Linus tech tips report card 2016/17

[sockeater]

To the Linus Media Group Team

 

I guess this is a long time listener, first time caller situation. The recent changes to Linus tech tips have made me want to comment and reach out to the LMG team to let them know how they're doing from a long time viewer's perspective

First of all I want to congratulate what Linus and his team has achieved over the years, I've been watching LTT for probably around 5 years now and I've seen them progress from random outdoor unboxings to the bookcase set and from the iconic kitchen to the amazing office you guys have built. I'm sure many people on this forum and the millions of viewers you've gathered over the years on you tube appreciate what you have done for the community in terms of inspiring interest in the computer industry, creating entertaining tech related content and being a source of excellent LTT goofs and gaffs. 

I'm writing this post today because for the first time in my 5 years of watching I feel your team has changed parts of LTT in a way that goes against what I feel is the 'LTT identity', My intention is not to offend anyone who works on the content of the videos, I understand the incredible amount of work that goes into LTT and the fantastic drive your team puts into improving the content everyday. Any forum members who feel the same or have their own opinion are free to comment below, the more perspective we have as a community, the better the direction LTT will go in in the future.

 

Here are the points of change that don't seem to gel with what LTT should be.

 

1. Thumbnails
The idea of refreshing the thumbnails to a new style is an attractive one, however I find that they stand out less than the old huge white text on photo style. The new thumbnails look like they are suited for an 'indie' tech channel, and I feel less compelled to click on them. The biggest problem I have with the new thumbnails is that they're incredibly clickbait-ey and somewhat unpleasing to have show up in my sub feed.
Here is an example of a clickbait thumbnail

Watching the video you'll see that there was no water involved, Luke wore the lab coat for only 3 seconds of the video for the sake of the thumbnail. and the entire content of the video was just swapping a HDD for an SSD in a laptop.
Most of your viewers could see this thumbnail was completely off topic and misleading. 

 

Here is an example of an unpleasant thumbnail

Now I know this is meant to be some sort of a joke, but do you guys really think your viewers enjoy having images of Linus' crotch with a banana shopped into it popping up on their feed. I fancy myself as a mature person, and I frankly don't want to see such a crude thumbnail like that showing up. I ,however, don't mind if you pop these sort of jokes inside the video. 

(some of you may argue that theres worse stuff on youtube but we arent comparing LTT to those cancerous channels, we are comparing LTT to what LTT have done great before)

 

I think many of us would prefer if you switched back to the old style of thumbnails, it used to be a case of insta-click when i saw that iconic thumbnail, now I find i'm scrolling past these new videos without realising i'm missing a video from my favorite tech youtuber.

 

 

2. Video content

The first part of this pointer is in regards to the scripting of the videos, both Linus and Luke feel more like they're reading off a script, which i know they've always done but you can tell the scripts don't feel as natural as they could be. Linus doesnt really speak like himself when he's reading another persons script, and its very obvious when you see how Linus presents at CES vs the scripted office reviews. I find that linus is far more entertaining when he's relying on his natural presenting abilities rather than reading off a prompter and I'm sure other people feel this too due to the demand that linus bring back his old unboxing style or film more seasons of scrapyard wars because there's this charm that linus has when he's freeballing a video and that charm is what we all subscribed for. BTW I've thoroughly enjoy all the CES content this year so and I really appreciate the hard work that goes to covering that show. 

The second part is the strange content that been posted on LTT. The quality of the content in the video seems unfiltered, videos such the recent DIY Waterproofing video which was a fail was still posted and it just feels like
"oh we've already filmed it so we might as well post it" The only real Linus tech tip we got from those videos is to not do what linus does and we all know that already. But on a more serious note, the video wasn't that informative and I feel like I wasted 11 minutes. It would be greatly appreciated if the videos were somewhat curated so the viewers actually get something out of it.

 

This being said, the LTT team is still doing great content, all the CES videos, Weirdest $h!t you bought on amazon, macbook pro review and DIY desk PC are examples of the great content we know and love (they also happen to have more views) My point is that I wish the content would be consistently good and the team would leave out the less than informative videos.  

 

Asides from those two points, I think the team is doing a hell of a job. I'm not sure if anyone  on the team will actually see this message but hopefully the community agrees and the message gets somewhere.

 

Thank you for reading my post and perspectives, feel free to add your own points.

 

 

 

 

[Syntaxvgm]

as much as I want to laugh at the idea of them getting a report card, the thumbnails have been bottom barrel clickboat shit. 
This isn't theRichest. 

LTT is supposed to be better than that. 

 

 

 

[themctipers]

11 minutes ago, Syntaxvgm said:

as much as I want to laugh at the idea of them getting a report card, the thumbnails have been bottom barrel clickboat shit. 
This isn't theRichest. 

LTT is supposed to be better than that. 

 

 

 

it lowkey looks cringe then again it drags me in because im one of the sad souls who gets affected by this shit  

[Syntaxvgm]

3 minutes ago, themctipers said:

it lowkey looks cringe then again it drags me in because im one of the sad souls who gets affected by this shit  

really? It drives me far away. 

[Lewellyn]

21 minutes ago, sockeater said:

I fancy myself as a mature person, and I frankly don't want to see such a crude thumbnail like that showing up.

Oh how mature of you to make a fuss over a silly thumbnail.

[themctipers]

6 minutes ago, Syntaxvgm said:

really? It drives me far away. 

I'm one of ltts stupid 13 year olds 

?

