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I Will Be Appearing Less in Future Videos to Focus on My Personal Life [Veritasium] (www.youtube.com)
submitted 10 months ago by to c/science@beehaw.org
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[–] 22 points 10 months ago (15 children)

i'm always amazed by the amount of money that Youtube produces, but good for Derek, he should enjoy his success.

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  • [–] 37 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (11 children)

    Well...

    One could argue, he sold out.

    Veritasium is one of a growing list of YT channels that have quietly been invested in by private equity firms.

    In Veritasiums case, the firm is electrify which purchased a majority stake in Veritasium in 2023, and also has stakes in Fireship, Mentour Pilot and Fern, among others.

    It has resulted in the production quality of various channels skyrocketting, so far seemingly with little to no drawbacks... Whenever a channel makes a huge leap in quality, the kind that only comes with hiring a bunch of staff, I now think to myself "oh, another one".

    Now we're just waiting for the other shoe.

    I'm not saying it will drop. But free money is not a thing.

    But I really don't like the way it's clearly being done in ways where channel viewers have no idea brand ownership has changed, and is now beholden to faceless shareholders.

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  • [–] 10 points 10 months ago

    Anyone who didn't notice it is blind. The channel became increasingly more click bait over the years. At this point I rarely watch their videos. It used to be really informative content, but now it's still vaguely informative but usually more entertainment.

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  • [–] 7 points 10 months ago (1 child)

    That is what the video says. As in it's not happening without the audience being told, though I guess it was for a couple of years.

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  • [–] 9 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

    I'm referring to the overrall trend.

    That private equity has been getting into YT in recent years still seems like uncommon knowledge, and that feels more than a little intentional.

    To be clear, the additional money has been doing good things so far. Here's hoping that lasts.

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  • [–] 6 points 10 months ago (1 child)

    Is it a majority stake? In the video, he makes it sound like they're co-owners... which says nothing, and the "our brands" wording is also common as a hyperbole.

    If they earn money from pushing quality content, adding similar channels, adding Patreon financing, backer-only specials, merchandising, placing content on other platforms... "the other shoe" could be simply making a profit.

    Whether Electrify will eventually sell out in turn, is a separate question.

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  • [–] 3 points 10 months ago*

    That's about the time he started doing click bait content as well. His infamous "electrons don't carry electricity" schtick was the last straw for me. As far as I'm concerned he no longer has credibility and has just joined the growing ranks of "everyone is wrong except for me" content creators.

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  • [–] 3 points 10 months ago* (4 children)

    Three years ago, yeah. That what the ”he should enjoy his success” part meant.

    And he goes through all of this in the video.

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  • [–] 5 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (3 children)

    Success, is when your work produces a bunch of value for you and your employees, financially uplifting an entire group of people.

    I'm sorry but I personally can't see how selling your business so that a bunch of people who are already rich can use it to make even more, is a good thing in the long run.

    It's one of the practices that is keeping the already rich on top, and more often than not leads to the business adopting the same opressive profit focus as everyone else.

    No-one looking to buy up or invest in companies is doing so for the good of the product or employees. They might claim they are, but ultimately, the whole point of investing, is getting a return. And once that priority is introduced, the people and the content will never again be first.

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  • [–] 1 point 10 months ago (2 children)

    Sure. It just depends on which lens you view it through. You're obviously looking through a very anti-capitalist lens that puts employees and community in center. That's fine. It's probably hard to see the "success" in that. Some other people might view it the ultra-capitalist, "traditional American way" - making the dream, looking out for number one and someone cashing out after years of hard work is exactly the measure of success they're looking for.

    I'm not saying your view is wrong. In fact, I'm well on your side of it.

    But I can't say he made a wrong call. He's an individual and I don't know him. I've enjoyed his videos, but he doesn't owe me anything. It's his company, his channel, his call.
    He sold out. Probably made a shit ton of cash and is laughing all the way to the bank. Good for him. I wish him the best.

    But as I said in my first post, I am constantly amazed how advertising money runs the Internet. And THAT, my anti-capitalist friend, is something that I really, really HATE.

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  • [–] 3 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 child)

    Good for him. I wish him the best.

    I can't.

    I can't see how you can get that far ahead without screwing over someone else, or leaving someone you should have brought along behind.

    But as I said in my first post, I am constantly amazed how advertising money runs the Internet. And THAT, my anti-capitalist friend, is something that I really, really HATE.

    And I hate when those in positions to resist it, become part of the problem instead.

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  • [–] 1 point 10 months ago*

    I can’t see how you can get that far ahead without screwing over someone else, or leaving someone you should have brought along behind.

    Like I said, I don't know him so I really don't know the circumstances and I don't know the details of his deal - but he, or his investors have employed 40 people to work with the channel. I'd assume they are all salaried and some of them seem to be straight from school - so apart from capital exhange (which, as I pointed out, is ideological differenre)I don't really see the abuse like you do. But again, I don't know the circumstances.

    And I hate when those in positions to resist it, become part of the problem instead.

    So this is more of the key for me, or more interesting talking point anyway. Being on YouTube is part of the problem, because YouTube is monopolistic surveilance platform driven by advertising money. But many science communicators choose YouTube over, say community owned Nebula, because of business reasons (CGP Gray and Kurzgesagt were part of the founding members, but left in favor of YouTube). And the amount of people who choose fedi alternatives PeerTube are not even comparable - without robust ad-networks fueling creators, there doesn't seem to be very many alternative options.

    That's a problem.

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  • [–] 18 points 10 months ago (2 children)

    When one has 20 million subscribers who get notified of the videos, those few cents per Ad, add up quickly. He's also worked his ass off on the quality side of YouTube, which has earned him a lot of good will and supporters.

    Goes to show that quality content, can also be profitable. It's not all about the bottom dwellers.

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  • [–] 4 points 10 months ago

    It was just a general observation of how the Internet is completely financed by advertising. When it comes to Derek and his channel, I'm happy he has success, it's one of the best channels on the whole platform.

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