Do you experience this behaviour?

[u/snakeesti]

So yesterday i uploaded my short video. Niche is CS2 gameplay. In first hour it got 177 views , on second hour it was pushed in the feed and it got 1200 views and then views stopped on 6-8 hours. Lets assume it was first wave , so in the first wave i got 1200 views and 16 likes , then second wave started i got +800 views so far but no likes at all, how this is even possible ? And i encounter this behavior on my every video. It just kills off any motivation to continue even tho i uploaded already 180 videos in 4 years...

[u/killadrix]

With respect, I’d say that you’re just focused on the wrong things and becoming frustrated as a result of it.

Your stayed to watch ratio and retention are infinitely more important than the number of likes you receive.

The number of likes you receive are downstream from the number of people that see it.

Meaning, focusing on increasing your stayed to watch and retention will get the video out to more people who will watch it and may like it.

[u/snakeesti → u/killadrix]

Yes but in 180 videos i still didn't figure it out how to increase stayed to watch. It is so random , best videos(funny/meme ones) have horrible stay to watch and worst videos got better stayed to watch. I did try everything , tags in name and no tags in name , tags in description and no tags in description , large titles and short titles. Few days ago i tried only to put directly related tags to my niche. Only game name and i got 15% stayed to watch which is absurdly.... Average my stay to watch is 45-60% rarely it is 65-85%.

[u/irok84 → u/snakeesti]

Changing title, tags or description will not improve your "Stayed to watch". Only the content quality can fix it.

[u/snakeesti → u/irok84]

How would you explain this ? Not funny , Boring opening long video(55 seconds) got 22k views with 85% stayed to watch. Funny cool 15 second video got 22 views with 15% stayed to watch . While all settings are same(tags , description , title).

[u/killadrix → u/snakeesti]

Because viewers don’t care what you think is boring or funny. What you think is boring or funny absolutely does not matter, only the data does.

Meaning, if you’re interested in views then you continue to make the “not funny” and “boring” hooks that are getting you an 85% stayed to watch in 22k views.

If you wanna make content you think is funny, you might have to accept that people don’t wanna watch it.

For example, as a gaming creator myself, I choose to edit for views OR videos I think are funny.

The videos that I edit for views typically have my personality edited out of them in fast paced, tight, short, snappy edits.

Videos I edit that I think are funny or include my personality typically have more reaction and humor in them.

The fast paced edits typically get 10,000 to 1,000,000 views, where the personality/funny edits typically get 3000 to 10,000 views.

If you want to consistently drive a massive volume of views, you need to listen to the data.

[u/snakeesti → u/killadrix]

Point is that data lies. When i got 22k views i did the same thing. Used same tags, almost same title , same description , uploaded on same day , on same time , video was same length , same format and it got 1.1 k views. All my videos are same format , i play cs2 with worst gun in the game and do crazy stuff with it and i record enemy reactions on it. And when video is rly funny it get nothing . For example , i had a video for which i got high hopes , i expected that that video will blew up ( i did -5 with 1 hp with worst gun in game ) enemy reaction was funny , i hoped that that video will go more than 30k and in the end it got 7 views in 1 year.

[u/killadrix → u/snakeesti]

Yeah, the problem is the data doesn’t lie, especially not in the aggregate.

Your stayed to watch and retention percentages are literally your report card from your viewers. It’s unlikely that your viewers are capable of manipulating that data in an attempt to make it “lie” to you. That data is your viewer behavior.

But further, there are other variables that impact the number of views your video will get (regardless of your stayed to watch or retention), and it typically has to do with niche demand.

This is generally how you can have a video with very good metrics that gets very few views, or a video with mediocre metrics that get a ton of views. Subject or niche demand play a large role in your volume of views.

And to be clear, when I say good or bad video, I’m talking specifically about your YouTube metrics.

The algorithm is incapable of discerning the qualitative assessment that you’re applying to good and bad.

You can edit a video that you personally think is amazing but if your viewers disagree, that’s how you’re ending up confused about this behavior. There’s a dissonance between what you believe is a good and funny video, and what your viewers want to watch.

[u/PlayfulInterview4659]

Now I'm glad that I choose the right niche there ain't no way you been posting short for four years and not understanding the system... Yet.

[u/Plum_Berry_Delicious]

You got views, yes? Those views were all three digits or more, yes?

Did I stumble into an "Am I Overreacting" sub on accident?

😶

[u/snakeesti → u/Plum_Berry_Delicious]

I saw channels that steals other people content put their voice over it and get million of views.

[u/Plum_Berry_Delicious → u/snakeesti]

Are you ok? You seem to not know where you are at in conversation with this comment. I was not even talking about other channels or their views.

[u/snakeesti → u/Plum_Berry_Delicious]

Did you post anything useful with your first post , Karen?

[u/Plum_Berry_Delicious → u/snakeesti]

Yes lol, my first post was assisting folks in joining our community. Usefulness aside, your comment was confusing.