YOUTUBE NEEDS MORE OUTPUT

YouTube will always need more. More viewers, more time spent on the site, more more more.

Some folks want to “monetize their channels,” meaning, get a cut of the ad revenue from views. Before you had to 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours over the last year.

Well, YouTube says you need 8,000 hours.

From TechCrunch:

YouTube announced on Monday that new creators will have to meet higher thresholds to begin earning money from ads and subscriptions.

Creators who want to start earning on the platform will need at least 8,000 qualified watch hours over the past year or 20 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days. Currently, creators need 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours over the past year or 1,000 subscribers and 10 million Shorts views over the past 90 days.

More content, more chances for people to keep watching, and an even bigger investment for people looking to get monetized.

As Seth Godin says, the problem with the race to the bottom is you just might win.

SLEEPING ON THE PORCH

I slept on my porch last night. Lived here for like six years now, but finally did it. A piece of tyvek, an inflatable sleeping pad, my camping quilt, and a for-real pillow. Laid under the stars, but I could only see three of them because of all the light pollution. I absolutely had to wear an eye mask.

Nearby a refrigerator compressor would kick on every 10 minutes or so. It got cold enough to put on a hoodie in the middle of the night (it’s August). I woke up about quarter to six in the morning. It was cloudy, but I could see the sky brighten.

Part of me wanted to do this just to try the “cowboy camping” thing in a safe place. I can’t believe people really do that in the woods, or on mountains. But that was fun, and I’m camping again later this week, so maybe I won’t set up the tent and instead I’ll lay in the middle of the woods and see what happens.

ON NOT POSTING FOR EVERYONE

I used to take a ton of photos during my “Bike Nerd” years (from 2010-2012ish or so). I’d post them to Twitter and Instagram, journaliing my adventures in real time more or less.

Without social media (aside from Substack Notes, eh), I rarely post photos from my adventures. Sure, some end up as the lead image on my blog posts on Social Media Escape Club, or I post them here on occasion. Otherwise, I send them to friends mostly.

The urge to post to “everyone” was replaced by the joy of sending to just a few people. A photo of a grand view, or a reminder of something we talked about recently.

One dear friend and I swap photos of the beatiful scenery from our adventures, with an ill fitting caption like, “so ugly.” “Horrible.”

I feel like if posting to 1000 people on social media will only be seen by 100 people, and really only 4 or 5 of them reallly “engage” with it, why not just those things to those 4 or 5 people, you know?

WALKING INTO THE NIGHT

Late start for my walks today, and also oppressively hot. This meant two trips to the gym, four miles walking each time, which took about an hour and 10 minutes for each. Still didn’t wrap up all my walking till 9:30pm.

Today is 73 days in a row, and I’ve covered 823 miles so far since May 26th.

ADS ARE EVERYWHERE

So BMW dropped an ad for Spider Man into the big dumb video dashboard. I mean, did we really think advertisers weren’t going to find a way to weasel their way onto those dashboard displays? It’s prime real estate, esp when you can target BMW drivers who have money, right?

Apparently this is a one time thing, but if there’s money to be made I’m sure you’ll see this in many more cars in the coming years.

And this is exactly why I want a older car with a manual transmission with windows I can roll down myself.

SUBSTACK NOTES SOURCE PROBLEM

I love loathe seeing breaking news and big statements on Substack Notes with massive engagement without a link to a source.

  • “Senator grows horns and spiked tail!” 2.4K likes
  • “AP reports plastic in newborn eyeballs!” 5.3K likes
  • “Studies prove breathing is helpful.” 3,000 comments

Like, we’re just taking the posters word?

Posting without credit or source is 100% totally ok because EnGaGeMeNt??!

There was a time on social media where you’d get 100 replies all saying “SOURCE!?!?” if you left out a link to where you got your news.

70 DAYS OF WALKING 10+ MILES PER DAY

Today was day 70 of walking at least 10 miles per day. Since May 26th I’ve walked 787.6 miles, about 11.2 miles per day.

I start most days with a three mile walk, which takes about an hour.

After I get through some of my work, I try to get in another three mile walk before noon.

My afternoons are still up in the air, but my best days I get in another 2-3 miles before 4pm, then another 3+ miles in the evening, usually at a park or some trails.

I do run some of these miles, but not much. Maybe 10-15 miles per week. I was able to run 30-ish miles per week a few years back, but then I’d get some sort of injury and just grind to a halt. I wanted to do something like this because it felt more sustainable.

I bought two new pairs of shoes during these 70 days, and I’m definitely going to need to buy another soon. Right now I’m fond of the Brooks Men’s Ghost Max 3 Neutral Running & Walking Shoe.

STOP BLAMING TECH FOR MISSING OUT

We don’t need a new platform, we need to fucking regain focus on allocate time and attention to the people we say we love and want to follow.

“Oh, I never see my friend’s posts anymore!”

Well fucking bookmark their profile and set a reminder!

Subscribe to their newsletter or RSS or podcast, set a recurring alert to email / call / send a letter.

There’s so much technology available to us to find, re-find, and remind. “Siri, remind me to…” is the probably 85% of the answer to all this.

We don’t need another login, we need to fucking grow up and choose our damn destiny, retake our agency, and dictate our own flow of time and energy.

Another platform run by a bunch of strangers probably ain’t the answer we need.

BE ON SOCIAL MEDIA IF YOU WANT

If you want to be on social media, be on social media. I am not here to convince anyone, or “win” a debate. I don’t want to challenge anybody. I’m not starting a vertical video show called “why the fuck are you on social media?”

But if you’re tired of social media. Worn out. Depleted. Losing hope. Yeah, let’s talk.

Like social media? Cool. Be on social media if you want.