Brother, I cannot tell you how grateful I am for this post. I also had a hiatus on my channel and my videos have been performing like absolute dog shit. It doesn't feel worth it anymore but I keep going cause I love the craft.
1 week ago | 21
The algorithm feeds on comments. So people should comment, even if they have nothing to say.
1 week ago | 2
PLEASE try to pace yourself. We never expect you to push yourself so hard, we're just grateful when you upload 🙏
1 week ago | 2
I'm a new subscribers, YouTube popped your videos up in my suggested videos.
1 week ago | 6
I have no idea if this would help but maybe shorts in-between your more time consuming videos. It could be clips from your existing video, formatted in whatever the shorts algo loves.
1 week ago | 1
This is a very unfortunate pattern with YouTube 😒 when people need some time off and return with improvements they’re met with half the views. I’d suggest setting a regular schedule and then banking a couple of vids that are less time sensitive and can be subbed in when you need a break and put yourself first and then you can keep your schedule. YouTube rewards regularity even if it’s only once a month more than 3 vids one month and one the next. I noticed Paleo Analysis had this problem as he’s taken a lot of time off but seems to have managed to get the views back the last couple vids. Maybe put a post up a few hours before your vid goes live. Pretty sure I see the following vid of people who do this more often than others and gives a change for people to engage which might make the algorithm happy. Another option is what Stefan Milo sometimes does when he’ll just throw out a 5min vid speculating on something in between his main content. I know they don’t add much revenue wise but maybe add more shorts just to drive visibility and engagement, you already have the material, so might me worth the extra effort. North 02 does a lot of shorts with a “check out the full video out now, link in the description” All this aside, put yourself first
1 week ago (edited) | 7
What if we copyright strike the youtube channel like the official youtube channel. But srs we ain't insta we actually care about your youtubers mental health myb not all of us but like 99,999% of us.
1 week ago | 3
I regularly scroll through my subscriptions to see what’s new. I have been getting notifications of your polls.
1 week ago | 4
Your videos are great! You're, in my opinion, on par in quality with many other channels that focus on extinct life and animal evolution. I've used them as references in the past to show my friends how some really fascinating animals came about. I don't know if this is helpful to your current struggles, but if you have some way for us to support you financially (patreon, etc), I absolutely would kick you a few bucks a month. I genuinely hope you keep making evolutionary biology content regardless of frequency. You're really good at it.
1 week ago | 2
Take the time you need because that means you can rest and put out great content like you yave been doing. I'll be there to watch them 🫡
1 week ago | 0
Please take some time for yourself. If you need any help taking some of the load off let me know. Im a decent writer haha
1 week ago | 2
Do the every other week. Take care of yourself and burning out is only going to make things harder. Every other week is fine and the algorithm changes over time and it might value you again in the future. I still look forward to your videos regardless.
1 week ago | 0
Animal Origins
I'm gonna try and make this the only post of this type I have on this channel (long wall of text incoming):
These last couple of months have been incredibly exhausting. You might have noticed, but I've been accelerating the rate of uploads, and doing so has really begun to take a toll on me lol.
It's not as if I don't enjoy the process; I'm more passionate about what I do here than I've ever been. Additionally, my recent work has granted me some incredible opportunities, such as being able to communicate with the guys working on Prehistoric Planet.
But it feels, more and more these days, that the work I put in is doing very little to mitigate the effects that my hiatus has had on the state of this channel. Clearly, this is something I take responsibility for. Things have occurred in my life, such as moving, work, etc. but ultimately it was never impossible to at least stay semi-consistent.
That said, I'd be lying if I told you all I wasn't at least a little resentful for the way YouTube's algorithm smothers inactive channels. It's incredibly disheartening to read messages along the lines of "I'm subbed to you but YouTube isn't giving me notifications for your uploads." The idea that my work won't even reach so many of my own subscribers is a tough pill to swallow.
Among the videos I've put out in this roughly two month period, there were three I worked incredibly hard on. Two of them took me to my physical and mental limits, and the third I only managed to have an easier time with since 1) I thankfully had the Prehistoric Planet trailer to use as a stopgap video and 2) I had gained experience from editing those prior two videos and wasn't such a noob at premiere anymore :)
Unfortunately, those videos just didn't perform all that well. Let me be clear: that has nothing to do with any of you guys, that problem lies squarely with me and if I really wanna cope, with the YouTube algorithm. Still, it's not a great feeling to have poured tens of hours into a project just for your older videos---which I find even more amateurish than what I produce now---to eclipse them to such a comical degree.
I've thought about my path moving forward with this channel. Number 1, I can put out videos at the rate I currently do at the quality I do. This is what I plan on doing, though it has become increasingly exhausting the higher my ambitions become and the more in-depth I want to make them. Number 2, I can put them out at the same rate but at a lower quality; this obviously is out of the question.
But the third option is something I've given a lot of thought to recently, and that's doing videos on a two week schedule. I don't find the idea horrible, but I genuinely fear my channel will go on life support and fade out even more than it already has if I do something like this.
This is a problem that I have to face on my own ultimately. At the end of the day, I'll just conclude by saying how much I appreciate all of my older viewers who've stayed with me during these times, as well as the new viewers I've gained over the past two months.
Also really trying to get a new upload by Sunday---worst case Monday.
1 week ago | [YT] | 560