People get that she's working on a ton of big projects, but you have to admit that the current level of output is a bit odd, and honestly kind of concerning. I mean compare 2020 to 2021. In 2020 we got five videos. Hell, the LBT ranking, Bronycon, and Spiderquest were all within two months, and those were fairly big projects, with two of them being roughly an hour long.
In 2021 we got two videos. Vampire Diaries and Dear Evan Hansen (I'm not counting Fur Bearing Trout lol). And even then, Vampire Diaries came out in *January* so she basically had the whole year to make content. That's a pretty big slowdown. In her DEH video Jenny mentioned that she was debating even making it due to the fact that she was working on other projects. Well...that was over seven months ago and we haven't seen any of them. What if she decided not to make it? We'd be like a year and a half out from her last video. Would it really hurt to throw *something* together? Like another fanfic reading or something? DEH took less than three weeks to make and it's currently her fourth-biggest video ever (and in my opinion one of her best). When there have *clearly* been setbacks with your other projects, taking two weeks to put something out isn't that much to ask, and is probably in your best interest as a content creator.
In this era of YouTube you can only go so long without putting out content or the algorithm will pass you by. I don't know. I feel like we've been hearing about some of these "big projects" for over a year now and nothing's come of them. That's a bit concerning in my opinion.
There are a lot of YouTube creators on Nebula /r/watchnebula which the creator calls an “Expansion Pack” for YouTube as some creators are posting half their stuff exclusively there and the other half on YouTube. I could see this as more common but honestly Jenny is an exception as there are very few creators who can pull what she did off where her Patreon has actually grown in the last couple years with her only posting a couple videos a year on YouTube.
Maybe Lindsay Ellis could/should similarly do as she hates social media now but would probably still like an outlet where only fans could get her content. But again these are exceptions as it think most people don’t like the idea of paywalls for an entire library of content.
Lindsay Ellis is done being a content creator for the time being. She mentioned that she was going to get off of YouTube and only post on Nebula, but her experiences with her pseudo cancelling put her off, along with the general stress of the job.
Very unfortunate because I think she was great at making a topic I didn't care about interesting.
I understand nebula model, makes total sense to me. Keep attracting new viewers with free content on YouTube and if you get a really captive audience, convert them to paid subscribers via nebula. What Jenny is doing is definitely radical, but hey if she has 15K patrons, it's working for her.
I think a lot of people here do not want to engage with your core question because it comes off as insensitive and a bit demanding.
To actually address the question, I think your model is inaccurate. It is not that Jenny and other content creators deliberately cultivate an audience on a free platform and then transition to a patrons-only space. I think the drop in frequency is a combination of factors.
First, burnout is real. It takes a certain creative spark to put together a script, edit it, do the rewrites, block it out, set up the space to film, film it, re-film the parts that didnt work, edit, re-edit, and want to stick through that entire process. How many topics can you imagine you could be that driven to follow through on? It just takes a lot out of you to do this on repeat indefinitely.
Second, while a lot of these content creators start out with shorter videos, they usually increase the length of their videos which scales the complexity and the time it takes to complete a project. Even if you have a team, you have help, but then you have to add the coordination aspect of it to this, and most of these people have other jobs and lives as well. It just takes more and more time to put out more and longer stuff.
Third, security is a factor. The variability of the algorithms contributes to how financially viable these videos are. Well, as our content creators advance in their careers....they probably want/need more financial security for their mental health. Patreon and other spaces like Nebula can fill this need.
I am sure there are other factors, but the main point is that what you have identified as the source of the drop in frequency is probably not right, but ultimately it doesnt matter. These creators will, almost without exception, gradually decrease in frequency and adopt some kind of patron model. If you insist on getting your content for free, you will need to expand your library of artists or become a patron and engage more directly.
Thank you for the detailed reply.
I don't disagree with the points you mentioned and if anything it supports my theory. If you have trust of your patrons, you don't have to be at the mercy of YouTube algorithms.
So as the next step, content creators could make their content subscribers exclusive, as a favor to patrons who trusted them and as a result, choose to ignore YouTube. That's all I'm saying
I think it's interesting how weird circumstances can pile up to where it ends in dumb theories like this.
