The issue with just creating content

Something strange happened whilst I was browsing through YouTube this week. I’m someone who like to watch the occasional business video every now and then, so naturally it’s what the YouTube algorithm recommends to me. Recently I’ve have videos on “The Top X Business Ideas” from a lot of younger creators show up in my feed, so I thought I’d give them a look. One thing that concerned me was that it wasn’t obvious that the creators presenting necessarily had any experience in the businesses they were talking about. This isn’t the first time this has happened. You’ll see self-improvement YouTubers give social life advice without any clear evidence that they themselves have an active social life (maybe they do, but it’s not obvious if that’s the case). Even amongst tech YouTubers, I’ll occasionally stumble on videos where it looks like the creator hasn’t actually used the product they’re reviewing (or if they have, they haven’t made it obvious).

I think this is part of a wider problem with creating content: generally, to engage an audience and provide value requires you to have experiences others can learn from - whether that’s in business, relationships, or with a particular product. However I’m noticing some people skipping the experience and jumping straight to the advice. Often it’s based on what they heard someone else say in another video (e.g. I might watch a video on the top 10 studying tips from Ali Abdaal and then use some of those tips within my own video even if I’ve never actually used them), which can then lead to a situation where everyone is just repeating what someone else said.

This is one of the reasons why I’ve not chosen to do YouTube full-time yet (and why I doubt I ever will); I want to experience a ‘normal’ life to begin with, even if it means the channel grows at a slower pace. It’s also why I try to refrain from watching other people’s reviews when a product first comes out, because I don’t want what MKBHD says to bias what I end up saying in my review. I’m hoping that this means that during reviews I’m able to offer a more balanced (or, at the very least, relatable) perspective on the products I cover.

(To clarify, this isn’t to say that every YouTuber you see is out of touch. Creators all have to wake up, do their chores, and go through the same daily motions as everyone else).

Whats New

M4 Mac Mini - Review

Apple usually aren’t knowing for making bargain products - but I think the M4 Mac Mini might be one of them! I’ve been using this machine for the past 2 weeks, and aside from a few quirks have been enjoying the experience massively.

M1 MacBook Air - Long-Term Review

It’s crazy to think that this machine which I picked up for £849 back in 2021 is still my daily driver 3 years later. It’s probably one of the best purchases I’ve ever made, not least because it got me through my degree, and it’s the laptop I use to edit all of my YouTube videos with currently. I am contemplating picking up a newer MacBook Pro for the design (performance on the M1 is still more than enough for me), but if that does happen it’ll be more of a want than a necessity.

Monthly Favourites

• Rectangle: this app excels when it comes to multi-tasking. Much better than the default window management on MacOS (even with window snapping being available on MacOS Sequoia), since you can customise your keyboard shortcuts and even move windows between displays (which is super useful if you’re working with multiple displays)
• Durable: this is insane. It’s a website builder that uses AI to quickly code an entire website for you. It’s probably what I’m going to be transitioning my website over to once my Ghost IO subscription expires.
• Vernal: these guys are absolutely killing it when it comes to making high quality, premium standing desks. You’ve probably seen them across a bunch of desk setup videos recently (for the record, I’m not / have never been affiliated with them), and after using their standing walnut desk for the past week, I can understand the hype. Will be sharing my exact setup in an upcoming video in the new year, so stay tuned…