What Was Early YouTube Like? (with Hank and John)

THE CENSUS!!! - www.surveymonkey.com/r/5DTYNLZ
if you filled it out before 3:45 Montana time on Friday, it was a little broken and super short if you don't drink coffee (I set up the question logic wrong.) But it is now fixed and you'll get the whole thing!
It's two old KZbinrs talking about old KZbin, what else could you want!?
What about MORE because there's a whole outtakes video here: • Old School KZbin Out...
----
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And join the community at nerdfighteria.com
Help transcribe videos - nerdfighteria.info
Learn more about our project to help Partners in Health radically reduce maternal mortality in Sierra Leone: www.pih.org/hankandjohn
If you're able to donate $2,000 or more to this effort, please join our matching fund: pih.org/hankandjohnmatch
John's twitter - / johngreen
Hank's twitter - / hankgreen
Hank's tumblr - / edwardspoonhands
Book club: www.lifeslibrarybookclub.com/

[@shaun7163]

Unsurprisingly, John gives the 5 star scale 5 stars

[@berrybread7215]

I expected a solid 4.5

[@bpqd2624]

youtube made it so we can't see how many dislikes every video has anymore, so please hit the dislike button on every video, all of them even the ones you enjoy and please encourage every one else to do the same. we as a community can drive the algorithm insane if we the all do this, and prove once and for all we that the users, not google own this platform. so please copy and paste this comment every where, thank you.

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

I think he'd give it 3.5 stars, to be serious about it. There are some mild flaws with such a reductive method of reviews.

[@jeka8826]

The introduction to The Anthropocene Reviewed makes it seem like John would give the 5 star scale a 2 or 3. "The five-star scale doesn't really exist for humans; it exists for data aggregation systems." It's useful for computers but doesn't really tell you what you need to know. If you gave it a 3, was everything about it solidly mediocre? Were there really good parts and really bad parts so you averaged the 5 and 1? Are you a person who adds stars from a baseline of 1 when something impresses you, so a 1 means it was fine, or do you subtract from a baseline of 5 when something irritates you, so a 5 means it was fine?

[@bensalemi7783]

TBF, he gave the five star system a like. That tells you something right there?

[@rocketsocks]

Hank and John: "we don't reinvent ourselves!" Also Hank and John: launch a zillion different Crash Courses, DFTBA merch co, SciShow, PBS Eons, Welcome to the Microcosmos, Lizzy Bennet Diaries, multiple podcasts, the P4A, a huge campaign to decrease child mortality in Sierra Leone, VidCon, Hank writes a book series, John writes a non-fiction book, and that's not even close to the complete list! Y'all some reinventstophers.

[@miriamrosemary9110]

I thought the exact same thing when they said that lol

[@bpqd2624]

youtube made it so we can't see how many dislikes every video has anymore, so please hit the dislike button on every video, all of them even the ones you enjoy and please encourage every one else to do the same. we as a community can drive the algorithm insane if we the all do this, and prove once and for all we that the users, not google own this platform. so please copy and paste this comment every where, thank you.

[@supernova622]

@@bpqd2624 or you could not

[@Simplebadger27]

+

[@emilycaballero6052]

vlogbrothers still kind of has the same energy as it did six years ago when I found it, though

[@oneofmanyjames-es1643]

John: "It's been fun" John's facial expression: "I am having a flashback to 2007 and am in immense anguish, just say it's been fun"

[@IrisGlowingBlue]

++

[@_maxgray]

So excited for the census! I love when it comes out every year-ish. It really brings home that Nerdfighteria is a community.

[@bpqd2624]

youtube made it so we can't see how many dislikes every video has anymore, so please hit the dislike button on every video, all of them even the ones you enjoy and please encourage every one else to do the same. we as a community can drive the algorithm insane if we the all do this, and prove once and for all we that the users, not google own this platform. so please copy and paste this comment every where, thank you.

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

And a really good community at that.

[@IrisGlowingBlue]

++. ♡

[@bambi3845]

"This text, for example, is only visible on one frame of this video, it would be extremely difficult to pause at the right moment to see it, but chances are if you're reading it, you know those good good hotkeys." After seeing this flash up I got distracted for a moment and it had gone by a way so I set the video back 10 seconds so that I could get closer, then played so I could pause closer to the time and navigate frames from there. I paused it bang on the writing popping up. I feel so dextrous right now I could almost forget that I literally punched my glasses of of my face just hours earlier.

