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'''DarkViper: '''A good example is XQC who makes about 4 million dollars a year from Twitch alone. Analyzing less than a month of his Twitch streams, showed me that he streamed about 70 hours of other people’s videos during this time which is comparable to how long high ranking non-reacting streamers can stream at all. Do you have any idea how long it takes to make 70 hours of edited YouTube content? This is like thousands of hours of unpaid labour! |
Actual creators have to deal with all the other responsibilities and detrimental effects brought about from content creation, but XQC does not, due to his ability to stare silently at YouTube videos for many hours a day. In other words, reactors use reacting to increase the exposure they get on Twitch and limit what everyone else receives on the platform. Attempting to fight XQC and other larger Twitch streamers for the scraps of Twitch exposure that slip through their fingers is not a productive use of time compared to making content for YouTube which has a better recommendation system. Twitch's works generally as a ‘trickle down’ system, where the larger streamers get the first shot at viewers looking for new content, and less and less are still looking the further down the list you are.Therefore, the less time larger streamers spend streaming the less barriers exist for other creators to get viewers and the greater the need for the larger streamers’ viewers to branch out and find other content creators. The further away you start from the top, the less chance you have to get there, this is why it is effectively unheard of for new creators to grow from zero to hero solely on Twitch. The systems are just not designed for it but this can happen if you get exposure from other platforms. For example, I didn’t become #296 on Twitch because I streamed on Twitch, I became #296 by reducing the amount I streamed each year and focusing on YouTube. It doesn’t matter how hard you work, or how talented you are, you are not going to beat the guys with no conscience who steal the talents of thousands of people, in a system designed to keep them successful. |
'''''So other Twitch streamers get screwed, but the YouTube reactees benefit right?''''' |
'''DarkViper: '''No. If reaction content on Twitch lead to a significant amount of viewers watching other things then the reacting streamers wouldn’t do it as they would quickly run out of viewers. Twitch reactors, like all reactors, are trying to keep viewers with them rather than having them watch someone else. They are obviously succeeding, thus believing that actual creators benefit if people watch Twitch reactors more is quite silly. Reacting on Twitch is ineffective at driving viewers to other creators for the following reasons: |
''1. These are Twitch viewers, who are happy watching Twitch, and the person they are presently watching.'''''DarkViper: '''Getting people to jump platforms is hard at the best of times but a reactor gives as little reason as possible for a viewer to go. A viewer wants content, and there it is in the livestream. Advertising is all about creating a want in someone, and then telling a person where they can satiate it. A reactor’s livestream is already satiating the want a person has for entertainment, thus they need additional motivation to leave. But on the contrary, they have every reason not to leave because they know they will miss the livestream content coming right up next. The livestream does not end thus there is no natural break to cause people to think about seeking a different creator. The livestream directly competes with the original creator for the viewer's attention and the livestream has a far better chance of winning because the viewer is already watching it. Besides, if a viewer wanted to find something new, they’d be looking in the directories for it, or would be on YouTube in the recommendation algorithm. They are in the livestream to watch that livestream, if they wanted to be hopping around YouTube videos they wouldn’t be there. Some people just want to chill and have the content curated for them, which is obviously a much easier job than actually making the content being curated. |
''2. They have already seen the video.'''''DarkViper: '''As I have already mentioned, YouTube cares about watch time. A viewer who has already seen a video is not going to watch that video again even if they find some way to stumble into it. Having a link appear in chat for a few seconds before it flies by isn’t really easy access to the original video. But even in the case that they do find a way to the original, hitting the like button, and going back to Twitch is literally the worst form of engagement possible. YouTube wants to keep people on the platform, and this engagement suggests your video sucks at it. It has no ability to influence the trajectory of your video in the algorithm which, in modern YouTube, is all you should care about. |
''3. Much of Twitch’s viewership is passive.'''''DarkViper: '''Many people go to Twitch to chill, to have something on in the background. You may often notice that whenever a streamer runs something that requires engagement, the amount of people who engage is only a small fraction of their viewer numbers. |
'''Tyler1:''' What are these votes…? IF YOU’RE NOT GONNA PARTICIPATE IN THE GROUP ACTIVITY, THEN LEAVE! |
