It's been 5 Years of Erin Plays!

My dearest viewers,

Today is the FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF MY CHANNEL! Well, I made the channel on January 1st, 2017 but the first upload didn’t technically happen until the 2nd, ha. Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you to my subscribers for sticking with the channel for so long. It’s been jam packed full of ups and downs- meaning I’ve experienced both growth AND feeling stagnant. The infamous “algorithm” can really be soul crushing, but it’s all worth it in the end when I read comments from you guys and gals. I’m extremely lucky to have an awesome little community here in Erin Plays Land and I never take it for granted.

This past year sucked. I’ve been struggling with hand and wrist issues, and sometimes burn out, so I haven’t been able to get content out as quickly as I’d like. The algorithm seems to only have your videos pop in feeds if you crank out at least 2-3 videos per week, which can be tough for me since I do all the game capture, writing (if it’s scripted,) editing etc by myself. AND I stream. This isn’t me feeling sorry for myself, just letting ya’ll know what I’m working with lol.

So that being said, I’m going to experiment with making some YouTube Shorts to put out over the next week or so. It’s a bit refreshing to try a new format, and it’s a way for me to get videos out faster to you. But don’t worry, normal length videos are still going to be the focus, I just am going to experiment with ways to make videos an easier process for me– mentally and physically, on my end.

My goal for year 5 of the channel is the following: Continue to remember WHY I made this channel in the first place!

I made this because I was getting back into retro gaming, and I also was craving a creative outlet and wanted to make videos about games and topics that I really care about. I watched shows like James and Mike Mondays for years and that was inspiring. Documenting finding games that are new to me was also a reason I thought would be fun because I didn’t want to pretend to be some “gaming expert” or whatever (I leave that job for Game Sack.)

There were a few moments where I found myself looking at Google Trends this past year and feeling stressed. That’s not what I want the vibe to be when I think about my content. Or thinking my channel would do better if I cursed less and censored myself more in my let’s plays and streams, ha! And I’m well aware that I think everything is cute and that I talk like a valley girl. As Popeye once said, “I am what I am.” Believe me, I know some people find me off putting and I get it XD

I want to make what I’M interested in. And I used to feel nervous about posting things like weird list topics (Top 10 Gaming Sunsets Part 2, anyone?) or going through old Sears Christmas Catalogs, but I realized that you guys also care about that stuff and you get it. It’s why you’re here. And it’s a really amazing feeling and I appreciate all of you.

So, those are my rambly thoughts. I never thought I’d make it this far with the channel and I have no plans of stopping. I love making videos and streaming. Thank you for continuing to believe in my work. I appreciate every view, comment and “like.”

Also, thank you very much to my friends who encouraged me to make this channel in the beginning. Built me a PC, helped me learn to edit, capture footage, etc. That all allowed me to get the channel going. AND shout out to the bigger channels like Cinemassacre, Game Sack and Slopes Game Room who were kind enough to support me in the beginning. That meant a lot. Lastly, thank you YouTube Gaming for choosing me to be first Creator on the Rise – I’m still shocked that happened!

Happy New Year and see ya on the internet!

-Erin