Videographers would like to recreate rarity and, sometimes, disappear from social networks for a while. But their community, accustomed to the meetings they have created, has difficulty accepting this idea.
“Don’t worry ! Everything is fine, don’t listen to the rumors and the haters.”. In the discussion thread on the Instagram account of popular YouTuber Inoxtag, his mountain guide Mathis Dumas gives his news. However, the content creator announced on April 6 that it would cut all its activities – and those of its teams – on social networks.
A decision by the young man to devote himself to his greatest challenge: climbing Everest. This absence was to fuel suspense over the success or otherwise of this project that he has been preparing for a year, and which should give rise, in September, to the broadcast of a documentary on his YouTube channel. The latter is followed by 7 million people.
But it only took a few days for, faced with this lack of news, some of Inoxtag’s fans to express their concern on social networks. Malicious Internet users then capitalized on this frustration. Videos claiming that the YouTuber had died flooded the platforms. However, his ascent of Everest only begins on May 5.
This fake news pushed the Inoxtag team to regain control of the YouTuber’s communication. In addition to the news published by the mountain guide, the young man’s Instagram account is being updated again. “Day 15 while waiting for Inox to return, the days pass and his absence is felt more and more”, subscribers to his Instagram account could read this weekend, with a photo of Inoxtag’s Parisian studio in support. A storytelling that breaks, in fact, the silence to which the videographer wanted to submit when leaving for Everest.
Le Figaro
An omnipresent community
Fans are also expressing their frustration in less extreme ways. On Tiktok, we can see Internet users filming themselves looking sad with, written in comments, “me waiting for Inoxtag to return”. According to the web monitoring company Visibrain, its community continues to use hashtags on the social network “courage”, “legend” or “inspiration” to show their support for their favorite YouTuber.
A phenomenon that doesn’t really surprise Éric Batteux, podcast producer for the company Webedia. The latter directed the docufiction series for Belgian public radio RTBF Offline, which addresses various issues related to the profession of content creator. The relationship with the fans of these young videographers is widely discussed there.
“The link between YouTubers and what they call their “community” is very special. Overall, they feel indebted to their subscribers and to do well, they create a regular meeting with them”details Éric Batteux. “Their subscribers feel like they know them, they grew up with their content and are often from the same generation. In fact, there are no real boundaries between them, and the community can be demanding.”
This relationship also extends to the YouTuber’s personal social networks. “Unlike a singer or an actor whose distribution of content does not depend primarily on their audience, for YouTubers it is the community which is the first relay for their videos. Hence this constant communication on their Instagram or TikTok”insists Bastien Louessard, lecturer in information and communication sciences at the University of Sorbonne Paris Nord. “It’s something intrinsically linked to this cultural industry.”
An impossible absence
And his case is far from isolated. Over the past two months, many Internet users have also deplored the break, since January 22, of Squeezie. The most followed YouTuber in France nevertheless wishes to recreate rarity, and slow down the production rate of his long formats.
“In addition to managing their subscribers, YouTubers are encouraged by advertisers to create content that increasingly resembles television, because it is more reassuring for them to have an idea of what they are posting on. their brandcontinues Sébastien Laoussard. “But for creators, it makes it less easy to produce one video per week to please their community.”
So, in order not to completely disappear, Squeezie also makes sure to remain present on other platforms. His most loyal subscribers can find him every Wednesday evening, live, on his Twitch channel. The videographer plays different games and takes the time to chat with his fans. Its secondary YouTube channel, where the live broadcasts in question are rebroadcast, is also uploaded two to three times a week.
“Let your audience know your return date”
Producing as much content as possible remains an essential element to hope to break into the platform. Fitness YouTuber Tibo Inshape, for example, became the second most popular content creator on YouTube in France in January, with 17.5 million subscribers. All this while essentially banking on the daily publication of Shorts, the format of short videos launched by YouTube a little over a year ago to compete with TikTok.
However, the company intends to preserve the mental health of its stars. She launched a “Prevention Center for Creators”, which gives advice on how a YouTuber can best announce their break to their subscribers. Among the recommendations, that of targeting the period “slowdown in views and advertising revenue” to schedule said break. Above all, YouTube encourages you to give a return date to reassure subscribers. Because whatever happens, “they will be delighted to see you come back”concludes the platform.
