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Bobbin Threadbare posted:What exactly makes something a self-promotional thread? I mean, basically every LP thread is self-promotional to an extent. Are we talking like a low-content "come check out my Youtube channel in case I eventually do something!" post or what you'd call a Youtube dump around here? Hey, thought I'd answer this. I've stopped posting on the LP subreddit as of recent months, but I've been lurking both there and here long enough that I think I can draw a distinction between the two for you. Alright, imagine... I dunno, call it six to ten months ago. The LP subreddit was pretty small, and as a result was very very slow. People would post tech questions occasionally, but the entire community was small enough that people posting their videos would kind of go... if not unseen, then unnoticed? It was an easy place to dump your content, but it occasionally got a few views and people didn't mind too much. In truth it almost functioned like the Sandcastle, if you continued posting the entire LP at the sandcastle over time. This got a bit cluttered, so they tried to make rules governing it. "Just make an update thread for your channel[s] once a week, so we don't flood the subreddit" and stuff like that. Well people eventually realized that the content dump was doing them more good than the feedback threads were, so the weekly update threads became the clutter of the front page. So one guy whose name I honestly cannot recall starts something called "Feedback Friday". It was a thread that would get stickied once a week, where people could post a video or two and get feedback on what they were doing right or wrong. First couple of weeks went fine, but then people just started leaving their videos and not giving feedback because "hey, this means someone will watch it and give me the gratification I need that my content is alright". So truth be told, eventually the first guy dropped out for a while and I took over Feedback Friday under a throwaway account I'd used for a joke in the subreddit a couple weeks/months prior. And I saw this issue and wanted to fix the drat thing, so I started making it a point to always mention in the opener "BE SURE TO GIVE FEEDBACK AS WELL AS GET IT" or something equivalent, and it sorta worked for a while. So people realized that Feedback Friday was becoming a dump site for content, and they made "Update Monday" which was DESIGNED to be a dump site for content, and made a rule that no direct LP links were to be posted. This made sure that only actual discussion about LPs was the goal, and that people weren't using it as cheap advertising. The last couple of months I'm a bit fuzzier on, but it looks like they've made a new thread for pretty much every day of the week. Technical Tuesday is the Tech Support Fort, reddit edition. What We're Watchin' Wednesday is a thread where people link LPs that they've been enjoying (so the LP Recommendations thread equivalent). Feedback Friday now has an invisible, implemented blacklist that ensures that people have to give feedback to others or they'll be shadowbanned (they can post, but no one else but them and the moderators can see the post) until they give feedback reliably a couple weeks in a row. Now that I'm looking at it, I think the mod that runs most of these threads (/u/wanderbots) is actually a goon himself. But if you're looking for the short version of what the LP Subreddit is, and what constitutes link dumping (without the "history of the subreddit" thing above): People used to just dump poo poo on the subreddit, and then try and downvote everything else so they would cycle off the frontpage faster and get their content in a prime position. This got prevalent enough that they both removed downvoting and banned link posting to your own LPs, save for very specific threads that are posted on specific days of the week. The entire subreddit is divided between the people that want to make high-quality LPs but are frustrated with the lack of viewership and want to find out what they're doing "wrong", and people who think that LP is their quick ticket to fame and want to find out just what they can do to rocket to internet stardom and youtube money. The problem is that the whole Youtube LP "market" is so flooded with content that there's really nothing but blind luck that'll determine whether or not their content gets seen, but that doesn't stop them from trying. And let me just say: in their capacity as a combination Tech Support Fort/LP Sandcastle/LP Recommendations, it's actually a pretty solid community. There are some good guides posted by Northernlion that have gained some popularity, and there are a few knowledgeable people around for general questions. The only problem with the whole system is that there are a bunch of people that want to "hit it big" in LP, and quite a few people on the subreddit seem to think that posting there is the way to do so. ...poo poo, this got long. Sorry.
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# ? Mar 6, 2014 01:40 |
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# ? May 25, 2024 04:10 |
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PAMaster posted:...poo poo, this got long. Sorry. It helped, though. I don't go to Reddit and so I didn't know its voting system made SA-style LP threads impossible.
