Two Years Down the Road
I noticed that yesterday, September 23rd, 2008, marked the 2-year anniversary of my channel on YouTube. I was hoping to make a video today but “Site Maintenance” quickly squashed any hope of that happening.
Two years ago I had shelved El Bastardo’s 6-part miniseries and started sharing my perpective into the void, donning a disguise and altering my voice as to not get fired from my job for my opinions or gain fame like “average joes” like Boh3m3 or Renetto.
(Oddly enough, it was Renetto’s Coke and Mentos vid that showed me that YouTube was more than a depository for television clips of past and present, Boh3m3’s videos that showed me that people were interested in listening to random people’s opinions and Angry Aussie’s vids showed me it was acceptable to do so in a mask.)
YouTube had so much potential then. There was so much excitement; there was an energy to the place that you could feel and know that great things could be achieved in the new world of online video.
So much of that squandered now, in the search for the almighty dollar. Corruption, cheating, gaming of the system and selling out are the order of the day.
Now, two years later I’ve yet to break 1,000 subscribers, but ask the who’s who of YouTube who I am and there’s a good chance they’ll know. (see where you’ll get if you ask if anyone knows what I look like though)
Two years and now I’m slowly but surely taking the back seat on YouTube so El Bastardo Magnifico can have his time to shine. The “Stranger” persona will be around as long as I am able to maintain it, which if I have my way will be until YouTube shuts down or becomes obsolete.
As far as YouTube goes, I think I’ve done as much as I can do as a masked sonofabitch fighting against that which hinders the website’s potential for true greatness. At this point in the game there’s not much that I can do when the staff would rather look the other way or give people a slap on the wrist behind closed doors than properly deal with and openly discourage the things that make it a not-so-great place to be.
Bastardo’s making things Fun again. As frustrated as I’ve been in getting this 1-man show on the road, it’s been fun and exciting, like the good old days. When Big Blue finally makes his official debut (hopefully by Halloween) the last thing on my mind is going to be views and subscribers. I plan on having the time of my life, and hopefully encourage people to start making videos again that make them smile while they’re recording their own content, instead of putting on a phony grin while they apply their formula to attempt to get on the Most Viewed list, or pretending to be excited about some product they’re being paid to promote.
Thank you everyone that’s come along with me for the ride so far… I love you guys.
No Homo.
~TS
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