'''DarkViper: '''So if your video is shown to 12k people on Twitch, the amount of people who are in a position to even attempt to seek out the original creator is only a tiny fraction. For a viewer of a Twitch stream to seek out the reactees content they have to: |
- Not be away from their PC.- Not just listening to the livestream.- Not otherwise distracted for example by playing a video game.- They have to know the name of what is on screen and the original creator, which is not always shown.- They have to want more of the original creators' content, despite already having been given its start, middle and end, and not necessarily knowing what else the original creator has made.- They have to be looking at chat in time to catch a link as it flies by if one is given at all.- They have to not want to be in a livestream anymore that they were previously enjoying.- Lastly, they actually have to find some interest in whatever they find on the original channel once they investigate.<span style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#3c4043;">Much like with a reaction video on YouTube, reaction streamers benefit right away, whereas several things need to happen for the reactee to gain anything at all. The reactor maintains their exposure and revenue the second they show the video, while the benefit to the original creator who spent all the effort to create the content is either non-existent or so incredibly small that is hard to find. Targeting this singular drop of water rather than the ocean that is YouTube’s native forms of exposure is clearly a waste of time. |
''4. Reactors do not want their viewers to leave. '' |
Reactors do not work to inspire their viewers to seek out the original creator, or when they do, it is often performative. A reactor will say “ok guys, we are going to watch this video” and then will speak of all the things they will do after the video giving viewers every reason to stay. The livestreamer is competing with the original creator, and obviously the livestreamer has the home field advantage. |
''5. Even recorded cases of engagement are very low''JayExci was reacted to by Hasan Piker in front of 30000 people and got an extra 180 views. Bismuth got reacted to in front of 12k people and got 50 views. WillyMacShow got reacted to by MoistCritikal in front of 20k people and got 100 views. These numbers are obviously tiny but I want to look at the best case scenario. Ludwig spent 600 dollars to get the highest levels of production quality and voice acting to make a video specifically about Mizkif and to stroke his ego. No one had seen this video before, but even after paying Mizkif to watch it in front of 50000 people, only around 2000 clicked through to the original video. This was a video no one had seen, literally perfectly tailored to the audience and creator, and the click through rate was 4% and no one then watched the original video when they clicked through as they had already seen it. |
'''Ludwig:''' Obviously there’s a huge drop-off because a lot of these people watch you with Mizkif. |
Think how these numbers would compare to how many of these 50k would have just stumbled on the video naturally and watched it on the original channel, but now will not do so because of the reaction. I have a video coming out later that will look at this example more closely, because it is even worse than I am describing, but we will leave it there. Ludwig as an example, now imagine how low these numbers get when it is just a normal video not made specifically for that creator and their audience. Well you don’t have to imagine it because I gave you examples but you get the idea. Compare that to a reality where these people just didn’t react to content, and so their viewers had to go and find content that appeals to them elsewhere in the market. What is likely to generate more benefit for others? |
'''''Why doesn’t everyone just do react content on Twitch?''''' |
'''DarkViper: '''Outside of ethics or a respect for other creators, anyone can do it, it requires no skill. However those who are already successful will receive the most benefit. The more exposure you are already getting, the better off you will be increasing the duration you experience it. If your exposure is zero, staying live permanently does you no good, but if you are getting the maximum exposure possible in every directory you’re in, obviously staying live matters more. |
It should be obvious by now that Twitch is a terrible place to grow, its a system where the rich are far more likely to get richer with or without react content. React content just makes it far worse and there is really no escaping it. If you don’t want to compete with react streamers, sure you can go spend 10 hours making a YouTube video but those reactors will just stream those 10 hours, and then either steal your YouTube video, or someone else’s, to upload to their YouTube channel in an attempt to siphon the market on YouTube away from you. Whether you like it or not, wherever you go, you will be at a disadvantage to the content thieves. You are always going to be better off to be the one aggregating the content to yourself, than spending the time to make it. Theft is always faster than creation. |
