TechDev @TheRealTechDev

For my fellow germans; Here’s a tutorial showcase of a project I’ve taken part in developing! An English version of this video is said to be released shortly 🤩

Hey! Wusstet ihr eigentlich, dass wir einen Zweitkanal haben? Dort haben wir soeben auch unser erstes Tutorial hochgeladen! In den nächsten Tagen erwartet euch außerdem ein neuer Blogpost auf unserer Website. youtu.be/Kk5CbMwqDrc

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Chris Alvino @ChrisAlvino

2 years ago

I still can't get over how bad AI has become. And this is coming from a computer scientist who spent over a decade studying and programming AI. I fucking LOVE AI, but here are 10 reasons I absolutely fucking hate it now, a 🧵 ...

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Casey Muratori @cmuratori

2 years ago

Since the OP said it was time to have a "conversation" about reaction videos in the programming space, here you go: I have said it before (because @FreyaHolmer said it first), and I'll say it again: if you are creating serious in-depth programming content, you are not making money from YouTube views. That is not a market that exists, because the typical view count on a highly technical video is not in the high millions. So for the vast, vast majority of creators in this space, if you are in any way making a living from creating serious educational programming content, it is from another revenue stream, where YouTube views are just how people find out about that other stream. It could be Patreon, Twitch subscriptions, Substack subscriptions, merchandise, or even YouTube subscriptions, but it is not views. A 1m view YouTube video on a technical programming topic generates around $2000-$3000 in ad revenue for the creator. It's a bit variable, because ads are opaquely "auctioned", but as a concrete example, that is what it would be on my channel, and it is in line with what Freya posted as well. Where I live, a programmer who can even make a highly-technical programming video that isn't BS could make $2000 in two days at the kind of senior tech job they are obviously qualified to get. Not only is it extraordinarily unlikely that any serious programming content creator is making a 1m+ view video every two days, but most creators in this space will never make a 1m+ video. Ever. The estimated number of programmers in the world total is less than 30 million! The market for highly technical content is simply not very large. If you were trying to make money off views, you would need to make content for a more general audience. Most highly-technical programming videos on YouTube have view counts in the 10-100k range. For a typical video at around 30k views, you will make between $20 and $150. To put this in perspective, the minimum wage where I live is $19.97 per hour. If it took you more than a day to make your highly-detailed technical video, you were paid less than Seattle minimum wage by YouTube. Which, to be fair, is a high bar for minimum wage - but it's also the case that highly-skilled tech workers are often in high cost of living areas because that's where there previous job was, so I think the comparison is apt. Now on to the specific topic of "reaction" videos, and @ThePrimeagen in particular since he is being called out by the OP. I have said many times that I love being on Prime's Twitch and YouTube channels, both as a guest and in videos he reacts to. Why? Because it is double-win for me, and here are the two wins: Win #1 is that people like Prime bring a necessary lightheartedness and cheerful demeanor to this space - especially when you talk about things like programming practices, which everyone feels entitled to comment on, even though they often lack the expertise to do so. It can be very emotionally draining if you are serious about programming. It is taxing to have to participate in the public square when the typical "technical" response article to something you post is by, for example, someone who doesn't even know how to read the ASM for a memcpy (and yes that is an actual reference to something that annoyed me). Having someone like Prime around to lighten the mood is very helpful, and I greatly appreciate it. And this is true even when Prime is reacting to one of my videos. In fact, the first time I found out about Prime was because someone sent me one of his reaction videos, and to my surprise, I enjoyed it! It was great. He agreed with me on some stuff and disagreed with me on some stuff, always explained his take clearly, had a pleasant attitude the entire time, and just generally made an enjoyable video out of it. He never pretended he knew something he didn't, nor criticized something I'd said unless he actually understood the thing I as talking about. Personality, in this case, is definitely a value add, and it's a value add that helps both me and the audience. It makes me feel better about the space, and it helps the audience engage with my content, which they might otherwise not because it was presented in a less approachable way. Win #2 is that, as I laid out in the opening, YouTube views aren't worth anything. Economically, it doesn't matter at all how people watch my free YouTube videos, because I can't make money on those videos either way. So at worst, my video being on Prime's show does nothing: it doesn't cost me anything, because I was already getting paid pennies by YouTube, and losing those pennies makes no meaningful impact. At best, some people who watch Prime's show didn't know about computerenhance.com, and Prime, being a good host, always makes sure to tell people about it when I'm on. Now those people know about my actual revenue stream, and some of them may become subscribers. That's actual revenue in my pocket that supports my content in a meaningful way, which YouTube does not. Separately, I would also point out that @ThePrimeagen puts out a ton of original content as well. So I think it was an unfair characterization of him to suggest that he is somehow mostly a reaction streamer, or that that is the primary way he is making money. I don't think that is accurate, but, the main reason I'm writing this post is because even if it were accurate, I wouldn't have a problem with that. So if you are the kind of programming content creator who mostly takes other people's in-depth technical content and reacts to it or otherwise recycles it, I would simply say: 1) Please try to bring better energy to the space, not worse, since that is the main place you can add value. You're probably not adding that much technical value with a reaction video, so make sure you add emotional value in its place. Prime is fantastic at this. Be like Prime if you can. For example, you can see a co-reaction stream we did together here computerenhance.com/p/does-x86-nee…, where you can see in real time how he subtly redirects some of my technical negativity about the article towards something lighter. This is impressive, IMO, and a great value-add. This right here is why you won't find me doing reaction videos on my own - because they would be too critical - but I'm happy to do reaction videos with Prime because he makes it much more pleasant for everyone. And in my experience, this is true both for domains he is unfamiliar with (like the video I just linked on microarchitecture), and domains he is very familiar with (like web infrastructure). 2) Include a plug for whatever the person's actual revenue stream is. Take the time to figure out what that is, and include a verbal and on-screen plug for the web address. This helps them actually make money, and makes the exposure worth it for them. I've never been on Prime's show where he hasn't done this, so, again, he sets a good example. And if you can't find any other actual revenue stream for the person whose content you're reacting to, be a good sport and drop them a DM. Let them know that a 1m view YouTube video in this space - in the extremely unlikely event they ever get one - is only going to net them a few thousand dollars, so they should really come up with a more sustainable way to feed their family, fast.

Jack Herrington @jherr

2 years ago

@ThePrimeagen I don't see any time period associated with the original tweet that you QT'ed with "100%". That tweet was saying that you can't succeed on YT/Twitch if you're not relatable (with you as an example.) x.com/IKnowSoftware/… First, that's false. There are lots of folks out there