
In case you didnāt already know, Iām not a fan of TikTok, YouTube Shorts, or anything designed to encourage bigger reactions and smaller returns. Virality? Spare me.
Platforms big and small keep jockeying to prove theyāre the best at short-form, but none seem to know how to consistently make money off mostly brain-dead views.
TikTok has quickly become the front-runner of short-form video, putting a big target on ByteDance, its parent company, by both lawmakers and its competitors.
While ByteDanceās co-founder is (allegedly) Chinaās wealthiest individual, TikTok as a platform, despite all its hype, has never made a profit. At least if you believe headlines.
As TikTokās competitorsāincluding YouTube, Meta, and othersāchase the supposed gold mine of dwindling attention spans, theyāre discovering that millions of quick swipes donāt exactly translate into steady revenue.
Turns out some peopleās attention spans may be short, but the road to profits is long.
One of the reasons I stopped making short-form videos (again, for the 100th time) is that itās not worth the risk of burnout. And, for me, the numbers just donāt add up.
While my channel is āsmallā compared to many, my most popular video on YouTube Shorts got 25.8K views and attracted 122 new subscribers to the channel. Sounds greatā¦until you realize I can barely afford the cheapest cup of coffee at Starbucks with its Google AdSense revenue to date. Good thing I donāt drink coffee, right?
Whatās worse is those new subscribers are mostly interested in watching more Shorts, not my long-form videos. So they actually hurt the channel overall.
For most creatorsābig and smallāYouTube Shorts donāt make dollars or sense. And some YouTube executives realize Shorts will ultimately cannibalize the platform.
Why does it matter? If you watch videos online, this āinside baseballā is intended to explain what youāre likely already seeing: As YouTube focuses more on Shorts and less on long-form videos, more (and more) creators are turning to subscribers for support (via platforms like Substack and Ko-Fi).
Personally, I love what I do, but the reality is I also need to make a living, and YouTube Shorts just doesnāt cut it. So, a huge thank you to all my patronsāpast, present, and futureāfor supporting and sharing my work. You make a real difference in my life.
I like to makeāand watchācontent thatās more than just a āsnackā but not quite a āmeal.ā Usually between ten and thirty minutes long. Perfect to watch on a break.
For me, itās important audiences have enough time to enjoy and digest the images and stories I create and/or curate.
Long-form content doesnāt chase quick swipes or views. But it does encourage more community and humanity. So thatās where Iāll be focusing my attention and energy.
Thanks for readingā¦and watching!
Clint
P.S. For those who feel āsadā when watching ānostalgicā videos, a few words I wish I wrote by Ethanās TV Junk Yard:
NEWS + VIEWS
Did TikTok Ruin YouTube? (Zackary Smigel) šŗ
YouTube Shorts are getting less short (The Verge)
TikTok meets Bluesky on a new app called Loops (Tubefilter)
TikTok US Ban: Hereās Why Time Is Running Out! (The Music Essentials)
ON THIS DAY = OCTOBER
BIRTHDAYS
1892 = Charles Atlas = Italian-American bodybuilder
1896 = Ruth Gordon = American actor and screenwriter
1932 = Louis Malle = French filmmaker
1939 = Grace Slick = American singer-songwriter
1945 = Henry Winkler = American actor and producer
1951 = Harry Hamlin = American actor
1954 = Mario Testino = Peruvian-English photographer
1965 = Gavin Rossdale = English singer-songwriter
1968 = Jack Plotnick = American actor and filmmaker
1978 = Matthew Morrison = American actor and singer-songwriter
CELEBRATIONS
EVENTS
1873 = P.T. Barnum's āGreatest Show on Earthā debuts in NYC.
1921 = The Sheik, starring Rudolph Valentino, premieres in Los Angeles.
1938 = Orson Welles broadcasts The War of the Worlds on CBS Radio.
1945 = Jackie Robinson of the Kansas City Monarchs signs a contract for the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking the baseball color line.
1968 = Silent film star Ramon Novarro, is murdered on October 30, 1968, by brothers Paul and Tom Ferguson, aged 22 and 17, who called him and offered their sexual services. In the past, he had hired prostitutes from an agency to come to his Laurel Canyon home for sex, and the Fergusons obtained Novarro's telephone number from a previous guest.
1974 = The Texas Chain Saw Massacre premiers in Los Angeles.
1974 = The Cycle Slutsā14 men in lingerie, makeup, beehives, beards, mustaches, and leather jacketsāpremiere in Los Angeles.
2002 = Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC is shot and killed in his recording studio.
2003 = Wicked, starring Idina Menzel as Elphaba and Kristin Chenoweth, premieres on Broadway.
2012 = The Walt Disney Company announced a deal to purchase Lucasfilm, including the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises, for $4.05 billion.
2017 = A federal judge blocks Trump's ban on transgender people in the military.
PHOTO + QUOTE OF THE DAY
āStep by step and the thing is done.ā
Charles Atlas
NEW + FEATURED
Thirst Traps #1 (NSFW)
Once More With Feeling (NSFW)
MORE FROM COLLIDE PRESS
Bluesky + Ko-Fi + Linktree + Shop
+ Storefront + Threadless + YouTube
A number of YT-ers are also on Patreon. Most cover the Russian invasion so are more news oriented. I don't know about their other policies. Although one put up a pic of an old fashioned gang shower with obvious full frontal. It's still up there.