I read a quote from a retired YouTuber that said 'stop optimizing for the algorithm and start optimizing for your actual viewers' and it hit me hard.

I was scrolling through an old interview with a guy who had 2 million subs and quit because he was burned out. He said most creators focus on what the algorithm wants - short videos, trending sounds, clickbait titles - but forget that real people are watching. I've been doing this for about 4 years now and I caught myself spending more time looking at analytics than reading comments. Last week I changed my approach and posted a 12 minute video about a topic I cared about, no fluff. My views dropped at first but the comments were actual conversations, not just 'nice vid'. Has anyone else tried ignoring the algorithm and felt a difference?

3 comments

3 Comments

karen_west591mo ago

stop optimizing for the algorithm and start optimizing for your actual viewers" - that line hit me too. I did the same thing about a year ago. I was doing these 3 minute reaction videos that were getting tons of views but the comments were all just "first" or emojis. So I tried something different. I made a 15 minute deep dive into why a certain old game failed, no clickbait title, just a boring looking thumbnail. First week it got like 200 views which hurt my soul. But then it slowly picked up over two months and now it's my most watched video. The comments are people actually discussing the game, sharing their own stories. My smaller videos now have way more engagement even if less views. It feels slower but way more satisfying.

keith_rodriguez2mo ago

dude this hit me hard too, i went through the same thing last month.

gracewebb2mo ago

dude this hit me hard too" - yeah I get that feeling but I gotta say something. It didn't happen the exact same way for me. My situation was different, I saw it coming for weeks before it actually happened. You might be remembering details wrong, @keith_rodriguez. Not trying to be a jerk here but I think a lot of people look back at rough times and think they were the same when they really weren't. The timing mattered a lot for me and it sounds like yours was more sudden. Just wanted to put that out there because it changes how you deal with it after.