Hearted Youtube comments on Zackary Smigel (@ZackarySmigel) channel.

  1. i thought i was crazy at first. now i know otherwise. im glad some small channels are recommended to me though cause i found two people who deserve way more support.
    29000
  2. I have literally never seen this man before in my life but he's spitting straight fire facts.
    25000
  3. I thought it was just me, because I always click them out of curiosity. I figured it just knew I had that behavior, not that it was doing this for everyone.
    15000
  4. oh, he wasn't joking.
    12000
  5. Fast food is so expensive it is no different than just going to a sit down place. I got Taco Bell quesadilla, a burrito, and a drink for $15. For that I may as well do to the nice Pho place down the road as pay $2 more for way tastier and better food.
    9100
  6. As someone who has lived his whole life in europe. This is fascinating.
    7400
  7. Im glad you covered the fact that some things were still cheaper at a bigger retailer like walmart. I think the biggest challenge when it comes to grocery shopping is that nowadays if you want to get the "optimal" grocery run, you need to go to 2 sometimes 3 or more different stores to get the best deals and most people just dont have the time for that. It turns a 1 hour grocery trip into 2 or 3.
    6600
  8. Dating apps are "Pay to Play." You are not expected to "win." If you win, then you stop using the app and there goes their revenue stream. In my opinion. Allegedly. Now I'll watch the video because you're really entertaining.
    6200
  9. "i may have overcooked the shrimp" proceeds to cook the shrimp further
    5700
  10. Yeah, this video was recommended to me out of nowhere. HOWEVER, unlike all the other random bullshit I see potential in this channel. I feel like this could become something much much bigger in the long run. Just keep at that grind, I'm rooting for you.
    5400
  11. You went from someone I'd never heard of to someone I click when I see you've uploaded SHOCKINGLY quickly. Quality speaks for itself. Let's hope Chipotle gets the message
    4100
  12. Praying for your mental health recovery after this video
    3800
  13. Next upload: I didn't eat for 30 days Edit: Mom i’m famous!!!
    3000
  14. when i worked at sheetz, we always used to joke about it being a family run company and how they probably had some random uncle no one really likes so they only let him do the playlists
    3000
  15. "you can be appreciative and critical of something at the same time, that's healthy" PERIODDDDD !!!
    2700
  16. The constant mental battle of: - create original content, take time and spend resources to research, script, record, edit, upload, hoping the vid does well. Vs - just react to a vid, take no risks, reap rewards.
    2200
  17. Guess I need to sign up for that pottery class after all.
    1800
  18. Aldi mentioned, hell yeah. Actual grocery store with extremely low prices, produce, and well-made + organic options. If Aldi has no fans, I'm dead.
    1600
  19. This video needed to be made. Thank you.
    1500
  20. just like my brother benny used to say: "the game was rigged from the start"
    1400
  21. This man gets in his car, drives to a park, and gets on his laptop to research dollar stores. Bro's built different.
    1400
  22. it makes me so angry is when they put "NEW LOOK" on the package to 'hide' that they removed a ton of actual product from it
    1300
  23. I've stopped going to McDonald's period because the quality of the food at every one I've tried recently has gone to hell. If I'm spending $13 for a Quarter Pounder meal it better be good. Not dried out beef that's been sitting in the tray for 40 minutes and cold fries. Did go to Chili's recently for lunch and got a burger and an appetizer for $10 with their combo and it was hot and cooked well. Good call on using Chili's in this video as an example of a company doing it right.
    1000
  24. At this rate, we’ll be paying $10 for the ✨ IDEA ✨ of food.
    1000
  25. I completely agree with this, and its so nice to see authenticity coming back to the platform where people care about connecting with other people more than spectacle all the time
    1000
  26. Oh sure, let’s all listen to Napkin Thief about dating apps!
    1000
  27. Me, never having been to Chipotle, not living in a country with a Chipotle, still watching this video highly entertained
    992
  28. If you meet the "love of your life" and they criticize you for not using an iPhone then let me be the first to tell you that they aren't the one.
    947
  29. Tinder is easiest to use but it’s also the most infuriating. There are so many fake accounts and full of people who aren’t really looking to date
    866
  30. You're telling me my late night fast food cravings are funding a fucking taco bell keynote
    864
  31. Service workers get enough shit from crappy customers and now have to deal with some loser who doesnt even have the confidence to use their own voice for a prank call.
    860
  32. I gotta say I appreciate that you actually go out to location for these videos. It'd be easy to just do a video essay from home but actually going out gives your videos that extra spice that keeps me coming back!
    808
  33. Halfway through this video, my wife went " okay. I've been telling myself I don't need to go on a Sheetz run at 9:00 p.m. but He convinced me, let's pause the video and go on a quick Sheetz, run and then come back"
    791
  34. I love the fact that small creators are being pushed out more, found this video exactly because of the algorithm change. Very good quality video btw
    784
  35. Met my wife online, but before the apps. It was actually the perfect time before it went into a complete mess.
    762
  36. I feel cheated whenever I stumble across what seems like a really good video only to find out it's a reaction. It's more prevalent with shorts, and I really wish it was possible to filter them out
    757
  37. It has been getting rather odd, seeing low rated comments on the 'top' sorted while having to dig deeper to find the actual top rated comments always makes me question if there is a positive bias going on.