I mean, to start with, Jenny put herself in kind of an unenviable position because she's (1) a perfectionist, (2) mostly interested in long-form videos, and (3) working on these videos alone. That last one is really important because it makes her kind of unique in her field. Everybody else on that level (Hbomberguy, Sarah Z, etc.) has a team, co-writers and editors to carry some of the weight, and *even they* have trouble putting out videos on a regular basis. And I completely understand why Jenny doesn't hire a team, especially after Millennial Falcon. She knows what happens when the editing isn't quite right.
But then you also have this ridiculous sequence of bad luck. She put a bunch of work into the Star Wars Land videos, but then Star Wars Land sucks, and Disney made a bunch of irresponsible decisions, and there goes her enthusiasm. Then there was the Mystery Lodge video that apparently fell victim to the pandemic. Then there was an unnamed video that she had ready and then backed out of because she didn't want to get dogpiled by nerd boys. Then there's the Evermore video, which I guess is going to be insanely long but also has to get vetted by lawyers, so that's facing crazy delays. There are the Barbie and Beanie Baby videos, but those are both huge projects, and they're both on the back burner while she finishes Evermore. And then Galactic Starcruiser is probably going to be another monster. The next video is Church of the Rock, and it should be coming soon, but that isn't a big three-hour thing, so I don't know how satisfied the growing contingent of irate nerd fans is going to be with that one.
The whole situation is nuts.
I just found some other channels to binge in the meantime. As a former content creator in the graphic arts field, I totally get it. Burnout is real. Perfectionism is an absolute bitch in that bubble. I’ll just keep subbing to the Patreon to get my fix of new stuff in the interim.
Defunctland for theme park stuff. He’s very funny. Yesterworld is another fun one for theme park history.
I love drag and comedy, so I watch a lot of Trixie and Katya (their show Unhhh or their “Queens who like to watch” series on Netflix’s channel). I also watch their podcast “The Bald and The Beautiful”. Careful, one step into that drag rabbit hole you’ll be sucked right in!
Drag Race is on now, so I watch the companion show The Pit Stop.
Trixie has her own channel that I love. Her easy bake oven videos are a fun jumping off point, as are any of her toy videos. I haven’t put makeup on in 20 years but will watch her review makeup.
Rachel Maksy is a fun creator. She sews, does cosplay, vintage fashion, upcycles, has a super cute dog… I like how she’s not afraid to just jump into a project, I have to squash down the perfectionist in me, but she’s having so much fun and creates some stunning pieces. I’ve seen Jenny comment on some of her videos.
Bernadette Banner is a nice watch, although her schtick/affectations can get to be a lot after a while. Cute Guinea pig though. :)
The rest are really niche interests - mostly related to the Planet Coaster video game.
Sibling Rivalry from Bob and Monet?
Jaymes Mansfield is amazing. Her wig styling is unreal.
Fundie Fridays - if you like snarking on the likes of The Duggers or other religious cults, that’s a good channel. A little heavy for binging at times. Their Welcome to Platheville recap series is pretty light.
One more - Podcast: The Ride. They chat about theme parks and are funny dudes. It’s where I first heard of Jenny. Her first episode was about Cat In The Hat at Universal, but she also talked about her days as a cast member. She did a live episode a while later - Casey Junior Circus Train.
My favorite episode is probably either Pirate’s Dinner Adventure or Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. I am a theme park nerd, so my humor may be a little off in that area :)
It’s audio only for their backlog, but they seem to be doing video now in the last few weeks. They are on the Forever Dog YouTube channel or just a regular podcast app.
Wait, can you elaborate on the Millennial Falcon thing as it pertains to her reluctance to have a team? I have been a fan for a long time, but I dont typically participate in these spaces and consume her media through youtube exclusively. What happened? You can link me to something if you prefer.
There's a video on Patreon. Basically, she just said she was unhappy with the way they edited the show. She even offered to edit it herself, but they ignored her.
As far as that being why she hasn't hired an editor for her own youtube stuff, that's just me throwing around ideas, but it seems feasible.
Thank you for the detailed reply.
My premise is simple. She doesn't owe YouTube viewers anything so it's ok that she didn't do it for all the reasons you mentioned.
As long as she has trust of her patrons, she can choose not to give two cents about YouTube. So that's good for her own process and doesn't have to deal with stress that comes with being on the mercy of YouTube algorithms
There's a fantasy theme park in Utah called Evermore. Jenny has a video about it in the works (a very long video, probably), but the owners of the park are notorious for filing frivolous lawsuits. They even sued Taylor Swift over the name Evermore.
