Yeah currently short form content exists to farm views and subscribers that are ultimately meaningless because of the volume of other shorts that subscriber is watching
TH-cam shorts is a cess pool of andrew tate style “masculinity” posts, random podcasts with subway surfer underneath, and clear bait. Mad how this whole service is available but no ones really capitalised on it
I feel like these come in waves. First it's Jordan Peterson clips, then it's motivational quotes, then religious zealots telling me to repent, then places that don't feel real, then powerwashing, then mowing lawns... It's like Joe said, people do whatever is trendy right now.
I discovered a parallel working in product management for the first time at my last job. In _project_ management, there's a few popular methodologies, but everyone is into Agile/Scrum right now. What that basically means is, get stuff out fast, fix stuff fast, add new features fast, etc. When done well, it results in quick, iterative innovations and actual testing of new ideas. When it's done poorly, people just try to cut every corner imaginable to meet impossible deadlines. I see the value, but I hated feeling like I never had the time to do things 'right.' This seems to be the case with shorts, as well. Some people are doing it really well, but there's a whole mess of low effort, creatively-exhausted content out there that doesn't have any particular direction because they're so focused on the next release that they don't have time to plan. It gets quick results, and it's relatively low-risk for your time investment, because it kinda works. However, there's little artistic satisfaction in that. Skill and mastery gets thrown out the window in favor of speed, and that doesn't feel good when you don't have the time to get creatively invested in something. Now, I think this trend will have pushback over the next several years, but I hate to see how many great creative minds get burned out in the meantime because they're being so heavily incentivized to produce quick, unfulfilling content.
really like the point about short-form content currently rewarding pump-and-dumps. Otherwise, I do think some of the problems with shorts just come from it still being a very accessible new toy which so many people think they can use to blow up - same as a lot of other new tech. There are people making shorts with a more deliberate creative approach, but right now a lot of them get drowned out by the number of people just making content and chasing trends to try to break out. Once the format gets older or there's another format for growth that takes off, I think those shorts creators will shine a lot more
One thing that keeps me away from shorts is how much borderline visually NSFW content ends up hovering in that feed, and finding the one good short doesn't immediately change the recommendation engine. It's zero substance and lowest common denominator. I do agree with the concept that TH-cam as a platform could do a much better job of saying 'this short comes from this bigger content piece' as I am seeing some shorts creator use it to point views to older parts of their catalog, where they design a short and then pin a comment to the 'real video' that's 2 years old or whatever for the full story. I think if anything that's the only flavour of shorts I've actually liked where they point to something +1 year old that I might not otherwise go look to see.
For purpose of interaction put subtitles later in the short that are intentionally incorrect. Like if you said "satisfaction" intentionally write "sexualisation" honestly it works so hard
The only short form content that has left an impression on me is Zöe Bread’s content mostly because she is able to convey a complete story within the video. However, I still enjoy her long form vlogs (they’re usually 1+ hour long) on youtube more, which I think definitely proves your point of short content acting more as advertisement for longer content
My faviourite use for shorts is a lot of my content (not this channel lol) is heavily scripted, and putting any bloopers or fuck ups and the end would throw off the whole vibe, although I do genuinely want to share the funny moments. Hence, make them a short. Especially if you release the short a few hours earlier than the actual video, views can start guessing what you were actually doing
I’ve given watching shorts a go. The only ones I cared about were snippets of interviews with George Lucas and OT actors which had some pretty interesting trivia in them. But man the hardcoded subtitles are hell.
Shorts have become a cheap way out, for a lot of creators - pump out mass amounts of 10 second clips that can all be caught by the algorithm. It is a shame that Shorts has two sides of the spectrum - the videos with so much talent and effort put into them, and the Shorts that, like you said, are trends that get rehashed a billion times. But hey, the joys of evolving social media, what we enjoyed as teenagers is no longer what is enjoyed by the teenagers of today. Adapt, and overcome. But a fantastic analysis on the world of Shorts. We should feel honoured you sacrificed what was left of your sanity to explain Shorts to us.
I absolutely hate subtitles, especially when the audio track is just the song of the week repeated over and over and over. I also hate terrible text to speech. If you don't want or can't listen to the sound the app and website already support subtitles. You can turn those on if you want. Are people honestly that incompetent or lazy that pressing the CC button is too much?
Shorts could have worked as advertisments for other content on the platform. If you could browse shorts and see the streamer ads the main yogscast channel on twitch (used to?) play during breaks, it could work to draw people into other content from that creator. PFlax yelling about his hatred of Salsa would probably get me to watch more of his stuff, without a fair amount of creative freedom in how you create the trailer. It's a shame the ecosystem is already so poisoned with clickbaity crap it's basically unsalvageable. The kindest thing to do is just take it out behind the shed and pull the trigger.
Yeah currently short form content exists to farm views and subscribers that are ultimately meaningless because of the volume of other shorts that subscriber is watching
But bigger number better person. Right?
@@JoeHickson I do have a really big epeen so I must be more important
Made a mistake not posting this as 10 TH-cam Shorts
I cry
TH-cam shorts is a cess pool of andrew tate style “masculinity” posts, random podcasts with subway surfer underneath, and clear bait. Mad how this whole service is available but no ones really capitalised on it
I feel like these come in waves. First it's Jordan Peterson clips, then it's motivational quotes, then religious zealots telling me to repent, then places that don't feel real, then powerwashing, then mowing lawns...
It's like Joe said, people do whatever is trendy right now.