    744
  38. Perhaps the ultimate solution is to create connection apps, not dating apps. People should have as much space as they want to indicate what their hobbies/interests and personality are like. Couple that with people posting about local groups meeting up for movies, gaming, D&D, hiking, whatever. Encourage group places for people to MEET each other instead of having the pressure of it explicitly being dating. I think Meet Up or some other similar site just added a "contact this person" feature if you go to the same event. They can choose to not accept, but that way if you meet someone organically at an event, you still have an option to follow up, and if they are interested, they can accept it and chat more.
    739
  39. I love this hyper meta critiquing of the platform we use everyday but don’t think about critically. Keep up the good shit dude
    655
  40. I'm very positive that one of the reasons you got so popular so fast is because you ARE real and sincere with your videos and not over the top and fake trying too hard to get views.
    644
  41. Good news is that YouTube has incentive to fix the problem. The better the recommendation system is the longer on site sessions will be 🤷🏻‍♀️ Why wouldn’t they want to fix it?
    641
  42. With the quality of this video I was shocked with to see the subscriber count. I’m hoping you get more recognition that you deserve.
    639
  43. The Sheetz 30 day food challenge was great, excited to see how this Chipotle one turns out.
    637
  44. zackary and Eddy Burback uploaded videos within 24 hours with each other was the best great gift for the holiday
    611
  45. I serious can't believe that more people aren't talking about this. Not only do youtube recommendations suck but google results are all screwed up now too and i feel like NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT IT
    599
  46. honestly the AI narration content is really the worst offender to me. I wish youtube could do something to help me filter out this kind of content. As a person who has always been interested in the voice acting industry, its hard not to see AI narration as incredibly cheap and lazy. Its impossible to escape the flood of AI centric videos and it feels genuinely brain rotting.
    571
  47. I would also argue that Tom Scott deserves some recognition. He’s posted every single week for over 10 years. That’s right, every single week for 10 years. That deserves some recognition, right?
    555
  48. "we have a lot of famous people on here" scrolls past femboy roommate in recent chats
    536
  49. I don’t know who is crazier You for doing this challenge or me watching this in midnight from the other side of the world
    527
  50. This guy is a YouTube wizard we’ve all been waiting for. His content is top tier and super enjoyable
    507
  51. I'm still not over the old YouTube slogan - "Broadcast Yourself". At its conception, YouTube was a place for random people to share their authentic self with the world. I really hope it can become that again.
    484
  52. react youtubers: wow, another video to react to
    483
  53. Isn't it AWESOME that they get paid three times my monthy wage for posting a video harrassing me for 5 minutes while I try to do my shitty job? :D Isn't AWESOME?!!! :D
    479
  54. the effort in these videos are insane
    476
  55. LOL leave it to jreg to say “just keep pushing it until there’s a police report”
    456
  56. That stuff isnt funny. These peoples jobs suck already. Y'all should use this for good like messing with scammers and stuff like that.
    455
  57. I didn’t even know stories was a thing on YouTube
    442
  58. I was playing some Old School Runescape while playing this, and was genuinely perplexed as to why I couldn't turn my game music volume down hahaha
    431
  59. As much as I hate react content as a concept, your idea of having the video being reacted to directly link to views for the creator is a genius idea, and if youtube isn't going to do anything to stop react content, this is definitely the bare minimum they can do. This should have been implemented years ago and I hope this video blows up too so they can get their act together.
    425
  60. Single? With that haircut? You must be lying. <3
    408
  61. Thank you for bringing up this sudden change. I did notice more smaller channels are getting recommended, tho I haven't seen any creators I watch bring it up. I'd personally recommend changing the thumbnail if you really want this to get noticed by outside viewers who don't know you already, but that's just how I feel, and you clearly have experience in growing a YouTube channel better than I do with that other channel you showed.
    405
  62. I'm gonna take a wild guess and say; not enough
    393
  63. It's wild that you had 14 subs like two months ago and now you have over 61k. You're doing a great job, Zack!!
    388
  64. Hear me out… “I ate 40 pizzas in 30 days”
    382
  65. while I am screaming in european, this was also really fun to watch both as a cultural deep dive and as an exploration of life in general.
    374
  66. This video will feed generations
    366
  67. Getting the 3 pointer first try and then filming all those failures for the outro was a nice touch, most wouldn't go to the trouble
    356
  68. I really appreciate the tone of this video. Never taking the food reviews too seriously, but at the same time being vigilant in explaining impacts of these stores on local communities particularly low-income neighborhoods. It’s incredibly accessible to people from all walks of life and super entertaining. In every opportunity you had to punch down for a laugh, you don’t and instead take moments to educate to bring us all to a better understanding. Appreciate you. Subscribed.
