I'm fairly sure I haven't posted this. Still seems relevant. What the hell:
Interactivity @ Mon 11:15am
This year for me, as much as I didn’t want it to be, is all about Interaction.
As my subscribers on YouTube grow and grow, views on my actual videos (not that I would expect anything different at the moment) are receiving some of the lowest views I’ve had for a while, and it is all very interesting.
Last week, for reasons I cannot share with you, I went and looked at other peoples Subscribers and had a peek at some of mine too.
How often have you done this? Well, please do so now, as you will find it incredibly interesting.
The most interesting thing about some of my subscribers and other “Top” people is that most of them don’t even exist. A lot of the accounts have been closed or suspended and yet the count does not differ, I’m sure when YouTube wants to, the subscriber base will dramatically change when these people disappear.
The other question is how many of these subscribers are actually real? There were a lot of people subscribed to some top people and some for me too, that had no details on their account and yet they were all subscribed to the same two people, which I found very curious.
I know that about 2000 of my subscribers are fake, due to their being a massive surge amongst a whole bunch of YouTubers suddenly went up the “Charts” very quickly, I asked Damien, and he showed me that some company had subscribed to a whole bunch of the same people, though we are still not sure who it was.
So, I don’t have 60,000 subscribers, I have somewhere around 58,000 or do I even have that? 56,000? 50,000? 20,000? Or are the views not even real? That’s the hard thing about this Online World, the anonymity of it all paints a thick layer of black paint over this virtual glass, so that, even after you’ve peeled it all off, the glass is still left dirty and nothing is ever clear.
All I know is that I have a dear base of “followers” who are always there, my lucky stars, who watch over me constantly. Most of them have been with me since the dawn of the plague (otherwise known as the day I logged in to YouTube) and have had to endure a lot of disappointments, but hopefully some good times too. To those people, I thank you! You’re lovely.
So, real subscribers or not, this year is still about Interactivity. I find myself up late (5am sometimes) on the computer, gazing into this pixilated world, and finding myself incredibly fascinated! Look at all these amazing people, look at all these tools for communication and look at all these delightful Neopets! Well, that’s me mainly trying to relive my childhood. Since other than MSN and that awful Slipnot Chatroom, Neopets was my introduction to the internet.
Yes sir, I have rediscovered Neopets for the 15th time. Neopets is probably the reason I’m here today. If I had not discovered that site and become obsessed with it, I may never have returned to the library or turned on the computer and discovered my outlet to the world.
So, now YOU, the viewer, have many ways to interact with me and also have your voices and opinions heard.
We have YouTube, and soon I will be releasing my crazy blonde brain onto every video platform that exists, I do not expect to dominate any of these areas or be successful at all, I just want to make sure, that one day, when I can finally sigh and say goodbye, that I have covered every area.
I also have a podcast coming out very soon, and I will be linking you up to that in a Blog very soon – its not going to just be a talk show, but music will be featured until I receive a cease and desist letter ☺
Tommy of Valpocade fame has been hard at work creating a new TheHill88 site, this is a personal project of his, all I’ve done is given him my “blessing”, I am looking forward to seeing what he comes up with and will announce it by creating a video.
I am most excited about launching my Mac site; this site will be purely for photos and random videos, that aren’t even worth uploading. I wanted to create this picture site because as “handy” (and yes, I realize I’m using a lot of sarcastic quotations for this Blog) as sites like MySpace, Facebook and Flickr are for sharing photos, I just end up feeling overwhelmed by the amount of pictures that are uploaded and my Flickr account is not interesting for its just used to get a link to place a background on my YouTube homepage. With this site I’ll be able to post all my photos so its like a digital album, and I will Blog, Twitter, maybe Vlog when new pictures are up for you all to check out.
Why all the effort? Because I want to make sure I don’t disappoint the foolish 17 year old Caitlin, who wanted to be the first Caitlin Hill that came up after googling. I know it’s pointless, but as much as I’m tired of it all, I still love the Internet, just different sides of it.
