"What do you want to be when you grow up?"
It's a question that we visualize as a conversation in our heads as an adult asking children something innocent.
But, in reality, this is a question we're asking ourselves at every stage of our lives.
And most commonly, we want to become like those who we aspire to be.
(1) Sometimes, these are the biggest and most successful people we can think of. Back in the day, many people wanted to become Steve Jobs, or some other sort of visionary entrepreneur who would change the world in a grand and spectacular way.
(2) Other times, these are people that have personally inspired us the most. When I think of the musicians I look up to the most, it's because they said something profound or moving that made me understand life better.
(3) And yet others, they are simply those who are around us that we like a lot. For example, if we're lucky enough to have great parents, we may want to become more like them too.
In the past few years, and this year in particular, it's been interesting to witness a shift that's happening in who we want to become. I think this is particularly important to recognize and characterize, because the nature of YouTube as a platform – and the insanely scaled cultural influence that it has – will shift in certain directions because of it. It means a lot for understanding what it means to become a YouTuber that stands out in the next generation of YouTubers.
Spectacle Era
Spectacle era YouTube is characterized by big ideas, big concepts, and –most importantly – the aspiration to become big. It's a time where metrics such as click-through rate and audience retention became something to optimize for, with actual strategies developing around them. And it's the era of YouTube that myself – and likely you if you're reading this – tried to actively make YouTube channels, or at least do something in the space.
And although some people may see this as a period of time where content has become soulless – I actually disagree with that opinion. I also disagree with the use of terms like Mrbeastification.
I believe that there's a lot of fat in content that was trimmed, in the sense that videos actually had to become better in many senses. The bar was raised for every video, and audiences' attention spans continued to need higher and higher reward density in order for a video to be worth watching.
But, there's something important that I believe characterizes this era even more than the specific titles and thumbnails formats that we came to know very well.
The most important thing was: YouTubers had aspirations to be big YouTubers. Because YouTubers that became big were the ones who were regarded as the most successful and the most cool.
A Shift In Opinion
Everyone roots for the underdog that they can relate to.
But when someone becomes a huge creator, it is incredibly difficult to maintain that underdog status. People might stop seeing you as the inspirational figure who went from rags to riches. Instead, they just see you as another unattainably rich figure. And that's fine for celebrity figures, whose status is meant to feel ethereal to the common man.
But for YouTubers who fundamentally have a more "down-to-earth" connection with their viewers, this destroys the likability that you once had in the first place. Even if nothing in particular has changed, your authenticity is thrown into doubt inversely proportional to your scale.
There are a few things that accelerate this deterioration in relationship. Scandals or saying something cancellable. Selling products that are perceived as bad. Selling products at all where some viewers perceive that they are being taken advantage of in some way, even if they're not. Being able to shower something with large amounts of attention immediately means not only quick and high amplitudes of sales, but scaled scrutiny too. It's hard to move fast and break things – which is critically important for data and learning – when every move is a potential PR disaster.
As a result of all this negative attention, people no longer want to be like those creators. Satire is made, anti-fans pop up at scale, and public sentiment shifts.
But what YouTubers will become, will always follow who they respect. Which is why we are starting to enter...
Post Views Era
If the past was about getting as many views as possible, the future is about something else.
The cliché answer is that it's about authenticity. But I personally think that's a subset of something much more important.
At the very start of this mini-essay, I mentioned there are three things that we aspire to:
(1) To become big and successful
(2) To become like those who inspire us
(3) To become like those who we like a lot
However, I feel like the "becoming big and successful" aspiration of these three parts is becoming less important than (2) and (3). Of course, there's a lot of overlap.
But I think the major shift in YouTuber aspirations is the increasing desire to become like those who inspire us and carry positive sentiment, rather than those who are big and successful but with negative sentiment.
And those who inspire us are those who continue to be a relatable hero in the Hero's Journey.
I don't have all the answers, and this is a very rough essay I'm writing at 2:30am, so there's going to be many gaps. But this is a broad conceptualization of how I'm thinking about the future.
"Don't be cool, be warm."
There's a quote from Jacob Collier which I believe he got from Herbie Hancock. Now, I went to see Herbie Hancock in concert in person just last week. He's a legendary 85 year old jazz musician, responsible for pioneering a lot of synthesizers and innovations in modern jazz.
What struck me about him on stage was simply this:
His warmth of character spread to everybody. He de-emphasised himself being the "star" of the show, and instead, made it feel like everyone else was a star. He made the audience not feel dazzled, but welcomed like they were part of one big family.
I have a feeling that that's what YouTube will be shifting to in the next few years. Either that, or that the definition of "big/successful" will mean something way beyond views/subscribers. Or both of those.
Whatever it is, I'm sure it will be interesting, and I look forward to being there for this exciting ride with you.