You can ask yourself, would you rather be the guy spending 100 hours making a YouTube video or to be the guy reacting to this content for millions of dollars a year without paying a dime to those who actually did the work. Not a hard choice.[ludwig won an award video mogul moves speaking about how he doesnt get how xqc can be live so long]'''''But Isn’t All Content Just React Content?''''' |
'''DarkViper: '''What defines an appropriate use of someone else’s content, to me at least, is not simply about what you add but what you leave behind. You should never take so much that what remains has no value. What you create should not be a perfect substitute for the original, which all react content is. This is why content around video games works well for example. It acts as an advertisement for an experience that a video can never give. It is effectively impossible to show everything that a game has to offer, but even if you manage to hold a single viewer for potentially 100s of hours, the experience of doing it yourself, the gameplay that defines what games are, is value that you are unable to take from the original and give to the viewer. “Wow, this game looks so fun, where do I get it?”. Moreover, content made about video games…has to actually be made. It takes effort to make content from it. You can’t just boot up the video game and let it run itself, which is obviously the case for react content as reactors don't even need to be in the room. Edited videos are already content, thus anything you do beyond that is merely a bonus. This is not the case with video games as they are effectively platforms for creation, what you personally do in them potentially has never been done exactly that way before and maybe will never be done exactly that way again. Making react and gaming content comparable would be like if Asmongold ripped God of War and started selling it for $15 each, attempting to take the game sales away from the people who actually make video games. Taking not only from the creators of God of War, but all those who make games. |
'''''But the reactors will stop if asked!''''' |
'''DarkViper: '''The only reason reactors stop stealing your content if you find out is because they fear copyright strike or community backlash. That is it. You have found them stealing from your house and they stopped because they worried you’d call the cops. They obviously don’t give back anything they stole, but they then go next door and start stealing from your neighbour. It isn’t even possible for a reactor to give back what they steal anyway, as the money and exposure comes from everyone, not just a singular source. Regardless, there are never any consequences for a reactor when they are found stealing, so they just keep doing it. It doesn’t matter how many riots there are about reactors, it doesn’t matter how many videos or articles are made against it, reactors will just wait until the heat dies down and go back to reacting. |
In the same way that Charlie said he would stop reacting, but went right back to doing it anyway.'''''To the reactees, the unpaid interns''DarkViper: '''Has this not gone far enough? Does our space need people making millions of dollars reposting content? Do you sincerely believe that the wealthiest among us should be able to bolster their enterprise without working for it? Do you believe in trickle down economics, that if the rich get richer everyone benefits? Do you actually sit for hours staring at your editing software to be the unpaid intern in another person’s enterprise that seeks to usurp the market from you and people like you? Whatever you believe you get from supporting react content, you must see that there is never a net benefit for you, or anyone else in this space, because reaction content as a totality will always take more from the market than reactees receive from reactions. It is a net loss for you long term and it always will be. But worse, you contribute to the diminishing of all those around you as well, you sell out your fellow creators for gluttony of the lazy reactors.'''DarkViper: '''Any person who watches or reuploads enough videos to be seen as a reactor isn't celebrating your work, they don't care about you. Is being Asmongold’s 500th lay something you should feel proud of? To be used as his justification to avoid work, to avoid learning new skills, paying people for labour, or avoid growing as a person? You are not Asmongold’s partner, you are his tool. A means to an end to be discarded when you have served your use. Your labour will be added to his pile, as have the hundreds before and will hundreds after. He will take from you as he does everyone else and will not stop until he has it all. Asmongold clearly has enough, but enough is never enough to those who feel entitled to have it all. |
'''''A sad note to end on.''''' |