    355
  69. Something to mention about the food apps too, is that beyond taking your data, it also gives them access to sending you notifications/emails and make you think of them every time you see the app on your phone. I've gotten rid of almost all the fast food apps on my phone so it's less tempting
    354
  70. Here from my recommended, and I also fit your demographic! Congrats YouTube 👏 As a mostly mobile user, between shorts and ads, scrolling through my recommended and search is starting to really suck. The cluttering of that space as a consumer feels stressful. Especially given that as soon as I click on a video, the ads tend to take over the entire screen, rather than only the video window. With the lengthening of ads also, it makes it harder to commit to watching a video and often makes me second guess if I’m actually interested enough in the content to sit through 30-40 seconds of ads. A small gripe I have with the algorithm which I haven’t heard people talk about much is how fickle it seems to think my interests are. My hobbies tend to revolve a lot as I get interested in different things and my YouTube suggestions reflect that. I wish it would more often bring up content similar to what I was watching 3-6 months ago, rather than only focusing on what I’m watching now. It seems as soon as I slip down a rabbit hole of one particular type of content, that’s suddenly the only thing YouTube thinks I want to watch 😅
    353
  71. What we're witnessing here is just a hyperdistillation of what happens to friendships as we age throughout young adulthood and into middle age. Pretty much all of these instances resemble what most of us go through with one friend or another as we grow up and start to plant our roots...there's the friend we talk to but don't hang out with much, there's the friend we ended things on a sour note with and created a wound that just won't heal, there's the friend that gradually faded away and became almost a stranger...a lot of these friendships manifested in collabs and we can see the major beats play out. Yes, it's "just content," but it's also who these people were at that moment in time.
    349
  72. Had this recommended like 10 times, finalllly watched it, loved it and subbed but pleaaaaaaaaase next time you do a challenge like this, show us day 31 of what you ate as your "finally I'm free from X food".
    335
  73. I'm someone who loves video essays, so this was probably recommended to me because of that. But I definitely agree with YouTube feeling off these days. It's either too much of the same thing or it's all over the place.
    327
  74. Good video! I do feel you missed an OG who has had a significant impact on YouTube culture, at least to me personally. Jacksfilms. His comedy sketches, parodies and his YGS series definitely made him one of the top creators in the YouTube comedy sphere, and he's still beloved to this day, tho I feel what defines him the most is his music. I think he's one of the first if not the first YouTuber to make original music primarily just for YouTube, and gaining an audience for it. For that, I think he deserves to be in that damn mountain.
    318
  75. In the spirit of scientific research, confirming your video got recommended to me out of the blue. I ignored it for many days...finally watched it. I still have no idea why it got recommended to me based on content I usually watch, but I found your explanation useful and informative. Thanks, hope this helps and best wishes for reaching your monetization goals.
    318
  76. Totally agree, been feeling like the recommended videos have mostly been meh for a long time! But once in a while there’s a video like this that rightfully pops off - glad YouTube is sending new viewers your way!
    304
  77. zackary is outstanding in his field
    291
  78. this video is going to blow up, 100%. only 14 subs and the quality is insane. You've earned a sub for sure. edit: 57k subscribers later and this video still rocks. ive watched it maybe 4 times because its so well done
    288
  79. this was great
    286
  80. 2024 breakout youtuber of the year: this guy
    284
  81. Ngl someone choosing not to date you because of message bubble colors is a blessing in disguise lol
    279
  82. Why did JoJo sound like a 60-year-old chainsmoking dude?
    278
  83. Zack, you are genuinely a national treasure. This is an incredibly valuable video even if I’m not intending to become a YouTube creator. Thank you!
    275
  84. i never saw this man before, until YouTube decided to put him on my front page as a recommended video. (I am thankful for it and watched a couple of his videos, it's interesting fun content, thanks YouTube, you did something right for once👍🏻)
    268
  85. “Yes, Jojo Siwa, I can go ahead and do that for you” the adult man told the computer demon voice
    260
  86. I've probably lost over 3k to the ypp wait time, I completely agree that a piggy bank system needs to be implemented for new creators.
    258
  87. ‘I have one cat named Zoe.’ Umm excuse me. Pay the pet tax.
    252
  88. You’re probably not going to see this but you’re one of my favorite content creators and your videos feel so real and genuine content like this now a days feels really rare so every time you upload I’m immediately watching
    252
  89. I found your channel off the problem with YouTube ads video I am really glad I stuck around your video quality and concepts are top tier and your personality is really inviting to the viewer. You and your channel have immense potential
    243
  90. My main takeaway from this video is that you have excellent taste in YouTube channels 😏 Also, I think the recommendations system as of late is partially inspired by Tik-Tok. I saw a talk from Tik-Tok's CEO were he describe the recommendation algorithm as, "if users A, B and C like a video, those who like the same videos as users A B and C are also likely to like that video. It keeps people watching for longer because they're more likely to discover new interests, rather than rewatching the same interest until they get bored. I think it's a good idea in theory but it definitely needs some adjustments. I've also noticed that my recommendations are way better on the smart TV YouTube app.
    243
  91. dude i love the style of your videos and how you make them. the amount of data and the absolute commitment to the bit for the data is amazing. I cant wait for your next video.