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# ? Mar 6, 2014 02:13 |
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Bobbin Threadbare posted:It helped, though. I don't go to Reddit and so I didn't know its voting system made SA-style LP threads impossible. Reddit, and many other parts of the internet seem to be a case study in direct-democracy. And while it has some good results, the culture it creates is pretty drat toxic to creativity since it isn't quality that determines whether or not content gets popular, but the way in which the content is consciously or accidentally geared towards surviving in Reddit/Tumblr environments.
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# ? Mar 6, 2014 02:55 |
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Bobbin Threadbare posted:It helped, though. I don't go to Reddit and so I didn't know its voting system made SA-style LP threads impossible. That, and the fact that threads will naturally gain priority if they've been made within... 24 hours or so? So stuff is constantly shuffling off the page
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# ? Mar 6, 2014 03:38 |
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I got my start on the LP subreddit at the height of the self-promotion, downvote spam phase. Through some pretty significant effort, we've cut down on a lot of it, but as a result the subreddit is in this really weird limbo that I'm unsure if it'll ever break out of. Basically, an overwhelming majority of the people who post there are new and doing LP'ing as a sort of get Youtube famous quick scheme. There are very few people who have significant experience LP'ing, so most of the posts are very rudimentary, such as "How do I get started?" or "What microphone should I buy?" My experience has been every time I try to spur discussion towards more interesting topics, the threads die because the majority of the subreddit's posters are just not interested or at that "level" of LP'ing. There's actually a pretty small core group of people who all feel this way, and we can't really do anything about it. There's just not enough people experienced enough to contribute beyond the basics. As a result, there's almost no reason for people who do have a lot of offer to visit, let alone stay. What are they going to get out of it? When slowbeef came by with his analysis of Dark Souls LP's, it was a huge breath of fresh air. Finally, somebody who really knows their stuff is contributing! There's no reason for people who want to watch LP's to visit either, which is another huge problem. As a result, Wanderbots and I have more or less been driven here. I'm not going to speak on his behalf, but I want to integrate into a community with more experienced people so I can improve my hobby and get to the next level, so to speak. It seems like by reddit's design or just bad luck, the subreddit isn't cut out for that. It's kind of a sad state for people like myself who want it to improve, but I don't know if it's really a possibility to get beyond where it is at this point. Granted, it's leagues better than the flagrant video spam, but now it's just kind of a void.
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# ? Mar 6, 2014 05:15 |
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Hell, that's basically why I joined SA. The subreddit was an okay starting point but I needed something more substantial than "Your audio/video isn't terrible". Plus, my tastes doesn't really match the subreddit which (I feel) are mostly getting into LPing because of "Youtube-superstars" like Pewdiepie and GameGrumps. I can't actually stand that type of content. I just want to show off fun games... assuming Youtube ever gives me a response. Currently in the escalation phase of Youtube support. PAMaster posted:That, and the fact that threads will naturally gain priority if they've been made within... 24 hours or so? So stuff is constantly shuffling off the page Good for finding new cat pictures. Following a LP? Not so much. VivaVizer fucked around with this message at 06:12 on Mar 6, 2014 |
# ? Mar 6, 2014 06:03 |
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As someone who just follows the subreddit via RSS in case something interesting/entertaining comes up (never forget), I have noticed an increase in 'don't post like this' posts recently, though I doubt they'll amount to much unless they're made policy.
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# ? Mar 6, 2014 11:07 |
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Has anyone ever watched Galm? Despite his massive flood of videos - around 3000+ iirc - his commentary is half decent. e: https://www.youtube.com/user/GaLmHD/featured
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# ? Mar 6, 2014 16:51 |
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In my boredom at the office today, I stumbled upon this little beauty. http://letsplay.wikia.com/wiki/Let%27s_Play_Wiki:Main_Page It's a Let's Play Wiki that seems to be trying to promote better LPs... I kind of like the idea of a more public standard to help new LPers out. They will still probably read the section of what games not to LP and still decide to do every one of those games, but there was some effort to improve the poo poo that goes up out there.
