YouTube binges are a thing that I was not aware until Covid took hold and one became isolated.
In a way it’s no different to Netflix binges. Where viewers go thru all episodes of one season or more in a single session. One reason is to seek closure fast rather than be kept in suspense.
The other reason is the planned binge. Maybe for a niche lot where the viewer is well aware of a programe and reserves viewing until a number of episodes are completed. The viewing is then done during a planned holiday or a long weekend. No different to picking out a book to read during the holidays.
It’s also done when someone becomes aware of a new show from a colleague or friend or reading up a review in a forum or an article. Since most or all episodes are ready and these shows can be riveting, they watch it at one go. Or like a good book, they can’t put it down.
The YouTube Difference
Content wise however, it’s lot more different to Netflix and other streaming channels. In fact it is not in the streaming genre.
Netflix is primarily a entertainment channel and includes a documentary genre. Its movies and TV shows. YouTube can be anything that is of interest and there are millions of content creators covering a wide spectrum.
YouTube’s entertainment component is relatively small. It is in fact a visual window of nearly anything and everything. YouTube content is also closer to information, education or following the trials and tribulations of a YouTuber.
In Netflix you scroll thru various entertainment genres of interest and you pick one. In YouTube you come across a particular YouTuber or a particular subject matter and you want to know more. The YouTube content spectrum is huge.
More around an agenda
A popular agenda for the viewer is to accomplish a goal. Inspirational at times. Actual people accomplishing simple to complex tasks and bringing their viewers along their journey.
Some examples of YouTube content are building a garden shed, sailing around the World or how to edit your travel videos.
Others include how to start an online business or to learn a programming language.
Even how sardines are caught and canned in Portugal catches the eye and brings people into a different world. And it does not cost anything but time. Soon the bug catches you and you want to see more on fisheries.
How Salmon farming is done in Norway or how young Tuna shoals are intercepted in the Southern Ocean by South Australia’s Port Lincoln fishermen and brought into pens for farming.
Fascinating! Then it pivots into how these pioneering fishermen have becomes millionaires fuelling the export market and contributing significantly to South Australia’s and Australia’s economy.
And the list goes on.
Popular YouTube genres are travel, culture, engineering and how things are made. Other popular genres are gaming walk-thrus, how to do guides, product reviews, quirky pets, comedy skits and vlogs.
The Vlogging Genre
One genre stands out more because the content creators and viewers see themselves as laypersons and equals.
“Tom Pemberton Farm Life” is an excellent example. This is the vlogging genre.
Tom helps his father in his Lancashire farm and shares his daily chores as well as takes on challenges with his viewers. He has over 420 thousand subscribers. His down to earth personality and the farm content including names of the bulls are brought into thousands of homes.
I found vlogs interesting as they are about someone undertaking a journey or doing something with a plan. And they take their viewers along with them.
It maybe a few episodes to those that are over months and years. There are viewers who are keen to do the same but for various reasons can’t and follow the YouTuber instead.
Interested viewers subscribe to the channel and some become patrons supporting that journey financially. The amounts are typically small although the numbers do add up for the popular ones.
Some interesting channels
Sailing or cruising around the World is an early favourite of mine when Covid isolation began. And it was the was topic that got me into YouTube binge watching. I used to cover up to 10 episodes per day.
“Sailing Uma” with Dan, a Canadian and Kika, a Haitian who met in architecture school in Atlanta caught my eye. They took to the waters after a short stint working together with a second hand yacht that needed to be fixed first.
Yet another is Nike Steiger’s YouTube Channel ”White Spot Pirates” where she buys a dilapidated 37 foot yacht, restores it and starts sailing. I remember how I felt that she would not be able to float the boat yet she is doing very well. There is tinge of envy as well as a sense of failure that I could not do half the stuff that she did.
In both cases, the viewer learns about the process of restoring a boat by a beginner and then learning to sail from one beautiful destination to another.
Then there is the wonderful Australian success story of Riley Whitelum and Elayna Caruso, 2 sailing greenhorns who are now on the 7th year of sailing and with 2 young kids. Both kids born well after their parents began sailing and made a name with YouTube.
“Sailing La Vagabonde” has over 1.6 millions subscribers and chalking up 343 million views. Here is the post that I did of them.
Clearly I am into travel and another sub genre in YouTube that appeals to me is cycling around the World.
I have done other posts where I have touched on cycling. Its incredibly doable for anyone as it is affordable and journeys can be a few weeks to years.
More than anything YouTube has brought this to the fore. It is clearly a matter of resolve and some careful planning. I recently covered ”Touring on bike” and here is the post.
Back to binge watching on YouTube
I know for a fact that binge watching on YouTube is big even though I have not come across any articles or surveys on it.
Every time I look into a particular long running and popular YouTube channel I will inevitably come across a comment where the person says that he had came across the channel and just completed binge watching all the episodes to catch-up. And these comments are very common and evidential of the trait.
Its a fascinating set of dynamics. I bet the founders and early followers and fans did not expect binge watching a thing.
Content creators and YouTube have now made it easy with the playlist, an idea copied from the music industry.
Creators lump all episodes covering a sub-topic, an event, a a particular trip or they are grouped by the calendar year.
For Sailing La Vagabonde, you go thru the playlist for bringing Greta Thunberg across the Atlantic in 8 episodes or another playlist with 184 episodes covering the last 3 years. So the viewer binge watches what they want and not the whole channel.
I thought the Greta Thunberg story was revealing. Not just about Greta but the World class and professional Yachtswomen Nikki Henderson taking the helm during the journey in rough weather. Go check it out, you will be intrigued.