When you are creating content, then you are subject to the passing whims of the platforms you are on. If YouTube decided tomorrow to no longer have video hosting for channels smaller than 1000 subscribers, then a majority of the platform would be screwed.
I highly doubt something like that will happen, but let's take a look a different example... or two.
Meta (Facebook) is a notoriously crappy platform to be on. Their public pages feature is constantly changing dramatically, the user base is much older now (which for some is good), and it is filled to the brim with false news articles.
Another example is the violent eruption that has been Twitter the last week or so, as Elon Musk had acquired them. Immediately started making drastic changes, and as a content creator I am no longer sure I care to be on the platform in the long run. It makes a lot of people like me start to look at Mastodon much more.
Here are some YouTube Channels that did just that:
The first one is Corridor Digital, and they are a phenomenal channel. Beloved by fans, but it just so happened that a lower employee somehow got their information stolen. Then the hacker got access to the entire channel.
Now I will say C.D. actually has a wide omnichannel presence, but YouTube is their main video platform. They however, unlike most creators, have a subscription platform too on the side. Allowing for their audience to at least be able to find them there, but YT is meant to be the place where they could BUILD that audience.
The second video is from Senpai Gaming (previously Alpha Gaming, hosted by Harris Heller). He is a multi-faceted creator, that often teaches how to stream. Twitch has been the top dog for quite some time, and other platforms like Trovo, Caffeine, D.live, or even YouTube up to this point couldn't keep up.
YouTube has been cleaning house however, and started to steal a lot... errr tons of the big name streamers.
In this video Harris discusses a pretty critical change in how Twitch is approaching the futrue. A change that is dramatically shifting the playing field for YouTube. Meaning for those who put all their eggs in the Twitch basket are out of luck.
Being a MultiFaceted - MultiPlatform Creator
Long gone are the days where you can JUST be a podcaster, a blogger, or YouTuber. You really need to have at least 2 of the 3, if not all three content types. I was astonished by how long it took great creators like Ali Abdaal or MKBHD, to start their podcasts. Now they both have far greater podcast subscribers than me, even though I've had double the time!
Here is why I am okay with that though! I know that they already had a huge established audience when they started their shows. I think Ali had just hit a million, and Marques had multiple millions.
Not to mention teams behind them, and helping them on the backend tedious work.
Here is where I stand on the content creation starting point now. I truly think that in order to be the BEST success in your goals; Then you need to start out with one pillar type, doesn't matter which, but get really good at it as quick as possible. Usually making around 100 pieces of that content, so you know what works and what doesn't.
Then as quickly as you can manage to start, go into another format, and maybe when you reach 70 posts of that original content type even. Start to experiment with that new format, and when you reach 100 you can make it more consistently.
The sooner you SUSTAINABLY get to all three content types, then the sooner you will be more successful as a multifaceted creator. Not to mention the sooner you are ON multiple platforms too.
The Next Web
I am lowkey obsessed with web3, and the platforms that are starting to come out on this new layer of technology. Whether it is the newsletter platform Paragraph, or the Twitter clone Mastodon. There are a lot to be seen and a huge amount of early mover advantage to take on.
Interestingly enough I've actually been on Mastodon for YEARS, since 2019.
Although I joined a ton of other platforms as well, and many of them are dead in the water. I.e. "Sociall".
How do you know then which one is a waste of time, and which ones are not? Well you don't, but you also find ways of making sure you aren't spending too much time on them either. I autopost my tweets to Mastodon. I wanted to be on Pinterest, but I couldn't find the time so I autopost my Instagrams and YT videos to there.
I'm not a huge advocator of doing such automated stuff, as it can get spammy REAL quick if you're not careful. However if you're not going to be on the platform in any meaningful way otherwise, then you might as well.
My point is that there are a lot of amazing platforms cropping up, that most people haven't heard of yet.... but they will.
If you can take advantage of that first mover push, then it will help you grow so much faster.
Spread Yourself OUT
Whether you are just simply taking your big content, and turning it into microcontent. You are syndicating or crossposting/autoposting from another platform. Maybe you are just creating a separate series for each place.
In any count I just want you to realize that any of these platforms can sweep the rug from underneath you. Do not put all of your eggs in one basket. Rather, take a more polymathic approach to your content ecosystem!
The benefit of the next web is that they are all decentralized, which means there won't be a big company (ideally) that would have control over the platform itself. No more Elon Musks coming in an changing how the verification works twice in one day kind of thing. For now however just reach as many people as you can. :)