That transition at 1:11 though 😲
For real
I'm with you, Joe. My god.
I discovered a parallel working in product management for the first time at my last job. In _project_ management, there's a few popular methodologies, but everyone is into Agile/Scrum right now. What that basically means is, get stuff out fast, fix stuff fast, add new features fast, etc. When done well, it results in quick, iterative innovations and actual testing of new ideas. When it's done poorly, people just try to cut every corner imaginable to meet impossible deadlines. I see the value, but I hated feeling like I never had the time to do things 'right.' This seems to be the case with shorts, as well. Some people are doing it really well, but there's a whole mess of low effort, creatively-exhausted content out there that doesn't have any particular direction because they're so focused on the next release that they don't have time to plan. It gets quick results, and it's relatively low-risk for your time investment, because it kinda works. However, there's little artistic satisfaction in that. Skill and mastery gets thrown out the window in favor of speed, and that doesn't feel good when you don't have the time to get creatively invested in something.
Now, I think this trend will have pushback over the next several years, but I hate to see how many great creative minds get burned out in the meantime because they're being so heavily incentivized to produce quick, unfulfilling content.
It feels like every industry is under the same strains speed over quality 😢
really like the point about short-form content currently rewarding pump-and-dumps. Otherwise, I do think some of the problems with shorts just come from it still being a very accessible new toy which so many people think they can use to blow up - same as a lot of other new tech. There are people making shorts with a more deliberate creative approach, but right now a lot of them get drowned out by the number of people just making content and chasing trends to try to break out. Once the format gets older or there's another format for growth that takes off, I think those shorts creators will shine a lot more
This is actually an interesting perspective!
One thing that keeps me away from shorts is how much borderline visually NSFW content ends up hovering in that feed, and finding the one good short doesn't immediately change the recommendation engine. It's zero substance and lowest common denominator. I do agree with the concept that TH-cam as a platform could do a much better job of saying 'this short comes from this bigger content piece' as I am seeing some shorts creator use it to point views to older parts of their catalog, where they design a short and then pin a comment to the 'real video' that's 2 years old or whatever for the full story. I think if anything that's the only flavour of shorts I've actually liked where they point to something +1 year old that I might not otherwise go look to see.
For purpose of interaction put subtitles later in the short that are intentionally incorrect.
Like if you said "satisfaction" intentionally write "sexualisation" honestly it works so hard
The only short form content that has left an impression on me is Zöe Bread’s content mostly because she is able to convey a complete story within the video. However, I still enjoy her long form vlogs (they’re usually 1+ hour long) on youtube more, which I think definitely proves your point of short content acting more as advertisement for longer content
I can watch a 2hr video essay as long as its horizontal, but if a vertical tiktok is 3minutes I start going INSANE
My faviourite use for shorts is a lot of my content (not this channel lol) is heavily scripted, and putting any bloopers or fuck ups and the end would throw off the whole vibe, although I do genuinely want to share the funny moments. Hence, make them a short. Especially if you release the short a few hours earlier than the actual video, views can start guessing what you were actually doing
Suuuuuper interesting and useful. Thanks for all your research & thoughts Joe!
Glad to know there's cutting edge research going on. Good stuff as always Joe, I look forward to part 2
Part 2 is no joke the next video coming out..
This content is gold. I just love your vids and I'm not even a video creator!
Thanks :))
I’ve given watching shorts a go. The only ones I cared about were snippets of interviews with George Lucas and OT actors which had some pretty interesting trivia in them. But man the hardcoded subtitles are hell.
Shorts have become a cheap way out, for a lot of creators - pump out mass amounts of 10 second clips that can all be caught by the algorithm. It is a shame that Shorts has two sides of the spectrum - the videos with so much talent and effort put into them, and the Shorts that, like you said, are trends that get rehashed a billion times. But hey, the joys of evolving social media, what we enjoyed as teenagers is no longer what is enjoyed by the teenagers of today. Adapt, and overcome.
But a fantastic analysis on the world of Shorts. We should feel honoured you sacrificed what was left of your sanity to explain Shorts to us.
Transition into the pod clip was cleannnnn
How dare you assume I’m not an idiot??? I find that very presumptuous and stuff
Brilliant insight, thanks Joe
You are most welcome:))
This was amazing actually made me think
FYI one of the Rare videos I'm interested in exploring the coments section
I like this
ty 4 ur sciencing
Unrelated, but i love the aspect ratio of these videos, cause they use more of my screen.
most phones are 2:1 at this point and thats why I do it haha :)
So, conceptually, effectively trailers for podcasts and other videos?
Kinda. But a trailer that has a full narrative, not just a hook
I absolutely hate subtitles, especially when the audio track is just the song of the week repeated over and over and over. I also hate terrible text to speech. If you don't want or can't listen to the sound the app and website already support subtitles. You can turn those on if you want. Are people honestly that incompetent or lazy that pressing the CC button is too much?
Shorts could have worked as advertisments for other content on the platform. If you could browse shorts and see the streamer ads the main yogscast channel on twitch (used to?) play during breaks, it could work to draw people into other content from that creator. PFlax yelling about his hatred of Salsa would probably get me to watch more of his stuff, without a fair amount of creative freedom in how you create the trailer.
It's a shame the ecosystem is already so poisoned with clickbaity crap it's basically unsalvageable. The kindest thing to do is just take it out behind the shed and pull the trigger.
First
actually I was.
@@JoeHickson ooooop