Should the “Like, Share, Subscribe and Comment” Culture Change?

There is no surprise that if you have been present on literally any social media platform you have seen or heard someone ask you to like, share, comment or subscribe. Ever since the virtual world has become more populated, the need to keep asking for more support has been increased. I remember watching YouTube videos back in the time when not all youtubers would ask for something in return. They just created because they enjoyed creating. Today, even the more popular channels still ask for likes, subscribers and comments.

This makes me think as a fellow youtuber as well that what is the end goal of being on YouTube? Or what is the main goal of being on YouTube? Is this an endless cycle of just expecting more and more? Are we always just expected to create content that will probably click? Especially in times such as these, where social media or virtual presence is becoming more important? And if we keep the perception that youtubers need to keep asking for support or the audience expects only relatable content to be made, where exactly are we heading towards?

I don’t deny the entertainment sector as a whole, functions in a way where the entertainers are expected to do things that actually entertain the audience. That does not mean wherever you go entertainers are begging for you to support them. The reason why I am really speaking about this factor is because today, youtubers or content creators in general have the pressure to always create content that aligns with the trends that are going on. For sure there are creators where once they grow they are free to create the content they enjoy but that isn’t really the case for everyone.

I really enjoy the space and the content that I consume but the moment I am asked to do something or I have to ask the viewer to do something this whole relationship feels a bit transactional. What if there was a system which saw this whole supporting factor in a different way?

To see things in a different way we first need to address what the problem is. Mainly viewers who visit platforms to consume content don’t actively think about the engagement element. Even for me I consistently watch many youtubers but it does not click to me to like or subscribe to their channel. To be mindful I know this is not the case for everyone, I do know people who are very supportive as viewers. What about the others? I see my family also consuming content but not really thinking that their liking or commenting will also make it better for the youtuber to grow. This does not mean that viewers don’t want to support the creators, it’s just something that is not actively going in their mind.

So what if the platform was built differently? If a viewer watches 10 videos (random number) from the same creator, then the algorithm would automatically make the viewer into a subscriber. The more frequently viewers watched videos the more badges they could receive. So basically it could gamify the whole experience for a viewer. In that case youtubers would mainly need to focus on creating good content instead of unique ways to create good content.

There could be different layers based on consistency, meaning if a person only watched only one of your videos in a month they would be base supporters, if they watched 4 videos per month they would be in a higher tier and so on. The more consistently a viewer watches the higher the viewer goes. To make the experience even better, they could do something special for the people who always support them like a dinner with the youtuber or some tickets to their events or even their merch.

I think this could really shift the focus on social media platforms where it would be purely about creating quality content over making something really long and asking viewers to stay until the end and then ask them to keep subscribing throughout.

Unfortunately, I don’t know if the solution completely solves the whole like, share, subscribe and comment. I also don’t know if this is something really worth working on or not.

So until there is a change, if I have to make it as a content creator I have to ask the viewer to keep showing their support which would enable us creators to keep creating.

Hence, let us know what you think about this in the comments section below, you could even subscribe to our Amchi Kingdom YouTube channel and follow us on Instagram as well (typical behavior but a creator got no other choice)!!

Originally published at http://amchikingdom.wordpress.com on July 19, 2021.