Ross O'Donovan · @RubberNinja
23rd Aug 2014 from TwitLonger
Re-evaluating.
I have the thickest skin for mean comments, I've been dealing with them longer than most and they rarely phase me. But nothing stings more than the simple comment "Ross is an animator?".
Recently you might have caught the video I posted about the harsh reality of exclusively producing animation content on YouTube, something that as of now is no longer a sustainable channel model. It was met with a lot of really great feedback and I was overwhelmed by the positive response by viewers and fellow content creators. One thing I didn't touch upon was the sad fact that as animators, we're doing this to ourselves. We don't HAVE to just post animations, we choose to do this. By limiting ourselves, we are in turn setting a precedent for what content is expected from us, when in reality it's not even conceivable to maintain anymore.
Brand deals are something that a lot of channels do and they're a great way of earning an extra bit of money, but unfortunately they're always pitched towards gaming centric channels, as that's what advertisers want. Because of this, I've actually entirely turned down multiple brand deals that would otherwise have been really good for me, simply because I wouldn't post a game play video my channel. By being stubborn about this, I'm letting my channel with about 240k+ subscribers literally rot, I'm not really happy to be admitting that either.
Lately I've been having an internal conflict about this and considering re-evaluating what kind of content I should be posting, as there's no reason I couldn't be doing various things alongside the occasional animation. I could be posting videos talking about issues I care about, live action comedy sketches, solo gaming footage, tutorials/advice, collaborations with friends, cartoon reviews/discussion and so much more. But instead I've been stuck in my ways and only wanting to do one thing.
My personal channel is a part of my public image and identity. While I want it to be solely based around animation and art, I feel like there's a lot of me that people don't get to see past what's on Grumps. While I imagine there might be a huge resistance to the idea of change on my personal channel, I feel like it might be for the best.
As a viewer, what are your thoughts?