rather than in a word. while that's for sure harder to do and takes more skill, it hardly adds anything to me as the viewer. Let alone in a way that justifies a title other than "review". The biggest example I can think of being new pokemon snap. Instead of saying "it's good" you say "pokemon snap cares about pokemon more than any other main line pokemon game". Your constant obsession with the algorithm and it doing what you want it to do because you've done all the things right on an arbitrary checklist, Has blinded you to the fact that maybe your content isn't as engaging for the viewer itself as you'd like it to be. The de-view while well written doesn't do much to set it apart from other reviews. Video game reviews and retrospectives on the internet is a very over saturated content type. The fact you've gotten 50,000 subs from that speaks to your quality. The way you are right now you could continue to have a nice small community form around your content and you can either be okay with that or change your content to reach a broader audience. Intially I didn't even click on this video, you blame the algorithm for suppressing it in your video where you say you're done with KZbin. In reality it's probably a case of this video not being what your subscribers signed up for, and not engaging with it, in numerous videos you've complained about the algorithm, I expected this to be more of the same, and I know with me personally you talking about this subject is what causes me to click off your videos, espcially when you openly state that you don't even like the video you're making and are just doing it to please an algorithm. If you don't really care, why should I? You put in all this effort to appease a machine but then totally sabotage the human element with that one statement. KZbin is a very complex thing and while numbers and algorithms and requirements do play a big part in how it operates. It's not a simple checklist. I hope everything I've written comes off as constructive and not hateful or rude in any way. I enjoy your content, and I think it's a shame if you're truly done with KZbin, I hope if you ever try again something I've said can help you in some way. And I hope the length of this essay of a comment speaks to the amount of care I have for your content.

[@utwatkanye]

I can still thank you for making stuff and being a person I appreciate, right?

[@JarkeyBacon]

Nice video Fudj! I couldn't agree more. I enjoyed your measured writing and delivery. Sadly, like pretty much everything: "The game is just the game."

[@JoJo-ps8ik]

How would you suggest working around this for people who are starting KZbin then?

[@zooms7889]

The ironic part is that both this video and the 'review' of mario party superstars both have 14k views atm

[@benolson1156]

I always wondered why they never came out with a restart button

[@PcPx211]

what's the song around 16:20 or 16:30?

[@blitz7765]

I do owe you. Good people trying there best are few and far between and you sacrificed the hopes of being at the top to make good contest for good people. So thank you for that sacrifice.

[@deepseadoughnut44]

Yeah the mainstream youtube is very much trend chasing instead of setting nowadays. Having said that, it's not impossible to find really talented and interesting people just trying to perfect their craft. These are the youtubers I enjoy watching the most, as the attraction lies in what they are good at and how they improve/refine what they are good at. I tend to avoid personality based channels as that doesn't interest me as much as what is actually being accomplished, it's more of a bonus if they are cool too. Although when it comes to video essays personality matters a bit more since listening to someone's opinion needs to be engaging, but the depth of the content is still a a priority. If the opinions are very shallow it doesn't really matter how engaging they are, since part of the appeal for me is comparing my own opinions and agreeing, or seeing a different perspective, or disagreeing and reaffirming my own opinions on the matter There are also some real hidden gems of channels out there, like channels that promote more underground music coupled with very creative video editing for example, and animators just trying things out and using youtube as a platform to showcase their works. There's also some really neat science/nature channels that have documentaries and shows I couldn't find elsewhere. I know I'm very much in the minority in how I interact with the platform, but if you are meticulous enough, and really control what you watch without straying onto react type videos, it's very possible to build a more focused channel that doesn't suggest "lazier" content to you. It's definitely sad that smaller creators are having a harder time being creative, but it's a bi-product of the many more people now using the platform. Being unique is not promoted as much anymore, and it's the viewers who would need to take more time to find those more unique creators. But most people won't have the patience to do this admittedly

[@lunateek6244]

comment for the algorithm gods may those who haven’t experienced the joys of this wondrous channel be blessed by the algorithm as i once have

[@LuisMartinez-vu1fj]

I found most of the people I watch while going down rabbit holes on particular subject

[@scrmblguy]

