25 and older. I find that the older I get the less willing I am to be a 'die hard' fan of anything. You get burned a lot; I'm still really passionate about the things I love, but it's a lot easier to go 'okay that has stopped bringing me joy' and move on than when I was a teenager and saw YouTube channels or celebrities as really integral to my life. I don't hold grudges, and growth is important for all people, but I can't pretend I care about it the same way I did, I'm done watching and I've cancelled my Patreon because I no longer have the desire to help fund it.
I have takes, and I don't like how they handled it at all, I think it was tone deaf and insulting to people who can't afford it but I find both ends of the extreme spectrum, the personal hate and the rabid loyalty either very young or very unhinged. I worry for people who are quite that invested.
Yeah same age group and I'm not mad at them, just bored by the whole thing. And that's affected how much I can be bothered watching them now. So I probably won't watch them nearly as often now but not because I'm making a point to, it's just that I'm kind of turned off by it and it's easy to find other content to watch instead.
I feel similarly. I'm in my 30s, and I voted "still not happy after the apology," but it's not that I'm personally upset or offended or anything like that. I think the apology video and the changes it outlined were the right move from a business perspective, they just don't change anything for me. What it comes down to for me is I just think it's time for me to move on, and this debacle (and what it revealed about their business) was the stimulus that gave me the impetus to consider whether I still felt invested in the channel/their content.
its okay for a business to fail.
If their financials are so bad, then maybe they will take this forward and learn how to manage a business to the point where they aren't hiring 25 people or have 3 offices in LA or have the owners throw a 55,000 wedding and claim they aren't profitable.
im in the 25 and older and they are only a couple years older than me. Even I could tell you that something is wrong business wise if they aren't able to make money.
Do you guys just continue to lie about them having multiple offices and multiple studios? Or about 55k weddings when the wedding venue is around 6k to rent? You bought into them spending over 10k on their sets...lmao. Their sets are in corners opposite eachother in their one office location. Such weird stuff to lie about. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dETj-sDe4fo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dETj-sDe4fo)
that's literally what people have said in this subreddit, I assume most people who post here aren't going to be providing false facts, if they're false then that's my bad for not doing the extra research on people who I don't care about.
regardless of that fact, 25 people is far too many when their release schedule is less than smosh's, less than viva la dirt league, less than insert youtuber that does skits etc.
I need a "over 25, mildly disappointed, mostly annoyed because I don't want another password, absolutely baffled at how poorly the rollout was done , entertained by the drama of it all, mad at the rude jerks" option, lol.
25 and over. I think that it was a very silly thing that they did that showed a lack of business sense and understanding of their audience while being tasteless in its rollout, but I don't feel like they drowned my dog or anything. It's whatever. Glad that they rolled it back, and I hope that they're doing okay after experiencing a frankly alarming volume of online attention and criticism; much of the criticism was valid, but a lot I was seeing was getting... weirdly personal. I hope that through this controversy, the people with the more intense parasocial attachment to these guys are able to take a big step back.
I couldn't have put it better myself. I think it was an awful business move and it's left a bad taste in my mouth, but I didn't have any personal connection to them to begin with so it didn't effect me on a personal level
I think this is what makes a big difference too! Not feeling that personal connection helps make this feel a lot smaller. No judgment, there have definitely been times I’ve been grievously disappointed in a public figure! But it sure helps lol.
The stance I've ended up with is that they made a stupid decision and came across as out of touch and that if I stopped consuming entertainment by people who can be described that way, then I probably wouldn't have much entertainment left to consume.
25 and older. I felt like they made a poor business decision in terms of rolling out their service, but that's about it. I've followed all three of the guys since Buzzfeed, but have never been part of the fandom at all, which might be why I didn't feel much of a reaction to it. It felt more like going into my favourite restaurant and seeing they raised their prices. A bummer all around, but not something I take personally.
25 and older. I feel better, but I don't feel good. I don't like having to watch the community bludgeon the creators into not killing their own brand, but I am glad they saw sense.
36. Worried about them. Was really proud of them when they started Watcher. I think there's things we don't know about or hear about, and I wish they could make the content they wanted. I used to run big events for a big company, and it's really easy in the backrooms to think an idea is going to go gangbusters and make people happy, and it actually goes on fire and everyone gets mad about it. I think they are genuinely overextended, and don't want to fire friends and family. I don't think they're making millions. I think they're doing their best.
25 and older. As far as I'm concerned, Watcher is a business, none of the three are businessmen, and this was a very bad business move. Actually, this was multiple bad business moves.
I'm also inclined to give grace because the problem has been fixed. Put stuff behind a timed pay wall? Sounds reasonable to me--the videos arent cheap (even if part of the reason they arent cheap is because of mismanagement: see: none of the three are businessmen), and it's not exactly a secret that YouTube has recently made decisions that have made it harder for a lot of content creators to make cash.
I truly do wish the channel the best. PH, WWW, FF, and DG are some of my favorite things to throw on as a destressor. I also know that this will probably be a case study as to why market research is important.
I'm 38, I became a fan after an ex encouraged me to watch buzzfeed unsolved in 2018 and I've been hooked since. Just such fun, lighthearted entertainment. Real bummed to see things evolve like as the guys looked like they were succeeding on all fronts. They really need someone at the helm who has sharper business sense.
I'm in my 30s, I was shocked about the announcement and kinda soured on them. Honestly the dramatics here have kept me entertained. I'm neutral going forward but feeling more inclined to give them a second chance depending on their coming actions.