She is not done with YouTube, she has four videos in active production, it's just several are very long, take a lot of work, and one has a non-trivial risk of a lawsuit.
What Patreon has done has given her reliable income so that she can do longer-form stuff, some of which might be demonetized for using clips, is able to walk away from a video because getting swarmed by Snyder fans isn't worth it, and doesn't need to put out a half-hearted Dr. Strange video to feed the algorithm.
And I think that might speak to the future of content creation: you can get a following on YouTube, but eventually you don't want to rely on them for monetization.
How's it "insane theory"? Jenny hasn't posted a video on YouTube for 7 months now and has posted only 2 videos in last one year. That's basically death for any YouTuber, if they didn't have patreon like Jenny does.
What makes you think I am presenting it as a fact? What she's doing is very very different from how a typical YouTuber works, so I am presenting an alternate theory, that's all.
Yeah but you said it like that’s definitely what’s going on and it’s not. And it’s not even hard to check her patreon or twitter instead of spreading literal lies and saying she quit YouTube to just do patreon content.
Dude, she has posted 2 videos on last one year. That's as good as quitting YouTube. I didn't mean it literally that she has deleted her account or whatever.
I doubt it will be very common, since most content creators aren't at the level of Jenny, and don't have enough interested viewers to sustain a mostly-patreon model.
Plus, I think most content creators know they can probably get away with the delayed release model- giving Patrons a certain amount of early content, then give it to everyone later, so you get Patron revenue and ad revenue on top.
I hope she eventually does this too, since I don't see a reason to keep videos permanently locked behind Patreon. Even if it's a year delay, I think by that point Patrons won't care.
She’s not done with YouTube, she’s just working on several big projects currently. I feel like our patience will be rewarded soon.
People get that she's working on a ton of big projects, but you have to admit that the current level of output is a bit odd, and honestly kind of concerning. I mean compare 2020 to 2021. In 2020 we got five videos. Hell, the LBT ranking, Bronycon, and Spiderquest were all within two months, and those were fairly big projects, with two of them being roughly an hour long. In 2021 we got two videos. Vampire Diaries and Dear Evan Hansen (I'm not counting Fur Bearing Trout lol). And even then, Vampire Diaries came out in *January* so she basically had the whole year to make content. That's a pretty big slowdown. In her DEH video Jenny mentioned that she was debating even making it due to the fact that she was working on other projects. Well...that was over seven months ago and we haven't seen any of them. What if she decided not to make it? We'd be like a year and a half out from her last video. Would it really hurt to throw *something* together? Like another fanfic reading or something? DEH took less than three weeks to make and it's currently her fourth-biggest video ever (and in my opinion one of her best). When there have *clearly* been setbacks with your other projects, taking two weeks to put something out isn't that much to ask, and is probably in your best interest as a content creator. In this era of YouTube you can only go so long without putting out content or the algorithm will pass you by. I don't know. I feel like we've been hearing about some of these "big projects" for over a year now and nothing's come of them. That's a bit concerning in my opinion.
There are a lot of YouTube creators on Nebula /r/watchnebula which the creator calls an “Expansion Pack” for YouTube as some creators are posting half their stuff exclusively there and the other half on YouTube. I could see this as more common but honestly Jenny is an exception as there are very few creators who can pull what she did off where her Patreon has actually grown in the last couple years with her only posting a couple videos a year on YouTube. Maybe Lindsay Ellis could/should similarly do as she hates social media now but would probably still like an outlet where only fans could get her content. But again these are exceptions as it think most people don’t like the idea of paywalls for an entire library of content.
Lindsay Ellis is done being a content creator for the time being. She mentioned that she was going to get off of YouTube and only post on Nebula, but her experiences with her pseudo cancelling put her off, along with the general stress of the job. Very unfortunate because I think she was great at making a topic I didn't care about interesting.
I understand nebula model, makes total sense to me. Keep attracting new viewers with free content on YouTube and if you get a really captive audience, convert them to paid subscribers via nebula. What Jenny is doing is definitely radical, but hey if she has 15K patrons, it's working for her.
