Something I wish Fishtube would do...

[nabokovfan87]

I was watching a random video, "2 tips that will...." basically always make sure you succeed in the hobby. The video was fine, the content was fine, but my entire takeaway from the video was that it was pretty new (just a few years old) and all I kept hearing from the speaker was the statement....

"We've got a video on that"

"We've done tons of videos on this topic"

"Go check out some of our old videos on this"

To be quite blunt and clear, YouTube as a tool makes it seriously difficult to watch older videos. Having things in a playlist actually feeds the algorithm to make it easier to recommend an older video. If you watch a video from a playlist, it is very common for YouTube to recommend that series.

However, if I want to watch an "older" video I have to load up the app, go to the channel, find the list of videos, and continuously load and scroll to the bottom. If I'm on the TV, then I have to scroll to the right for a very long time while it goes back in time. When I want to watch the next in the series, every single thing is manual. I have to go back to the feed, find the next one,  one by one. I don't know why YouTube can't have a button to just start from the beginning or to pay attention to keywords in titles like "Part 1" and search for the exact same title "part 2" as the recommendation. It might, but not always.  As a general rule I think it's been built into search tools for a while now to replace older links with anything newer that is "related".

As a creator, it's perfectly fine to feel like you have a video for everything, but as a viewer it's difficult to manually access that content on most devices. But, there is more going  on when a viewer asks for content to be remade.  It's actually strange when I see some of the responses to requests for content.

"Please make a video about...."

"Yes, I have one."

At this point the viewer is thinking to themself about that old video, how much the content helped them and how amazing and wonderful it was, but it's in 480p with poor sound and there's glare and all sorts of issues. Sometimes it would just be helpful to reference the old stuff, link to it, but try to bring back some of it and share those lessons again.  Maybe the advice has changed or maybe you have further details to add to that topic that you didn't before. Maybe you're better now than previously at editing your verbiage and saying things in such a way that it's easier to understand. 

In philosophy there is entire schools of thought about how our experiences, history, and the journey of life shapes us for the very moment we are in now.  Maybe that is the best way to view content on YouTube. It's a snapshot at a very specific moment in time and things adapt over time. 

I wish sometimes the creator would just appreciate it understand that the new fan they have wants to see more content, wants to experience new content and ask questions, has a passion for learning, and is sincerely asking for certain topic (or specific content) to be revisited.

Another thing that makes it easier, puts things in the right order as well, is to just have a playlist where it has old videos. Then you can manually set the order.  I understand that not every old video is worth the effort, but if you're trying to boost the views of old content it's a method to get exposure and make it easier on the user to access that content.  I can't imagine it wouldn't help viewership and watch time. Just a list of 20, 50, 100, etc. Old videos from when the channel first started.

[PineSong]

I share that frustration about searching the back catalog of videos for channels who have been posting videos multiple times per week for several years--it's a journey with remote in hand, searching for that lost part 2.

Not limited to fishtube, either. Yesterday I was watching an older vid by a favorite creator in another hobby and it sounded like she was recording herself from under a table in the next room. The content was super valuable, but I wanted to beg her to remake the video with the equipment and skill she has now.

 

[JChristophersAdventures]

@nabokovfan87 @PineSong All great points and all too true! There are some genres on YT which routinely update their videos every year... best (you fill in the blank) for 2021... 2022... 2023 and so on. I don't know why the aquatic YT creators are not more on board with that... it would make sense for them to do so, as videos rank better and are more easily found in search that way. Yes, I know that the care guide or profile for a certain fish is not likely to change much from one year to the next, but as pointed out, sometimes the production values and skill of the presenter can improve a lot in just a year.

In all fairness to the content creators, however, the blame lies mainly with YT. Not every video with the same amount of views generates the same amount of revenue... even if the channels are roughly the same age and have the same number of subscribers. YT doesn't pay fish channels very well in comparison to the power categories. Also being a creator is frustrating because helpful tools, available on small pay-as-you-go platforms, don't even exist on YT... what tools do exist aren't up-to-date or very well executed.

So it isn't just about money. It is also about having what you need to run a smooth, time-efficient, cost effective channel. Creators can't even see whose subscribed to them any more (private subscriptions)... you can't sort who you are subscribed to or who is subscribed to you... no way to make sure the newbies to your channel get what they need and keep your long time experienced subscribers interested and on board at the same time. YT is really big... but, really big isn't really very good.

Sorry about the rant. Thanks.

[nabokovfan87]

To add....
 

This is a perfect way to use old content.  This format is wonderful and as someone trying to enjoy/learn details in content, this is a great way to "react" and add commentary and more context.  This is how I would hope fishtube takes a bit more of an approach at trying to add more detail to videos.

[JChristophersAdventures]

@nabokovfan87 Yes! That was a fun video to watch! And, well done (re-done). Perhaps the best part was that I happen to really, really like that aqua-scape. Thanks.

Edited July 28, 2023 by JChristophersAdventures

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/28/2023 at 6:05 PM, Pepere said:

Am I correct in my guess?

Yeah. There's fishfam / fishtube, just shorthand for YouTube aquarium content creators.

[JChristophersAdventures]

Yes, it is kind of funny to refer to all aquarium content creators in a single term knowing there is a huge divide between salt and freshwater keepers, and even another division in the freshwater "community" between what I'll call the "natural" keepers and the "techno" keepers for lack of a better description! lol Don't ask me where that line-in-the-sand is... I think its all pretty silly. Unfortunately, in the scramble for "content" and "followers" the "FishTubers" seem all too willing to have some controversy over it (not naming any names or blaming any blames, of course! haha).

[nabokovfan87]

Well.... Adams answer is pretty spot on.

 

[RennjiDK]

I've pretty much given up on fishtubers for non-entertainment purposes. There is simply too much misinformation being spread, followed up with pseudoscience experiments, and the vast majority are guilty of it. I still keep one or two channels specifically for in depth species profiles and husbandry, but other than that, if were aren't roasting tanks on tiktok or scaping ADA level tanks, I'm out.

That being said, I 100% agree. Scrolling endlessly for a single video posted 5 years ago is daunting.

Edited August 13, 2023 by RennjiDK