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# ? Mar 6, 2014 17:00 |
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Brassherald posted:In my boredom at the office today, I stumbled upon this little beauty. I like that right on the front page there's a link to "List of Female Let's Players," right below "List of let's players." I guess a distinction should be made?
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# ? Mar 6, 2014 17:11 |
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Brassherald posted:In my boredom at the office today, I stumbled upon this little beauty. I like the idea of trying to set up a public standard, although I have to question why they have two pages for listing LPers; one of which is specifically for female LPers. Efb
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# ? Mar 6, 2014 17:12 |
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Well you've gotta keep Lpers separate by genders just like Legos right?
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# ? Mar 6, 2014 17:20 |
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The first list isn't even gender separated though.The author of the female lets player list posted:Please do not view this list as separating the girls & guys in gaming because that is not my intention. As a female let's player myself, I find it comforting seeing other female let's players on YouTube and I am constantly searching for more that I can relate to. This list will make it easier for us girls to find one another, to ask for advice, see the techniques some of us use to do well, and to get ideas from each other. It's tough being a girl in the YouTube let's player community, so I thought I'd start a place where we can share our channels with one another to get support & make friends!
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# ? Mar 6, 2014 17:22 |
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TARDISman posted:I like that right on the front page there's a link to "List of Female Let's Players," right below "List of let's players." I guess a distinction should be made? ChaosArgate posted:I like the idea of trying to set up a public standard, although I have to question why they have two pages for listing LPers; one of which is specifically for female LPers. Look, if we let the male and female Let's Players come together in the same list, then we are just going to get Let's Play babies. That is not something the community needs right now! What with all the LP Scandals with the LPaparazzi. In all seriousness, no clue what is up with that poo poo. I like the effort, the actual wiki can definitely use some work. Also, a few rules of thumb are straight lifted from our rules thread here, like the three month rule. I don't think this will benefit people much because of that. God forbid Youtube LPers don't release content of a game on release day, because no one will watch these games three months after the game is released.
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# ? Mar 6, 2014 17:23 |
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Of course, for example The Last Of Us, instantly became unwatchable after September 14th, 2013.
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# ? Mar 6, 2014 17:26 |
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Brassherald posted:In my boredom at the office today, I stumbled upon this little beauty. Their list of games to not LP has an entry for 3D Zeldas. Then a couple entries down, an entry for 2D Zeldas. Also, at the very bottom of the list, have you considered, instead of doing a video LP, doing a screenshot LP of "a book"?
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# ? Mar 6, 2014 17:27 |
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And Chip's Metal Gear Rising LP is completely awful for starting on May 18, 2013.
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# ? Mar 6, 2014 17:28 |
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Don't even get me started on Slowbeef's Metroid Prime LPs.
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# ? Mar 6, 2014 17:28 |
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MGN001 posted:Their list of games to not LP has an entry for 3D Zeldas. Then a couple entries down, an entry for 2D Zeldas. Oh, poo poo, my upcoming LP of Needful Things can really be a Screenshot LP... I never considered that.
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# ? Mar 6, 2014 17:29 |
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ChaosArgate posted:The first list isn't even gender separated though. I can understand what she's saying here, considering the majority of people doing LPs here are male and it seems like YouTube is majority male LPers as well it can seem like a No Girls Allowed thing at times. On the other hand, internet people are loving creepy as poo poo and I would never suggest reading the comments on videos by a female LPer too long unless you want to feel embarrassed for people who clearly have never learned to not be creepy.
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# ? Mar 6, 2014 17:29 |
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MGN001 posted:Also, at the very bottom of the list, have you considered, instead of doing a video LP, doing a screenshot LP of "a book"? Still gonna do a VLP of Green Eggs and Ham. I'm assuming they meant visual novels in that regard.
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# ? Mar 6, 2014 17:31 |
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Coming this fall, my LP of Curious George with thread participation!
