Can We Save the Internet? | The Friday Update

Welcome to this week’s edition of the Friday Update, in which I give a little insight into what I’ve been up to for the past seven days.

So, I missed last week's Friday Update, but I think I had a good excuse. Because, as many of you will now have seen, I was making an extra video!

When I released my video discussing quite how challenging making ends meet on the channel had become (which brought many of you here!) one of the things I spoke about was wanting to experiment with new formats.

My team and I have got a really good flow when it comes to making our "main" videos now. Securing interviews, finding locations, organising shoot days etc. However, even making the simplest piece like that is always going to take quite a bit of time.

And quite rightly: I've always wanted to make pieces which are substantive and reflective rather than chasing what's newsworthy or trending too steadfastly.

That being said, I'm increasingly aware of quite how much the internet is falling to the political right; or at least to conspiracism.

A lot of what passes for factual or current affairs commentary online is, frankly, terrible if not outright misinformation.

And, it's really made me question whether my self-involvement at wanting to only make stuff which is relatively long and invovled is a bit counter-productive? Is putting out something every month to six weeks where more spurious creators are putting out something every day really bringing our best?

After all, I do this job because I enjoy it; but I do also like to kid myself it can make a difference.

So... we're not going to stop making our "normal" videos. We've got three or four "big" projects lined up for the remainder of the year, many of which have been in the works in the background for many months already.

However, I want to experiment with filling the gaps a little. Allowing us to cover more topics, and to do more to push back against the declining levels of discourse online.

This monologue-style piece is just the first in that experiment; which, to clarify, we will abandon if there turns out to be no interest in it!

The "gap" between the next two videos will likely be filled by an interview-style piece which we're currently trying to pin down. I'm keen to give it a bunch of sparkle so it doesn't feel like a churned-out podcast, but I'm interested in how I can use the platform to bring more, and better informed, voices into the conversation.

Overall, it's exciting times. But, these experiments are only possible as a result of having support here on Patreon.

Viewership is currently experiencing a platform-wide slump, which YouTube is refusing to explain. That, however, obviously massively affects our revenues, and so the cushion of Patreon is crucial in helping us ride out this dip and in allowing us ot take risks on new formats (which might not work!).

Thanks as ever for your generous support all! Let me know what you think of what's in store!

Thanks as ever for your generous support and I’ll look forward to updating you more next week!!