[@meaganduncan7708]

Thank you!

[@jeka8826]

All right, time to go back and look for that!

[@fiddlehead11]

The hotkeys if you wanna use them are the comma and period keys! comma is back 1 frame, period is forward one frame. Hank made a video about all his fav youtube hotkeys waayy back when.

[@KyleJMitchell]

I saw this text, and I practically saw it coming. When I missed it and tried to catch it again, and couldn't even pause with a single tap, I knew I'd have to watch the video again in a browser on my laptop. I've become too spoiled by good-but-non-portable UX design to use my phone how I'm supposed to.

[@CineSoar]

Thank you for naming the hot-keys (saved me a Google). I watched that portion of the video at 0.25X speed, and double-tapped the space bar, until I hit it.

[@colonelb]

"What was early KZbin like?" - As someone John's age, this hurt way more than I was prepared for, ugh I'll be back later, need to go find my walker so I can yell at some kids to get off my lawn

[@dwc1964]

Try: "What was the early Internet (Usenet) like?" or: "What were acoustic modems and dot-matrix printers like?" or: "What were 8-inch data frisbees, or storing data on _audio cassette_ (TRS-80), like?" Get off _my_ lawn! XD

[@colonelb]

@@dwc1964 lol, yeah, and it felt like the coolest thing in the world

[@cholten99]

The Nerdfighter gang sign at the end was like pure bottled nostalgia.

[@sharpieRulestheWorld]

Yessss

[@Shadowhuntedwizards]

It made me so happy!

[@glovaldebenito]

It made me tear up a little bit!! It made me so stupidly happy just to see them do it!

[@jeka8826]

Yes, 100%!

[@ryebowen]

I just need a gif of that, so I can experience the joy of seeing it over and over.

[@RobOwenKing]

I guess a lot of people here know the hotkeys referenced, but in case not: J = Back 10 seconds L = Forward 10 seconds Comma = Back 1 frame Full stop/Period = Forward 1 frame

[@sn0250]

Also: left arrow: backwards 5 seconds right arrow: forwards 5 seconds k: pause/play (hitting the space bar will sometimes scroll the page down instead of pausing/playing the video) t: theatre mode f: full screen i: pop-out player m: mute up arrow: increase volume down arrow: decrease volume c: subtitles/closed captions /: move cursor to search bar 0: go to the beginning of the video 1-9: go to 10-90% of the way into the video

[@SylviaRustyFae]

Im well aware of those hot keys but sadly i do not have a working PC at this time and thus cannot utilize them as no such similar features exist on the apps for consoles, tvs, or phones (the ten second skip usually exists at least tho). As such, id love it if someone cud respond to this comment tellin me what the single frame around 1:23 said bcuz i literally cannot manually stop it on that frame without wasting at least ten mins trying to do such on my ps4.

[@jeka8826]

I found a few of those hot keys by accident, but most of them I had no idea about. Thank you!

[@thatsmahlon]

I’m on the phone, so I watched it at 0.25 speed to find the frame… 😵‍💫

[@RobOwenKing]

@@SylviaRustyFae "This text, for example, is only visible on one frame of this video. It would be extremely difficult to pause at the right moment to see it, but chances are if you're reading it, you know those good good hotkeys." To within a word/punctuation mark or two.

[@DoctorBenjyFM]

I remember being quite sad when KZbin became like/dislike, I couldn't agree more than the 5 star system was better!

[@rosianna]

crucially it told you what each of those stars meant!!! no ambiguity!

[@bpqd2624]

youtube made it so we can't see how many dislikes every video has anymore, so please hit the dislike button on every video, all of them even the ones you enjoy and please encourage every one else to do the same. we as a community can drive the algorithm insane if we the all do this, and prove once and for all we that the users, not google own this platform. so please copy and paste this comment every where, thank you.