[Moress]

Honestly the thumbnails have been trolly but have actually captured to theme of the video very well. Further the quality of LTTs materials hasn't changed much, which is perfectly fine. Basing an entire book of a post on complaining about thumbnails seems like a huge waste of time.

[sazrocks]

https://twitter.com/LinusTech/status/815706362696998912

 

Seems like they don't really like it either, but have to "stick with it" because of the stupid youtube algorithm.

[Syntaxvgm]

3 minutes ago, ThatGuyWhoTwirlsHisPen said:

Oh how mature of you to make a fuss over a silly thumbnail.

I always do private browsing so when I close it logs me out and I get a fresh session when I start, no targeted ads mostly. The thumbnails on the videos youtube promotes not only give me cancer, some of them break the content rules (community guidelines) and often are really disturbing/disgusting. Hell there was one that involved copious amounts of puss for a solid month there. 

2 minutes ago, themctipers said:

I'm one of ltts stupid 13 year olds 

?

At 23 I often feel like a creep here. 

[Syntaxvgm]

3 minutes ago, sazrocks said:

https://twitter.com/LinusTech/status/815706362696998912

 

Seems like they don't really like it either, but have to "stick with it" because of the stupid youtube algorithm.

youtube is cancer and I understand. 

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

8 minutes ago, ThatGuyWhoTwirlsHisPen said:

Oh how mature of you to make a fuss over a silly thumbnail.

 

You don't consider him mature because he makes a nice forum post and explains his views? You're the one who isn't mature.

[Jamtoad]

1 hour ago, Syntaxvgm said:

really? It drives me far away. 

good dont watch them anymore then, wont hurt them in anyway.

 

what works works, he is a businessman first. cant tell me you wouldn't do that too if you made you extra money.

 

and if you said you would well youll get left behind by the people who do what he does then youll have no money.

[jackson-taliana]

1 minute ago, Jamtoad said:

good dont watch them anymore then, wont hurt them in anyway.

There is no need for such aggression, he is just expressing his opinion in a fair way he doesn't need to be put down for that. You have different views to him and you need to accept that.

[Jamtoad]

1 hour ago, jackson-taliana said:

There is no need for such aggression, he is just expressing his opinion in a fair way he doesn't need to be put down for that. You have different views to him and you need to accept that.

i guess i just dont care becase it doesn't affect me in anyway, the videos are still the same just the thumbnail is different 

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

1 minute ago, Jamtoad said:

i guess i just dont care becase it doesn't affect me in anyway, the videos are still the same just the thumbnail is different 

 

Then why are you even replying?

[Jamtoad]

1 hour ago, TheMidnightNarwhal said:

 

Then why are you even replying?

to tell him to stop watching if he's gonna be a crybaby. thought that was clear lol

[jackson-taliana]

1 minute ago, Jamtoad said:

to tell him to stop watching if he's gonna be a crybaby. thought that was clear lol

crybaby? What I saw was him expressing his feelings in a mature and peaceful way 

[Princess Luna]

The thumbnails really have been bad, I doubt they will be losing viewers over it as much as it is a clear decrease in quality though.

[Jamtoad]

1 hour ago, jackson-taliana said:

crybaby? What I saw was him expressing his feelings in a mature and peaceful way 

becase you cant see emotion in text, i could mean to be singing this to you and you dont know that.

[Princess Luna]

1 minute ago, Jamtoad said:

becase you cant see emotion in text, i could mean to be singing this to you and you dont know that.

You can see awfully a lot of emotion through text, have you never role played in your life?

[WhatComesAround]

I believe they have become way to profit orientated and have dumped their past down the tube. They have become showbiz prostitutes who'll give up anything for bigger bucks.

[Jamtoad]

1 hour ago, Princess Cadence said:

You can see awfully a lot of emotion through text, have you never role played in your life?

if you do stuff like /me cries, or using emoji yes  (kinda why they were created to express emotion over text)

 

so tell me what emotion i am meaning to portray in this text.

 

my favorite color is green.

 

1 hour ago, WhatComesAround said:

I believe they have become way to profit orientated and have dumped their past down the tube. They have become showbiz prostitutes who'll give up anything for bigger bucks.

people dont understand you kinda have to nowadays to stay relevant, if you post stuff that most people find boring they wont watch it, thats why clickbait exists

[Princess Luna]

3 minutes ago, Jamtoad said:

if you do stuff like /me cries, or using emoji yes  (kinda why they were created to express emotion over text)

 

so tell me what emotion i am meaning to portray in this text.

 

my favorite color is green.

 

people dont understand you kinda have to nowadays to stay relevant, if you post stuff that most people find boring they wont watch it, thats why clickbait exists

You just answered me. No, you haven't ever roleplayed in your life.

[Jamtoad]

1 hour ago, Princess Cadence said:

You just answered me. No, you haven't ever roleplayed in your life.

and you cant answer me becase im right,

 

and no i dont roleplay becase i dont need to pretend to be something else to be happy. I find people who roleplay are usally old creeps or people into weird shit like furries or bronies. just from my experience. im not hating either btw   

[Princess Luna]

1 minute ago, Jamtoad said:

and you cant answer me becase im right,

 

and no i dont roleplay becase i dont need to pretend to be something else to be happy. I find people who roleplay are usally old creeps or people into weird shit like furries or bronies. just from my experience. im not hating either btw   

Don't get me wrong if you were polite and willing to I would probably show examples and explain how to however I won't stress myself over something you're already having a locked mind on it and just your very ignorant statement over "bronies" already quite frankly ensures that I'm not interested in wasting time in a vain attempt of changing your prejudice over it, have a good evening.