Afternoon guys, I know the title looks weird but I always get confused as to what words I should and shouldn’t be capitalising.
I used to be a part of the Card Flourishing/Cardistry community a few years ago, and there was always a great emphasis put on videos. Whenever a new one would come out loads of people would watch it, comment on it, share it etc etc
However I’ve noticed that within the yoyoing community most videos seem to go under-appreciated. There are videos that obviously have had a lot of effort put into them sitting on the forum with no comments and little views and it seems a shame.
I know that the yoyoing world seems to be largely around competing, but it seems a shame to me that so much hard work goes unrecognised. Heck even yoyonews, which is pretty much THE place for new videos never seems to have any comments or anything.
Why is this? I’ve only been yoyoing since earlier this year so perhaps I missed a “video-boom” or something, so I’d like to hear from you more experienced guys.
I considered personally making a media site dedicated to yoyo videos where people could upload, rate/10 based on numerous factors (editing, moves, originality, theme etc), comment on etc and videos could be showcased as most popular/highest rated, editors pic and what not. I’ve enquired a few web developers about the project as well as looked up hosting fees and domains, but I fear that even if I did have the time to make it happen, it’d just be a barren wasteland.
I’m not sure it’s worth pursuing considering the amount of work involved if it doesn’t accomplish anything. I’m normally the last guy to willingly take on any unneccesary work/burden, but I think that it would be nice for people to get the recognition that they deserve without having to win a major contest.
Would like to hear your thoughts/opinions.
CLIFFS! For you TL;DR fellows.
Used to be part of Cardistry community that focused on/appreciated videos a lot.
A lot of yoyo videos made go unseen/under appreciated, why?
Considering making dedicated yoyo media site, not sure if worth the hassle.
I feel the same way. Most everyone, me included, has to “beg” when they post their video to get comments. It is usually something like,“please comment,” or " don’t just watch, post comments!" I often see things like this. In fact, I will probably be posting a trick video, and I am probably going to have to “beg” for comments. I feel like we should all post more comments and opinions on peoples videos. Let’s do it!
I love watching/commenting on videos when I get the chance. As a video maker myself I know how it feels to put up a video and get 3 views and not a single comment.
I always try to post a comment when I watch a video, but sometimes I have nothing to comment about unless I’m just gonna comment: “good job” or “great”, which is not that informative. But yes, I have been seeing a lot of videos that people are not commenting on and it should not be like that.
I know what you mean, nightshadow. I think people who make the vids don’t mind at least knowing that someone enjoyed it, though, so I do tend to default to, “Love it, especially the ____” and then the one thing that stuck out. There’s always at least one thing.
Every now and then I’ve been pressed for time (just running out the door or whatever) and have left it at “I really enjoyed that, thanks for sharing!” Even this is better than nothing for someone who just wants to share their work!
I agree with M.DeV1. Vids by name players get hyped all over the forums. I will also say that for me time is becoming an issue as well. Just getting too busy to stop by at times.
There are too many yo-yo videos to sift through, and most of them feature pretty good yo-yoing. So the bar to stand out is significantly higher than it used to be.
Additionally, the majority of videos that make the rounds on sites like YoYoNews happen to be company sponsored, which has significantly altered the public perception of “here I am in my room with my iSight camera” videos. Videos get boring a lot quicker. Especially if they’re longer than 2 minutes in length. ADHD is a powerful force of distraction.
If I do say so myself, Throwing Up presents a critical commentary on the community’s changing attitudes towards yo-yo video production.
On most of the videos that i CAN watch, i will commnt on them. The problem is more than half of tge videos cannot be watched on mobile, which i am almost always on.
I don’t even hit the videos area of this forum anymore because my ISP has been providing very poor quality service for well over 3 years now. Honestly, I don’t have 3 or more hours to set aside to catch a jumpy inflow of data for a video. What’s more annoying is that apparently journalists can’t WRITE articles anymore so I gotta sit through a video for a story that I could just as easily read. I spend 2 hours a day trying to get my ISP to fix stuff. Short term solutions at best.
As far as my unboxing animations are concerned, that’s a dead project. I’m not going to make those anymore. The logistics of making them is impossible for me to deal with, coupled with low view numbers, so it’s not worth the time investment. Making the videos isn’t all that difficult, but it is time consuming. I do have some other projects planned.
The stuff shared on YoYoNews is more sponsored player stuff, which is amazing, but is more marketing than anything else. The more community-type videos(nearly anything else) just doesn’t catch my eye. I think part of this is due to the fact that I simply can’t watch them.
It’s not very hard to dig around yoyonews and find unsponsored players doing interesting things. Case in point:
As for the shorter, grainier, off the cuff stuff - if you aren’t able to follow #trickcircle on instagram, you’re missing out. That’s where all the stuff that’s about tricks and not production is flourishing.
I think that part of the reason that videos get less attention than you’d expect is the sheer volume of them. There are so many yoyo videos out there that people just don’t have time to watch them all. So, they pick out a select few videos to watch; oftentimes those videos are from a few people that they know they like, or that others like. That is why a few people get a lot of “hype” and others go unnoticed.
Also, John Wolfe is awesome. Most underrated player out there.
lots of videos go unnoticed because most of the amazing yoyoers that are starting have very few subscribers which gives the under appreciated feel also people like unique styles in yoyoing which many majors project into the community.
if you make that website i will be 100% behind you.
I’m going to come off like a crotchety old man, and some may not agree with what I’m going to say. I mean, I like watching yoyo videos, but… I HAVE to watch them with the sound muted. There are those few that use some great songs, but I just cannot stand the music you guys think is good these days. The thumping, techno, repetitive, programmed stuff people use in their videos just drives me up the wall. I hate hearing some kid thumping and thumping as they drive by in a car that costs less than the after market stereo speakers they had installed. It’s just awful. And it seems to be the soundtrack of 95% of the yoyo videos out there. So I have watched less and less of them.
Don’t get me wrong, though. I LOVE music. And I’ve been lucky enough to have learned of some newer bands from yoyo videos. Bands like The XX, Mgmt, Of Monsters and Men, and the Lumineers are just a few. But give me some Rush, YES, Smashing Pumpkins, or even The Hives or the Foo Fighters. I just need a guitar in there somewhere. Heck, guys like Matt Nathanson are making some excellent stuff. And the New Pornographers are one of my favorite bands ever.
Kids need to do a little more digging and find the real music out there and bag this techno dance stuff. I’d watch way more yoyo videos if I could listen to them too.
But when I do, I’ll make sure to comment more. I admit I’ve been lax in that area.
Usually I just mute them and listen to my own music. It’s not that it’s “BAD” music some people just have different taste, but that doesn’t take away the content of the video.
That’s good advice. I should listen to my own music while I watch them. And I was very careful not to call anything “bad”. I understand that tastes differ. I just wish I didn’t have to listen to someone else’s synthesized taste in music from 3 blocks away is all. Ok, I’ll stop now before I start yelling for kids to get off my lawn.
I rarely comment because when I do, in general it is simply ignored. Some peoples’ videos impress me enough to comment on their next video even if they do not respond the first time, but if they continue to ignore me I get the point and won’t bother them anymore.
I also don’t watch very many videos. I follow a few people and if I like the tricks I’ll download the video and watch it many times. If only instagram were not such a horrible resolution it would be amazing because I love short tricks and short clips.
