So I have a teeny tiny channel but it is one I am proud of and I had a similar issue as you are struggling with so I hope this helps:
1) Stop imagining what your hypothetical audience wants. I know if you have looked at advice online it seems counterintuitive because everyone tells you to fulfill a need etc. But something that I noticed when my channel got enough reach to sometimes get comments or reach 1k+ views is that there are many needs and desires in content that you haven't even thought of. I cannot tell you how many of the comments I get are glad to receive something that I made out of my own interest and assumed no one would ever watch.
2) Get someone you know to follow you. My sisters were amongst my first subscribers and when I first started my channel I considered not telling them because I was embarassed to be seen trying, and I thought that despite my interest in making video essays being an extension of my hobbies as opposed to a pursuit of fame, I thought it would look like I had shallow reasons for doing it. And then that made it feel more embarassing because I was just starting to learn how to use software, I am still figuring out my style in the context of the youtube space etc. But then I told them, and I didn't receive the judgement or assumptions that I feared, I got people cheering me on who would listen to me discuss what I figured out about software, and empathised with me when my laptop froze and lost everything (literally happened today)
3)Watch the earliest videos available of youtubers you like. You're holding yourself to an impossible standard that your own favourite creatives likely don't meet. For some of them you won't even find older videos because they privated them all. You are allowed to learn in public. And if you don't like something it doesn't have to stay up forever. Just enough time for you to learn to engage with your creation of it with kindness instead of shame.
4)You are a person not an object to consume. Remember that. You are allowed to figure out what parts of yourself to share. You are allowed to fumble finding how to communicate what you want to your audiences. And you are allowed to lead a life that you may deem imperfect instead of one that people consume and aspire to. And you are allowed to have hopes about where you hope to end up. But you don't need to be aspirational, you need to be you.
5)Do NOT check the stats. And if you enjoy similar work to what you create you need a break if you find yourself looking at their stats. Despite my lack of interest in being an influencer, I was surprised to find how invested I got in numbers and what they might mean. I put in effort and so I was very distressed about if I was coming across "right" to audiences, if I was affable enough, interesting enough. Having my sisters follow me prevented me from trying to mimic what worked for other people because they know my interests and in the grand scheme of things because it wasn't a career path for me it was whatever and yet there I was looking at numbers. Who watched, from where, how old, what is the view duration etc. And that coupled with my discomfort about being visible was toxic. Until you can make videos, be happy with them and continue to be happy with them regardless of how "successful" they are do not ever open the stats. Do not look at what others are doing. Do anything but that.
Finally
6)Start small. You don't need the perfect posting schedule or the perfect weather, you need to build the muscle of being seen without it striking your heart with fear. Youtube was built off of people taping films on their tv and 144p videos they took of their day on their laptop. The audience that loves the raw, the real, the authentic hasn't gone anywhere. You just need to put yourself out there so that they can find you. Right now someone is lamenting that they cannot find anyone who speaks about being euro in the states and vlogs everyday things. It could be you, if only you will decide that what you want to share is more valuable than the impossible standards that you see.
Best of luck, everything you need is already within you <3
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I totally get where youâre coming from. It sounds like youâre in the perfect position to create something really meaningful! The vulnerability you feel about sharing your life is something many people can relate to, and your experience as a European in the US is unique. Remember, imperfection can actually make your content feel more authentic and real. You donât need the âperfectâ setup or life to startâjust film what you can with what you have. A small moment, like grocery shopping in the US or trying something new, can be super interesting to people. Plus, your story is your strength. The struggles, the cultural differences, even your doubtsâthose are the things that will resonate with others. Focus more on editing and storytelling, and the vibe you give off will make a bigger impact than any perfect shot. Think of it as a way to connect with others, not to be judged. The right audience will appreciate your honesty, and the rest wonât matter. Just take it one step at a time and enjoy the process! :) good luck! Iâll subscribe
Jan 14, 2025
đš
Not really a revolutionary sentiment; this is something people talk about a lot. But it leads to people living their lives as if theyâre on a stage in a literal sense where their homes become set dressing for the aspirational lifestyle they want to project with the purpose of creating monetized content thatâs palatable to an audience and to advertisers. Tiktok seemed to democratize this landscape quite a bit to where people who didnât fit the narrower expectations set on Instagram and YouTube were able to carve out niches for themselves, but these niches were still subject to specific visual languages, trends, and ârules.â And now that itâs almost certainly on deathâs doorstep, it should be interesting to see how this evolves.