[@lysaali50]

likes and dislikes are simpler but stars are better, and unless they're collapsed when you're not rating, i would want a star system

[@savagesarethebest7251]

Wow, I barely remember it. But the thing was that most people either rated 5 stars or 1 star, so dis/like was more logical. But they should have kept the stars to show how the video was doing. But only had 2 buttons

[@samanthanorton4538]

I felt that way when Netflix moved to like or dislike. Sometimes things are just fine.

[@westendwanabee]

“I have to poo, so…” is going to become a stock phrase I use towards the end of any discussion from here on out

[@potatocow3305]

Congratulations, John, on the Anthropocene Reviewed winning the Goodreads choice award for best nonfiction book of the year!

[@miriamrosemary9110]

+

[@lyreparadox]

+

[@cynodic79]

+

[@An19941]

+

[@randomsandra4039]

+

[@patricksimpson1725]

"We don't reinvent ourselves!" Okay sure yeah, the format and style of vlogbrothers videos hasn't changed drastically in the past 15 years. But that doesn't account for the fact that as PEOPLE, you've both grown so much. Your opinions have more nuance. Your perspective on the world and what we should do to make it better has both broadened and deepened (just look at the project in Sierra Leone, for one). I abandoned many channels I ADORED when I was a kid because I felt like I grew out of them, but vlogbrothers videos grew up alongside me.

[@AllDaGoodUsernamesWereTaken]

I dont see how that's reinventing themselves tbh

[@NerdsmithTV]

++++

[@matthewtalken8952]

I'd say that's evolving, not reinventing. And evolving is a great thing! But I can't think of a time when Hank and John just seemed to say "ya know what? Let's just do something wildly different!"

[@purplegill10]

I feel so weird when they're talking about this because youtube _still_ feels new to me but suddenly it's 15 years old

[@JosephDavies]

Yeah, KZbin is still the New Solution for video hosting. >_< I do miss Google Video though.

[@MeowCatReturns]

Oh my god-Natalie Tran of Community Channel still holds up. I see her doing some hosting gigs on social media now. I hope she’s happy and having fun whatever she’s doing!

[@greensteve9307]

She was the first youtuber that I followed! I miss her face, but accept that she decided to get a 'real' job. xD

[@ingledont]

hank saying "i have to poo" like a 4 year old is not what i expected this morning but it's what i needed

[@Guerin78]

The one feature I really miss is the ability to put subscriptions into folders. If you had a lot of subscriptions (as I did and still do), and you tend to do a lot of rewatching of old content (as I also did and still do), it was great to be able to only have to search through, e.g., a dozen musicians, rather than the full list of channels you were subscribed to. Sadly, that only lasted about a year.

[@justcamden]

It might be coming back in a way? I use youtube on iOS and as of a day or two ago I have “Collections” in my subscriptions tab that lets me create groups of channels similar to what you’re describing.

[@KWolf2013]

John with his single panic-laugh over trying to apply the word 'fun' to the last fifteen years is a mood. I mean, I've enjoyed the last fifteen years of vlogbrothers. 'Fun' does seem sort of reductive though.

[@IrisGlowingBlue]

++

[@vlogbrothers]

Thank you everyone who has filled out the survey! Sorry to folks who have been having issues with it. There was a glitch where it wasn't letting everyone finish it and, when I fixed that, I think it caused some problems for other people. It should be functioning well now and if you continue to have problems, you might need to clear your cookies to finish up! www.surveymonkey.com/r/5DTYNLZ

[@emh6021]

Asking me to "ruthlessly rank our projects from your favorite to your least favorite." Is the cruelest thing you've ever done to me.

[@jon1913]

Oh the good old days, you don't realize you're in them until they're gone.

[@thefaboo]

The thing about the good old days, is they aren't that at the time.

[@alexisc3658]

Natalie Tran remains one of the funniest people to ever be on KZbin.

[@sexyscientist]

opinion

[@jonathanlautre489]

You know, I haven't seen the nerdfighter...gang sign?...hand thingy?...Double spock?...anyway I haven't seen it for a long time, and I didn't realize how much I missed it.

[@GoneToTheSnowDogs]

It's so crazy how much of this I remember!

