Subscriptions are Equal to Social Pressure

I was a little taken aback this weekend by a personal attack on YouTube that was accurate, but largely based on inaccuracies. I’m not going to dismiss it outright, because the person who made the remark is quite an intelligent individual.

It was noted, accurately, that I do not choose to have comments or subscriptions displayed publicly on my YouTube channel. YouTube comment streams have been open gateways for spambots (as illustrated by a maxhansen). And, as pointed out in the same video, YouTube mail is completely unwieldy to manage – but it’s something that I certainly check regularly, and respond to when warranted.

My YouTube subscription list is hidden because I chose not to show it – my prerogative, but not for nefarious reasons (as it was assumed). Yes, it’s true… I subscribe to a LOT of YouTube channels, because I’m a serendipity kind of guy. I click on just about anything and everything. Moreover, I do my best to subscribe to the channels of people who choose to subscribe to me. Call that parity more than anything else, but it’s not the only thing that prompts me to subscribe to a channel – and I’m sure you could find flaws in this reasoning, but honestly – is it worth the time to argue over someone’s personal preferences? I’m not leaving comments, I’m not spamming channels, and I’m not holding a gun to anybody’s head.

I can’t watch everything, and I think that’s central to the argument. Just because I subscribe to something doesn’t mean I’m always going to have the time to take it in – and let he who does not have thousands of unread items in his news aggregator cast the first stone. The weeks leading up to Gnomedex are always hell (a wonderful kind of hell that leads up to a heavenly experience). Now, since jimmyrcom tagged the following video with “lockergnome,” I can only assume he wanted me to (eventually) see it – which would have happened naturally, I’m sure:

That didn’t get my attention as quickly as it should have, but I’ve been inundated with other matters (outside of the YouTube universe). A few people sent me the link to his follow-up video, and that’s what this particular post of mine is all about. I appreciate his candor, but I don’t appreciate being under the gun for participation or chastised for my way of doing things. It’s fine to complain about sponsor logos, but it’s not okay to say that what we’re trying to do isn’t all that useful.

I’m not for everybody, and my style isn’t either. However, as has been spelled out OVER and OVER again, people are finding what we’re doing with the videos incredibly helpful (and overtly interactive, sometimes to a fault). Every single day, someone new decides to swing into the experience and take part – mostly getting out of it whatever they put into it. I, too, have interests beyond technology topics, and sometimes my subscriptions reflect that. Do I feel the need to share my subscriptions with the world? No, not necessarily – but it’s not like you couldn’t go out of your way to look, either. If I didn’t reciprocate your YouTube channel subscription, I apologize – it was an oversight, and I’ve been a bit pre-occupied as of late.

Ironically, someone just popped into our chat room and wrote: “ chris I just found u on youtube n finished watching like 20 vids n you r a freaking GOOOOOOOD!!!!!!” The user is likely exaggerating a bit, but his experience seems to be the norm. It doesn’t explain how I don’t want to share my subscription list on my YouTube profile page, but… it does deflate the argument that what we’re doing is not all that useful. There is no conspiracy (at least, in this case).

ADDENDUM: I completely forgot to mention that I gained a lot of subscribers over time by being featured on the front page and in prominent places throughout YouTube. That, and many of the people who subscribe to me can’t be subscribed to, and I tend not to subscribe to people who post videos that aren’t really theirs (or that don’t include them in some fashion). Again, this isn’t always the case – but still germane to this discussion.

Have you ever heard of Traffic Blazer? Submit your business info to more than 200 search engines and directories and position your Web site for top rankings with Google and other leading search engines - it's available through GoDaddy. Plus, as a listener of The Chris Pirillo Show, enter code CHRIS1 when you check out, and save an additional 10% on any order. Get your piece of the internet at GoDaddy!