What the heck is going on...
This weekend has been crazy....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oPsqmF8-VI
As some of you may know, the long-awaited video edited by my friend Nate has dropped! The results have been VERY surprising...
Within 24 hours, this video had 50k views, which smashed the day one record of all my past videos. And it has continued to grow! over the weekend it became my second most-viewed video of all time. (keep in mind this current graph is showing Youtube's NEW view counts, which are kinda artificially inflated, I would say the actual number of view is about 120k) The views have also gotten me a ton of new subscribers! But for some reason, I don't feel very happy about it...
As someone who plays, makes, and studies cozy games, I made this video as a guide for other cozy game lovers. But I think the word "cozy" is signaling the Youtube algorithm to push this to a different audience. I'm still thankfully getting folks who are excited to see the video and interested in discussing the topic, but a large number of comments were noticeably more contentious than anything I'd previously encountered. On the one hand, I would get commenters asking me to be meaner, to talk about some new drama, to call out x developer for a perceived transgression, which if they were familiar with my past work they would know I have no interest in doing. On the other hand there were viewers trying to start an argument with me, writing huge essay-length posts questioning my expertise or trying to come up with counter-examples to every point I make in the video. I have people disagree with me all the time, but on this particular video, there's name calling, there's insults, it's vitriolic on a level that surprised and unsettled me. You may have noticed on my past videos I make an effort to respond to as many people as possible, I want everyone to feel welcome and excited about the topics I'm discussing...but this is the first time I just stopped reading comments altogether for my own sanity.
I'm not upset, but I definitely feel a little thrown off. I think I'm just processing the unusual nature of this video, how this topic in particular seems to really be touching a sore spot that I cannot see in the audience, or doing something unusual in the algorithm. And also processing the irony of how looking at the numbers, one might think this video was a success--but in fact, I'm going to be very careful from now on not to repeat it.
Anyway, hope to see you a few of you on the next Mon-Wed streams! I'll be working on Fairy of the Farmer's Market and maybe playing a little dressmaker here and there. Thanks for your continued support! here's your sign-off joke:
Q: What kind of pumpkin is best for summoning ghosts?
A: A Ouija Gourd 🎃🎃🎃
Comments (12)
Oh no! I was excited to see how well the video was doing and how valuable the info was, but it’s an important thing to learn when the algorithm pushes videos too far… I call it “escaping confinement”, and it’s normally in fandom spaces where extremely niche topic xyz makes it to mainstream and is immediately ridiculed or misunderstood 😔 Sorry to hear this happened with the video. I think I even left a comment about how as a resident lover of Tales of the Shire I can recognize it as an objectively “bad” game and it’s a great example for the video, but I can see how many people would sadly take any of the topics as a chance to argue instead of recognize the nuance behind the topic…
i'm sorry that's happening! it's really shit when people act like that. i think it could also have something to do with the phrase "media literacy". people tend to get a bit aggro when that phrase is involved and most people do not know what it means -- even though you explain very clearly what it means in your video. people don't like being corrected and they don't like feeling stupid, so they would rather lash out at someone for a perceived slight than take accountability for their own biases. that's just my armchair read anyway. i hope the reaction to your future videos is more chill!!
Oof. Sad to hear that also the cosy games community has a lot of non-cosy stuff going on 😔 Wishing you all the views and none of the vitriol 🤗
Terry, your sterling character continues to shine through! 👏👏👏 I commented on another creator's video recently when he said he just "does not want to be rage-filled," and it was SO refreshing to hear that in a digital space known for mass-producing polarized audiences. I would encourage you to savor the success of a really fantastic video, and kudos to Nate and you for being so great at your jobs that people are noticing! 🥳 Here's to your viewers/subscribers hopefully behaving themselves a bit more and being respectful at the very least! 🫶
Hopefully there are some good eggs in the bunch! It sucks that the video broke containment in a weird way though, rooting for things to settle in a more positive state cause I loved it <3
That sucks, I really liked that video and definitely shared it around because I thought the advice was really solid. For more than just cozy games.
The video was great, I’m sorry this is happening. I swore it had a different title to start - did you change it? Has it helped curb some of the more contentious commenters?
I always do AB testing with titles and thumbnails, I make 3 different titles and thumbnails, and in the beginning, youtube will test them with audiences and pick the one that gets the most clicks, and that becomes the "official" one. But they were all some variant of "this is a guide to avoid cozy game scams"
Hope you’re doing alright. :( Internet strangers can be so cruel. Just know you’re doing great work and are a beacon of positivity in the dark!
The advice you gave was really solid, it works for more than just cozy games too! Sorry the video breached containment, but I hope you continue to acquire more of the usual chill audience that feels like community.
Yes you are doing a great job.
This is so interesting! Thank you for sharing your feelings on it, posting on the internet is weird and the idea of trying to continue cultivating your community is very real. The video was a banger and super informative! And as someone who wants to sell a game one day it made me think critically about what I want to show my potential customers and how my game should be ultra focused on it's reason for existing!