Lets be honest we all knew a video like this was coming from fudj at some point

[@ace-xy8ub]

I still believe in this platform. Maybe not the corporation but the concept behind it. I think just as a creator has to understand the algorithm to be successful, the viewer must take some time to understand how it works to have success with it. I spend hours on KZbin every day, I get none of that react crap, I barely know who Mr b3ast is and that's only recently. My feed is full of content from what I would consider some of the best sketch comedians in the contemporary scene. I will admit, I've spent the last half a year scrolling past your videos, when I found you, I over indulged and had to back off for a little bit, plus my mental health has been in decline and seeing videos on things that I hadn't gotten to experience on my own was triggering something in me and making it hard to engage The stuff you said at the end was a little worrying. I hope you're doing okay and I hope you haven't given up on us, the viewers, yet.

[@NurioMarayana]

You talked a bit about KZbinrs thanking viewers for watching and viewers thanking KZbinrs for making videos, and how that's nonsensical since nobody owes anybody anything. I get where you're coming from, but I kind of disagree with this sentiment. If there's something I enjoy -- or even better, something that really helped me -- I'm thankful toward anyone who made that possible, and I think it's fair to thank them for it. I've thanked friends who recommended me good series, and I've even thanked creators of shows that helped me deal with stuff. You could also say that people cheering at concerts is an expression of appreciation, and that's entirely natural as well. No audience owes an applause to the performer as it's just a business transaction at the core (performer gets money; audience gets entertainment), but it feels only right to show that appreciation for the performance Just the same, I'm thankful you're making videos and especially staying yourself in them. It's been a really nice journey, and I'm sad to hear it's likely going to end, and I wish you all the best, since you deserve it. Since I'm a bit in the mood to reminisce, my favorite video of yours is the one where you list the top 5 worst Mario Party boards to live on. The one that helped me the most is your video about autism. And yes, I thank you for these videos

[@Frisko555]

I think using KZbin videos as a source a background noise could be what causes people to get so many unsatisfactory recommendations. I don't use KZbin as a source of background noise* and the personalized recommendations KZbin gives me are satisfactory more often then not. (I also ignore the trending page entirely). *For example, I keep autoplay turned off.

[@henryfleischer404]

Small creators other than me should be getting way more views. I'm not at the point where I'd say my videos are good yet, but I imagine in a few months my devlogs will be decent, especially if people watch them and give feedback. This whole idea of trying to market my creations feels strange to me.

[@armandostockvideos8386]

9:55 I don't think it's patetic, if I put so much love into making a video I would like it to be seen for a much people as possible.

[@ennothedishonorable5530]

Thank you for that video... YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!!!

[@TheSynthZone]

The bad thing is also that when we subscribe we spend hours a month telling youtube OVER AND OVER we don't like a channel, a song and guess what? The "hits" keep on coming. Almost fraudulent except they never said they did NOT do this to us consumers. Stupidist AI we ever saw...lolz other wise, hey it plays mp3s without cops coming to our houses.

[@ksbloistl]

Starting the video, already know susan is in the video.

[@chad0ch0]

Bo and Fudj together. What a perfect, insightful video

[@Nuzzling]

16:56 Merphy Also great video, I agree with a lot of what you're saying :p

[@aturchomicz821]

Even if KZbin is worse then ever, its good to have real humans like you still on here. Much appreciated💚

[@andriypredmyrskyy7791]

Hey, I know this relationship is parasocial, and the bond is unsubstantiated, and that I have no obligation to follow through on this well intentioned thought, But if you keep making whatever you want to make, and there's a way for me to support it, I want to do that. Tell me how to help you and I will. There's a spark or something that I see in your work that I want to see more of. The deview is a brilliant idea, and you're one of about three people I know who gave snakepass a second thought. I wanna be a part of your movement.

[@agsilverradio2225]

Hooray for civil discourse!

[@Radar_of_the_Stars]

Wow, this video is so engaging! I'm gonna watch it for a long time!

[@squidwarg]

we're all malding, Brad

[@MikeRitiques]

I've been creating for a year and a half trying to make the best content possible but for me I would be miserable if I just went with the trends. The best way to make content I think is to make what you want to make. I love my content, I'm proud of it and that's what matters the most to me