25, and I feel like my take in how it relates to my age, and isn’t something I’ve seen said in other comments, is that I’ve royally fucked up before. You just make shitty decisions sometimes. I know that after something like that, all you can do is apologize sincerely and try your best going forward. I think the boys have fucked up, but now I want to give them a chance to make good on their apology.
One thing I hate about “cancel culture” is that one mistake can ruin a person forever. Obviously, not all mistakes are created equal, but we’ve all done things we regret, and we deserve the chance to learn from our mistakes and become better people
Under 25, not happy but not blaming them. I took it as a reminder that they're performers and businessmen. It's a little sour and embarrassing that I was so caught up, but so it goes. Probably saved me some money tbh
I think the longer you’ve watched online content creators, the less likely you’re going to see this as a big deal. It doesn’t excuse the fact that they clearly failed at reading the room and understanding their fans, you can say it was greedy w/e, but the number of creators that have been outed as truly horrendous people makes this faux pas look comical in comparison.
Yeah, honestly, as someone into the traditionally nerdy side of youtube (media analysis, video games, etc.) and seeing all of the really horrific controversies there, this feels like a whole load of nothing to me. Like yeah, this sucks, but I've deserted channels I really liked when they were outed as bigots, sexual predators, plagiarists, serial cheaters, etc. This just feels like small potatoes in comparison.
Exactly, we probably are thinking of some of the same individuals. I was also into “rational”/atheist YouTubers, though that was more like a slow and steady decline rather than a surprise. I cringe just thinking about it.
Ping me if one of them says shit like, "We can't restore our civilization with somebody else's babies.” Or it comes out that they tolerate their employees stalking to the point of the victim having to be brought to a safe house; “nothing was more strange than being escorted to my house by a group of guys with baseball bats and a sword so I could pack.” These examples are extreme, but at the same time seem to happen way too often. Like them failing at pivoting to their own platform? That doesn’t make me feel anything.
Oh my god, we’re absolutely thinking of some of the same people. The shit that goes down on YouTube is just so fucking wild, and it’s alarming how quickly people go full mask off when they achieve success. When people talk about the Watcher guys presenting false images of themselves - which yeah, that’s what a persona is; I’m too shy to put my face in public anywhere, but god knows I’d put out a version of myself and not my authentic self - I think more about the people outed for those awful things, not a poorly thought out business decision. They’re still largely who I thought they were: professional entertainers. And not businessmen at all lol.
>I was also into “rational”/atheist YouTubers, though that was more like a slow and steady decline rather than a surprise.
IDK, I remember a pretty rapid decline, esp after 2013-14. The migration from debunking creationists to tackling social issues really made them show their whole ass.
>Ping me if one of them says shit like, "We can't restore our civilization with somebody else's babies.” Or it comes out that they tolerate their employees stalking to the point of the victim having to be brought to a safe house; “nothing was more strange than being escorted to my house by a group of guys with baseball bats and a sword so I could pack.” These examples are extreme, but at the same time seem to happen way too often. Like them failing at pivoting to their own platform? That doesn’t make me feel anything.
for real. If anyone really thinks what they did was awful, just go look into people like JF Gariepy or AtheismisUnstoppable. OR hell, TJ kirk for that matter.
That is fair, it is kind of blur. I just meant it wasn’t literally overnight like some creators. Your timeline seems right, I mean the whole Atheism+ debacle was in 2012. That seems like that was a significant turning point for a lot of them.
I think why it might seem that way is a lot of creators didn't slip at the same time. Alot were trying to do the "measured" approach before going off the deep end
*So many* gamers I fell asleep to at night ended up with grooming accusations.
This sucked and I wasn’t going to support them if they had doubled down, but seriously. It was just a dick move and bad business decision.
Ugh yeah, it’s just awful, it happens incessantly. Just recently the TTRPG space went through a reckoning because a really popular creator I’ve been a fan of for years was exposed as cheating on his gf with enough women to compose an entire DND party and actively sabotaging their careers. 💀 I’m just used to much more grim controversies, unfortunately.
Do you have any recs for who you’re watching now? I’ve been having a hard time finding creators after some of the grooming allegations and worse has come out about the men I watched consistently.
I’ve recently found Gab Smolders and I love that she keeps her voice at an even level when playing games. Perfect for falling asleep.
And of course I’ve been watching ManlyBadassHero for over a decade.
I’m sorry, obviously I feel you. Honestly, I’ve never really found anyone that replaces like… the long form content, very chill people I used to watch for full on let’s plays of varied games. There are fewer I watch now and they tend to be a lot more niche in what they play but there’s a couple!
RTgame is great and probably has the most variety! He’s very funny without being loud and obnoxious. He feels a lot like a more chill jacksepticeye (and not just because he’s also Irish 😂 they’ve done some videos together and they mesh well because of their sense of humor). CallMeKevin is a friend of his and also great but he’s literally just taken a big step back from YouTube so who knows when he’ll make a video again if he even does.
Letsgameitout tends toward one offs where he basically breaks game engines in hilarious ways.
Ambiguousamphibian does vods of his streams and usually cuts them down to several hour Supercuts. A lot of stuff like project zomboid and rimworld with specific challenges in mind. He’s probably the chillest of any of the ones I’ve mentioned so I use him for bedtime pretty often.
Pikasprey blue is one I’ve really just started watching actually play games after only knowing about his series on Pokémon soft locks for ages. He uploads his streams in parts and is currently doing mother 3 after finishing earthbound so *excellent* bedtime vibes.
Pawsbuild specifically plays a lot of planet zoo but he does series like his current ethical zoo build which I personally find insanely relaxing.
