Note - remember the rule "No Personal Attacks". I'm talking about the trend as a whole, and not any one particular member.
I've noticed that a solid portion of new threads being started are from YouTube creators, who basically seem to be driving traffic to their videos on YouTube.
It seems there are mixed feelings about this trend, so I thought it may be worthy of a discussion.
I'll start with my own opinion, of course.
I think what we are seeing here is a result of two factors:
1) Video is the #1 preferred form of content on the internet, period. I could back up this statement with studies, reports, etc. For example, TikTok was the most high traffic website for 2021.
2) This forum is behind the times, by not integrating video.
I'm not going to delve too deeply into part #2, because that could be considered a "website issue", which as a rule should not be discussed on the forum. I do believe it is appropriate to mention it though, as this subject is of paramount importance to the forum, and potentially entails other rules (ie. No Advertising), as I will explain.
First, I will say I generally do not fault the YouTubers, and in fact I believe they are among the most helpful content producers in this forum.
When I was a kid, my dream was to have my own fishing show. My idols were Babe Winkleman and Jimmy Houston. That was way before the internet was a thing. To be able to fish for a living, teach people, travel, and make cool videos... that was my dream in the 1980's, so I can certainly understand the appeal of it for today's content creators.
The internet made it possible for virtually anyone to have their own fishing show, and thousands have done just that.
Are there some egos and self-aggrandizement involved? Of course. But I don't think it would be fair to characterize all as such. For many it is a way to share their passion, document their hobby, educate the masses, or combine their love of video production with their love of fishing.
Just because someone is making videos of themselves doesn't mean they have bad motives, and if part of their motives are selfish, so what? We all do in some area of life.
Since video is the preferred form of media these days, YouTube content creators are providing content in the way that most people want to consume it, and many would argue that a video can hold a more valuable education than an article.
Now, where I question the way YouTubers are involved on this forum is their method of participation.
An example wold be a post that says: "Hey I just caught a bunch of big fish, and made a video showing how I did it: LINK"
The reader is then being taken off this site, and most subsequent conversation and interaction happens on YouTube rather than this site.
I also see that some (but not all) YouTube creators are not FXR+ members, and their primary (if not only) interaction on this site is to post their stuff.
I think that really blurs or crosses the line of the "No Advertising" rule. After all, they are promoting their own product/service, which is their YouTube channel.
This is where I felt it was only appropriate to mention the website functionality. If videos were more integrated with this website, those content creators could be using this site as a platform and actually providing content within it, while providing more value for FXR by keeping the interaction here.
The most simple first step would be adding video embed into posts. Even if the video is still hosted at YouTube, the videos could be watched here without having to link out to YouTube. Since there is not that option, I find it hard to fault the YouTubers for the way they are doing it.
(Again I'm not attacking the forum admin here. I'll gladly discuss further details, how to make it happen, etc. in a personal email or phone call. I know I could just email my suggestion to the admin, but I think it would be much more fruitful and helpful to the admin to see a discussion with multiple opinions rather than just receive an unsolicited suggestion from me. It may be that no one here wants video I don't want to make assumptions.)
So what do you y'all think? Videos or no videos? What kind of videos do you like to see or not see?