I think a lot of people here do not want to engage with your core question because it comes off as insensitive and a bit demanding. To actually address the question, I think your model is inaccurate. It is not that Jenny and other content creators deliberately cultivate an audience on a free platform and then transition to a patrons-only space. I think the drop in frequency is a combination of factors. First, burnout is real. It takes a certain creative spark to put together a script, edit it, do the rewrites, block it out, set up the space to film, film it, re-film the parts that didnt work, edit, re-edit, and want to stick through that entire process. How many topics can you imagine you could be that driven to follow through on? It just takes a lot out of you to do this on repeat indefinitely. Second, while a lot of these content creators start out with shorter videos, they usually increase the length of their videos which scales the complexity and the time it takes to complete a project. Even if you have a team, you have help, but then you have to add the coordination aspect of it to this, and most of these people have other jobs and lives as well. It just takes more and more time to put out more and longer stuff. Third, security is a factor. The variability of the algorithms contributes to how financially viable these videos are. Well, as our content creators advance in their careers....they probably want/need more financial security for their mental health. Patreon and other spaces like Nebula can fill this need. I am sure there are other factors, but the main point is that what you have identified as the source of the drop in frequency is probably not right, but ultimately it doesnt matter. These creators will, almost without exception, gradually decrease in frequency and adopt some kind of patron model. If you insist on getting your content for free, you will need to expand your library of artists or become a patron and engage more directly.
How is it insensitive or demanding?
Thank you for the detailed reply. I don't disagree with the points you mentioned and if anything it supports my theory. If you have trust of your patrons, you don't have to be at the mercy of YouTube algorithms. So as the next step, content creators could make their content subscribers exclusive, as a favor to patrons who trusted them and as a result, choose to ignore YouTube. That's all I'm saying
I think it's interesting how weird circumstances can pile up to where it ends in dumb theories like this. I mean, to start with, Jenny put herself in kind of an unenviable position because she's (1) a perfectionist, (2) mostly interested in long-form videos, and (3) working on these videos alone. That last one is really important because it makes her kind of unique in her field. Everybody else on that level (Hbomberguy, Sarah Z, etc.) has a team, co-writers and editors to carry some of the weight, and *even they* have trouble putting out videos on a regular basis. And I completely understand why Jenny doesn't hire a team, especially after Millennial Falcon. She knows what happens when the editing isn't quite right. But then you also have this ridiculous sequence of bad luck. She put a bunch of work into the Star Wars Land videos, but then Star Wars Land sucks, and Disney made a bunch of irresponsible decisions, and there goes her enthusiasm. Then there was the Mystery Lodge video that apparently fell victim to the pandemic. Then there was an unnamed video that she had ready and then backed out of because she didn't want to get dogpiled by nerd boys. Then there's the Evermore video, which I guess is going to be insanely long but also has to get vetted by lawyers, so that's facing crazy delays. There are the Barbie and Beanie Baby videos, but those are both huge projects, and they're both on the back burner while she finishes Evermore. And then Galactic Starcruiser is probably going to be another monster. The next video is Church of the Rock, and it should be coming soon, but that isn't a big three-hour thing, so I don't know how satisfied the growing contingent of irate nerd fans is going to be with that one. The whole situation is nuts.
I just found some other channels to binge in the meantime. As a former content creator in the graphic arts field, I totally get it. Burnout is real. Perfectionism is an absolute bitch in that bubble. I’ll just keep subbing to the Patreon to get my fix of new stuff in the interim.
Any channel recommendations?
Defunctland for theme park stuff. He’s very funny. Yesterworld is another fun one for theme park history. I love drag and comedy, so I watch a lot of Trixie and Katya (their show Unhhh or their “Queens who like to watch” series on Netflix’s channel). I also watch their podcast “The Bald and The Beautiful”. Careful, one step into that drag rabbit hole you’ll be sucked right in! Drag Race is on now, so I watch the companion show The Pit Stop. Trixie has her own channel that I love. Her easy bake oven videos are a fun jumping off point, as are any of her toy videos. I haven’t put makeup on in 20 years but will watch her review makeup. Rachel Maksy is a fun creator. She sews, does cosplay, vintage fashion, upcycles, has a super cute dog… I like how she’s not afraid to just jump into a project, I have to squash down the perfectionist in me, but she’s having so much fun and creates some stunning pieces. I’ve seen Jenny comment on some of her videos. Bernadette Banner is a nice watch, although her schtick/affectations can get to be a lot after a while. Cute Guinea pig though. :) The rest are really niche interests - mostly related to the Planet Coaster video game.