'''DarkViper: '''Those who exploit and abuse others are too powerful in this world. Even in this small corner, even with all the influence I have, I feel powerless to stop even this injustice and let’s be real, it is far from the greatest injustice that exists. Social systems value the already successful, regardless of how this success was obtained, and they make it easier for them to maintain and increase that success to the detriment of those who have yet obtained it. I believed this to be true before I became rich and successful, I believe it more now that I am both. I despise such aspects of life and react content is to me just one example of it.'''DarkViper: '''There is little I love more than passionate people. To see these lazy people, reposting other people’s videos at the speed of sound, spending just enough time to watch and say a few words, this isn’t what content creation should be. Usurping the market away from actual creators, people with a passion for this work, disgusts me. Watching a YouTube video and pausing it doesn’t make something new and distinct, it isn’t creating anything. The reactor is merely presenting someone else’s work for profit and that is obvious to anyone who isn’t blind. |
'''DarkViper: '''Reacting is a scam that works to keep those in dominance continuously dominant. It is unlimited free labour used to avoid much of the work that normally goes into content creation so that the reactor can spend the maximum time farming exposure for themselves away from others. There are those who make YouTube videos, and there are those who steal them. What exposure does fall from the reactors to those below, isn’t out of magnanimity. They are not being benevolent or kind. Their scam is just not foolproof, they can’t capture everyone, even if they try. I believe people in society who work hard should be rewarded for it, not those who specifically avoid working hard. I want to go back to the start of this video; |
'''DarkViper: '''Why do you think Asmongold believes he deserves to kick other people out of the recommended sections to make room for himself? He isn’t a YouTuber. He doesn’t edit. He isn’t willing to put forth actual effort to achieve his goal. Yet so entitled does he feel to this end, that he is willing to steal the efforts of others and displace other hard working deserving people on YouTube, in order to grab the wealth and fame away from them for himself. |
'''DarkViper: '''Every reactor is like Asmongold. Entitled. Your effort is merely the fuel for their success. They have a want, and they will take what they want without a care for the harm this causes others. It doesn’t matter what they have to say or do, at the end of the day, satisfying their wants is all that matters. Bottom line, I am not saying every person who has ever watched another person’s video is equivalent, but watching other creator’s content shouldn’t be a fundamental part of your business strategy as it is for reactors. |
'''DarkViper: '''Asmongold has been fundemental to the wider adoption of react content, and therefore the furthering of the rich getting richer nature of this industry, and the general exploitation of the hard working in favour of the lazy. Asmongold differs from other reactors in that, while I can’t be sure other reactors understand the harm they cause, I know for a fact asmongold understands and just doesn’t care. That, and the tweet he made, made him a better case study than most others for this video. |
While I would ask any reactee who is brave enough to strike reactors, I know just as readily as the reactors that fear of backlash will stay your hand in most cases. I would however appeal to the viewers. Do you feel our platforms are best served by the most lazy being the most rewarded? The most hard working being penalized for their efforts? Perhaps in your own life you have seen the undeserving rewarded, or felt used by those in higher positions. If so, unsubscribe from reactors. Click the three dots next to a recommendation and click ‘not interested in this channel’. The same algorithm that presented these videos to you will be the same one presenting something equally appealing in its place. YouTube is larger than any of us can fathom, the loss of these exploitative people will not be felt by you, but it will be appreciated by everyone else. |
Sources |
Asmongold Tweet |
[https://twitter.com/Asmongold/status/1422065592614506502?s=20&t=j6KIQ5jBWE5tASDNwOTxFw https://twitter.com/Asmongold/status/1422065592614506502?s=20&t=j6KIQ5jBWE5tASDNwOTxFw]''Asmongold YouTube''[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQeRaTukNYft1_6AZPACnog https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQeRaTukNYft1_6AZPACnog] |
''YouTube Revenue Information ''[https://influencermarketinghub.com/how-much-do-youtubers-make/ https://influencermarketinghub.com/how-much-do-youtubers-make/]''LinusTechTips Employment '' |
[https://youtu.be/7w8G8uTOwY8?t=4895 https://youtu.be/7w8G8uTOwY8?t=4895] |
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEygSwHWhfA&t=5420s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEygSwHWhfA&t=5420s][https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGNrrZl-8Q4&t=2125s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGNrrZl-8Q4&t=2125s] |
''People watching anime on Twitch''[https://www.twitch.tv/spillingthemilk/clip/IgnorantVivaciousRedpandaSaltBae-vYgkJ6awvrgPAWh9 https://www.twitch.tv/spillingthemilk/clip/IgnorantVivaciousRedpandaSaltBae-vYgkJ6awvrgPAWh9] |
''There will Never Ever be another Simpsons episode like Homer's Enemy'' |
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq-qU_GCCLI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq-qU_GCCLI] |
''Gameranx Shout Out''[https://youtu.be/xdxOkTjfuzU?t=471 https://youtu.be/xdxOkTjfuzU?t=471]''WillyMack Show React Numbers''[https://youtu.be/0-SgKor0mJs?t=118 https://youtu.be/0-SgKor0mJs?t=118] |