    241
  92. Great analysis Zack. On a side note, the production of the audio in this video is very satisfying. Specifically how your voice stays extremely consistent throughout the different locations. Keep up the good work
    240
  93. Really love seeing you branch out and make something different than your usual vids - I feel like too few youtubers find a niche then are afraid to try anything - really enjoyed this!
    237
  94. Idk if you’ll see this, but I just wanna say that i’ve been watching you ever since the “why youtube feels different” video, and you are genuinely one of the most well-spoken and creative people i’ve subscribed to on here. I love how each video is (usually) totally different than the last. Most of the topics… I honestly don’t care about. I don’t care about malls or fast food prices, but you make the topics interesting enough for me to sit through the entire video. Keep up the awesome work ❤
    235
  95. I work in a repair shop and the part about repairability is getting worse every year. If they could get away with welding their phones shut they already would have. We have a contract with Apple which has 3 main terms: - Apple lets us buy their OEM batteries to do first-party replacements (these aren't available to the general public) - In return, we are only allowed to buy their batteries (no aftermarkets) - They provide us with the software to pair their batteries with their phones because they need special software to make them work The software has never worked and their support will do nothing about it. So we are stuck in a contract which effectively forbids us from doing battery repairs and there is nothing we can do. By the way, any iPhone after the 12 will disable FaceID if you replace the screen. Screen has nothing to do with FaceID but they'd love it if you bought a new phone so they make it really annoying to get it repaired.
    235
  96. ZACKARY IS THE HERO WE NEVER KNOW WE NEEDED
    233
  97. As someone who lives in Florida and somehow has a local Wawa, I would've never expected a rivalry culture between these two gas stations just a few hundred miles north to be so enthralling. Great video!
    231
  98. Im so glad you blew up, ever since that algorithm video youve been one of my favorite content creators keep it up man
    226
  99. I loved YouTube stories. It was fun to finally have people care about the stories I posted and read all of the comments. I only started using the feature as a sort of joke, but I came to really enjoy it.
    213
  100. This was really entertaining to watch. I don't watch many videos start to finish anymore, but I watched this in one sitting. I enjoyed your writing, production and the fact you shared a link of your food log since I'm a data/stats lover. And you're right about the cultural deep dives possible with so many brands out there. Looking forward to the next one :3. Thank you for the content.
    210
  101. One thing that YouTube has been doing that helps with scammers (but only on your videos) is that it highlights the content creator's name. Also, now that YouTube shows handles and not plain display names (which it doesn't do any real checks on), it's harder for people to impersonate you.
    204
  102. As a smaller creator, I highly appreciate you speaking up about the for you page. I was wondering why my CTR and videos haven't been doing even worse the past few months, and this answers it. THANK YOU! 😭
    201
  103. I think the "authenticity era" prediction could wind up true. I have friends who only ever watch video essays and stuff when they're with me because I'm good at picking out which videos and creators aren't "Mr. Beastified".
    198
  104. Is this data normalized for time? Are you comparing men who swiped 50k times over 2 years to women who swiped 19k times over 4 years?
    193
  105. There's no way you're verified! I remember when you only had a few thousand subscribers and I thought to myself, " This content is too good for this guy not to be wildly popular." and now here you are! Amazing job my man!
    192
  106. I am still waiting for Ryan Higa and Jenna Marbles to come back!! Great video, man. And I hope to be this video's sponsor!!
    190
  107. Guess I've got the next million minutes of my schedule filled up now
    186
  108. It’s amazing that you were able to condense all this info into a 32 min video. This is YEARS of YouTube history
    185
  109. SUPER proud of how this video came out, and a REALLY accurate representation of how VidCon really felt for a lot of us :’) come back to LA soon! It was a ton of fun working on this with you 😊
    181
  110. Rebecca from Dollar Tree Dinners has an excellent channel which informs about the options for living off this kind of food. I'm not from the US but her videos are so interesting to me. Your video is the other side of that
    177
  111. Your commentary content feels personal. Never change that, it’s fucking rare out here
    173
  112. the intro feels like you're trying to sell a computer using course to 60 year olds
    171
  113. I don't hate you, I just hate Apple. If someone wants to judge me by my green bubble I don't have the time of day for them either. Also congrats on 50k and 70k subs since my last comment 😅
    166
  114. OH MY GOSH I WON'T STOP GETTING THESE ADS. You literally read my mind.
    163
  115. Absolute banger of a video! It's interesting because YouTube already has a copyright system that flags unoriginal content from other channels and gives us the opportunity to submit removal requests, yet they don't suppress those videos (even ones that the system recognizes as 100% reuploads). The revenue split seems like the perfect solution to this, as you mentioned YouTube already puts a great deal of effort into their music copyright system. I also remember the days when RE: videos were an integral part of the platform and 2024 seems like the perfect time to bring this back. They have so much of the infrastructure already in place, I just hope YouTube listens to this!
