Some of you may have noticed there hasn’t been a new IT.tv in a couple of days. That’s not by accident or because of technical difficulties.
When I started doing daily episodes of IT.tv in April, it was meant to be a one-month project. Honestly, I thought one month would be almost impossible, but somehow I managed to keep it going. It became such a habit that I had no problems cranking one a day out for quite a few months. In fact, on January 1, I marked the 8th consecutive month of one-a-day videos.
Not too bad for a one month project, right?
To be honest, IT.tv never really grew to what I wanted it to be. I’m not really talking about audience, necessarily, it just seemed relatively narrow. I couldn’t spend time producing better longer episodes because I was up against a daily deadline. I won’t even get into how much that daily deadline interfered with my life; that was to be expected, but it started to become a real drag.
You’re not here to listen to me whine.
Here’s what I learned doing videos every day:
1. It’s really hard. Not to do the videos, but to make sure they’re done, posted to various outlets, and to keep up with the comments that pop up on each channel. A heated discussion gets squashed quickly and your chats get moved off the radar by virtue of being bumped by newer content. Keeping up with all of that when you’re cranking out at least 30 videos a month is honestly a job unto itself. And don’t even get me started on the research I do to make sure I know what I’m talking about; that’s quite the chore, too. I have a day job. This, as the geeks would say, is sub-optimal.
2. I know who my audience is. I know they’re not huge. I appreciate them, the comments, and the fact that some of my videos end up being discussed in venues I don’t even see. The reality, though, is that it’s hard to get pumped up to talk to people, especially when most of the comments come from YouTube, and most of them are such stunningly brilliant observations as “you’re fat.” No kidding? Really? That’s your contribution? I must have nothing to say because I’m fat, right? Then of course you get criticized for having nothing to say when you do 30 videos on a topic because some dope can’t be bothered to look back. It’s tiring. Very tiring. You try staying motivated with that level of uselessness. I dare you.
3. It’s tough on the audience. Some people just don’t bother catching up. I can’t do 2 minute videos. Honestly, the things I discuss are too big and too important to give short shrift to. When you’re cranking out 5-7 minutes every single day, that’s a good 40 minutes a week of me. I don’t even like me enough to watch 40 minutes of me.
4. Video doesn’t lend itself well to being consumed at work, in a quiet spot, or with kids around. As one viewer who I won’t name once told me, she makes sure the kids aren’t around because she’s concerned I might go “blue.” Oops. I know. I have a potty mouth, but if I write it, it’s quiet at least! Also, I know I’m a damn good writer. I think that’s where I need to be, not on the camera. Just a gut feeling.
Here’s the thing. I’ve learned a lot about doing videos, and I don’t plan on never doing them again, but I’m kinda broken. Between the nasty commenters, the feeling that I’m talking to myself, the strain of committing an hour or two to this every night, the minimal (if any) return, and the fact that smart discussion of issues seems to fall into a dead-ended vacuum on the internet, I can’t bring myself to churn these out like I used to. I got more reaction to Pandora staring at me during the Eagles game than I did to my Health Care and Social Security videos, and those were earth-shattering deeply researched videos. If that isn’t proof I need to just not bother, I don’t know what is.
I love all of you. This isn’t good bye. I’ll continue to write here just like I always have. Maybe even more so now that I’ll have more time to do it. What I will say, though, is that
I can truly appreciate the work that goes into content creation even more now than I ever did.
There may be videos in the future. In fact, there will be. But IT.tv, as it is, or should I say as it was, is dead. It was fun ride, but as with any other ride, you have to know when to get off.
Thanks for watching, reading, and all your support.