Sometime last night, my YouTube channel reached 50,000 subscribers.
This morning, the data for the last 28 days looks like this:
On average, most of our videos are watched for about 50% of their duration - meaning some drop out quite quickly, and a great many people get near to the end before doing so.
In addition to the above, my TikTok channel has had over a million views in the last month.
Those figures make the nearly 700,000 views here seem small by comparison.
As my son, who works with me, put it, we're YouTubers now.
Or, as my wife suggested, she now has to come to terms with living with a content creator.
This is quite a strange idea to me, and one I did not see coming. I had wanted to make videos for a long time, but for all sorts of reasons, I put it off, a short period during Covid excepted. Now, it looks as though it might become a significant part of life. I can't say I mind. I enjoy making the videos we produce. A recording session is going to happen this morning. More will be coming your way soon.
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Richard, as an agnostic individual, it’s quite ironic I think of this phrase, but you really are doing ‘the lords work’. Without people like yourself, society has no chance against the establishment completely destroying any form of democracy and equality. You are the only content creator I read/listen/watch, as you genuinely bring valuable and important content that is worth subscribing to. Huge amount of respect to yourself and thank you for the work you do. Cheers
Thank you
Good morning Richard,
Yes you are now YouTuber and content creator and an excellent one at that. Between this blog, YouTube and other social media platforms the content you create is always well thought out and accessible in that you explain the subject you are talking about in a way that is easy to understand. The truthful nature is refreshing as it cuts through a lot of the mainstream media’s bias and false narrative that has become so prevalent today (Farmers IHT case in point)
Keep up the good work Richard, it is appreciated!
Thanks
Richard you are a beacon of sanity, who is to be congratulated for exploring and using the full range of social media to get your message out.
It’s proving to be fun
I can see an invitation to fly to the USA soon, given so much of your recent success has related to American politics
I won’t be going
And more of the traffic is UK than US based by some way
@Sinwar,
With the exception of the climate change issue, this blog is VERY UK specific.
Transferable topics are few and far between but do include, MMT, MMT and the Green New Deal and the Middle East.
Please continue to cultivate what you are doing on YouTube! After the Trump win, we need to preemptively counter a similar situation in the UK at the next election once dissatisfaction with Labour has set in. The idea of Farage or a Farage-alike taking power here disgusts and terrifies me. You are fighting the good fight in terms of offering and clearly explaining an alternative approach that would actually benefit the average working Brit.
Why not lean in to YouTube and look for collaborations/crossover? Have you considered speaking to Gary Stevenson (would love to hear that conversation) or someone like Jimmy the Giant? Both have quite big audiences (especially among younger audiences) and similar overall messages to yours.
Fiurst I have to get rid of other commitments
I am working 12 hours a day – I cannot take on more until something goes
That will happen, but not yet
Richard
I know that I keep banging on about this but I will not stop because I think its vital that you and many others up your game bigtime and really start and begin to compete and take on the other on-line voices that are out there. The stakes are getting higher and higher and in my view failure is not an option.
I readily admit and disclose that sadly and unfortunately, I have no real/practical experience, knowledge or anything of substance to offer you or anyone else looking into operating in the field/art of podcasting/social media/youtubing/influencing etc etc other than perhaps making a very modest monetary contribution towards all your efforts. Perhaps you can request visitors/followers to contribute financially in order to allow you to grow your on-line presence? You may even need to consider hiring a social media team?
However, I do seriously think you should start thinking about exploiting the digital/on-line medium a lot more than you are currently doing. How to do so? I have some ideas around linking/joining forces with other social media personalities/influencers that have shared interests (and with even those that don’t) to use their platforms to dispel myths and shatter the noises/rhetoric that is coming from the neoliberals/right/left wingers and others. This should all be targeted and carefully planned so as to maximise traction and audience.
You probably will also need to engage with others who already operate and are making waves in this space, those that have well established platforms in order to seek their advice on what works well and what doesn’t – you could start with Mehdi Hassan, Politics Joe? You could look into using spotify, substack and other streaming apps/tech to attract even more viewers.