    159
  116. As a European who never ate at a gas station, I'm fascinated to see this very other side.
    159
  117. I went into this video with basic expectations of it being a video showing what you ate at dollar tree for 10 days, but it was a lot more than that. Your great editing, great flow, and great research, made this a fantastic and yet informative watch. I will be subscribing ❤
    158
  118. If YouTube had allowed everyone to use stories, and used that to revive the old “video reply feature” (ie allowing users to reply to a story with a story) as well… I think this video would be talking about the YouTube story subculture niche.
    158
  119. Perfect timing since I guess your Sheetz vid is getting lots of love from the algorithm. I finished that one yesterday and to have this new one immediately the next day is awesome. Also, I appreciate you sharing some of your hobbies and social activities with friends etc in these vids (as well as even dates in the last one) and just the random fun you have alone. It adds personality and relatability, not to mention it feels more well rounded + diversified than a lot of other similar vids I've watched. I get bored easily and it just doesn't happen with your content.
    156
  120. Vermonter here. Great video, nearly spit out my coffee when I saw the “Downtown BHS” image pop up around the 14 minute mark. The building used to be a very large 2 story Macy’s, who ended up abandoning the building about 7-8 years ago. The only reason the high school is there now is because the old campus in the north end of town was found to be over run with PCB’s and other toxic chemicals, so this was the solution while the actual high school was being demolished and rebuilt. Apparently it’s a disaster inside, and it’s kind of the laughing stock of the entire town.
    155
  121. I cant believe you personally closed the Shenango valley mall
    152
  122. i dont use ad block cuz of you guys, legit youtubers, but i freaking hate the repeated ads, i wish i was able to dislike ads like it was in the past
    136
  123. Hank & John Green feel like a huge influence for a very long time, influencing both the YouTube world as well as culture outside of it, and theyve kept up pretty consistently.
    135
  124. The biggest surprise from this video is there are some people that aren't narcissistic a-holes. Most of them come across that way but a few actually seem like people I could bear to be around for more than 15 seconds.
    131
  125. Honestly I could do with a video like this on Reddit so any time my mum asks “what a Reddit is?” I can easily explain it with one very well made comprehensive video <3
    130
  126. this was a great video, it's cool to think about each individual journey that brought all those creators together. ty for the interview homie
    129
  127. love the transparency and the earnestness in all of your videos
    128
  128. Youtubers once they make good money are like "omg guess its time to hire an editor!" no, how about a BODYGUARD. How about a 12 foot fence around your house. Ppl are insane.
    126
  129. As an employee i can tell that the 2 for 6 hack on the subs is definitely something a lot of people use.
    126
  130. It definitely felt different, but i think it's going in a good direction. Seeing smaller creators on my recommended gave me motivation as a small creator myself. Still not a good system, but it has potential to be improved upon
    125
  131. Zack, when will you finally realize that we are meant for eachother and that if you accept the truth we would have the best marriage that ever marriaged?!?!?
    125
  132. Can the dinosaurs in office maybe try putting out some legislation to get this shit under control? Genuinely terrified that my voice can potentially be cloned and used to make shitty prank calls to depressed wage workers. Among other things.
    120
  133. i really like how your thumbnails and titles compliment eachother. congrats on your much deserved success!
    119
  134. Excellent video, I wish Jacksfilms would have gotten an honorable mention, but I can't disagree with your choices.
    118
  135. The Jojo voice is a jump scare🤣
    116
  136. The comments section is an integral part of the YouTube experience. I, alongside many other I imagine, read the comments of a video while watching it. And just by coincidence too, a lot of comments I scroll past by talk about an exact moment that just happened in the video. There is a sense of comfort in reading the comments while watching YouTube videos that I'm not sure why that platform has given so little thought in improving its features. I would like to think YouTube factors in comments as another part of its algorithm when it comes to engagement since more people commenting generally means an interesting discussion is sparked or there's simply a large fan base, so to see it go largely ignored sucks. I mean watching YouTube on the computer means I sacrifice the ability to watch videos and read comments at the same time and the growing viewer base of people who watch YouTube on their T.V means commenting isn't even a thing anymore. I think all the suggestions that you pointed out Zack is definitely a great jumping point for YouTube to start taking action as so much of YouTube's identity and community is built within the comments section, flaws and all. Hopefully with enough outcry about this topic YouTube can actually take notice and do something about this. I've loved your recent videos by the way and I'm glad you've managed to find your groove with the latest uploads and the title/thumbnails. Major congrats and I personally hope I can grow as fast as you have!
    116
  137. 19:26 - I can confirm this is 100% true. Last year I decided to try my hand at making 1 minute short animations in blender (as at the first quarter of 2023, all my analytics were down by around 50%) to try and boost my channel a bit. The subscriber boost was insane, from the first short ( March 6th) to the last (June 24th) I gained almost 200k subscribers ... and for someone who was in a slump for around 2 years it was a great feeling. But after about 10 shorts I realised that the shorts were not translating into actual views/revenue or anything else ... nothing changed except the number beside my username. It made me feel awful as i had this feeling that youtube had kind of ... tricked me into making shorts in return for a vanity number. I felt disappointed in myself that it worked on me as I really wanted that gold play button. Anyway ... i'm rambling. Thanks for the insightful video!
