2023 will be a year of uncertainty with many different external factors impacting the type of content I’ll be producing. Navigating these complexities is the subject of my latest weekly wrapup video.
There are two major forces that will drive things this year. The first is the economy – specifically the economics of the consumer electronics industry. Consumer needs in 2023 will be very different as we climb out of the pandemic disruption.
As noted in my video both PC sales and smartphone sales are down significantly. With less consumers shopping for phones and computers, views to my channel and others covering these devices will be down as well. PCs made up most of my top 10 videos of 2020 and 2021 but not one made it to the 2022 list.
Another factor involves YouTube’s plans for growth which center almost entirely around their new “Shorts” feature. Shorts monetization will begin tomorrow, February 1st, incentivizing creators to produce more of the short form videos. YouTube is determined to claw back market share from TikTok meaning they’ll be doing more to promote shorts vs. longer form content.
I have been experimenting with Shorts a bit on my channel and have seen them attract new subscribers to the channel each time I post one. My plan is not to start singing or dancing but rather supplementing my tech coverage with short previews of longer form content.
Here’s one that previews a review of a trackball I plan on uploading soon. It was a good way to gauge viewer interest in the topic.
This one is of a Hallmark Sega Genesis Christmas ornament I picked up for $5. This is something that wouldn’t work well as a long form video but works great as a fun short review:
And here’s one I shot at the Kennedy Space Center of the launch of Artemis 1 – I was able to upload this while I was still editing my longer form piece:
My friend Metal Jesus Rocks posted an example of a great Short with this look at an officially licensed Halo game for the Atari 2600. It’s informative, interesting and enhances his brand. This is the kind of thing I hope to do on my channel too:
But to be clear I don’t plan on becoming a Shorts channel. I still plan to upload multiple long form reviews and analysis every week. The trick will be finding the right topics and products to cover in what will very likely be a challenging year ahead for tech content creators.
Have suggestions? Let me know!