However, none of this will be worthwhile unless there is some sort of interaction, so here are the sites I’m intrigued by right now, so that maybe we can connect.
http://www.twitter.com/thatgirlonline
http://caitlinhill.tumblr.com
http://www.blogtv.com/People/thatgirlonline
Cheers
Caitlin xox
15 comments:
Back in August 2006, I finally got the nerve to register for YouTube and "TheHill88" was my first subscription. My username at the time was 'BassNBro' and I was way too shy to leave comments. Since I haven't logged into the account for over 2 years (lost password); I'm guessing it would be counted as a lost (but definitely not fake!) subscriber.
2009 is certainly the year for Interactivity and I'm looking forward to your podcast and Mac site (hopefully, it'll be PC-compatible).
This follower is looking forward to your "crazy blonde brain onto every video platform that exists"!
While you may not have 60,000 "real" subscribers, at the very least you do have over a dozen die hard fans who hang out every night in your BlogTV chats, (me being among the most recent:)
Back in the summer of '07, I was in a state of depression after another failed stint in college (long story). Anyway, I had to fall back to live at home again while I got my crap together and figure out my life. I would spend a lot of time in my room listening to music on playlist.com. I eventually randomly came across this: http://www.playlist.com/user/561768
I've always felt that you can tell a lot about a person by the music they listen too, so I knew right off the bat you were unique. I did what you said by googling "The Hill 88" and lo and behold, I found your videos. They were able to cheer me up in a time where nothing else could.
So no matter how many subscribers you may or may not have, just know you were able to bring some happiness to a random stranger. And probably many more! That's something to be proud of. So, just know that whatever inevitable success comes your way you'll always have a group of followers (me included) cheering you on every step of the way!
My apologies, that was way too long:P
I don't know if I have any details on my channel page or not. (I didn't get on YT to make videos myself, though eventually I might make some.) But I am a real subscriber who watches every video you post. :-)
I wouldn't worry too much about the actual number of your subscribers on YT. I know it's kinda fun playing the numbers game and all that, but it is true that you have a loyal group of people that place you right at the top of whatever you might be doing.
I also agree with a lot of what Josh has so eloquently said. You really do bring a lot of joy to people whether it be through YT or through your blogtv shows (which I do try and stop by as often as I can), as well as other avenues, of course.
I would like to add that you have this uncanny ability to be quite inspirational in the way you carry yourself and more specifically how you use the internet. You see, me and my Dizzknee username have been floating around the internet pretty much since it began....Netscape 1.0, Gopher, Usenet, IRC, etc. But as you inspire me to explore these new areas of the internet with you, I feel that for the first time, I'm actually getting something out of it. For example, I never would have imagined that I would upload videos to YT, but I have, and that's 100% thanks to you. I also never would have started a blog here (even if no one reads it...LOL) if it wasn't for your "leading by example". I do also love tweeting and tumbling. : )
So I'm looking forward to all the new internet avenues you'll be exploring in the future Miss Hill, and I'll definitely be along for the ride cheering you on, as always.
Oh boy, another long comment. Sorry about that.
Cheers,
Earle : )
Oh I love Neopets! I used to be totally addicted to it. Unfortunately, I stopped going on there when I lost interest about 2 years ago... ):
The thing about the subscribers are so weird;it's very odd. But I am definitely a true subscriber. [: (My youtube is animestar437). I don't have any interesting videos on there or anything. I'm not that comfortable speaking to my self in front of a camera... lol! But my BFFs and I are thinking about starting a web show like iCarly. [: But it will be so much more random!
Anyways, sorry for the long rant. Good luck with Youtube and all that and keep making videos!
Sincerely,
Candy
www.lovepearl4ever.blogspot.com
I have 1876 accounts subscribed to you but secretly think your a royal pain! :=)
I only care about the comments I get on the videos, those are real, and if they're not I can usually tell it and delete them easily.
I've honestly never cared about the number of views or subscribers and I don't understand why anyone does.
