Showerthought: I spent a week trying to figure out why a post about my local library's book sale wouldn't get any views.

I posted a video about it on a Tuesday, used all the right tags, and it just sat there (maybe 50 views in 3 days). I was sure the algorithm just didn't like local stuff. Then I dug into the analytics and saw the watch time was terrible because my intro was way too long, like 15 seconds before anything happened. I cut that down to 3 seconds and re-uploaded, and it got over 2,000 views in a day. So was it the algorithm burying me, or was it just my own bad video making the algorithm think it was boring? Which side do you guys fall on, the algorithm as a gatekeeper or as a mirror?

3 comments

3 Comments

ryan7933d ago

That "blaming the algorithm to blaming myself" shift is the whole lesson right there.

hannahcraig3d ago

Then I dug into the analytics" made me switch from blaming the algorithm to blaming myself.

-1

emmamason3d ago

That's the real turning point, isn't it? What was the specific number or stat that finally made it click for you? Like, was it seeing how many people actually scrolled past your video in the first three seconds?