I know all of this is very presumptuous and border line rude/outrageous of me to say, especially as I have very little knowledge of your circumstances, work structure, volume, number of enquiries, on-going work, projects, interests and how you like to do things/spend time – so pls forgive me for lets call it a rant.
All I know is that your voice must be heard, acknowledged and used for creating the change that is so desperately needed especially amongst the younger generation. You are already working incredibly hard, which is evident and manifests itself through your output, work/research, blog, etc etc. I don’t know how you manage it to be honest.
All of your work must be put out there even more effectively to the masses in ways that they can all access, digest and understand. You have said on several occasions everything is moving in the direction of more and not less online presence and I really want you to crack this space so that your work is taken to another level.
Perhaps you can start with your own podcasts/interviews, more shorts/videos/clips of other commentators in which you critically appraise and highlight their vicious/dangerous lies and the misinformation being peddled by others.
The article in Guardian (link below) shows the huge impact of podcasts. I know its time consuming to record podcasts and organize, then publish etc. But the results speak for themselves.
Perhaps even consider embracing/using AI where you give it a script, feed it your research papers, books, articles, insights etc etc and ask the AI to produce on-line content with you in it, with your own voice and style. Of course you would still need to edit it and appraise the quality, accuracy and I imagine there is a minefield of other stuff that must be considered but its still worth exploring in my view. You have so much material, content, sources of information and policies etc at your disposal that could be converted and turned into something through AI that can then be streamed/shared and unleashed in ways that have not yet been done before.
If not done so already, I recommend reading this article in Guardian about the role popular podcasts played in the US election.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/nov/20/joe-rogan-theo-von-podcasts-donald-trump
Just look at the Spotify podcast charts. Spotify is the most used streaming app in the US, but it skews younger: about 54% of Spotify users are between the ages of 18 and 34. The top three podcasts in the week of the election – with audiences bigger than those of every news outlet, every true crime show, every wellness blogger – were from Joe Rogan, Tucker Carlson and Theo Von.
Noted
But you mention the key constraint- time
I have been massively short of it
When things change I will see where we go
A satisfying result, well deserved.
Worse than that, you’re now an ‘influencer’.
You may now post videos on beaches in exotic locations while espousing economic sense.
The west of Wales, Scotland and, at a push, the west of Ireland are as exotic as I get.
But, we are discussing breaking me out of the office in the new year.
YouTube (rarely) & TikTok (never) are examples of things I personally dont use much, but I absolutely endorse your use of them, to increase your reach.
WELL DONE!
Thanks
You make sense bro. Here’s to another 50’000 subs!
Would like to read about your YouTube set-up and editing workflow sometime
OK
Noted
Richard,
I want to echo the praise and gratitude others have expressed for your work—you truly are a remarkable content creator and influencer. Speaking personally, the education you’ve provided has transformed economics into an engaging and thought-provoking subject for me. As a result, I now have a much deeper appreciation for what could be achieved if our politicians embraced forward-thinking, long-term planning.
A chance encounter a few years ago listening to you at the Edinburgh Book Festival left a lasting impression on me. It was a pivotal moment that opened my eyes to the importance of challenging the narratives often presented to the British public. Like many others, I had been conditioned to believe myths such as “there’s no such thing as public money, only taxpayers’ money,” or that governments must “tax first, then spend.”
Your ability to explain how the system truly works is both empowering and necessary. Until these misconceptions are dispelled, many will remain unaware of the alternatives that exist. Encouragingly, there is a growing movement—comprising academic economists, business leaders, and everyday citizens—who are rejecting these outdated ideas.
Please, continue your vital work in educating and inspiring us all. There is still so much to be done, and your voice is one of the most compelling in driving change.
Many thanks
I remember that morning in Edinburgh. I did not expect a sell out, and it was a lot of fun.
Thanks for your kind words. I needed them this afternoon for reasons I won’t explain.
And there was me, reading the heading, thinking that you were calling us all ‘potatoes’.
🙂