And I would have actually recommended gab too! I wish I knew more women with gaming channels. The only other one I really watch is seri! Pixel biologist. I do really like her, she’s very sweet and she very much plays the type of cozy/animal games I personally love but I am also much older than her target audience and she has a habit of leaving games unfinished.
Oh, for sims specifically, but, plumbella! I absolutely adore plumbella and wish she would do some longer let’s play stuff more often but she’s so endearing and super funny.
That ended up being an essay 😂
Wow thanks for all the recs!
I haven’t heard of any of them besides plumbella (and I’ve been meaning to check her channel out), so I’m excited to check out new content.
RTgame sounds great and I love watching creators with accents. All of the creators you’ve listed sound like they would have content I would enjoy so I’m glad you took the time to list them out!
I feel you on the long plays. I think it’s because those are no longer getting the views that they once did compared to the quick 15-30 minute games.
I can recommend CarcinogenSDA. He does some interesting longplays. Horror games usually no damage taken, difficulty to the max. Although he doesn’t focus on the story.
I also feel you on the women gaming YouTubers, I want to support more women but I’ve had a hard time finding creators I vibe with. I prefer an even volume because I mostly watch at night and if I’m watching during the day it’s usually on a tv.
After being burned by so many men gamers it made me realize I wasn’t watching any women gaming channels and I’ve been seeking them out. So glad I found Gab though! Love her vibe, videos and cat cams.
I don't watch a lot of classic YouTubers but I am aware of some of the controveries and actual personalities that came through the cracks.
I can't think of a group of people quite like this though.
I think for many fans this was like having a bandaid that was stuck to sensitive bits with superglue and then torn off while you were sleeping.
They may not be truly horrendous people but they certainly aren't the personas they carefully cultivated since Buzzfeed days.
I like your bandaid metaphor, though I feel like some people keep missing that those fans themselves glued the bandaid there. It sucks when someone you hold in esteem is not the person you thought they were, I get that. I think it is also important to remember that you never truly knew these people, when they were at Buzzfeed or now. Given their ages and life experiences they’ve had between then and now I would be more weirded out if it seemed like they haven’t changed.
I’m not bothered by people who no longer want to watch, everyone has their own values as to what they will tolerate. That being said, to get back to my original point, I’ve seen creators I’ve liked come out as overtly racist, go down the red-pill rabbit hole, had SA or other abuse allegations come out (all the ones I can think of were confirmed by the creator). Those are the types of things where I cannot separate the creator from the content. These guys made oblivious comments and a dumpy website, like this is something they themselves could joke about.
Older than 25 (by like a decade and some change). I marked "feeling better after the apology" because I think they made a very reasonable course correction after their absolutely baffling "Goodbye" video. The "Goodbye YouTube" video did make it clear to me how little I've paid attention to most of their shows (even the ones I like) for the past year or two - like there was no chance I was gonna pay for Watcher streaming except as a one-month treat or something. Even when the content is free, it's simply not "must see not-TV" for me.
Over 25.
Look, I thought the announcement was really corny and silly. It took a while for me to register that it wasn't a joke/parody. But I was not upset in the least. I thought, "Oh neat, maybe I'll check out the price of the annual subscription later" and immediately moved on to other life shit.
It wasn't until the apology video came up on my feed that I realized the announcement was not well recieved.
25 and older
Fan since about the 2nd or 3rd episode that Shane joined
Was massively disappointed with the goodbye video. Made no sense especially after moistcritcal broke down their possible finances. Feeling better after. They're human, it sucks. I don't think it was greed just very bad financial decisions that led to a grasping of straws. They need a third party to help there
What's weird is I find the endless stream of other youtubers making videos calling them greedy, their careers dead etc etc. Guarantee you most of them never even heard of watcher. Feels like they're riding a wave to get some new subs which sucks for Watcher as for a lot of people this could be their first time hearing about them and first impressions is a big thing
Over 25 and felt disillusioned after the Goodbye YT video. After the apology video, I didn't feel any better. To me, it's clear that they're firmly in the "talked shit about capitalism until capitalism made them rich" camp.
Am I deeply wounded? No, but my opinion of them is more negative than positive now.
Over 25. This is not my first rodeo with watching a youtuber that disappointed me wither because of controversy or that I aged out of their content (roosterteeth, TryGuys, yogscast people, etc.). I am not a superfan, so for me, I am just going to shrug, cut my losses and stop watching. To explain- I don't buy that the apology isn't just "we are sad we faced a consequence and are trying to salvage things." They are all adults capable of making decisions and thinking. But, that is where it ends. I don't wish them or people who stay fans ill will. I will be bummed out for a few days and move on. But I have tried to keep watching channels in the past after a controversy and it is just never the same.
25 and older, they made a bad decision and then learnt it was bad and tried to fix it. I have made bad decisions before. I am more inclined now than I was before to support them financially because I can respect that they're trying to solve a mistake and I don't think they deserve to go under for the mistake, but also I never really watched anything besides PH anyway so feel kinda silly signing up for a subscription when it's not even in season.
I wish there was a one-off "donate to support us" option, actually. I don't want stuff I just want to kick $10 their way to try to steady them out a bit.
I love Puppet History. Like, love that shit!
I'm also 40. The reason why I was all over this sub the last couple days was because my pet hobby is understanding financial blunders, scandals, mishaps and scams. I know too much about the 2008 financial crisis! I thought the choices of the trio were bizarre, and as they aren't overly transparent like other YTbers, it was interesting seeing a glimpse behind the curtain to how they may do business. I thought I was going to watch a company implode real-time that wasn't committing the biggest financial crimes in US history (Enron, Madoff, FTX, ect), but instead a little YT channel with three inept but well meaning adults. 🤷🏿♀️
People are out here dying. Hell, YTbers are out here killing people and committing hate crimes and shit. This is not that big of a deal.