[@FinnikOdair]

I love communitychannel! I sometimes see her pop up in tv comedies (in Australia) and im always so proud and excited

[@paulasalazar2093]

I didn't know she was on tv!! I miss her uploads so much but I'm glad she found a career outside of KZbin too

[@FinnikOdair]

@@paulasalazar2093 she’s not on all the time but she pops up in comedy shows - she did a segment about the TikTok sea shanty trend earlier in the year on a show on ABC called The Weekly. I screamed!

[@qwertyTRiG]

I wasn't nearly as online in those days. Looks like I missed a lot of early KZbin. Must look some of these names up.

[@FinnikOdair]

@@qwertyTRiG a lot of communitychannel videos have been privated but everything that’s still up is worth watching!! Would very much encourage checking it out!

[@qwertyTRiG]

@@FinnikOdair The Christmas Lists one is amusing me.

[@jacksonhignite6842]

"If [Hank didn't exist] I wouldn't have a peer" is so subtle but also possibly the biggest flex in human history

[@buttonsmasherable]

The Text Flash, in case you don't know those good good hot keys reads: This text, for example, is only visible on one frame of this video, it would be extremely difficult to pause at the right moment to see it, but chances are if you're reading it, you know those good good hotkeys.

[@poof3642]

And for those who want to know: comma (,) to go back one frame and period (.) to go forward one frame

[@MyBleedingInk]

Thank you!!!

[@pgraterol]

Hope everyone who sees this comment has a wonderful month! This is a wonderful community! Nerdfighters for the win!

[@miriamrosemary9110]

❤

[@flakmoppen]

❤️

[@PKRoamer]

"The hard part for me is always imagining the future. That get's really overwhelming. In the present it was always fine." That is a great encapsulation of a lesson I also had to learn over time, and I think it is one the most important life lessons for someone with neurotic disposition. You don't have to deal with all possible futures. You just have to deal with right now, and usually right now is fine.

[@retropulpmonkey]

Nicely said! "There is nothing so wretched or foolish as to anticipate misfortunes. What madness it is in your expecting evil before it arrives!" Seneca-Epistolae Ad Lucilium. XCVIII. ~2,000 years ago

[@philomathstudies9226]

Been here since I think 2013?? All your videos on here and Crash course have helped me immensely! I was "homeschooled" growing up by very conservative/far right parents and y'all's videos and perspectives helped show me that the world was a lot larger and more wonderful than I'd previously known. Now I'm 23 and about to graduate university Hanks optimism and John's thoughtfulness have truly helped me over the years so thank you!

[@hannahnelson2359]

I love the idea of John and Hank "sharing" the plaque. What does that look like? Switching it between them every 6 months, or sawing it in half?

[@ClaireF_]

The brotherhood of the travelling plaque 🤣

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

I think "neither of them know where it is" is a pretty good compromise.

[@sexyscientist]

@@ClaireF_ I thought of the same reading the comment.

[@ericagoehring1089]

I started watching KZbin in 2011 when I was researching homeschooling! Now it is a daily part of my life. I am so glad I discovered this channel somewhere along the line!

[@hayleyt4649]

The census!!!!!!!! I am so excited

[@peas320]

I've been watching vlogbrothers and doing the nerdfightaria census for so long I can't remember when it started, so I can never give a good answer to those "how long have you been here" questions

[@Mehrnooshb]

It made me so happy when you guys did the Nerdfighteria sign ❤️

[@osmia]

Me too :-)

[@smorcrux426]

Really excited for my first time filling out the census! I vaguely heard your name for a while but just assumed (pretty reasonably given your name) you're just a vlogging channel, but only in the past year have I really started watching your videos and figure out that you are predominantly *not* a vlogging channel. Since then I've read the anthropocene reviewed which might be my favorite book ever, and I really hope to be able to participate in this census in future years!

[@JusDoc]

RE: Question 58 on the census: Hank, don't freak out, at this point the James Webb Telescope been taken care of by the most brilliant people in the field. We have given it every single chance of success. Time to let go and trust in their expertise. ...and also quietly panic nonstop till it starts sending imagery.

[@miriamrosemary9110]

+

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

I've watched Dr. Becky's videos on the subject. It seems that the official consensus from astronomers is that they're all terrified.

