I’m looking for some small content creators who’s content has not been influenced by the potential of making money. In the early days of YouTube there was mostly trash, but then a few small channels started using formats, using specific styles and actually standing out above a pile shit.
I used to love how these creators made their content for their viewers, they were so very different from anything we had in those days. Things have changed, I get it, everybody and their dog are trying to make money on the internet. Content creators need to pay bills, feed families and maintain/improve their quality. Honestly, I get it. But it sucks, I feel like 90% of the content I come across are contractually based to release at a specific time or interval. Meaning content creators are just milking their audience and sponsors. I’m not saying this type of content isn’t good, it’s just how it feels 10x less genuine and from the heart of the creator. (I feel LTT belongs in this category as well) It feels like cable television with extra steps and a personal algorithmic touch.
What people tend to forget is how little resources you need to make good quality content on youtube. It’s never been easier to just start recording on our 4K+ smartphones. Yet, it’s never been this hard to consistently find early internet ethos content creators.
So Lemmy, can you tell me about some small content creators whichhave the passion and drive we used to see?
I’ll leave a few channels here which I enjoyed the most this past month.
Nokeric - Of the rails sketches
Joel Haver - Short sketches but also long form deep thought (Larger channel)
If you’re at all into Minecraft, EthosLab is the gold standard for low-key, super interesting, and not driven by money videos. He’s not small, but he’s worth mentioning in case anyone hasn’t heard of him.
Get your snacks!
His minecraft series is the longest series I’ve ever watched. I’ve been watching since the Chocolate Island and Sgt Spaz days. So good.
Absolutely agree. He’s one of the channels I’ve watched for the longest. Been subscribed since probably 2011 or so. His videos are just so wholesome and it always makes my day when he uploads. Absolutely recommend if people are into minecraft survival content.
“Hello. My name is, your host, … The Crafsman.”
The CrafsMan SteadycCaftin is the most chill, honest, and entertaining crafting/toymaking/music-making channel anywhere.
I’m surprised no one has mentioned Cody’s Lab. He’s been on YouTube for a very long time, never seen him have ads or do sponsors or anything. He also frequently gets screwed over by YouTube due to his content (lots of chemistry) but has always managed to keep making videos.
Big fan as well!
Yes. He said youtube hasn’t paid him in a very long time
I have to tell you about Bobby Broccoli. He makes high quality videos about fraud/scandals in science. All his videos are well researched and have a unique style you won’t find anywhere else on the internet. One of his recent documentaries (about fraud in stem cell/cloning research) was so good, Netflix straigt up copied it
And his style is so damn good with a single uniform Blender image that grows as the story develops. It’s destined to be copied by other video editors in the next few years.
Hell yeah, love that guy
All of them with sponsorblock, which you then whitelist based on tolerability and quality.
I find that most content producers don’t really actually let the sponsors get in the way of content in any capacity other than quantity (as in they produce too much for the channel’s good). There’s a small number of exceptions, but those usually stink enough that you spot it a mile away, and most of them intentionally. This isn’t TikTok or Insta, Creators actually do want you to know when they didn’t make something out of their own accord.
Some try to be more subtle with their one-off events… And into the blacklist they go back when they do. Unfortunately one of those was Kurszgesagt a month ago, with their blatantly biased and fearmongering video on Bioweapons, which was largely based on one non-scientific source. Funny enough, they did seem to a leave a hard to notice hint that the video was off, I mean, aside from the content. The hint was that: The video had no birds. You know, their mascots.
+1 to sponsor block. It’s a game changer in today’s YouTube.
That being said, it is still frustrating that most YouTubers nowadays censor the fuck out of their videos in fear of being cancelled by the YouTube algorithm or the sponsors. I appreciate when I come across a channel that still has the balls to say “fuck” or use normal words that people now suddenly view as “trigger” words like “kill” or use a squirt gun without censoring it.
I don’t mean that every video needs to be laden with profanity and shock content, but just that I want it to be normal, relaxed, and genuine. Not some stupid squeaky clean version of content that only 10 year old children in Catholic school are allowed to watch. I’m a grown ass adult goddamnit.
Cold Ones is a bit of an obnoxious channel, but I appreciate that they don’t bend to the will of YouTube’s stupid censorship for the most part.
Generally though I prefer to watch reaction YouTubers. Sixteenleo has fantastic long form content (hour+ long videos) doing deep dive reaction videos. He doesn’t have a loud, obnoxious vibe that many channels do either. I like his relaxed vibe and long form content.
Them being sponsored is not the issue here, contrary to popular belief, you can actually be sponsored AND unbiased. But listen to many different creators and you’ll notice a trend in burnout, chasing the next viral video, having to meet deadlines for sponsors, etc. All these things can and will deteriorate the viewing experience.
I follow plenty of creators, doing so full-time and only with the support of their fans, it’s a well thought out, proven system and it works. Almost all of them started before any monetisation was possible as well. It’s amazing how something like that is even possible.
All that being said, there’s a definite decline in passion and drive across the board. I still enjoy all the new produced content, but in the same way I enjoy a movie or TV show. Much less in a “we’re a community of like minded people” kind of way.
My problem with sponsorship isn’t about bias, it’s about annoying sponsored segments.
One of my favorites is Atomic Shrimp. He does his own thing creating videos on weird stuff he loves doing. Videos include scambaiting, reviewing cans of strange foods, nature and slowtv videos, cooking meals from ingredients bought with limited budgets and rules, food, gardening, and crafting experiments, cheap dropship item reviews, etc.