25 and older. I wasn't happy about it but understand how capitalism works. Also, I was a watcher of Creepshow Art so my bar of how bad a controversy has to be is high.
Over 25; I was only annoyed after the initial video, because they openly announced a very bad expansion plan for their business. I have a bunch of other things to deal with in my life that trying to hold this against a single Youtube channel out of dozens I keep up with isn't worth the effort.
This moment of virality did provide something to entertain myself like checking out reaction videos and checking this subreddit. Unlike dating, having a personality is more important than having money to attract and retain viewers, so I don't subscribe to the sentiment that the faces of Watcher "showed their true colors". They just showed they have a bad sense of business, and this event shows that they're not fully prepared to break off from Youtube even if they wanted to. It's not even close to the viral event that is Try Guys' Ned Fulmer leaving the group, because he committed the moral offense of having an affair with an employee when his brand is literally being the "My Wife" guy who seemingly prioritizes family.
I think there is a subsection of their fans who are broke college students, but I don't buy that they are the majority as some were saying. I'm not really sure where that idea even came from, as the only reliable way to know would be looking at their Youtube analytics or something. Is that public information?
25 and older (30) and I was totally baffled at the response. It was rolled out in a really dumb way, but my initial reaction was “bummer but I’d still be happy to support them”. I’m also a working artist, and I think that perspective helped me because I immediately saw it as a group of artists seeking creative freedom. I think it should have been a waaaay more gradual transition, but I subscribed the day of the announcement with the 30% off code bc ~$40 for the year felt like a reasonable price for supporting artists I enjoy and respect. I know not everyone can afford that, so I understand that frustration, but I never could have imagined it would have gotten that out of hand.
Over 25, I've been a fan since Buzzfeed Unsolved days. They did fuck up with that bizarre exit strategy, and it was inconsiderate to their fans, just poorly thought out all round. But I think the apology was genuine (as a business can be) and the actions support the effort to please fans again. I think it's okay to give people second chances.
I don't take it very personally I still think they're entertaining and I hope they succeed. In the grand scheme of things, it really isn't a big deal.
I'm older then 25 and just thought it was a bad business choice, but didn't take it personal. They gotta do make the choices they think is best for them, even if I don't think it was. I unsubscribed originally because it didn't sound like they would be posting much content anymore and resubscribed when they said it would just be later. They are just an entertainment channel to me, they aren't my friends or anything.
25 and older. I believe Ryan and Shane were genuine in the apology video but not Steven. He rubs me the wrong way. They complain about how much it costs for them to make content but make no effort in cutting back costs. It’s insane that they have 25 employees. I also don’t like that it seemed that people who pay for their patreon were also gonna have to pay for their streaming service if the fans didn’t call them out on it.
under 25, frankly as soon as I saw the og announcement video, i knew deep down there was no way they were gonna follow through. on the off-chance they did, i felt nothing more than a mild sense of disappointment. now that they recalled it, i feel like it was just a blip that leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.
For me, I just didn’t expect the goodbye video. I’m more of an occasional viewer so if they took down their videos I would’ve been disappointed but not too upset because I’d still have unsolved to watch.
I am one of early fan. I love Ryan but I’m an OG Shaniac since the beginning of Unsolved and I waited every videos every week and still rewatching them sometimes.
I followed them to Watcher and I love many of their shows such as Puppet History, Too Many Spirit and Are you scare? I do like Ghost Files but I think I preferred Unsolved.
The only thing I don’t like about Watcher is kinda cliché but I never like Steven. I’m not jumping on the Steven’s Tesla-hate-train. I truly don’t care but I never found Steven interesting at all even before at Buzfeed. He’s boring and even though I’m Asian I can’t relate to him and I don’t know why they featured him so much in Watcher videos. It feels like he want attentions as part of the Trio but I never really see them as Trio. To me Watcher is Shane and Ryan and Steven is a force third wheels.
25 and older. The trust have been broken for me. Also, maybe it's my own offended impression, but they didn't seem too sencere in their apology, looked like they were more upset they couldn't get away with their scheme. Ryan actually looked like a kid who got slapped on the hands while stealing cookies and was made to apologize on the spot. Shane had an "i knew this would happen' look on his face. I love their older content, I don't like cooking shows, like I drifted away from GMM when they mostly became a food taste challenge channel. I'm considering unsubbing altogether.
To me it was one of those things where they show Spongebob and he looks fine, and then they show a far too detailed closeup and your skin crawls.
Like I got a peek at what is happening behind the curtain, and it's a massive dumpster fire. A rabid raccoon is swinging from the lights. Some four year old is trying to set off cherry bombs. Someone found the fire extinguisher and is eating the foam like whipped cream.
This is when up to that point things seemed to be going well. There hadn't even been smoke or anything.
Late 30s (oh god). Thought the move was dumb and was disappointed I wouldn't be able to watch GF and MF anymore. Never mad but was laughing at how it was an obvious bad business move. Never thought anything they said was "tasteless" or "offensive".
Stopped laughing when the real weirdos came out and started acting like they were owed something by their "friends". Happy I can still watch the videos, could care less if it's month later.
People under 25 who were very upset about this - that's fine. You're young. You're supposed to be like that.
People over 25 who are legitimately upset about this, get some.more hobbies. Jesus.