[@sarahp6512]

Hey, when Hubble first started sending images they were blurry, they had to send people up to basically give it glasses. Now look at it! I'm sure the JWT will be fine, and if there are any hiccups, the brilliant scientists behind it will fix it

[@pas.]

it's so irresponsible to have one. too big to fail. let's do modular scopes (we already have the modular mirrors!). and instead of double-triple-super-duper checking everything just set up a kind of okay-ish pipeline that with some high probability puts telescopes into spaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaace. so then we can just keep sending up pieces and the mirror gets larger. (and when it reaches some optimally toooo big size we can still keep sending up pieces and start assembling a new one, and so on) then we can switch the sensors and the optics a bit but keep sending up the pieces and we'll have a scope with different capabilities, no budget stress, no panic.... just a predictable pipeline of eyewatering panoramas, and juicy data to for science. /rant

[@KyleJMitchell]

@@pas. Your "instead" is too big; it's blocking your view of that neat-looking "why not both" over there.

[@YourMCAdmin]

Yesss! I miss video responses too! Though, I remember some KZbinrs becoming big just for staring at a camera for 10 seconds in response to every front-page video. Nalts, Zipster, Geriatric1927, Nutcheese, 5 Awesome Guys, 5 Awesome Gays, and sooo sooo many more early KZbinrs have had such an impactful presence on my life. I've been here watching since the very beginning. Here's to another 16 years of KZbin!

[@pdlbean]

yesss Zipster! I hope Terry is doing well these days

[@3rkid]

I was just thinking about Nalts the other day. Hope he's doing well

[@k8con]

I miss 5awesomeguys so so so much!!!

[@IrisGlowingBlue]

++

[@iwillworkharder]

It's amazing what sticks around in your brain, because even though I was on KZbin in the early days, I'd you'd asked me, "Did KZbin used to have a five star scale?" I would have said no until John reminded me that it was real.

[@JudsonRadio]

Early KZbin will always be so fascinating to me. It was a time of excitement and energy that I have yet to see replicated anywhere else or at any time on the internet. Maybe its nostalgia, maybe it's the fact that I lived through that time during some of my most formative years, but there really was something so special about that time.

[@Dudeonwheels]

Oh we're doing this? A nostalgia trip to 16 years ago? Fun! I loved early KZbin.

[@KyleJMitchell]

I hated early KZbin! The player never worked and the quality was garbage. I realized later that I actually hated the severely-throttled internet in my college dorm room.

[@nikki5195]

I have to admit, having to select the 23-30 year old age category for this years census is making me feel really old

[@KathrineAnnVlogs]

Same! I'm 24 tho 😅

[@jeka8826]

You don't want to know how many of us are in the older categories.

[@nikki5195]

@@KathrineAnnVlogs me too! we didn't have it last year though so it's the first time I had to select an older group lol

[@silverandexact]

I'm 29 and only now beginning to accept my increasing lack of relevance to advertisers and the social internet more broadly. 😅

[@swmrgirl9979]

I remember being in 8th grade in 2007 when my older sister and her best friend called me downstairs to our family desktop computer and showed me two brothers communicating only through internet videos for a year - we had never heard of youtube and certainly never of Hank or John. I do remember Death Cab for Cutie was my (our) favorite band at the time and loved your intro. It's 2021 now and all three of us still follow vlogbrothers (brotherhood 2.0). DFTBA

[@radhabele2973]

Hi John! Was reading Amy’s “Encyclopaedia of an ordinary life”, right after i read Auld Lang Syne the 5th time, when i got this notification. Just wanted to tell you, the whole time I was reading that book i could feel you narrating those little essays. I don’t know how this makes you feel but i’m sure Amy wouldn’t have it any other way :) Have a good day.

[@Ani]

census was super fun to take part in, cannot wait to see the results! :D

[@firefly-fez]

I finished the Census! Couple things I noticed: 1. The question about education seems a little US centric to me? I’m attending university, but not ‘4 Year University’ - that’s not a thing here - and there was no option of selecting university more generally. Here we’d refer to it as an ‘undergraduate’ degree; maybe that’s equivalent to 4 Year University? I don’t know. 2. I didn’t see any mention of Life’s Library in any of your other project lists? 3. There are lots of questions that give information about the diversity of nerdfighteria; sexuality, gender, ethnicity, etc; but none about disability and or neurodivergence? Not a criticism; I get that it might be a constraint of the test/you don’t want it to be too long, but I would be really curious to see data like that on Nerdfighteria! Happy Census 🥳

[@fiddlehead11]

+

[@emb9657]

+

[@Mehrnooshb]

I love Hank and John reunions!!!