Truths
1. You can't touch your teeth with your tongue
2. Idiot people after they read the first true, They try.
3. You will find out the first true is a lie.
4. You're smiling cause you just found out you're an idiot.
5. You're thinking about sending this to someone.
6. There's still a stupid smile on your face
Hi Caitling! haha I'm ur friend Mariam
Your popularity is the type that is based on substance and thus builds slower and lasts longer. And I think from that comes higher quality followers.
I still haven't figured out how you do what you do, but you do it well enough and consistently enough to prove that you are no flash in the pan.
The question is what do you want to do with your gifts and interests?
Simon
Let me start off by saying that you, Ms. Hill, are the silver lining of my moist internet cloud. You certainly succeeded in “selling” YouTube to me.
You know better than most that these new media markets are big business. Thus, those that have billions of dollars invested in such markets will of course avoid full transparency of the numbers and what they mean as that would erode leverage in the deployment of their business models. I suspect, though, that you are continuing to gain more exposure and insight into what it all means.
Those of us here certainly appreciate your personal investment in interactivity; I am sure most feel they have gained something of value from it as I have. I hope that you also have gained a little something despite the anonymity of it all.
-James of the Caitlin Faithful
P.S. Please, people, there is no need to apologize for long comments. Have you seen some of my comments? Seriously, I’m afraid to know what I would have to do to atone for my verbosity. I’m sure The Hill would gain partial ownership of my soul. Thus, I refuse to apologize for putting time and effort into something unless it is truly evil >:)
P.P.S I have rediscovered good old text emoticons.
P.P.P.S Ok I am done.
Ahahaha! I can't stop laughing at rediscovering Neopets because I know that feeling all too well. (May I inquire as to what your s/n is on there?)
Anyways, just thought you'd like to know that there are subscribers that follow you who remain silent and vigilant; I am one of them. My youtube account has no videos and a fairly minimalist info, but still I watch and am entertained.
You've come a long way from being that rapping Aussie chick and I look forward to where you'll go next.
-Not a stalker... really. Well, maybe just a little.
Well, from what I can see, the 17 year old Caitlin must be very proud of you :)
As you might or might not remember, I had a peek at some Subscribers myself a few months ago. The question "what happens to 50,000+ Subscribers over time" is rather interesting.
I wanted to find out more about that, and so I compared the data of several Top100 YouTubers.
Apparently no one with a large Subscriber Base is immune against vanishing Subscribers or pseudo Subscribers. You can sort out the latter by looking at the number of 'watched videos'. Besides that, the biggest factor in Subscriber loss is the number of users who abandon their accounts and never log in again. Those numbers are much higher than those of closed or suspended accounts, and they increase with the age of a Subscriber Base. It's a natural process, in the way that people move on after some time, from one site to another one. Especially with huge populations over 50,000 users, this effect is very consistent among all Channels.
Although, since some inactive users might return, even after a long period of inactivity, you never really know how many "real" Subscribers you have in total. But you can get pretty close if you ask more specifically "how many Subscribers have logged in within 2 days/weeks/months and have watched at least 500 videos".
By comparing those numbers with the actual views on a recently posted video, you'll get a good impression of how many of your active Subscribers are also active viewers.
I was planning to write a fancy blog post on this topic, but... I'm too busy "follwing" you all over the net! :P
Three cheers for Neopets though I've forgotten my password and can't log in to check on my cute Kacheek, Shatiti.
I made over $1 million Neopoints playing that damn stock market game too. I was so proud.
I'm not a youtuber, but I went through my own mini-version of what you're talking about for the same reasons.
Not only do you have to find something you want to talk about, but you have to find your reason(s) for talking about those things.
If you're not doing it for you, you're doing it for your viewers, but just WHO are your viewers, anyway?
I get a lot of unique hits, which means people are passing through to get information and bouncing. I probably have about ten to fifteen regulars that I can count on for reading my posts, if not leaving a comment.
Ultimately, it comes down to your own self-satisfaction and self-expression. It used to satisfy me to be one of the top 10 Bills on Google. I'm over that now, so I have to change the game and change the goal.
Good luck with your plans. The more you satisfy yourself, the more others will be satisfied with and interested in your media, which ends up being way more fulfilling than 60,000 computer-generated fans. ;)
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