Typecast

...and I fit into both categories (sort of) There are people who create content and people who watch content. Some do both.  And in this world where social media is accessible to almost everyone, anyone with a camera on their phone can become an 'overnight YouTube success'. This means that almost every other article I see promoted is all about how to grow your YouTube channel or how to be successful on YouTube - and not one article has anything new to tell me - it's all about subs and reviews and collabs and daily vlogging and having a theme and scheduling.  So my previous blog post was all about how not to win at YouTube  but I wanted to expand further on my thoughts. The first video ever to have been uploaded to YouTube was called ' Me at the zoo ' and was from one of the co-founders of the platform. It was uploaded on 23rd April 2005 - a mere 69 days after YouTube was officially created ( yes, YouTube is only 11 years old ).  I uploaded my first...

Everywhere I look, someone is trying to tell me how to grow my YouTube channel or how to be successful on YouTube. Bollocks to that. This is the antithesis of that advice as surely YouTube is just for the young and the beautiful? How Not To Win At YouTube Don't start until you are 40 years old. These young'uns know nothing worth watching It might be acceptable to start at age 30 though. Never EVER ask anyone to like your video or subscribe to your channel. Needy, much? Don't have a niche. There's no need. Just be random and unprepared. Don't have a schedule. I mean, do you switch on at a specific time to watch content exactly when it's uploaded? Or need to comment with "FIRST"? Don't vlog every single day. Or if you do, make sure you moan like fuck about how difficult it is, And make sure every vlog is the same. And use one of the first three available music options from the YouTube media library. And have the vol...

I was recently reminded of one of my old blog posts - my oldest YouTube favourites - and considering YouTube itself is only just over 10 years old , I'm always grateful that people have clung on to film/television/music clips and uploaded them for us to enjoy.  Also, as YouTube has developed, it has become a platform for anyone and everyone to be a broadcaster, or a film maker, or a musician, or... absolutely anything on camera.  Content is uploaded to YouTube at an alarming rate - 300 hours worth of content PER MINUTE, according to this great article  which means the good, the bad and the downright awful is out there waiting for someone to enjoy. I'm always on the lookout for new channels to subscribe to so I thought I'd start an occasional series that recommends different types of YouTube content for you to enjoy. I've selected one video from each channel to showcase as an example but these are channels that I really look forward to seeing appear in my subscri...

I don't know how to start this without being all sensationalist about it but the tongue-in-cheek clickbait title is designed to get you reading so here goes. I've spent the last few days mulling over the 'what if's' after an urgent referral to have a weird lump on my finger investigated. The main aim of this was to determine that it wasn't a cancerous tumour but sometimes it's the unsaid that makes you think the worst. Only a handful of people knew where I was going today although a few more have seen the recent dressing on my finger and tried to probe (no pun intended) as to what was wrong. Let me backtrack slightly (this is the gory bit). The papercut thing is true.  I had a tiny nick on my finger (left index finger, on the left hand side of it, just below the nail) sometime after the New Year.  It healed up with a small scab but the scab never really fell off.  A small lump formed behind the scab and didn't stop growing. Plus it kept weeping an...

While we are used to property market growth in the modern age, the extent at which this has unfolded continues to be both surprising and worrying in equal measure. Given that this exponential rate of growth continues to outstrip national earnings, it is little wonder why there are fears that the market may be reaching breaking point in terms of sustainable pricing. To put this into context, let’s take a look at the incremental monthly percentage increase that was reported last month. The Land Registry recently reported that property prices rose by a staggering 2.5% between December and January, which amounts to a cash sum of £4,732. This is the largest monthly increases recorded since June 2002, while it has pushed the average house price in England and Wales to £191,812. This does not even take into account the city of London, where prices continue to spiral out of control and grew at an annual rate that is double the national average at the beginning of the year. This a...