[@renendarkfire]

@2:43 The way John pauses his sentence to let Hank interject and then keeps going without skipping a beat is such a lovely thing. 😍

[@gussnarp]

Why do I always do the census and get so excited about it? I don't know, but I do. If only because I like to imagine myself skewing the data. Also, for those wondering, it's the comma key to go back one frame.

[@osmia]

+

[@Karishma_Unspecified]

Hey Hank and John! A. Could you please tell the SciShow Psych team that I'm really grateful to them for the channel, that it helped me re-contextualize a lot of the bouncy chemicals in my brain and has impacted a lot of my worldview? I know SciShow Psych ending is inevitable, but I've been there since the beginning, and I'm sad but grateful and I want to convey that. B. It made me smile to see you both together. I haven't watched the video yet, but I will in a bit. Thanks for everything C. I don't have a C., I just didn't know how to end this comment.

[@poopsled]

I miss early youtube when I could hold an extended meaningful discussion about Healthcare and the VA with John in the comments. Which actually helped get me on the path to changing my mind about government funded Healthcare. Due to just the sheer volume of comments creators get now they can't really engage like they used to. At most now you might get a like or a one off comment from the creator. (Totally understand why I'm just an old guy who misses the good old days)

[@KyleJMitchell]

I think this just happens when communities get big. I learned this through Reddit, where huge and useless subreddits exist alongside great niche discussion communities, and you can actually watch specific ones get too big not to attract the flotsam commenters that make it cross that threshold. I'm glad you understand that it's no one person's fault, and you're right that it's sad that such good forums are hard to maintain outside of something like personal group chats or email.

[@mephostopheles3752]

I’ve been with the Greens for like… ten years at this point. Hearing all this talk about old KZbin is crazy.

[@handlejl225]

“Good Morning John, it’s the last reunion videooo!” Like for now or … oh no

[@leonhostnik9516]

My favorite part of the census so far is that, in categorizing whether you've heard about a list of things before, The Awesome Socks club is listed twice. Now, regardless of your answer to the first time it appears, shouldn't it be the case that everyone marks "Yes" on the second listing, since they have technically seen it listed before?

[@fairycat23]

oh my gosh you're right

[@AnimeCloud22]

I hope yous guys talk about early KZbin more I think it's super interesting to hear about from a creator perspective

[@Paint_The_Future]

I've been around since the early days. I remember KZbin profiles being really customizable, a lot of people made them horrendous colours. You could also have your channel be a "comedian" or a "musician" channel, things like that. I never found out what those labels were supposed to do.

[@ianway5449]

Sorta weird you ask us to rank the projects and just put "John's books" and "Hanks books" on the survey. Now I gotta choose? You guys write very differently, I like different things about each!

[@Akari_202]

That question took me 20 minutes of deliberation and Im still not happy with what I submitted

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

You have to choose your favorite child.

[@jeka8826]

That question was brutal! This book is intense awesomeness that I enjoy for a few hours and then it's over, versus dozens of 4-minute videos that are less intensely awesome but make me happy way more often in their frequency... How can you quantify the awesomeness and enjoyment of those things?

[@sarahp6512]

I always hate that question. There is no right answer. There are so many great things that some of my favorites get ranked way too low, so it looks like I don't like them as much as I do

[@sexyscientist]

And I have a complaint about not including Hank's music this time. 😤

[@sarahbell5454]

After completing the census, I have discovered that I like more of Hanks things. Which tracks, personality wise. But also that might be because Hank just does more things, idk.

[@Bea_Esser]

OMG my question got answered on a question Tuesday! 💕 Y’all please think about figuring out definitively where the plaque went because now I’m even more curious! ❤️

[@beethomas248]

hi all ! im bee, the nerdfighter who commented about moving to sweden a few videos back. im here now! in a tiny snowy cabin 20 minutes away from the nearest town. its cold and icy out here, but a classic green brothers reunion is enough to keep me warm. well wishes from sweden!