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# ? Mar 6, 2014 17:38 |
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I'm pretty sure the list are "add yourself to them" with some of the descriptions to people who have over 100 videos and less than 30 subscribrs being how they are a newcomer to LPs who are both hilarious and insightful in their commentary on games. Also, there are definitely channels that break the 90s in videos listed on there, and have fewer subscribers than me, even though I have not made a video in over a year... How bad are these people? EDIT: I realize that subscriber count is not a measure of quality, but, this is also shameless self promotion on the site and they can't get a viewer base when they are legitimately trying. Brassherald fucked around with this message at 17:42 on Mar 6, 2014 |
# ? Mar 6, 2014 17:39 |
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It might not be that they're bad, but that they haven't been noticed by very many people.
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# ? Mar 6, 2014 17:42 |
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ChaosArgate posted:I like the idea of trying to set up a public standard, although I have to question why they have two pages for listing LPers; one of which is specifically for female LPers.
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# ? Mar 6, 2014 17:50 |
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Angrymog posted:Because we can't get enough of geeks going on about how much they love our accents or trying out terrible pick up lines. "Hey girl, I wouldn't be afraid to test post you in the sandcastle! " I can't help but remain cynical of this LP Wiki thing. Mostly because of things like this: Let's Play Wiki thing posted:Fragbait is an amazing lets player who is very similar to attackingtucans because he gets very vulgar from time to time, is terrible at games, and has highlarious commentary. (Emphasis mine) If you want to laugh Fragbait is your man all of his subscribers love his commentary. He is currently doing Lets Plays of Banjo Tooie and Legend of Zelda OoT. Also he is about to start a new Lets Play versus after His Sunshine versus ended due to his opponent (RavinEdge) being unable to record videos. His new versus is on Sonic Adventure 2 Battle against SuperGirlKels and he hopes to one day do a versus with attackingtucans. I'm not sure if the LPers make the bios themselves, or not. On a side note, I looked up some LPs of Shaq Fu, since the trailer to Shaq Fu 2 was released! I happened to find this very interesting review. I don't think guy has the skillz to pay the billz, as Shaq would say.
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# ? Mar 6, 2014 18:45 |
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RSCNyx posted:I can't help but remain cynical of this LP Wiki thing. My respect for it goes fully to the theory, upon reading more into it, I see that in practice, it falls short of good.
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# ? Mar 6, 2014 18:49 |
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RSCNyx posted:I'm not sure if the LPers make the bios themselves, or not. Just looking at it for a couple of minutes, its pretty obvious that they are...
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# ? Mar 6, 2014 18:56 |
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Brassherald posted:My respect for it goes fully to the theory, upon reading more into it, I see that in practice, it falls short of good. Oh, I completely agree with that! Having a website dedicated to showing off LPers who take time and effort to make an enjoyable LP is a great idea! Just a shame this one seems more interested in having LPers serve themselves, and not being concerned about quality in the slightest. IceAgeComing posted:Just looking at it for a couple of minutes, its pretty obvious that they are... Yeah, looked at a few more, and completely agree. Not great.
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# ? Mar 6, 2014 18:59 |
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edit: gently caress. Never thought that'd happen to me.
Singh Long fucked around with this message at 20:46 on Mar 6, 2014 |
# ? Mar 6, 2014 19:10 |
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NeilPerry posted:Reddit, and many other parts of the internet seem to be a case study in direct-democracy. And while it has some good results, the culture it creates is pretty drat toxic to creativity since it isn't quality that determines whether or not content gets popular, but the way in which the content is consciously or accidentally geared towards surviving in Reddit/Tumblr environments. I understand what you're trying to say, but isn't it true that the moderators aren't recallable by the members of the subreddit? That changes to the reddit framework isn't up for discussion? I think you can say that there are some democratic elements about reddit, but calling it a case study in direct-democracy goes too far.
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# ? Mar 6, 2014 19:31 |
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Angrymog posted:Because we can't get enough of geeks going on about how much they love our accents or trying out terrible pick up lines. I know you're being sarcastic, but I'd wager that list was made by a female YouTuber that realized women just innately get more views. It's smart business sense to have a more exclusive list, and to try to cross-promote with other people in that category. Because we're on the Internet it's easy to stereotype everything as geeky men trying to keep the women out of the club, but YouTube is the opposite - pleasant foreign accents (England, Australia, ..) or a feminine voice are an innate advantage.
