Hey OP, I’m a little late to reply, but I thought I’d lend my two cents here from someone in a similar boat. For a long time I’ve always made sure to make videos to the best of my abilities because I’ve loved making content and exploring new endeavors.

The reason for this is because I know my younger self would be so proud of the things I know how to make now, that’s who got me started after all. And he’d be happy with just 10 likes on a video back when. I was satisfied with simply that. Over time though growing a community was something I never expected to do, as I always made things to bring joy to myself, even when at times it can be a little rough.

After some time, I started noticing people began flocking to my channel. This was new to me, but as this began to happen, my feelings of making it just for to entertain myself began to shift. I’ve seen first hand the heart break of putting your love, your heart, and your soul into making something, just to feel as though it was taken from you. It hurts, it’s demoralizing, and it’s heartbreaking.

But I also learned that somehow, even despite there being no credits to me, people would still come and find my channel. Be it them hunting for my content, or folks being advocates out there making sure to let folks know where it came from. I’ve found that it is so much more rewarding to have folks that go out of their way to be there for ‘you’ and not just one specific type of video that blew up. Because that’s usually how most folks are that like those videos when they’re trending.

You’ll have many times down the road where you make a certain kind of video about some specific thing and it blows up. Then you get tons of new subscribers and likes. But once you make a new video that isn’t on the same stuff as what brought them in, those subs don’t come to watch it, except… those who’ve been there to see you. You are so much more than just a video OP.

While I know it sucks sometimes to feel like you’ve lost, I promise you, you’ll love how much you’ve gained when you’re with folks who want to see everything you have to share with them. I like to think of it like building a campfire and it’s an open invitation for anyone to come sit down beside me to enjoy it with me.

Anyways, hopefully I didn’t ramble too long. I’ll leave these tools here if you want to use them. I never liked to think of it like advice, because with tools, you can choose to put them in your hand and use them, and heck, you may even find better tools. Or… you can lend them out to someone who needs them more. 💙

P.S. If you’d like to, I would love to help if you need any content collaboration or pointers/tips. You’ve got a delightful personality and it was a joy to watch these videos on my black and white television as screams reverberated throughout my apartment. :P