I’ve never seen a sponsored ad from him and he avoids using clickbaity thumbnails and titles. His content isn’t for everyone, but I thoroughly enjoy watching all the random shit he does.
Edit: also, I just read over his channel description, he blatantly says he does not accept any offers for sponsorships, paid ads, product placements, etc. Definitely fits your “not for the money” question! :)
First name that came to mind when I saw the thread title. His new Weird Stuff in a Can episode was a fun journey.
Hardly a small channel, but VlogBrothers still make videos like it’s 2008. They don’t even ask you to like, comment, and subscribe, never mind mid-video ad reads for World of Warships or Scottish Titles.
Hbomberguy and MattKC come to mind for me. Also, but this is very niche, most of the Brickfilming scene still feels this way, there’s just no money to be made in there.
Project Farm is probably the foremost tool/gear testing and review channel. No sponsors, he always buys what he tests with his own money, and all of the testing ideas come from the community. This dude is one of the hardest working content creators and makes great videos that serve a valuable purpose.
I mainly make game reviews and I often get comments shocked at how I only have 600 subs, so go check me out if you have the time. I just made an hour long video about Pokemon Crystal a few weeks ago lol.
deleted by creator
Beau Miles. Makes beautiful little documentaries voiced over with his beautiful Australian accent.
Amazing suggestion, what a gem
Away from the edutainment and tech based stuff, I like Decino. Just a guy that really likes playing old school Doom. He doesn’t do the whole exaggerated reactions or yelling or anything like that and I don’t think I’ve ever heard him plug any kind of sponsor or product. It’s great to put on in the background or just watch casually if you’re into it
For videogame gameplays, I like 2BSkyen. It’s a secondary channel of his (his main ones being TBSkyen and TBSkyenShorts or something like that) and I tend to find that secondary channels are the ones that are usually less plagued by chasing trends and sponsored stuff. In his main channels he has a focus in character design but I like him because he’s sort of an all-rounder: he’s insightful, knows a bit about everything and is much more eloquent than the average youtuber. I also like that he wears his progressive politics on his sleeve and that he’s not scared of playing like a patient gamer and reading the lore. He’s also a bit of an insider in the videogame industry and sometimes shares interesting stuff regarding that.
If you like to discover indie games, I have two channels for you: Wanderbots and Splattercatgaming. The first one is a progressive guy that explores all kinds of indie games (but I do think he likes bullet heavens and turret defense games because there’s a lot of those), he also sometimes plays with his wife and friends. The second one has quite a high quality channel and he periodically revisits what feels like every single RPG and/or strategy and/or roguelite and/or space related indie game out there giving his insights on each version of them along their development. Both of these channels tend to play just a bit of the game, not full walkthroughs: that way you can choose if you’d like to play the actual game yourself and support indie devs.
My last gameplay channel recommendation would be MKIceAndFire. Now I don’t know if this fits your criterium exactly because he does very much upload the latest mainstream games the second they come out, and very often before they do because game companies seem to give him early access. The reason for that is that it’s the biggest no commentary gameplay channel in YT. So… it kinda feels like and old school YT channel if you used to watch no commentary let’s plays on YT, which is something that I did. And if there’s a mainstream game I want to watch that I know I won’t find an insightful letsplayer playing it… then I know I can watch it in MKIceAndFire. It’s not often that I need him, but he’s always there. He also has a lot of Mortal Kombat and fighting game videos if that’s your thing.
For non gameplay channels, there’s a number I follow that do their own thing and disregard the algorithm:
-
Brian David Gilbert: He just does weird song videos, his humor is kinda 2000s YT.
-
Errant Signal: He does good video essays analyzing videogames, usually indie ones. He also has a phenomenal series he has been slowly building lately called Children of Doom which I absolutely recommend if you like videogame history. I don’t even like FPS games and I found it entrancing.
-
New Frame Plus: The guy does video essays on videogame animations. I particularly like his Final Fantasy ones, where he goes through the animation of every FF game starting from the first one, and the Best Game Animation of the Year where he shoutouts a lot of noteworthy animation in videogames for the whole year. I like how it feels he loves and relishes every single detail of animation work.
-
Innuendo Studios: This one doesn’t upload very often but he does interesting political essays on the alt right from a leftist perspective.
.
BTW anyone reading this that made it to here: if you have channels you would recommend me based on the things I’ve said I like I’d love to hear it.
I haven’t watched splattercat that much but I do like his channel to discover new stuff. What makes you say he’s not progressive? I don’t remember hum saying anything even close to political.
Oh I think I just worded it poorly. English is not my native language. I took it out now, but basically I meant that while Wanderbots has shown to be explicitly progressive a couple of times, Splattercatgaming has not. Actually now that I think about it when there’s explicit moral/ideological decisions in-game he does tend to pick the most “right-wing” ones, but I know that shouldn’t be posited as indicative of anything IRL. Like in this one (link to the video but also to a comment from someone else highlighting how he usually does just that).
-
I’ve been trying to figure out why Bess never hit it big for years now. She does some of the most cutting anime analysis you can find. Though her body of work is still fairly small, admittedly.
Example, diving into the Madoka Magica debate: https://youtu.be/n_71AJSpDPI?si=4qrYjpseohnWJ7iu
