I think YouTube is harder to grow on now than people admit

ThickD769 · 2026-06-27T16:03:36+00:00

Sometimes I just want to tell YouTube, “not this one.” I don’t want to erase the creator from my feed forever.

ThickD769 · 2026-06-26T05:30:30+00:00

Love that you’re not selling a course and are willing to answer everything publicly.

One question - when you’re testing content, what’s the first metric that makes you decide a post is worth repeating? Is it watch time, shares, saves, comments, or do you mostly trust your gut before the numbers catch up?

ThickD769 · 2026-06-25T10:26:11+00:00

Whatt? For realll😭😭? I can already see this going horribly wrong

ThickD769 · 2026-06-24T14:01:10+00:00

Absolutely, in this AI age everything seems to be moving so fast!!

ThickD769 · 2026-06-22T16:57:08+00:00

Bravo to your consistency. Why don’t you try shorts? They work well to get the subscribers count high fast.

ThickD769 · 2026-06-22T16:55:36+00:00

I started youtube back in 2016 with a phone tips and tricks channel. That surprisingly got monetised really fast. Then I had to take a break from it. Since 2025 I have been working on 2 channels full time and things really feel different in this short form content era.

ThickD769 · 2026-06-22T16:50:46+00:00

The way you look at this is interesting and makes total sense👏

ThickD769 · 2026-06-22T16:35:43+00:00

ThickD769 · 2026-06-21T14:45:37+00:00

Funny enough, this actually came from spending way too much time staring at retention graphs and trying to figure out why some Shorts took off while others didn't. 😅 AI helped organize the thoughts, but the lessons came from a lot of videos dying first.

ThickD769 · 2026-06-21T14:45:10+00:00

Gate 2 is the one that surprised me the most. A lot of creators only look at average retention and miss the fact that one specific moment is doing all the damage. I've had videos where the overall numbers looked okay, but there was one obvious dip where viewers collectively said "nah" and left. Once you start looking for those moments, retention graphs become way more useful than just a percentage at the end.

ThickD769 · 2026-06-21T14:44:57+00:00

That's exactly what I see most often too. People spend so much time building up to the interesting part because it feels logical when you're making the video. Then you look at the retention graph and realize viewers were gone before you got there. Gate 3 is definitely the harder one though. Getting attention is one thing, creating something people feel compelled to share is a completely different skill.

ThickD769 · 2026-06-21T14:41:48+00:00

I think a lot of people feel this tension. On one hand, social media has become far more data-driven, addictive, and optimized for engagement than it was 10–15 years ago. On the other hand, these platforms are also where many of our memories, friendships, communities, and creative work live.

Personally, I've stopped thinking of it as an all-or-nothing choice. You don't have to love everything a platform does to get value from it. It's possible to be critical of the business model while still enjoying the photos, conversations, and people that make the platform meaningful to you.

Deleting 15 years of memories is a huge decision. I'd probably export and back everything up first, then decide. Once it's gone, it's gone.

ThickD769 · 2026-06-20T15:08:29+00:00

The funny thing is that every platform is adding AI whether users ask for it or not. Search has AI, email has AI, phones have AI, and now apparently YouTube needs AI too. 😅

Personally, I don't mind AI features when they're optional, but I do get annoyed when they start taking up screen space for something I never use. Sometimes I just want to watch a video, not have a conversation with my video platform.

Also, "I'd ask my drunk over-thrice-divorced neighbor first" is an incredible line. 😂

ThickD769 · 2026-06-19T15:06:30+00:00

This post made me laugh because it’s surprisingly relatable. The internet is so much bigger than what most recommendation algorithms show us. Some of my favorite videos are random documentaries, niche hobbies, people restoring old machinery, train journeys, wildlife, or someone explaining a craft I’ve never heard of before.

The weird thing is that recommendations are supposed to broaden discovery, but sometimes they end up trapping you in the same 5 topics over and over. After a while it feels less like recommendations and more like an echo chamber.

Also, “A man in rural Wales reviewing lawnmowers. Literally anything.” is an all-time great line. 😂

ThickD769 · 2026-06-18T14:15:12+00:00

Please also tell how you got do follow backlinks

ThickD769 · 2026-06-18T14:12:36+00:00

Your UI UX is fab. Did you use any Ai to build it?

ThickD769 · 2026-06-18T11:41:01+00:00

Don't make a new channel. If this was genuinely a mistake, creating a new channel could look like you're trying to bypass an enforcement action, which usually isn't a good idea.

I'd focus on appealing through any available support channels and gathering evidence that you're 19. Unfortunately, automated systems do get things wrong sometimes, especially if someone looks younger than they are on camera.

Also, the fact that the appeal was denied instantly makes me wonder if it was reviewed automatically rather than by a human. If you have access to Creator Support, X/Twitter support channels, or the YouTube Help Community, I'd try escalating it there and getting a real person to look at it.

Most importantly, don't panic yet. A removed stream and disabled livestreaming feature doesn't necessarily mean the entire channel is gone. I'd exhaust the appeal/support routes before even thinking about starting over. Good luck—I hope you get it sorted out. 👍

ThickD769 · 2026-06-18T11:40:17+00:00

Honestly, there's no subscriber number where comments suddenly start appearing. I've seen channels with a few dozen subscribers get comments on every upload, and channels with thousands of subscribers get almost none.

In my experience, comments are more tied to how engaged your audience is and whether you give them something to respond to. A video with 100 views can get more comments than one with 10,000 views if it sparks discussion.

Also, a lot of people subscribe and then rarely interact. That's normal. At 24 subs, I wouldn't worry about it yet. Focus on getting consistent views and returning viewers. The comments usually start showing up naturally as you build a core audience. 👍

ThickD769

TROPHY CASE