[@MewWolf5]

I remember back in the day there was a channel called Video Ad Libs and they would create scenes with a gap in them. You would submit what you wanted to put in the gap and they would edit their favourites in. That was so much fun and that's the only thing I miss about video responses.

[@catherine-mz6cx]

thank you for the reunion content!!! helping me a lot with college homesickness

[@spacey-sam]

Not me tearing up a bit at the nerdfightaria hand sign :’)

[@Marlokan]

I remember watching your videos in high school and I am now 31 years old. Thanks for all the years! (Which originally autocorrected to tears)

[@jaelikesjackalopes]

I would watch the 45 minute version of this conversation in a heartbeat

[@KatieRomrell]

I cannot TELL you how excited I am that the census is back!!

[@hayleyhorton5480]

It's the most wonderful time of the year! Census season!

[@deepthinkerpoet]

My dad emailing me that John's new book won the Goodreads award is the best thing that has happened this week. 😊

[@StevenErnest]

Yep, I remember back around 2008, when you could make "response videos" to another person's video; they would be listed below the video, so people could easily have a dialogue, and even make friends. And there were was much, much, less advertising.

[@milowent]

lol oh yes! i remember people saying in 2007 that pre-roll ads would never work. now you get 2 pre-roll ads to watch a 10 second pirated simpsons clip.

[@alexdavis2564]

You and Rhett and Link have been here for a while and I love you both

[@bobjenz]

I remember early KZbin!! 😆

[@ClementineEcho]

I am so glad John mentioned Lonelygirl15 because I don't know anyone else who remembers it and it feels like a fever dream. It also could not have been brought to us without the video response feature, which I didn't even notice when it was gone.

[@KatrinaEames]

I miss video responses so fun - it's probably my favorite part of tiktok honestly

[@michaelaivalu]

I honestly never thought that vlogbrothers would last this long, only because a lot of other channels didn't. But I am so thanktful that you are still here, I love you and I have enjoyed every bit of it ❤️

[@sexyscientist]

Yeah. I just checked my subs. It's just them and wong fu and swoozie, who have survived 10 years. Damn, my sub box is a graveyard!

[@gabewinterful]

Not related but I’m pregnant from my first child and I really hope that my future children will have a relationship like yours ❤️

[@muskaansharma5569]

T-T it's such a pleasent surprise, thank you for the reunion videos. Love it so much

[@felicitem6258]

Where was I to have missed out on this cuteness? I just discovered this vlog and spent over two hours watching new and decade-old videos. Thank you John and Hank! You are both amazing.

[@JosephWillingham]

Hank I dare you to change your twitter bio to “professional goof”

[@9Risky]

“Congrats to Everyone who is early and found this comment”!

[@carriecoats9137]

Watching this has reminded me just how long you two have been a part of my life. 13 years! Thank you for all of the good you’ve put out in the world.

[@faithelizabethz]

Holy cow, the video responses thing is just a total blast from the past!! I was a child during this time (13 or 14, I'm now 27 ?????? how? I met both of you during the Paper Towns tour when I was in 8th or 9th grade which feels like a literal lifetime ago at this point) and so a lot of it has like the haze of childhood memories and nostalgia, like using the Ning!!! Always pumped for the census!!! Love you guys always (obviously)

[@cloneno.625-a5]

Vlogbrothers always brings me such a sense of safety and calm that I really cannot express the value of enough. Thank you both for all the good work that you do, you continue to help me understand both myself and the world better and more complexly.

[@wesaidsomething]

I honestly feel so privileged to remember what KZbin was like back in the day. It was a really wholesome community, at least the part I was on. I remember getting bullied in high school for making KZbin videos - now everyone's doing it. I also remember going to KZbin meetups where it was just a handful of nerds in a park. I also met John in 2009 when he did a small book signing at a library here in Melbourne Australia. You two posting vlogbrothers again takes me back to some really fond memories from my adolescence.