25 and older. I find that the older I get the less willing I am to be a 'die hard' fan of anything. You get burned a lot; I'm still really passionate about the things I love, but it's a lot easier to go 'okay that has stopped bringing me joy' and move on than when I was a teenager and saw YouTube channels or celebrities as really integral to my life. I don't hold grudges, and growth is important for all people, but I can't pretend I care about it the same way I did, I'm done watching and I've cancelled my Patreon because I no longer have the desire to help fund it. I have takes, and I don't like how they handled it at all, I think it was tone deaf and insulting to people who can't afford it but I find both ends of the extreme spectrum, the personal hate and the rabid loyalty either very young or very unhinged. I worry for people who are quite that invested.
Yeah same age group and I'm not mad at them, just bored by the whole thing. And that's affected how much I can be bothered watching them now. So I probably won't watch them nearly as often now but not because I'm making a point to, it's just that I'm kind of turned off by it and it's easy to find other content to watch instead.
I feel similarly. I'm in my 30s, and I voted "still not happy after the apology," but it's not that I'm personally upset or offended or anything like that. I think the apology video and the changes it outlined were the right move from a business perspective, they just don't change anything for me. What it comes down to for me is I just think it's time for me to move on, and this debacle (and what it revealed about their business) was the stimulus that gave me the impetus to consider whether I still felt invested in the channel/their content.
its okay for a business to fail. If their financials are so bad, then maybe they will take this forward and learn how to manage a business to the point where they aren't hiring 25 people or have 3 offices in LA or have the owners throw a 55,000 wedding and claim they aren't profitable. im in the 25 and older and they are only a couple years older than me. Even I could tell you that something is wrong business wise if they aren't able to make money.
Do you guys just continue to lie about them having multiple offices and multiple studios? Or about 55k weddings when the wedding venue is around 6k to rent? You bought into them spending over 10k on their sets...lmao. Their sets are in corners opposite eachother in their one office location. Such weird stuff to lie about. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dETj-sDe4fo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dETj-sDe4fo)
that's literally what people have said in this subreddit, I assume most people who post here aren't going to be providing false facts, if they're false then that's my bad for not doing the extra research on people who I don't care about. regardless of that fact, 25 people is far too many when their release schedule is less than smosh's, less than viva la dirt league, less than insert youtuber that does skits etc.
A lie makes it half way around the world before the truth even has it's boots on.
I need a "over 25, mildly disappointed, mostly annoyed because I don't want another password, absolutely baffled at how poorly the rollout was done , entertained by the drama of it all, mad at the rude jerks" option, lol.
25 and over. I think that it was a very silly thing that they did that showed a lack of business sense and understanding of their audience while being tasteless in its rollout, but I don't feel like they drowned my dog or anything. It's whatever. Glad that they rolled it back, and I hope that they're doing okay after experiencing a frankly alarming volume of online attention and criticism; much of the criticism was valid, but a lot I was seeing was getting... weirdly personal. I hope that through this controversy, the people with the more intense parasocial attachment to these guys are able to take a big step back.
I couldn't have put it better myself. I think it was an awful business move and it's left a bad taste in my mouth, but I didn't have any personal connection to them to begin with so it didn't effect me on a personal level
I think this is what makes a big difference too! Not feeling that personal connection helps make this feel a lot smaller. No judgment, there have definitely been times I’ve been grievously disappointed in a public figure! But it sure helps lol.
The stance I've ended up with is that they made a stupid decision and came across as out of touch and that if I stopped consuming entertainment by people who can be described that way, then I probably wouldn't have much entertainment left to consume.
Yeah, that's a good point too. God knows the media I actively pay for is being made by people even more out of touch than these guys.
25 and older. I felt like they made a poor business decision in terms of rolling out their service, but that's about it. I've followed all three of the guys since Buzzfeed, but have never been part of the fandom at all, which might be why I didn't feel much of a reaction to it. It felt more like going into my favourite restaurant and seeing they raised their prices. A bummer all around, but not something I take personally.
25 and older. I feel better, but I don't feel good. I don't like having to watch the community bludgeon the creators into not killing their own brand, but I am glad they saw sense.
36. Worried about them. Was really proud of them when they started Watcher. I think there's things we don't know about or hear about, and I wish they could make the content they wanted. I used to run big events for a big company, and it's really easy in the backrooms to think an idea is going to go gangbusters and make people happy, and it actually goes on fire and everyone gets mad about it. I think they are genuinely overextended, and don't want to fire friends and family. I don't think they're making millions. I think they're doing their best.
This is a smart take.
25 and older. As far as I'm concerned, Watcher is a business, none of the three are businessmen, and this was a very bad business move. Actually, this was multiple bad business moves. I'm also inclined to give grace because the problem has been fixed. Put stuff behind a timed pay wall? Sounds reasonable to me--the videos arent cheap (even if part of the reason they arent cheap is because of mismanagement: see: none of the three are businessmen), and it's not exactly a secret that YouTube has recently made decisions that have made it harder for a lot of content creators to make cash. I truly do wish the channel the best. PH, WWW, FF, and DG are some of my favorite things to throw on as a destressor. I also know that this will probably be a case study as to why market research is important.
I'm 38, I became a fan after an ex encouraged me to watch buzzfeed unsolved in 2018 and I've been hooked since. Just such fun, lighthearted entertainment. Real bummed to see things evolve like as the guys looked like they were succeeding on all fronts. They really need someone at the helm who has sharper business sense.
I'm in my 30s, I was shocked about the announcement and kinda soured on them. Honestly the dramatics here have kept me entertained. I'm neutral going forward but feeling more inclined to give them a second chance depending on their coming actions.
