I promised myself that, on this channel, I
would always speak my mind and explain stuff
from a Youtuber’s perspective, behind the
scenes. Because of this, sometimes, I say
something that isn’t popular, like in my
last video where I said:
‘A FEW YEARS AGO NOW I WENT THROUGH MY 50
MOST VIEWED VIDEOS AND DELETED ANYTHING NEGATIVE
OR NASTY THAT I COULD FIND’
AND
‘I ANSWER QUESTIONS, ENGAGE IN DISCUSSIONS,
DELETE NEGATIVE STUFF’
…well, you’ve responded, letting me know
that you don’t like censorship and think
that everybody should have the right to free
speech.
And I’m kind of pleased you’ve brought
this up, because while I agree you have the
right to post whatever you like on my video,
I also have the right to delete whatever I
want to. It’s my video, my comments section,
and ultimately, my decision, what stays and
what gets removed. Don’t like that? Fight
me.
I’m only doing what other Youtubers are
already doing, after all. It’s just that
they’re not announcing they’re doing it.
But I’d like to elaborate on what I deem
to be ‘negative’ content, because I think
most of you would agree with me.
In my last video I was ‘hearting’ everyone’s
comments. A lot of you seem to like that interaction-
and yes, I have read each and every one of
those thousands of comments, and have hand-clicked
the HEART button. The alternative would be
to use some kind of automated script. But
there’s a problem with that! While most
of you posted lovely things, of course some
of you used it as an opportunity to say stuff
like ‘heart this if you like… and then
they say something inappropriate or illegal.
What do I do with comments such as these?
I could either ignore them -which would be
giving that comment special treatment- or
I could heart the comment… and go to jail.
I jest. Probably nothing would happen, but
at the same time I don’t like the idea of
leaving something like that on the internet
as it’s just waiting to be taken out of
context, like for a screenshot of it to be
posted on Twitter or whatever. So those sorts
of comments, I just delete them. And I think,
if you were in my shoes, you’d do the same.
I also delete other kinds of comments which
I’ll be talking about in a minute. But I
feel I need to stress again that I believe
Youtubers should be free to delete whatever
they like on their own channels! You can argue
that it’s going against your right to free
speech all you like. You can shout about the
FIRST AMENDMENT. But I’m not American. Plus
even if I was, I’d still delete whatever
I wanted to since that rule only applies to
the government and not to individuals.
And enough of your rights for a second- what
about mine?
It goes without saying that I’ll delete
hateful, racist or obviously nasty comments.
Ones that are unquestionably posted just to
upset and to troll others, I’ll delete.
Something tells me the people posting these
will be among the first to complain about
censorship. But I’ll sleep easy. Youtube’s
spam filter catches a lot of these before
I even get to them. Sometimes all I’ll see
is a comment asking why I’m deleting their
posts, then I’ll check the spam bit of Youtube,
I’ll find their posts and I’ll be like…
yeah, I agree with Youtube’s decision to
hide these.
But what about comments that I disagree with?
As an example, these comments I’m showing
on-screen, right now!
It may come as a surprise to you that I’m
fine with these! I may disagree with them,
but I see value in the content. I’ve even
made this whole video, showing and talking
about them!
What about when somebody points out a mistake
in my videos? Again, I’m fine with that.
If it’s a big enough mistake I’ll even
correct and reupload the video. Thank you
for pointing it out.
Genuine constructive criticism I have no problem
with. In fact, I encourage it! As long as
you’re not just trying to argue for arguments’
sake. Also, just so you know it can be heart-breaking
when I invest SO MUCH TIME into a video only
for people to comment, criticising some tiny,
TINY detail that’s all of .01% of the whole
thing. I think I’m getting better at simply
accepting those comments and not responding
to them, but I do feel like some people take
delight in going to great lengths to be critical.
And if I’m going to feel good about the
good comments, I have to accept that I’m
going to feel bad about the negative ones.
You can’t do one without the other. And
it’s better than not caring at all. What
would be the point in Youtubing if I no longer
cared?
And it’s not like I’m deleting things
to surround myself in a positive echo-chamber.
I still see all the comments. I still read
them, question whether I could learn from
them, or even if I’ve been wrong all along!
Maybe you have to be a Youtuber to understand
what it’s like to read so many comments
every day, and how quickly you can tire of
certain types of people- especially those
who add nothing to the value of the comments
section, and others who most definitely detract
from it.
I just don’t see why I should have to keep
them all in public view, or why it was even
necessary for most of them to be posted in
the first place. I dedicate my life to producing
content that people are free to watch. If
they don’t like it then there are a million
other places they can be for free. There’s
just no need to be nasty. Of course, being
the internet, my channels are going to attract
unwanted viewers from time to time. But ultimately,
they came to me and I deserve the option to
delete them if I think it’s best.
Critical comments aren’t something new.
In fact I find it easier with videos than
I do with mapping or making a game. I used
to spend weeks making something, only for
somebody to complain about the most trivial
of things and it felt like a direct attack
on the rest of what I had made. I’m sure
I’d find it just as difficult to handle
now. It’s just something that happens when
you’ve invested so much time and effort
into something. It’s just now, I’m lucky
to have such a big (AND LOVELY) viewerbase
that I also get a lot of nice comments that
I can spend time hearting and stuff.
