Shorts
I have received a few messages in reaction to the 'shorts' I posted recently, and think that perhaps it might be wise for me to explain myself more fully.
The 'shorts' are those videos which by YouTube decree must be under one minute long and formatted no wider than they are tall. This is part of YouTube's attempt to compete more directly with the Chinese company TikTok.
Why can they not be wider than they are tall? Apparently, most mobile telephone users are too stupid, lazy, or unfit to turn their telephones ninety degrees.
Why am I making 'shorts' now? Well, because YouTube is my living, and it has held a gun to the head of all channels of around my size. Since YouTube is the only 'platform' that can offer people like me a living this way, it can get away with doing whatever it wants. So, it has been made clear to people in my position that we now either make shorts or get forgotten by The Algorithm. Also, I have to make ten million views in ninety days or I get paid nothing.
I announced the shorts here, because I thought that people here would be interested. I know that it isn't what you signed up for, though. I will still make long-form content. I will never charge for shorts made from material you may have seen before. So far, I have charged for only one of the shorts, and that was in a month when I uploaded six of them and no long content. I hope that this does not seem too wrong. In the future, I intend to publish long-form content every month and not to charge for shorts.
I have been trying to get an editor to help me make more videos. So far, no luck. Working remotely with editors has so far proven fruitless. I need someone to come in and work next to me in the editing room. Then, I hope, I will be able to start catching up on all the backlog of footage extending all the way to 2011!
Many thanks for all your support.
No, I have not charged you for this text post. Patreon has a button which enables me to do that, but I wouldn't. I wish it displayed my posts to you in a way that made it clear whether or not they are free or charged-for.
Comments (13)
YouTube is trying to force shorts on everyone. But don't be deceived... we still love and want your long-form lectures about all sorts of historical topics! Always very interesting to learn. Pick any history topic, ramble about it to the camera for a while, and we'll be there eagerly listening!
What a lot of creators do is to take clips (people giving hot takes on podcasts is a common example) from existing long videos and make them into shorts. Maybe try taking some of the interesting asides you do when talking about a subject and use them for shorts. Could help reduce the amount of extra creative effort you have to go to to appease the algorithm gods.
I have my subscription maxed at 1 video a month. No matter what, 1$ beats video ads print on Youtube and you don't do anything exclusive here. I'd be angry if I would have to pay a patreon fee for a short like the March 30th one. after they seems to have been free content. That's ok.
Keep up the good work
I don't like that YT tries to force creators to be creative. I patronize quite a few creators because I enjoy their content. I treat it like a voluntary subscription cost. This is with the hope that my small contribution can (at least a little) help creators keep their independence from the YT overlord.
Hmmm not sure I will come across as I intend to but here are some thoughts propelled by a few judicious glasses of wine: 1) F*ck YT and their short(hah)sighted impetus on pushing these "shorts" on creators and audience alike, I don't like them and have been avoiding them so far, out of spite mostly. F*ck this whole system that demands ever-increasing, ever-spiraling returns on investment to the detriment of everything else. 2) Ahem I support you here on Patreon since it seems like a (temporary) retrieve from that capitalist spiral of ROI fulfillment. I like what you do, and say, and care to show us (what YT and other rent-seekers call "content" as if it was a kind of bland sausage to be extruded by their unfeeling machine), and I am glad to simply say "yes, more please, Lloyd", and throw you a monthly obol. Because you are a person(a) I like to hear from, not always agree with, but still. I would hope one day your supporters would make you independent of platforms like YT. 3) Patronage indeed. My money and humble opinion says "screw YT", get enough Patr(e)ons, and switch video delivery platforms as needed. Video hosting is not as expensive as it once was, I suppose, maybe it's not to late to go back to the old days and just host "content" yourself? Well I can't pretend to be in your caliguala - you do you, thank you for all those hours of enjoyment, for me, it was worth it. Err I mean to say: TL;DR: Please do go on doing what you like: I'll support you here nevermind YT's shenanigans - for me, nevermind what has been "paid for" and what has not, I don't care, that is a demeaning distinction. I support you as long as I support you, period.
I believe it does display if a post has been paid for. The videos and the one short will say "Paid for by patrons" under the thumbnail on the top right near the title of the post.
Ain't much you can do about the issue, and the shorts have been better than what other creators tend to do, so really not an issue. I'm not here to dictate what you should do anyway, merely to support you in doing what you want (and at times have to) do. =)
All fair, and I get you need to do the shorts for the algorithm. Whatever the collective noun for Lindybeige fans is (Lindites?) we love what you do and will continue to support you
‘Lindybeigers’? ‘Beigers’?
Can you setup the Patreon so that people can choose whether to subscribe to shorts or not? I loathe them but possibly there are other-minded people out there...
Yeah. That's fair. Go Lindy.
All very fair, and I've enjoyed the shorts that you've made. Thanks for all you do!