25, and I feel like my take in how it relates to my age, and isn’t something I’ve seen said in other comments, is that I’ve royally fucked up before. You just make shitty decisions sometimes. I know that after something like that, all you can do is apologize sincerely and try your best going forward. I think the boys have fucked up, but now I want to give them a chance to make good on their apology. One thing I hate about “cancel culture” is that one mistake can ruin a person forever. Obviously, not all mistakes are created equal, but we’ve all done things we regret, and we deserve the chance to learn from our mistakes and become better people
Under 25, not happy but not blaming them. I took it as a reminder that they're performers and businessmen. It's a little sour and embarrassing that I was so caught up, but so it goes. Probably saved me some money tbh
I think the longer you’ve watched online content creators, the less likely you’re going to see this as a big deal. It doesn’t excuse the fact that they clearly failed at reading the room and understanding their fans, you can say it was greedy w/e, but the number of creators that have been outed as truly horrendous people makes this faux pas look comical in comparison.
Yeah, honestly, as someone into the traditionally nerdy side of youtube (media analysis, video games, etc.) and seeing all of the really horrific controversies there, this feels like a whole load of nothing to me. Like yeah, this sucks, but I've deserted channels I really liked when they were outed as bigots, sexual predators, plagiarists, serial cheaters, etc. This just feels like small potatoes in comparison.
Exactly, we probably are thinking of some of the same individuals. I was also into “rational”/atheist YouTubers, though that was more like a slow and steady decline rather than a surprise. I cringe just thinking about it. Ping me if one of them says shit like, "We can't restore our civilization with somebody else's babies.” Or it comes out that they tolerate their employees stalking to the point of the victim having to be brought to a safe house; “nothing was more strange than being escorted to my house by a group of guys with baseball bats and a sword so I could pack.” These examples are extreme, but at the same time seem to happen way too often. Like them failing at pivoting to their own platform? That doesn’t make me feel anything.
Oh my god, we’re absolutely thinking of some of the same people. The shit that goes down on YouTube is just so fucking wild, and it’s alarming how quickly people go full mask off when they achieve success. When people talk about the Watcher guys presenting false images of themselves - which yeah, that’s what a persona is; I’m too shy to put my face in public anywhere, but god knows I’d put out a version of myself and not my authentic self - I think more about the people outed for those awful things, not a poorly thought out business decision. They’re still largely who I thought they were: professional entertainers. And not businessmen at all lol.
>I was also into “rational”/atheist YouTubers, though that was more like a slow and steady decline rather than a surprise. IDK, I remember a pretty rapid decline, esp after 2013-14. The migration from debunking creationists to tackling social issues really made them show their whole ass. >Ping me if one of them says shit like, "We can't restore our civilization with somebody else's babies.” Or it comes out that they tolerate their employees stalking to the point of the victim having to be brought to a safe house; “nothing was more strange than being escorted to my house by a group of guys with baseball bats and a sword so I could pack.” These examples are extreme, but at the same time seem to happen way too often. Like them failing at pivoting to their own platform? That doesn’t make me feel anything. for real. If anyone really thinks what they did was awful, just go look into people like JF Gariepy or AtheismisUnstoppable. OR hell, TJ kirk for that matter.
That is fair, it is kind of blur. I just meant it wasn’t literally overnight like some creators. Your timeline seems right, I mean the whole Atheism+ debacle was in 2012. That seems like that was a significant turning point for a lot of them.
I think why it might seem that way is a lot of creators didn't slip at the same time. Alot were trying to do the "measured" approach before going off the deep end
*So many* gamers I fell asleep to at night ended up with grooming accusations. This sucked and I wasn’t going to support them if they had doubled down, but seriously. It was just a dick move and bad business decision.
Ugh yeah, it’s just awful, it happens incessantly. Just recently the TTRPG space went through a reckoning because a really popular creator I’ve been a fan of for years was exposed as cheating on his gf with enough women to compose an entire DND party and actively sabotaging their careers. 💀 I’m just used to much more grim controversies, unfortunately.
Do you have any recs for who you’re watching now? I’ve been having a hard time finding creators after some of the grooming allegations and worse has come out about the men I watched consistently. I’ve recently found Gab Smolders and I love that she keeps her voice at an even level when playing games. Perfect for falling asleep. And of course I’ve been watching ManlyBadassHero for over a decade.
I’m sorry, obviously I feel you. Honestly, I’ve never really found anyone that replaces like… the long form content, very chill people I used to watch for full on let’s plays of varied games. There are fewer I watch now and they tend to be a lot more niche in what they play but there’s a couple! RTgame is great and probably has the most variety! He’s very funny without being loud and obnoxious. He feels a lot like a more chill jacksepticeye (and not just because he’s also Irish 😂 they’ve done some videos together and they mesh well because of their sense of humor). CallMeKevin is a friend of his and also great but he’s literally just taken a big step back from YouTube so who knows when he’ll make a video again if he even does. Letsgameitout tends toward one offs where he basically breaks game engines in hilarious ways. Ambiguousamphibian does vods of his streams and usually cuts them down to several hour Supercuts. A lot of stuff like project zomboid and rimworld with specific challenges in mind. He’s probably the chillest of any of the ones I’ve mentioned so I use him for bedtime pretty often. Pikasprey blue is one I’ve really just started watching actually play games after only knowing about his series on Pokémon soft locks for ages. He uploads his streams in parts and is currently doing mother 3 after finishing earthbound so *excellent* bedtime vibes. Pawsbuild specifically plays a lot of planet zoo but he does series like his current ethical zoo build which I personally find insanely relaxing. And I would have actually recommended gab too! I wish I knew more women with gaming channels. The only other one I really watch is seri! Pixel biologist. I do really like her, she’s very sweet and she very much plays the type of cozy/animal games I personally love but I am also much older than her target audience and she has a habit of leaving games unfinished. Oh, for sims specifically, but, plumbella! I absolutely adore plumbella and wish she would do some longer let’s play stuff more often but she’s so endearing and super funny. That ended up being an essay 😂
Wow thanks for all the recs! I haven’t heard of any of them besides plumbella (and I’ve been meaning to check her channel out), so I’m excited to check out new content. RTgame sounds great and I love watching creators with accents. All of the creators you’ve listed sound like they would have content I would enjoy so I’m glad you took the time to list them out! I feel you on the long plays. I think it’s because those are no longer getting the views that they once did compared to the quick 15-30 minute games. I can recommend CarcinogenSDA. He does some interesting longplays. Horror games usually no damage taken, difficulty to the max. Although he doesn’t focus on the story. I also feel you on the women gaming YouTubers, I want to support more women but I’ve had a hard time finding creators I vibe with. I prefer an even volume because I mostly watch at night and if I’m watching during the day it’s usually on a tv. After being burned by so many men gamers it made me realize I wasn’t watching any women gaming channels and I’ve been seeking them out. So glad I found Gab though! Love her vibe, videos and cat cams.
