YouTube: It’s Not Just for Cats Anymore!

Guest post by Michael W. Dean

“YouTube: An Insider’s Guide to Climbing the Charts” authors Alan Lastufka and Michael W. Dean are doing a five-day blog post series on “How to create and promote more effectively on YouTube.” Here’s part three of five:

Greetings, eager blog reader! You probably expected another installment on “Making it big on YouTube.” But that’s Alan’s job. Alan’s handed the reins over to me to give him a rest on humpday, and I’m the guy who wrote the “punk rock cheerleading” parts of the book. I want to talk about making it important on YouTube. (Which, by the way, could actually also lead to making it big on YouTube.)

When Alan and I were first approached about doing this five-day blog series, one of the questions put to us, to get our blog juices flowing, was “I hear your cats are in the book. What are their names?”

Well, it’s true. There are cats in the book.

(Photo of Fuzzbucket)

(Photo of Peanut)

First up, we have Fuzzbucket “Fuzzy” McFluffernutter and his brother Peanut “The Bold” McFluffernutter. Both are totally frenzied two-year-old Maine Coons. We call them “the Squittens.” (A squitten is a mythical beast that is half squirrel and half kitten.)

(Photo of Charlie)

Then there’s Charlie Squitten, Jr. Charlie is a mellow 11-year-old tortoiseshell who has actually survived a coyote attack and lived to tell about it. She’s a tough old squat (same roots as squitten, just substitute in “cat” for “kitten”).

I think cats are marvelous. My friend Mike Kelley says “Cats are too perfect to be anything but proof that there is a God.” My wife Debra Jean and I adore cats, and couldn’t picture living without them. Living with cats makes you a better person. We’ve both had ‘em since we were kids, and will probably have a few more after these, because we plan to live a long time.

There are cat photos in the book, but only because Debra Jean and I tend to keep to ourselves, and didn’t have anyone else around that day to use as models for photos I needed to take, illustrating framing, setting up shots, and such. There are a little under a dozen cat photos in the book. If I’d had my way, there would have been hundreds more, but the cooler heads of our excellent editors prevailed.

As much as I love cats, I advise you not to make a lot of cat videos and put them on YouTube. Same with skateboard accidents videos and other zany things. Maybe for your first few videos, just to figure out your camera and how to edit. But after you’ve mastered that, I want you to really try to change the world. For the better.

From YouTube: An Insider’s Guide to Climbing the Charts page 53:

What Not to Shoot and Why
YouTube doesn’t need another video of a tin can in a microwave. And it certainly doesn’t need another video of some guy wrecking his family jewels on a railing while falling off a skateboard. Sure, this stuff gets lots of hits. But it’s not going to help you bring people back again and again.

After you’ve made and uploaded your first few videos of…well, anything, and gotten over the tiny technical hurdles of making stuff look and sound good, then get original. Figure out how to bring something original out of your own twisted little mind and make it fly. Don’t worry too much at first about writing for an audience; that comes later, after you’ve done more experimentation. Just try to do something that reflects you.

Look on YouTube, and see what’s been done to death. Then do anything else. The only reason I can see to do something that’s been done to death is to parody it. So, find something unique or that expresses a unique viewpoint, and do a drama, comedy, or vlog about that.

When I say change the world, I really mean it. A lot of people bandy about the phrase “Be the media.” But that often translates to “make yet another video of a cat being cute.” Or, to the more socially minded, “vlog passionately about what you think are the inequities of the world.” I want you to think beyond that. Don’t just talk about what’s wrong, tell the world what needs to be done to make things better. “Your mission, should you choose to accept it”, is to really strive to make a difference. I honestly don’t think many people have really done that on YouTube yet. Sure, there’s a lot of community on YouTube, which is good. We need friends. But what have you seen on YouTube that originated in someone’s room (not from some big company somewhere), was initially only put out into the world on YouTube, and changed the world? And I’m not talking about something mildly interesting that got a few million hits, because most things that do that do not change the world, other than getting those few million people to look at it, enjoy it, and move on. That does not equal making a difference.

Sure, the presidential primaries were broadcast on YouTube. And people vlogging on YouTube may have influenced the outcome of the last election. But my thinking is this: the world isn’t really changed until the Internet replaces leaders and representatives, and we can actually vote on each issue ourselves. And people become smart enough to read the complete text of proposed laws, bonds and amendments, and understand them.

As it stands, it seems most voters spend more of their time watching American Idol (or Gossip Girl) and then vote based on a candidate’s charisma, on bumper sticker slogans and on attack ads from all sides. Until this changes, I really think that the Internet in general, or YouTube specifically, has only scratched the surface of its potential to change the world. It can change, and you can be that voice of change.

Do you want to vote toward “better government”, or might you just feel freer with less government? (Keep in mind, you’d also have to find ways to raise the level of integrity of people, and also figure out a way to deal with those who would continue to violently step on the natural-born rights of others even if after being granted all the freedom in the world.)

Even if you’re not old enough to vote now, you will be. What kind of world do you want waiting for you when you can finally vote?

“Blessed are the young, for they shall inherit the national debt.”
– Herbert Hoover

“The United States is a nation of laws, badly written and randomly enforced.”
–Frank Zappa

“No man’s life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session.”
– Mark Twain (1866)

“Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of Liberty.”
– Thomas Jefferson

LINK: Debra Jean Dean reading the US Constitution. http://www.debrajeandean.com
Recordings covered by Creative Commons, feel free to use as you please.

Wanna take a shot at changing the world? I’d suggest making a video about the Internet replacing the government, and people becoming much smarter and more respectful, so we can actually make that work.

Or, if you totally disagree with the idea of less government, and/or disagree that Internet “direct democracy” could work, make a video about why you believe that, and about what you think would work instead.

Then tell two friends.

If you make a video on either side of this topic (or on a completely different take on this topic, there are always more than two sides to any argument), I’ll certainly subscribe to your channel, and I’ll certainly tell (at least) two friends to check you out.

“Get a dialogue going.” Seriously. Change the world.
– Michael “Grandpa Simpson” Dean, in a rural bunker somewhere outside of Los Angeles

If you enjoyed part three, please subscribe to read part four tomorrow, Thursday December 11th. And tell two friends!

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