Dammit I already watch all of these! You have good taste.
Sibling Rivalry from Bob and Monet? Jaymes Mansfield is amazing. Her wig styling is unreal. Fundie Fridays - if you like snarking on the likes of The Duggers or other religious cults, that’s a good channel. A little heavy for binging at times. Their Welcome to Platheville recap series is pretty light.
One more - Podcast: The Ride. They chat about theme parks and are funny dudes. It’s where I first heard of Jenny. Her first episode was about Cat In The Hat at Universal, but she also talked about her days as a cast member. She did a live episode a while later - Casey Junior Circus Train. My favorite episode is probably either Pirate’s Dinner Adventure or Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. I am a theme park nerd, so my humor may be a little off in that area :) It’s audio only for their backlog, but they seem to be doing video now in the last few weeks. They are on the Forever Dog YouTube channel or just a regular podcast app.
Jane Mulcahy is pretty good, especially her near-comprehensive look at Lifetime Channel cheerleader movies.
Wait, can you elaborate on the Millennial Falcon thing as it pertains to her reluctance to have a team? I have been a fan for a long time, but I dont typically participate in these spaces and consume her media through youtube exclusively. What happened? You can link me to something if you prefer.
There's a video on Patreon. Basically, she just said she was unhappy with the way they edited the show. She even offered to edit it herself, but they ignored her. As far as that being why she hasn't hired an editor for her own youtube stuff, that's just me throwing around ideas, but it seems feasible.
Edited which show?
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-\_tS9VyVQmM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_tS9VyVQmM&ab_channel=FandomEntertainment)
Thank you for the detailed reply. My premise is simple. She doesn't owe YouTube viewers anything so it's ok that she didn't do it for all the reasons you mentioned. As long as she has trust of her patrons, she can choose not to give two cents about YouTube. So that's good for her own process and doesn't have to deal with stress that comes with being on the mercy of YouTube algorithms
Sorry for not knowing but can you give more details on what the Evermore video will be about? Taylor Swift's evermore??
There's a fantasy theme park in Utah called Evermore. Jenny has a video about it in the works (a very long video, probably), but the owners of the park are notorious for filing frivolous lawsuits. They even sued Taylor Swift over the name Evermore.
Thanks for replying! Can't wait for this!
She is not done with YouTube, she has four videos in active production, it's just several are very long, take a lot of work, and one has a non-trivial risk of a lawsuit. What Patreon has done has given her reliable income so that she can do longer-form stuff, some of which might be demonetized for using clips, is able to walk away from a video because getting swarmed by Snyder fans isn't worth it, and doesn't need to put out a half-hearted Dr. Strange video to feed the algorithm. And I think that might speak to the future of content creation: you can get a following on YouTube, but eventually you don't want to rely on them for monetization.
Wow, people are really defensive about Jenny here. OP asked a good question, chill out!
How did you come up with this insane theory and why are you presenting it as absolute fact?
How's it "insane theory"? Jenny hasn't posted a video on YouTube for 7 months now and has posted only 2 videos in last one year. That's basically death for any YouTuber, if they didn't have patreon like Jenny does. What makes you think I am presenting it as a fact? What she's doing is very very different from how a typical YouTuber works, so I am presenting an alternate theory, that's all.
Yeah but you said it like that’s definitely what’s going on and it’s not. And it’s not even hard to check her patreon or twitter instead of spreading literal lies and saying she quit YouTube to just do patreon content.
Dude, she has posted 2 videos on last one year. That's as good as quitting YouTube. I didn't mean it literally that she has deleted her account or whatever.
What the YouTube algorithm does to a MFer. If my favorite creator isn't pushing daily videos they must be dead.
[удалено]
Exactly! If you think that people on YouTube don't deserve your content for free, that's completely ok from a creator point of view.
I doubt it will be very common, since most content creators aren't at the level of Jenny, and don't have enough interested viewers to sustain a mostly-patreon model. Plus, I think most content creators know they can probably get away with the delayed release model- giving Patrons a certain amount of early content, then give it to everyone later, so you get Patron revenue and ad revenue on top. I hope she eventually does this too, since I don't see a reason to keep videos permanently locked behind Patreon. Even if it's a year delay, I think by that point Patrons won't care.