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Article with Dumands1 in it.

How to vlogEdit

The divide between vlogs of self–expression (first vlogs, following the rules above) and vlogs intended to get attention, a market or an audience, is wide. YouTubers who give advice on “how to make a vlog” are more experienced, have more videos and more followers [13]. Their advice stands in almost direct contrast to what first vlogs, or “real” vlogs, look like. These YouTubers are most concerned with making vlogs entertaining and following defined editing rules. Their goal is popularity, alongside but never reliant upon self–expression. In this way, they reveal the disctinction between real vlogs and good vlogs. To make a good vlog, these users emphasized similar techniques and suggested a good vlog isn’t real at all, but entirely constructed. As sxephil, one of YouTube’s all–time most subscribed users, said: “There’s no such thing as reality on the Internet. There’s only people’s perception of what’s real.” [14] His videos are heavily edited.

Suggestions on how to make a vlog ranged from rudimentary to sophisticated. Nearly every vlogger who discussed style mentioned the need for adequate lighting and sound. Brookers — once referred to as the first YouTube star (Hardy, 2006) — satirized the need for good lighting by talking to the camera with a black screen over her face. Her other advice also included staring at the camera and not at the screen — a suggestion echoed by others — and the need to keep videos short in duration. Other than lighting and sound — the two most popular suggestions — a few mentioned making lots of cuts and switching your position and angle on the screen between these edits. Blade376 called the YouTube editing style as “witty editing:” cutting out “um’s” and “uh’s” to make the video seem faster and funnier (a point also echoed by several others). Sxephil suggested using music and image effects to get attention.

Aside from editing and style, most other advice focused on how to entertain. By far the most common suggestion was to have a plan for the video: refrain from rambling, have notes or a script, test jokes on friends, have an idea for the channel, don’t be self–reflexive, and pick a topic. Vividedge06 gave a list of ideas: complain about another YouTuber, discuss pop culture, current events and music. Wheresthebrain carried that idea to its necessary conclusion: don’t talk about who you are and the details of your life. Taking it further, dumands1 suggested users “act” or “be someone else.” [15] In fact, the least common advice given was “be who you are.” Looking at YouTube’s most popular channels, it becomes clear why this is the case: the top vloggers are very explicitly acting or doing comedy, and they are unabashedly aimed at getting an audience.