If you want to share your authentic life you should do it authenticallyâitâs scary to bravely offer yourself up in such an unfiltered way but itâs where you currently are and itâs part of your story. You may not be happy with the way your house looks now but viewers might enjoy seeing your journey of becoming and the way the space you live in evolves with that! Sometimes you donât have to feel ready or confident enough to do something; the confidence can come with practice and familiarity. The hardest part is showing up! đ
Jan 14, 2025
â¤ď¸
Firstly, Iâm so sorry youâre feeling that wayâ thatâs really crummy, and Iâm sure that once you feel that way everything feels like confirmation of being unspecial. But in a very very real way, you might be bored with yourself because you know yourself so wellâ other people donât know you. You could walk into a bar or a cafe or an event and you would be new to at least one person there. If you feel like you arenât interesting conversationally, are you a good listener? In a very honest way, the people Iâve found hottest and most intriguing are always good listeners, and people who are quiet and incisive. Itâs okay if you donât talk on and on; a lot of âinterestingâ people are just filling space with noise. Noise is always briefly exciting or interesting, but that doesnât mean it has substance or adds value. Trust me on this, Iâm a performer and frankly so many nights Iâm just making noise.
So first piece of advice is, approach yourself as if you were a strangerâ look at everything about you like youâve never ever seen it before, and start to notice what you like. Then build on those things. Like, itâs okay if you hate your clothes, but do you have one jacket/shirt/earring that you love? Wear that so much, and slowly look out for pieces that make you feel like the thing you loveâ itâs okay if it takes time, the outfits that make me feel dynamic are all cobbled together from stuff I found over years.
Then look at other people, what do you find interesting about them? I am a knockoff of every woman I ever thought was coolâ my summer camp counselor, my gender studies TA from my first year of college, my mom, and literally everyone else. Thatâs okay though, mimicking what you like is a way of developing your taste, and you will put yourself together in a way thatâs a little different and totally your own.
Itâs okay if it takes timeâ sometimes we have seasons where we donât like ourselves a ton, but they do pass, and who you will be in a year is a brand new personâ you havenât met them yet, and you might love them. Tiny practical advice? Go for walks; itâs good for your body, it releases endorphins, and it gives you a chance to people watch/observe nature. Read something small; it can be a single poem, or an essay, or a childrenâs bookâ I love Howlâs Moving Castle and if Iâm feeling stuck in a rut I read that, even though itâs a childrenâs book. If reading isnât your thing watch a movie or a TV episode, but whatever you consume, watch it and take notes, like youâre a secret criticâ note what you liked, whether itâs costumes or language or the vibe, and what you didnât, and then you can find more things like itâ thatâs how you develop your own taste, and itâs a good way to develop language around art and media.
All critics and essayists and everyone whose job is to write interestingly about art started with shit they liked in middle school, and built on that to find their own languageâ you can do that too.
Sorry for the hugely long post, but I promise that you are more interesting than you give yourself credit for, and there are people in the world who will see that.
Feb 19, 2024
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Whether you need inspo, are curious about the discourse over the last few decades, want to get into a new hobby or whatever else, you can download open source magazine issues from decades past. They have magazines from as early as the early 1900s too! I have been obsessed with old video games lately so I have been looking at the old club nintendo magazines and it has been so fun. Like look at some of the covers these magazines used to have
Aug 7, 2024
đŁ
There is something about seeing someone be unconscious about something that they really love. The sincerity of it, the way they forget to be quiet if its in public, the way they gesture with their hands more. Its great 10/10 would recommend being passionate about your interests!
Jul 10, 2024
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This might be a strange solution but it may help: when you see something thats not a garment that you consider beautiful for whatever reason, photograph it and then use your wardrobe to try and capture that energy.
For example, I go on a lot of nature walks and something that happens a lot on my walks is that I'll see a lot of beautiful colours that I often don't see worn together, blends of textures like where the leaves of a tree meet the sky etc and so I try to capture that. Like that's how I realised that I love the colour combination of orange and grey.
To help I may then look through old magazines and cut out images to make scrapbook pages of inspiration, or if I have the influence of a particular era in mind to express the look I may look at stills of films from that decade (that's another way you can use pinterest that's not so algo heavy).
Then you just try stuff on and see how you feel, what you like about your attempts what you don't like etc. Ultimately imo the easiest way to avoid relying on algorithms for fashion inspiration is to take inspiration from things other than clothes and to practice translating the aesthetic principles into garments.
Do you like that one brutalist style building with hedges of wild flowers near the place you work? How do you express it in an outfit. Do you keep looking at the sheen of an apple before you bite into it? What fabrics might have a similar effect?
And then use the clothes that you have to try things and edit/style your looks until you get to things you like wearing.
Nov 2, 2024