Anyone got time for an opinion on thumbnails? Also if you have any ideas for what text should be on the statue thumbnail that'd be great.
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One bit of advice I got on here was to have my face on thumbnails more. Any preference for top or bottom?
Thanks for all the input on why the Israel video got such low views. The retention & click-through stats are actually high for the vid, so the YT experts I spoke to said it probably wasn't a bad vid, but not pushed out by YouTube because they can't sell ads next to it. So maybe more a case of profit-motive than ideological suppression.
By the way, please do consider signing up for my substack emails. I'm posting a Q&A on there tomorrow as well as recommended links, videos & books I've been reading, photos etc. brendanmiller.substack.com/
Another bit of advice I got was to have a more recognisable channel image - I've gone for this catchy orange. Not sure about my expression though. Look a bit worried!
(Israel vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyrKK...)
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Anyone got any insights on why this latest video did so badly relative to my other vids?
One answer is the audience (people like you?) are less interested in Israel than Trump and American politics. Doesn't feel like a convincing answer, and I definitely plan to keep covering stories like the Iran-Israel conflict.
Someone in the comments said it was shadow banned. That's an attractive explanation but I don't really believe it.
One issue is thumbnails. I think I want to start having more thumbs with my face on. I think there are people who've seen previous vids who'd click again if they knew it was me... Any recommendations on creator styles you admire?
Also happy to get suggestions on titles for that vid.
It's a bit crushing but good to see if there's anything I can do different.
Here's the vid if you didn't see it: https://youtu.be/iyrKK8T8n8c?si=GgbIl...
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Great to see the new series from @KirbyFerguson - I learn so much from his work watch video on watch page
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Thank you everyone! A year ago my videos struggled to get a thousand views. They're getting a much bigger audience now and I know that's down to all the people who subscribed and helped the channel grow. Means a lot! (This is a bottle of whisky my friend sent me when the Trump vid went over 1m)
At some point I'm planning a Q&A video. Any questions? Could be about anything from politics to workflow or whatever.
Also I'm planning to be in central London this week, and some days later in the month. Give me a shout if you fancy a coffee and talking politics! DMs are open on bsky.app/profile/brenkjm.bsky.social
PS I have a substack to get emails when I publish brendanmiller.substack.com/ - come sign up!
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Lovely few days in Cambridge doing nothing but reading. I have two young kids and run a commercial video business to pay the bills, so this was a lovely Christmas present from my wife: just long walks, pubs and a pile of books.
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I see Johnny Harris has taken down his video on NATO. Here’s my take on why blaming NATO is a bad argument https://youtu.be/IUKPBq0xRaA?si=sHJEi... watch video on watch page
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What do you think? What would you click?
I'm not really sure whether YouTube will be interested in how a 19th century political theorist explains the politics of Dune, but looking forward to giving it a go!
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Couch to 5k! Thank you guys for watching!
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Woohoo! Pop the champagne! 🍾
P.S. I have an email list if you want to get a note when I publish a video brendanmiller.co.uk/email-list/
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Hi, I'm Brendan. I make videos about what's going on in the news, with analysis from a centre-left perspective. Additionally, in each video I share concepts from social science, political science or history that explain how the world works at a deeper level. The idea is that each video gives you an idea that will be useful to you long after today's headlines have faded.
Sign up to substack to get emails about new videos, along with extra links and behind-the-scenes details: brendanmiller.substack.com/