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)
My channel is not very good 😅 but I make videos just because I love talking about old video games and want an excuse to talk about them more. New videos come out every Tuesday and Saturday because that’s when my co-host is off of work and can watch them with her mom. 🙂
Nothing wrong with a little self promotion! I do enjoy channels like The Retro Future as well, I’m sure I’ll enjoy yours as well.
My kinda content! Giving you a follow!
“Hello. My name is, your host, … The Crafsman.”
The CrafsMan SteadycCaftin is the most chill, honest, and entertaining crafting/toymaking/music-making channel anywhere.
There’s some outstanding science content out there. My newest find is Three Twentysix, a 2.5k-subscriber chemistry channel. I’ve already learned some new stuff from him that I hadn’t seen from The Professor or Nile Red.
I have a big list of favorites that I’ve shared recently, really solid creators, but that’s my hot tip for the day.
Good suggestion, thanks! Edutainment is very hot right now, honestly the future of education in some ways.
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I’m open-source, check me out at GitHub.
Louis Rossman. Right to repair is great
He’s absolutely the best spokesperson for right to repair. Very knowledgeable and no-bullshit approach. Although I find he’s becoming very complainy lately, not that there’s not enough to complain about lmao, but sometimes I’m not in the mood for 15 min of heated ranting.
Prozd and Magic the Noah.
Prozd is mostly “Here’s a boardgame i reviewed. Now look here’s a skit!”
Magic the Noah just bullshits around coming up with boardgames that he forces other small content creators to play.
Removed by mod
I mean yes. Ofc. But that is how it always has been. He was a VA before he started youtube. But the format and the irregularity of when he posts is not of the money making kind.
I think sponsored content is impossible to get away from but prozd has mostly stayed the same since he started youtube.
ProZD has been arround! Definitely enjoyed him, I’ll check the other channel out as well, thank you.
Civvie 11 has a Patreon, but he never begs ya to support him, doesn’t take sponsors (even makes fake sponsor skits to make fun of sponsors), and he just delivers his content with no intention on letting monetization get in the way. Worst he’s done is display a card saying “midroll ad goes here.”
As for his content, it’s sort of a hybrid review/let’s play of old first person shooters, new first person shooters inspired by those of old, hilariously inept first person shooters, and Slavjank. His humor is fantastic, editing is tight, and there’s a sort of back story going on in the background of his videos that he could not be more interested in getting involved in (in character, mind.)
I watched pro postal a while ago and it was pretty good. I’ll watch more of his content.
Beau of the fifth column does 3-10 minute videos doing political analysis in what looks like a garage.
He said on a longer FAQ video that he’s set things up to hide his channel’s income from himself. He draws a salary that’s enough to take care of his family, but he doesn’t know how much more the channel earns – he doesn’t want his content to be influenced even unconsciously by which videos The Algorithm say paid better.
Beau is a good one!
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.
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.
I was going to suggest Direwolf20 for the exact same reasoning
https://www.youtube.com/@post.10
just a dude unclogging culverts, living in the moment
no ads, no begging to subscribe, nothing, just pure raw content
Lmao, thank you. Unironically just people doing their jobs is great content. Powerwashing, yard cleaning, wood building, etc
I do appreciate creators who do their own content despite being keenly aware of the algorithm.
Infrequent long-form content creators to check out:
Tom O’Regan: British(?) topical/interest reviews, personal recommendations include his Obra Dinn video, Sickest Chess Match, and The Biggest Mistake In Music History
B-Mask: I support him on Patreon so pardon the bias but he likes to take his time creating in-depth and clear retrospectives on topics he’s interested in, managing to get you interested in The Fantastic Four, Jems, and 2000s video game trilogies. Not long form for the sake of $$$ but insightful analysis of the history, themes, and personal deconstruction of such topics.
Also check out Moth Light Media for evolutionary biology, and Lines in Motion for manga and art analysis.
More frequent but short form (under 4 minutes) creators to check out are few and wide, 5sf are back-ish but carrying the torch are:
CrackerMilk are a bunch of good aussie lads making short sketches for quick laughs, with excellent timing and shooting.
Valueselect is a personal fave where he was doing sketches a year or two ago but is experimenting with yt shorts quite well. The majority of his comedy surrealist/fantasy/80’s styling music are absolute hits.
Hope these are good starting points, I found these guys from browsing similar threads.
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
Bill Wurtz
I’ve got some, but they’re not small.
There’s callmekevin for game plays, but it’s done in the worst way possible. (Rtgame, too. They’re friends and have videos together)
Stephen tries’ main channel. He does comedy sketches. But may not land as well if you’re not from England.
And, one I haven’t seen people mention, Kurzgesagt. Some people have issues from them for talking about things that may be influenced. And they’ve got big sponsors like Bill Gates. But, when you actually watch them, that whole kerfuffle just doesn’t make sense because of what they talk about. They do educational videos, and their art style is the best I’ve honestly seen.
Chuggaconroy and TRG have pretty much kept up their quality over 20 years at this point, specially Chuggaconroy. He specializes in Nintendo games, and he’s known for doing borderline encyclopedic let’s plays, such as 100% Xenoblade chronicles. TRG meanwhile is just three guys hanging out and having fun. Just a fair warning, Chugga in particular has very high energy. Not obnoxious, like Mr.Beast or other high content YouTubers, but he’s known for having extremely high energy moments. His newer content is much more mellow.