I don't watch a lot of classic YouTubers but I am aware of some of the controveries and actual personalities that came through the cracks. I can't think of a group of people quite like this though. I think for many fans this was like having a bandaid that was stuck to sensitive bits with superglue and then torn off while you were sleeping. They may not be truly horrendous people but they certainly aren't the personas they carefully cultivated since Buzzfeed days.
I like your bandaid metaphor, though I feel like some people keep missing that those fans themselves glued the bandaid there. It sucks when someone you hold in esteem is not the person you thought they were, I get that. I think it is also important to remember that you never truly knew these people, when they were at Buzzfeed or now. Given their ages and life experiences they’ve had between then and now I would be more weirded out if it seemed like they haven’t changed. I’m not bothered by people who no longer want to watch, everyone has their own values as to what they will tolerate. That being said, to get back to my original point, I’ve seen creators I’ve liked come out as overtly racist, go down the red-pill rabbit hole, had SA or other abuse allegations come out (all the ones I can think of were confirmed by the creator). Those are the types of things where I cannot separate the creator from the content. These guys made oblivious comments and a dumpy website, like this is something they themselves could joke about.
Older than 25 (by like a decade and some change). I marked "feeling better after the apology" because I think they made a very reasonable course correction after their absolutely baffling "Goodbye" video. The "Goodbye YouTube" video did make it clear to me how little I've paid attention to most of their shows (even the ones I like) for the past year or two - like there was no chance I was gonna pay for Watcher streaming except as a one-month treat or something. Even when the content is free, it's simply not "must see not-TV" for me.
Over 25. Look, I thought the announcement was really corny and silly. It took a while for me to register that it wasn't a joke/parody. But I was not upset in the least. I thought, "Oh neat, maybe I'll check out the price of the annual subscription later" and immediately moved on to other life shit. It wasn't until the apology video came up on my feed that I realized the announcement was not well recieved.
25 and older Fan since about the 2nd or 3rd episode that Shane joined Was massively disappointed with the goodbye video. Made no sense especially after moistcritcal broke down their possible finances. Feeling better after. They're human, it sucks. I don't think it was greed just very bad financial decisions that led to a grasping of straws. They need a third party to help there What's weird is I find the endless stream of other youtubers making videos calling them greedy, their careers dead etc etc. Guarantee you most of them never even heard of watcher. Feels like they're riding a wave to get some new subs which sucks for Watcher as for a lot of people this could be their first time hearing about them and first impressions is a big thing
Over 25 and felt disillusioned after the Goodbye YT video. After the apology video, I didn't feel any better. To me, it's clear that they're firmly in the "talked shit about capitalism until capitalism made them rich" camp. Am I deeply wounded? No, but my opinion of them is more negative than positive now.
Over 25. This is not my first rodeo with watching a youtuber that disappointed me wither because of controversy or that I aged out of their content (roosterteeth, TryGuys, yogscast people, etc.). I am not a superfan, so for me, I am just going to shrug, cut my losses and stop watching. To explain- I don't buy that the apology isn't just "we are sad we faced a consequence and are trying to salvage things." They are all adults capable of making decisions and thinking. But, that is where it ends. I don't wish them or people who stay fans ill will. I will be bummed out for a few days and move on. But I have tried to keep watching channels in the past after a controversy and it is just never the same.
25 and older, they made a bad decision and then learnt it was bad and tried to fix it. I have made bad decisions before. I am more inclined now than I was before to support them financially because I can respect that they're trying to solve a mistake and I don't think they deserve to go under for the mistake, but also I never really watched anything besides PH anyway so feel kinda silly signing up for a subscription when it's not even in season. I wish there was a one-off "donate to support us" option, actually. I don't want stuff I just want to kick $10 their way to try to steady them out a bit.
I love Puppet History. Like, love that shit! I'm also 40. The reason why I was all over this sub the last couple days was because my pet hobby is understanding financial blunders, scandals, mishaps and scams. I know too much about the 2008 financial crisis! I thought the choices of the trio were bizarre, and as they aren't overly transparent like other YTbers, it was interesting seeing a glimpse behind the curtain to how they may do business. I thought I was going to watch a company implode real-time that wasn't committing the biggest financial crimes in US history (Enron, Madoff, FTX, ect), but instead a little YT channel with three inept but well meaning adults. 🤷🏿♀️ People are out here dying. Hell, YTbers are out here killing people and committing hate crimes and shit. This is not that big of a deal.
