Youtuber no More
About a week ago I decided to stop doing Youtube. I decided that I didn't want to make an official announcement. I just wanted to fade away. There are a multitude of reasons why.
I recently read that when asked what they wanted to do as a career, Gen Z (or whatever the new generation is now called) overwhelmingly answered "Youtuber" in a poll. I found this distressing. We have a generation obsessed with fame. I don't think that's a good thing. And my eight year old daughter spends a lot of time watching Youtube. About a week ago she asked me how many subscribers I have. "This is not normal" I thought to myself. If made me wonder if I was setting a bad example. Add to that the fact that I'm often recognized in public (the supermarket, the movie theater, etc) and she is often with me when people stop me on the street. What kind of message am I sending? I never set out to be a celebrity. It started with a podcast. Podcasting was a niche market. And even those who listened wouldn't recognize me on the street. I was a disembodied voice on a podcast. I was listening to another podcast at the time called the Sci-Fi Diner. The hosts of that show mentioned that they were uploading their old interviews to Youtube and it was driving traffic to the podcast. I decided to try that. And thus the MegaPodzilla Youtube page was born. Eventually I realized that I was getting more engagement on the Youtube page than the podcast and eventually the podcast disappeared altogether. In time the youtube page changed names (twice) and split into two: Krazy Joe Adventures and Krazy Joe's Concession Stand. I may revive the Krazy Joe's Concession Stand name for future podcasting events (such as the annual Dog Days of Podcasting) but otherwise I am done. I logged out of the Krazy Joe Adventures and Concession Stand Instagram pages and deleted the "Youtube Studios" app from my phone. If someone comments on the old videos or sends me a message on instagram, I won't see it.
This decision brings me a sense of peace. I have wanted out for a long time but I kept getting sucked back in. I had to quit cold turkey. It's like an addition. I often found myself making and uploading Youtube videos more out of habit than desire to do so.