    113
  138. I cannot stand ads on YouTube, I understand the need for them of course but they are so aggravating its infuriating. If there was a YouTube premium option that solely removed ads for a much smaller fee than the current YouTube premium I would happily pay for it.
    113
  139. Since no one has mentioned it yet, that segue into an ad IN the video by saying, "Let me introduce you to advertising." was absolute genius, you keep outdoing yourself Zack.
    111
  140. A.I should have brought incredible new innovations, but all I see online are the downsides, like you've shown. There is now so much AI content around, that people often accuse my work of being AI, which is pretty frustrating, as I actually put in hard work. Another banger of a video mate. Loving your content recently.
    110
  141. Thank you for the very thoughtful feedback, I’ve passed it on to our teams. The goal of the discovery system is always to try and surface the most satisfying videos possible at the time, and for the device, and we’re continually working to improve that!
    109
  142. From PA and people here love Sheetz. PA gas stations offer a lot for food options now a days with competition between GetGo, Country Fair, Wawa, 711, and a variety of other options in this area. I think the food from these places are healthier than McDonalds, but there is a lot of greasy options of course. We had a Sheetz shut down around here and there was a petition to bring it back it was such a hangout spot for locals.
    108
  143. Why is there no option to see the exact dates of when comments were posted? And also the ability to search comments based on the date(s) they were posted and maybe by certain users too.
    106
  144. Hopefully time for another viral hit!
    106
  145. The whole notifications system is busted anyway. I regularly get notifications for livestreams that happened days ago on channels I didn't turn on notifications for.
    103
  146. Wow, the fact that this video did drastically better than any of your others speaks volumes. I’m someone who doesn’t know u (but did know everyone in your top YT creator list lol) and randomly got recommended this video. I’d love to hear a follow up on how u feel about the results of 1.7 million views! Crazy. It was also interesting when you said you were trying to get monetized by the end of summer because seeing the amount of subscribers you have, you would think you would be monetized. I feel like the rules for that are also kind of messed up. For example, I have another channel where I have a little over 10 K subscribers but I’ve had the channel for a very long time and so I was monetized very quickly back when these new monetization rules didn’t apply. The sad thing is I didn’t post for about a year due to personal issues and Im now no longer monetized and I have to basically start the monetization process over. My videos still get views on a daily basis, I still get subscribers on a daily basis, ads are still being shown in my videos, so it’s really sad to know that I’ve lost that monetization. It’s actually made me not even fully want to go back to that channel because I feel like it’s just not fair. All this to say, as someone who has also been watching YouTube since it started, and has had a channel for many many years, it really does feel different these days. And I’m not super happy about it.
    100
  147. I gained 1.8m shorts subs. I've only met 3-4 that actually knew my name from watching my videos. but I have 8k long form subs on a different channel, and those people message me & comment on videos like they're genuine friends, they know my name, and multiple life events ive shared with them through my vids. shorts and long form views are completely different
    98
  148. I think you hit the nail on the head when you said Steve is gone and he's never coming back. I can only speak for myself but Apple (Steve) sold me that vision and just as I got on board, Steve would soon be gone. And now I feel stuck where switching would be more problematic than its value.
    98
  149. This is great, It's really refreshing to see somebody act like an adult and talk about these things out in the open. I am not a content creator, but I've seen some reaction videos from people that I actually like and well, now that I know how much more damaging they can actually be it's much less likely I'll be clicking on those reactions. I'm sorry that people are giving you hate, that's I guess to be expected but also as someone that's pretty sensitive to things like that myself, I hope that you've got friends to talk to you about it if it is something you're sensitive to as well. Remember that a lot of us really appreciate what you do and have been here for a long time. That's really exciting about your camera by the way, I hope it's as great as you wanted!
    97
  150. Watching this as a Sheetz employee hits a lot differently 😂
    94
  151. i will say this whole heartedly; you are one of my favorite creators! i absolutely loved your sheetz video and how you set up the entire story, it was so simple yet entertaining. you bring something awesome to this platform and i can't wait to see what content you put out next!
    93
  152. This is a good companion piece to your dollar store video. They should be required to clearly list the price per gram, alongside the market average.
    92
  153. Literally couldn’t tell you what Nicki minaj or jojo siwa sound like so I can’t tell if these are accurate
    91
  154. I would agree with the vote with your wallet advice...... except there isn't a product or service these days that isn't owned by only a small handful companies. Regulation and frankly corporate breakups are what really need to happen. I would say the concept of a free market is kind of dubious at best these days.
    91
  155. Wow, didn't expect my tweet to be featured! Thanks for shedding light on this issue, it's something that makes me feel a bit powerless. I really hope YouTube implements some solution in the future because it doesn't seem like it's gonna change without one.
    89
  156. Hit the ball out of the park twice in a row. Obviously the content is spot on, but more than that, you present it in such a fun and genuine way. Whatever you make next, I can't wait to see it!!