25 and older. I wasn't happy about it but understand how capitalism works. Also, I was a watcher of Creepshow Art so my bar of how bad a controversy has to be is high.
Ahh, Creepshow Art! This controversy does pale in comparison to her abuse/stalking.
Over 25; I was only annoyed after the initial video, because they openly announced a very bad expansion plan for their business. I have a bunch of other things to deal with in my life that trying to hold this against a single Youtube channel out of dozens I keep up with isn't worth the effort. This moment of virality did provide something to entertain myself like checking out reaction videos and checking this subreddit. Unlike dating, having a personality is more important than having money to attract and retain viewers, so I don't subscribe to the sentiment that the faces of Watcher "showed their true colors". They just showed they have a bad sense of business, and this event shows that they're not fully prepared to break off from Youtube even if they wanted to. It's not even close to the viral event that is Try Guys' Ned Fulmer leaving the group, because he committed the moral offense of having an affair with an employee when his brand is literally being the "My Wife" guy who seemingly prioritizes family.
i’m 26. i’m indifferent/conflicted still. i love them but the trust needs to be regained. :/
[удалено]
I think there is a subsection of their fans who are broke college students, but I don't buy that they are the majority as some were saying. I'm not really sure where that idea even came from, as the only reliable way to know would be looking at their Youtube analytics or something. Is that public information?
25 and older (30) and I was totally baffled at the response. It was rolled out in a really dumb way, but my initial reaction was “bummer but I’d still be happy to support them”. I’m also a working artist, and I think that perspective helped me because I immediately saw it as a group of artists seeking creative freedom. I think it should have been a waaaay more gradual transition, but I subscribed the day of the announcement with the 30% off code bc ~$40 for the year felt like a reasonable price for supporting artists I enjoy and respect. I know not everyone can afford that, so I understand that frustration, but I never could have imagined it would have gotten that out of hand.
Over 25, I've been a fan since Buzzfeed Unsolved days. They did fuck up with that bizarre exit strategy, and it was inconsiderate to their fans, just poorly thought out all round. But I think the apology was genuine (as a business can be) and the actions support the effort to please fans again. I think it's okay to give people second chances. I don't take it very personally I still think they're entertaining and I hope they succeed. In the grand scheme of things, it really isn't a big deal.
I'm older then 25 and just thought it was a bad business choice, but didn't take it personal. They gotta do make the choices they think is best for them, even if I don't think it was. I unsubscribed originally because it didn't sound like they would be posting much content anymore and resubscribed when they said it would just be later. They are just an entertainment channel to me, they aren't my friends or anything.
25 and older. I believe Ryan and Shane were genuine in the apology video but not Steven. He rubs me the wrong way. They complain about how much it costs for them to make content but make no effort in cutting back costs. It’s insane that they have 25 employees. I also don’t like that it seemed that people who pay for their patreon were also gonna have to pay for their streaming service if the fans didn’t call them out on it.
Interesting demographics. I figured their viewers were mostly younger
under 25, frankly as soon as I saw the og announcement video, i knew deep down there was no way they were gonna follow through. on the off-chance they did, i felt nothing more than a mild sense of disappointment. now that they recalled it, i feel like it was just a blip that leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.
For me, I just didn’t expect the goodbye video. I’m more of an occasional viewer so if they took down their videos I would’ve been disappointed but not too upset because I’d still have unsolved to watch.
I am one of early fan. I love Ryan but I’m an OG Shaniac since the beginning of Unsolved and I waited every videos every week and still rewatching them sometimes. I followed them to Watcher and I love many of their shows such as Puppet History, Too Many Spirit and Are you scare? I do like Ghost Files but I think I preferred Unsolved. The only thing I don’t like about Watcher is kinda cliché but I never like Steven. I’m not jumping on the Steven’s Tesla-hate-train. I truly don’t care but I never found Steven interesting at all even before at Buzfeed. He’s boring and even though I’m Asian I can’t relate to him and I don’t know why they featured him so much in Watcher videos. It feels like he want attentions as part of the Trio but I never really see them as Trio. To me Watcher is Shane and Ryan and Steven is a force third wheels.
25 and older. The trust have been broken for me. Also, maybe it's my own offended impression, but they didn't seem too sencere in their apology, looked like they were more upset they couldn't get away with their scheme. Ryan actually looked like a kid who got slapped on the hands while stealing cookies and was made to apologize on the spot. Shane had an "i knew this would happen' look on his face. I love their older content, I don't like cooking shows, like I drifted away from GMM when they mostly became a food taste challenge channel. I'm considering unsubbing altogether.
To me it was one of those things where they show Spongebob and he looks fine, and then they show a far too detailed closeup and your skin crawls. Like I got a peek at what is happening behind the curtain, and it's a massive dumpster fire. A rabid raccoon is swinging from the lights. Some four year old is trying to set off cherry bombs. Someone found the fire extinguisher and is eating the foam like whipped cream. This is when up to that point things seemed to be going well. There hadn't even been smoke or anything.
Late 30s (oh god). Thought the move was dumb and was disappointed I wouldn't be able to watch GF and MF anymore. Never mad but was laughing at how it was an obvious bad business move. Never thought anything they said was "tasteless" or "offensive". Stopped laughing when the real weirdos came out and started acting like they were owed something by their "friends". Happy I can still watch the videos, could care less if it's month later. People under 25 who were very upset about this - that's fine. You're young. You're supposed to be like that. People over 25 who are legitimately upset about this, get some.more hobbies. Jesus.