Emma Chamberlain, Samir Chaudry, and Colin Rosenblum on The Colin and Samir Show:
Emma:
That’s not really working anymore. Like, what I’m watching on YouTube is not YouTubers. Like, the era of YouTubers? I don’t know, like, that might be done for now.
Samir:
I think we’re in the moment — like, I’ve said this a few times — but I think we’re in the moment of like videos, not creators, where everything is about videos. And like, there could be a week where a creator — relatively unknown creator — just makes a video that gets 5 million views.
But then they — that’s the video of the moment, and then we move on.
It’s almost like we’re reverting back to the lean-back experience — which I know you didn’t experience, but I did growing up — of television, where you just like, turn it on and it’s like, you tell me what’s on today. You know?
And it’s kind of like, hey YouTube, hey TikTok, hey… you know, just tell me what’s on. Show me what’s on today, rather than me seeking out — like, with you, I think you, Casey, and Dobrik were like a different chapter where I sought out creators to watch.
You know, and I think today when I open YouTube, I’m just like, yeah. What’s — show me — what’s going on?
Emma:
That’s how I consume it, as well, and I’m still an avid YouTube watcher.
Like there are a few, like, I’m trying to think if I even know their names. Like, there are some YouTubers who consistently come up, but I don’t even know their name.
Colin:
It reminds me of music on Spotify where I know so many songs now, probably don’t know the name of the artist, and I definitely wouldn’t recognize them if they walked right in front of me.
I’m actually still a pretty YouTuber-centric YouTube viewer, but I’m betting there are a lot of viewers that would agree with Emma, Colin, and Samir’s observations that, for whatever reason lately, there feels like a shift in focus when you open YouTube these days — a shift away from the individual creators, and more toward the platform itself.
If this is true, be it by design or simply the way the algorithmic cookie is crumbling, the outcome is clear: good for YouTube, and bad for creators who aren’t yet capturing their audiences to their own platforms.
— Tang
Emma Chamberlain’s owned platforms are: Chamberlain Coffee and ShopEmmaChamberlain.com.
Colin and Samir’s owned platforms are: The Publish Press and ColinandSamir.com.