    89
  157. You made an interesting point I hadn't thought about before, specifically about how some creators may save their best ideas for when they are monetized rather than use them to get monetized. I think it's a strange dilemma that might be the bottleneck for a lot of aspiring channels and it's something I think has never been discussed before!
    89
  158. If this guy is heard by YouTube (which won't happen but it's a fantasizing thing to imagine), we could be enjoying old golden YouTube era again.
    88
  159. Thank you for the shout-out and amazing video as always Zack!! Keep up the amazing work! ✨
    87
  160. I adore this channel. You are pointing out facts that others haven't been able to pin down. Please keep this up, I really hope it shakes things up!! ❤
    86
  161. Zack: "I miss my non-fried food" Also Zack: Shows a plate of chinese food chicken which is clearly fried
    85
  162. Really reminds me of Sam Reid's taco bell documentary or Eddy burback/ Ted nivision's Rainforest cafe/Margaritaville videos. Definitely a video documentary among the greats! Hands down great content, gatherings, conclusions, and research! MAJOR props to you bro! I am glad to subscribe! 💕🙌
    85
  163. No way! I replied to one of your comments on Reddit a few months ago asking for a video on this topic and your delivered 😮 Great video and analytics on the topic!
    84
  164. I feel compelled to comment for the algorithm because although youtube did recommend you to me, this video should be in the 6 digit view count at least. Wtf this was so well researched and comprehensive. Great job dude!
    82
  165. so happy this channel blew up
    79
  166. I’m not American and couldn’t care less about Sheetz but you’re amazing story telling skills managed to hook me
    79
  167. I thought self-harm was against YouTube TOS? lole
    79
  168. People say life is a circle, but I think it's more like a pendulum, and the more you push for one direction, the stronger it comes back to the other. Great video, I found you because of that video that went viral and have been following and there is always something great about your content, thank you!
    79
  169. Typically I watch longer form content to relax/fall asleep. However there's something so special in seeing local landscapes, neighborhoods, (photos from the SV mall!!), and even the weather in your videos that energizes me. It's so cool to see someone here creating and doing what you do. Thanks for sharing our part of western PA with the world!
    78
  170. Great video, but I really wished you interviewed more women on how they view parasocial relationships. It seems to be much more concerning from a woman's perspective and more likely to receive creepy stalkers or unsolicited images.
    78
  171. That mall seems great for liminal space photography, especially that portion which reminded you of the backrooms.
    77
  172. Thank you for shedding light on our #notallinfluencers movement Zackary!
    76
  173. I can't believe it. This is worse than the NPC tiktok trend. No workers were harassed while pretending to be NPCs...for the most part. Great video as always
    76
  174. "Or females"? What are you, a savannah lion!? 😂
    71
  175. This is a great video - the absolute worst part to me is the slowing-down issue. They know the tech isn't advancing at the rate it used to, so they have to invest reasons for us to buy
    71
  176. Love the videos mate, YouTube definitely needs to add dislikes to comments.
    71
  177. I can’t believe the quality of your videos for a new creator! I’ve loved your videos so far and can’t wait to see what you have coming :)
    70
  178. man I thought you had over a million subscribers, crazy how under-appreciated your content is. love your content keep up the good work!
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  179. I thought this myth died away years ago, after people started doing that thing where you list all the big channel names as tags to "try get views when people search them", and then realizing it's not working. This happened many years ago, and there's still companies and channels trying to push this tags nonsense? We really do love to repeat our history huh..
    68
  180. "im an apple fan and I already hate myslef" same lol
    67
  181. I relate so heavily to this. Like lord that MrBeast scam you showed for a quick second in the beginning; I have gotten it like at least 40 times while using youtube. I turn off all tracking possible so I get a lot of just weird ads, but the scam ones and the random mobile games truly drive me insane. Excellent video, hoping it will be a successful one for you just like your last one! :)
    67
  182. Another banger. Because of transparency i feel like you make better documentaries than Netflix and many other media companies.
    66
  183. Youtube suggested your Chipotle video, I'm hooked n here to watch all your vids
    66
  184. A 2-3 week grace period on reaction content uploads may help the situation too, as most of the time the bulk of a videos growth happens during that time. Really hope this video blows up too. Your videos are ELITE man, very glad I clicked on the 'why youtube feels different' video. 🔥🐐
    66
  185. Another one for the best hits!! Showing the scam of dollar stores makes it even more upsetting when you see just how aggressively they try to corner lower income areas. Food deserts break my heart, used to work for a conservation nonprofit that targeted food deserts in AL. One of our biggest programs was developing and supporting community gardens while equipping the communities with the resources and knowledge to utilize it. Since you showed there are better deals to be had at Walmart, maybe you could explore just how healthy you can eat on a similar budget. Keep up the great work, Zack!
    66
  186. Same happens also in Europe with normal Football, you can't see a match without any ads for sport betting sites like tipico. Also many, if not all, Sport Games are just Gambling Games nowadays, you have the Lootbox game FuT in Fifa (now not called Fifa anymore), Slots in every 2K Sports game and E-Sports promotes it too.