[@Ginny97263]

So excited for the cenus!! Best part is hanks upcoming hour long analysis of the results, I absolutely love and look forward to those videos every year. Also, if you have them you should release the outtakes from this video because I would love to hear more of you guys' thoughts on old youtube

[@mannyfernandez1713]

Nerdfighter since 2013, man you guys are awesome and helped me go through some rough times, especially in the past 6 months

[@bsylent]

And you guys just brought back so many memories. I think you guys were part of the reason I started watching KZbin so much. I did love the community channel, and followed that lonely girl saga a bit

[@theawesomesaucelady9]

Forgot to add at the end of my nerdfighteria census - i really appreciated the livestreams that you guys did during the pandemic. It was incredibly nice to have something to hold on to

[@mossman15]

Yay census! I look forward to it every year and am always a little sad when i run out of questions. Love you guys xx

[@angelawesneski5029]

So excited for the Hank's channel census data review! I look forward to this every year!

[@jparkyyy]

Thank you guys for continually putting out such rich and engaging content that always makes us feel involved and question things about the topic. All of the Vlogbros vids bring me a sense of connection that I don't see as often on KZbin anymore. Happy holidays :)

[@chashahjohnson]

Why does the idea of the census make me cry so much? I've filled it out every year since 2015 and it's just such a unique thing that we have made such a big deal about. It's just -- we're a real community, and a lot of internet people say that but here it really means something.

[@juliam2222]

Every year(ish) the "where did you first hear about vlogbrothers" question gives me major nostalgia, because for me it was Charlie McDonnell! 😊 Good old times! 🖖

[@una_10bananas]

I found the channel through the acknowledgements in one of John's books but I realised at some point that I'd seen hank before that in AVByte's "Tumblr the Musical" video

[@silverandexact]

Same! Charlie was the first KZbinr I followed religiously

[@audreyofnuthatchhill]

Greetings from a WAY-BACK-THEN subscriber! I started watching your channel in 2007. Watching you interact and evolve over the years has been an absolute pleasure. Entertaining, inspiring, uplifting, and at times puzzling. Thanks for taking us along for the ride. I look forward to filling out the census again! A smattering of favorite early-days vlogs include Brookers, Michael Aranda, the 5AGs in their various forms, LisaNova, all of the Wizard Rock that came from that era, Wheezy, but most of all... Vlogbrothers! Since the get-go I have wanted to try vlogging, and after many (MANY) false starts I'm pleased / terrified to say that I'm doing Vlogmas! Whoa! So, thanks very much for being a motivating factor and contributing to my small amount of courage in doing so.

[@milowent]

glad to know us old watchers are still around!! i'm also honored to have been a witness to it. congrats on doing vlogmas best of luck!!

[@jessicawells-jamieson4490]

Thanks sooo much for your contributions and for your existence as well. I continue to love you both and appreciate your persistent presence.

[@sepp_gw]

I just wanna say, seeing the Nerdfighter salute from these two again was probably the highlight of my last couple of years.

[@sonjaya37]

Every year when the Nerdfighteria census comes out I am so very entertained by the extra silly questions that don’t seem like relevant data for your channel and I just want to know what you’re doing with that data! Honestly the nerdfighteria census data video is one of my favorite vlogbrothers videos of the year every year!

[@commanderodinstark3416]

i've been watching this channel on and off for almost 8 years now. But this is the first time I will be there for the census!

[@elizabethlarabie237]

I'm still reeling from my recent realization that I've been following you guys and your work for over 10 years. Thanks for everything you make and do!

[@slowdxncers]

idk if anyone has commented it yet but the text that flashes while they speak about hotkeys at 1:23 says "This text, for example, is only visible on one frame of this video, it would be extremely difficult to pause at the right moment to see it, but chances are if you're reading it, you know those good good hotkeys." (the hotkeys in question are , and . while the video is paused, if anyone was wondering!!)

[@miriamrosemary9110]

Wow! Did not expect the Nerdfightaria hand sign to make a cameo! That was a fun touch 😊

[@s.o.3753]

I’ve been watching vlogbrothers for well over a decade now and as far as I’m concerned, no reinvention needed (though I do enjoy Crash Course and SciShow and other side gigs). Thank you keeping at it and taking us along for the ride, it’s been wonderful to have you in our lives all these years ❤️