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# ? Mar 6, 2014 19:38 |
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Singh Long posted:Side-note regarding voice acting: Mona Marshall(Belius) didn't voice the Mushroom from Dark Souls, though as Vicas pointed out, she's done a lot of voices in anime nowadays. Think you meant to put that in Kuvo's thread man.
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# ? Mar 6, 2014 19:43 |
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IceAgeComing posted:Just looking at it for a couple of minutes, its pretty obvious that they are... Just to add some of my favorites: Brian the Cynic posted:A good Let's Player who is a completionist and simply enjoys sitting down playing some video games and talking about the world. He is currently doing Banjo-Kazooie and will be moving on to Dark Souls next. CaptainCraig posted:21 Year old British dude who just restarted his old YouTube channel to become a Lets Player. Currently playing through the Half Life 2 Mod, Grey. Future Lets Plays will be games spanning many genres such as horror, RPG, Adventure, Platformers, FPS, indie games and many more. Higher quality and better, more interesting games will come when a new computer system is acquired in late February. Looking to find other like minded Lets Players to built friendships and do collaborations with. CaptainVonSwagganaut posted:Does mainly playthroughs KCathySquared posted:Two best friends named Kathy and Cathy who share a passion for gaming, cosplay & laughs. Let's Play videos always include a facecam and sometimes we even cosplay in our videos! I think this is a new favorite hobby of mine, reading all the terrible descriptions of people trying to say how great they are.
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# ? Mar 6, 2014 19:47 |
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GamerGuts posted:After a 2 year hiatus, I am coming back to YouTube. I've had about 4 years of video and audio recording experience. My previous channels on YouTube were "GcCMattMKW" & "ChronicleLPs". I had to quit 2 years ago because of prior commitments. I make "Let's Plays", Tutorials, and I hold Co-Host Conversation Topics via Skype. (STARTING IN EARLY 2014)
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# ? Mar 6, 2014 19:59 |
Brassherald posted:Just to add some of my favorites: My own favorites have great descriptions as well - "A Swiss let's player" and "Plays retro games". Spectacular. At least I know they didn't write that themselves.
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# ? Mar 6, 2014 20:10 |
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Brassherald posted:In all seriousness, no clue what is up with that poo poo. I like the effort, the actual wiki can definitely use some work. Also, a few rules of thumb are straight lifted from our rules thread here, like the three month rule. I don't think this will benefit people much because of that. God forbid Youtube LPers don't release content of a game on release day, because no one will watch these games three months after the game is released. Lazyfire posted:I can understand what she's saying here, considering the majority of people doing LPs here are male and it seems like YouTube is majority male LPers as well it can seem like a No Girls Allowed thing at times. Yeah, it's sort of an equality/affirmative action/representation thing. There are a lot of spaces where if you just lump together the men and the women in the name of being egalitarian, the women get crowded out and ignored (this applies to pretty much every issue of underrepresented demographics), so until society gets less lovely you need to call specific attention to women/people of color/genderqueer people/ekcetra doing it, both so that those people can get the attention they deserve, and so that people specifically looking for them (like, say, because they themselves are part of that demographic and would like to feel included) can find them.
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# ? Mar 6, 2014 20:10 |
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KCathySquared posted:Two best friends named Kathy and Cathy who share a passion for gaming, cosplay & laughs. Let's Play videos always include a facecam and sometimes we even cosplay in our videos! If they haven't yet Let's Played Catherine I don't even know what is the point of this channel.
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# ? Mar 6, 2014 20:15 |
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unfair posted:I know you're being sarcastic, but I'd wager that list was made by a female YouTuber that realized women just innately get more views.
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# ? Mar 6, 2014 20:22 |
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# ? May 25, 2024 04:10 |
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Angrymog posted:They do to a crazy amount - I did a fake newbie Dark Souls stream a few times using the name 'TheBritishChick' - stupid numbers of viewers compared to my normal channel, even when I changed the channel background to a photoshopped Tom of Finland piece. You should do that again btw (maybe with dks2?); watching the twitch chat squirm was amusing.
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# ? Mar 6, 2014 20:27 |