I just checked and it was on the 2nd of November,
2018, when over on 2kliksphilip he did a large-scale
clean-up of the comments section on the most
viewed and recent videos, to see if it would
have an impact on future ones. There were
a lot of nasty comments on many of the videos.
Really tasteless stuff, and I guess I didn’t
want to think that Youtube was getting worse
so instead wondered if it was something localised
to my channel. Some of you are concerned that
deleting comments could result in an echo-chamber,
but I think over time, any channel with a
sizeable audience will become one. If you
think anywhere can be a neutral place for
discussion -especially in the youtube comments
section- then you are mistaken. If mine’s
going to be an echo chamber then I at least
want for it to be happy, constructive one.
Because frankly I’m disgusted by the state
of some youtubers’ audiences. And it’s
almost as if they’re proud of how fanatical
and aggressive they can make their audiences,
and I do incur the wrath of these once in
a while.
So I went on a blanket delete, where many
comments I wouldn’t normally have touched
were also purged as part of the experiment.
I made a note of the date that I did this,
then for a while decided I needed more data,
then after a while more, concluded it had
been too long, that there were too many variables
to even come to a concrete conclusion about…
and I kind of forgot about it. It’s not
something I’ll analyse in this video, but
could be something for a future one, to see
if it did make any noticeable difference.
I don’t regret doing it.
Something I don’t like though is when people
post their opinions as facts. Or say ‘You’ve
made a mistake’ and then list something
that isn’t a mistake, but is just something
I’ve said that they disagree with. Once,
I even got into an argument with an HR lady
when she said I was always saying ‘I’
and ‘in my opinion’ and how that means
I’m an opinionated person with a big ego.
I replied saying I only did so because I thought
it was important to state when something was
my opinion, rather than a factual statement.
But even when people do these things that
I hate, I don’t immediately delete them.
I normally respond to ‘correct’ them.
Maybe their first comment simply came across
the wrong way, and they’re actually stating
something reasonable. I do respond to a lot
of comments. I probably come across as pretty
damn argumentative, since a lot of the time
it is to resolve issues such as the ones I’ve
just listed. But if it becomes an argument,
and it’s clear it’s never going to be
resolved, I do take it on a per-case basis,
but sometimes I can’t be bothered with it
and it’s easiest just to delete the whole
thing.
Sometimes, I delete things to stop the spread
of misinformation. Especially with topics
that I know a lot about, I can split criticism
into 2 categories: the first being people
who know their stuff but are arguing the other
side for an understandable reason… and the
second being from people who don’t know
what they’re talking about, but for some
reason have a strong opinion about it any
way.
That second group is especially dangerous,
because they always seem to be the confident
ones. They seem unaware of how little they
know! And no matter how rational, no matter
how reasonable or RIGHT my response will be,
I know already that those people will never
change their mind. What makes them dangerous
is because other people who don’t know what
they’re talking about will see their posts,
will think ‘wow they’re confident, they
must be right!’. And suddenly they adopt
the same, mislead opinion about whatever it
is. My videos can go hundreds of comments
without a problem, then somebody will raise
an invalid point and suddenly I’ll find
10 people in a row parroting the same thing,
like sheep. Or parrots.
So to stop this, I can do 2 things. I can
reply to the first comment with an educational
response, so that onlookers hopefully will
learn about it enough to disregard the first
comment.
Or alternatively, I could just delete it.
Because life is short. What I end up doing
really depends on how bored I am and how passionate
about the subject I am. Remember that I’m
not just making videos about random stuff.
I either do it because I care, or because
I’ve researched the topic more than most
other people out there. So as an example,
when I spend a week studying DLSS Anti-aliasing
and I get a comment from someone telling me
I got it all wrong and that it’s not anti-aliasing….
Yeah, that’s going to make me feel… something.
So a lot of the time it’s the tone, rather
than their viewpoint. You get some people
who have a valid argument but put it across
in a terrible way. You can normally spot those
because the last sentence will be aimed directly
at the Youtuber, insulting their person. And
they’re traps to respond to because anybody
who knows their stuff will assume you disagree
with their viewpoint, when actually it’s
just the tone of their comment you found inappropriate.
And now I’m just ranting.
Point being, my reasons for deleting stuff
are seldom because I disagree with it. A comment
can be negative in many different ways. And
I can disagree with many different aspects
of a said comment. I am absolutely sure there
are many youtubers who do just delete comments
which disagree with them, but I am not one
of those. I have tried to clarify my thinking,
but the more I try the more complicated an
issue I realise it is. I just think that most
reasonable people would agree with me.
It's a shame that, whilst trying to make Youtube
a nicer, more positive place, I’ve had to
dedicate a video talking about the bad. Most
of the comments I get are good. And I know
there are many more of you still who never
comment, and simply watch my videos before
moving on with whatever you’re going to
do next. Thank you- and don’t be afraid
to leave a comment. Even a suggestion for
improvement! But I don’t think my Youtube
comments section is a place for negativity.
There’s enough drama on this site as it
is.
And even if you disagree with me…
… doesn’t matter. I’ll delete whatever
I like.
