Today has been a bit of an eye opener/tear jerker/epiphany for me; it would appear that I have probably wasted the best part of four years of my life. Why? Well the ‘B’log really should have been a ‘V’log.
And just in case you are more of a Luddite than me – vlog is short for video log. In these online environments, one views stuff instead of reading it - like watching the news on the telly rather than reading the paper.
If you are wondering what dinged the bell for my latest bout of introspection, this BBC News article http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-34504053 shares the details of the UK’s top ten highest earning/most influential YouTubers.
Top of the chart is a chap that has his own YouTube channel named "KSI" with 10 million subscribers. What does 22 year old JJ Olatunji (JJO) do on his vlog? Well primarily he videos himself playing and delivering commentaries on computer games, oh and once he vlogged about dying his hair blond (maybe that’s where Lewis Hamilton got his inspiration from).
Personally I think this sort of material couldn’t be any duller; I’d go so far as to state that engaging with it would be a form of torture. But I am obviously missing something fundamental because 74.9 million views in September evidence that KSI is a big deal. The fact that JJO earnt £2.9 million pounds last year from advertising revenues is even more of an indicator.
The BBC article reveals that YouTubers are becoming celebrities in their own rights and some are even finding their likenesses added to the portfolio at Madame Tussauds’ wax works attractions. Next time you go to one, there’s a real possibility that you’ll see loads of dummies of people that you have never heard of.
Whilst I am clearly behind the times, I can report that my son is an avid consumer of YouTube material, his favourite content has been posted by people similar to JJO and specifically playing a game called “Minecraft”. I don’t understand the fascination at all and, if I am honest, would probably feel less perturbed if my son was watching porn (because surely that’s a more natural thing for a young-fellow-my-lad to be getting up to).
Further reflection (but not about porn I assure you) has led me to ponder on the potential for launching my own vlog. Instead of reading my outpourings you could watch/listen to the material coming straight from the horse’s mouth (so to speak). Now watching me contemplating and commenting upon just about anything that takes my fancy might not be that exciting (because even Mrs B. doesn’t get excited by my face anymore) and, though I can assure you that dying my hair blond wouldn’t get featured, you might prefer to watch JJO play with himself.
From a commercial perspective though, I couldn’t do any worse; the amount of income generated from adrianbaldwin.net over four years is…
…absolutely nothing.
By way of another proxy; the number of readers that have come up to me to ask for my autograph or take a selfie…
…the same result.
And to complete a trilogy of failure measurements; the number of my idols (e.g. Bruce Dickinson, Ian Kilmster, Ozzy) that are aware I even exist…precisely nil.
The fact is that entertaining you my dear reader actually costs me money and that, by way of technicality, makes me a charity.
I have clearly missed a trick and will now have to work out how to switch my webcam on and how to video what it sees. Once that is sorted, maybe I’ll start writing scripts instead of blogs.
Only one letter is different, but if I’d selected the ‘V’ over the ‘B’, I could have been rich. A famous line from Del Boy springs to mind…
"This time next year Rodders…"
Watch this space!
Well maybe not this space exactly, but you get drift.
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And just in case you are more of a Luddite than me – vlog is short for video log. In these online environments, one views stuff instead of reading it - like watching the news on the telly rather than reading the paper.
If you are wondering what dinged the bell for my latest bout of introspection, this BBC News article http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-34504053 shares the details of the UK’s top ten highest earning/most influential YouTubers.
Top of the chart is a chap that has his own YouTube channel named "KSI" with 10 million subscribers. What does 22 year old JJ Olatunji (JJO) do on his vlog? Well primarily he videos himself playing and delivering commentaries on computer games, oh and once he vlogged about dying his hair blond (maybe that’s where Lewis Hamilton got his inspiration from).
Personally I think this sort of material couldn’t be any duller; I’d go so far as to state that engaging with it would be a form of torture. But I am obviously missing something fundamental because 74.9 million views in September evidence that KSI is a big deal. The fact that JJO earnt £2.9 million pounds last year from advertising revenues is even more of an indicator.
The BBC article reveals that YouTubers are becoming celebrities in their own rights and some are even finding their likenesses added to the portfolio at Madame Tussauds’ wax works attractions. Next time you go to one, there’s a real possibility that you’ll see loads of dummies of people that you have never heard of.
Whilst I am clearly behind the times, I can report that my son is an avid consumer of YouTube material, his favourite content has been posted by people similar to JJO and specifically playing a game called “Minecraft”. I don’t understand the fascination at all and, if I am honest, would probably feel less perturbed if my son was watching porn (because surely that’s a more natural thing for a young-fellow-my-lad to be getting up to).
Further reflection (but not about porn I assure you) has led me to ponder on the potential for launching my own vlog. Instead of reading my outpourings you could watch/listen to the material coming straight from the horse’s mouth (so to speak). Now watching me contemplating and commenting upon just about anything that takes my fancy might not be that exciting (because even Mrs B. doesn’t get excited by my face anymore) and, though I can assure you that dying my hair blond wouldn’t get featured, you might prefer to watch JJO play with himself.
From a commercial perspective though, I couldn’t do any worse; the amount of income generated from adrianbaldwin.net over four years is…
…absolutely nothing.
By way of another proxy; the number of readers that have come up to me to ask for my autograph or take a selfie…
…the same result.
And to complete a trilogy of failure measurements; the number of my idols (e.g. Bruce Dickinson, Ian Kilmster, Ozzy) that are aware I even exist…precisely nil.
The fact is that entertaining you my dear reader actually costs me money and that, by way of technicality, makes me a charity.
I have clearly missed a trick and will now have to work out how to switch my webcam on and how to video what it sees. Once that is sorted, maybe I’ll start writing scripts instead of blogs.
Only one letter is different, but if I’d selected the ‘V’ over the ‘B’, I could have been rich. A famous line from Del Boy springs to mind…
"This time next year Rodders…"
Watch this space!
Well maybe not this space exactly, but you get drift.
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