    66
  187. Day 3.5 trying to weigh the food in the wind was one of the funniest random bits of this video
    66
  188. My best friend of 15+ years sent me an audio file of “him” reading out a paragraph of text. It was an AI replica. I could pinpoint a few nuances that didn’t feel quite right, but for most of it I was floored by how much it sounded just like him. It was spooky. He sent it to me to illustrate how creepy this is.
    64
  189. Youtube raised me basically.. started watching heavy since 2013. I remember the times before the “for you” recommendations when trying to search for specific videos. It’s horrible. Seems like if the content doesn’t have many views or subscribers it IMPOSSIBLE to find them. Only the videos that have paid promotions or a lot of subscribers are recommended. It is SO frustrating!
    64
  190. This video was the first to pop up in my recommendations feed, and I definitely felt like something was off but didn’t know what but this video pretty much confirmed it for me. The impression through the thumbnail and title made me think you were a big channel as your editing and commentary skills are literally up there, I was so surprised seeing you have LESS than 3k? I absolutely love how you covered the topic in a timely pace that didn’t feel rushed or dragged on. I’ll definitely be subscribing, I hope your passion for commentary gets noticed by a wider audience interested in these topics!
    64
  191. honestly good video, I'd say that the MrBeast clones are worse than idubbbz and Leafy clones cuz unlike the Leafy and idubbbz clones the MrBeast clones literally drain their whole bank accounts or even pull out loans or use a credit card just to copy mrbeast.
    63
  192.  @ZackarySmigel  seriously, I’m on this app everyday. I’m not really looking for those features but you’d think i’d have seen it sometime! Great video btw
    63
  193. Here I was thinking it was pronounced Smigel, not Smigel.
    63
  194. JJJacksfilms sent me here
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  195. Great video Zack. I had a similar hunch when I saw myself seeing much higher growth than expected in only the first two months of making videos again. People do seem to be wanting intimate, genuine, and thought provoking content right now, which is something I'm very happy to see. Here's to the potential new era of YouTube.
    58
  196. Hi! in the spirit of science I'm confirming that the recommendation of this video in particular actually does make sense for me demographically. I'm on the younger end of the millennial generation, occasionally watch video essays on internet culture, and most importantly, when you scrolled through names of content creators you subscribe to who are in your niche, I recognize a LOT of those names as people my wife watches videos from, and I know these algorithms take household-wide data into account. That being said, I do notice what you're talking about when I look at my recommendations: let's plays, compilations of funny moments from streamers I've never watched before, that kind of thing. And all the videos I've watched before! The only thing I re-watch is workout videos, and even then I'll be pulling them from my personal list of favorites of seeking them out; I'm not going to spur-of-the-moment hop out of my seat and decide to revisit my favorite power yoga flow on youtube because it was on the front page. Putting any already-watched video there is useless. Great video, thank you for the insight on this from the perspective of a creator on youtube!
    58
  197. I expected you to have 1mil+ subs just by the sheer quality of this video, and was so surprised to see it’s a smaller channel. You’ve definitely got my subscription and I can’t wait to see the inevitable growth of your channel if all of your videos continue to be this incredible!!
    58
  198. Imagine a college team gets sponsored by Busch and Trojan People would shut that down so fast
    56
  199. Okay first of all, really interesting, entertaining and well-put video. Hats off to you, sir!! 🎩 Also, the algorithm was really funky today and you were recommended in my feed which is pretty funny because a) I'm your target demographic and b) I fit perfectly within your main audience criteria (based on the statistics you used in your video), so this time the algorithm actually did what it was supposed to do xD Anyways, you've got one more sub. Keep it up!!
    55
  200. I loved your video but about the youtube monetization thing I just wanted to add that 10mil short views is about 4000 hours of watch time. On my channel I focus on shorts and livestreams the most and the youtube shorts audience watches my streams but for a very short time (1 min or so) so then the rpm is really bad and I dont make much unless its from donos and members. What I have seen in shorts and tik tok is a surge of content that is misleading or promotes a scam since creators get paid basically nothing unless they do something like that. Anyway good video you got a subscriber!
    55
  201. Something to consider: saying you made 8k in a year doesn't sound like a lot. Saying you started a small business on the side that generated you an extra 8k this year sounds like a great success that anyone would want to achieve
    54
  202. New chapter on the 30-day-food lore dropped. 🙏🏼🙏🏼 Let's gooooo
    54
  203. Drawing the parallel to Spotify was such a great idea, their discoverability is so solid. I've found a couple bands that are teeny tiny but are some of my favorites. No reason YouTube can't do a similar thing.
    53
  204. kevin hart gains 1 centimeter of height for each sportsbetting ad he does
    52
  205. just found ur channel from the dating apps video and binged all ur vids! love the work keep it up man!!!
    52
  206. I work at the Macy's as a detective/undercover shopper in the Topanga Mall from what I've seen in the past years I would say that the crime increased (especially organized crime) but the mall is striving here! Nothing has been closing lately only opening but the stores opening are more higher end brand and not those cool little shops we all grew up loving with those nice deals
    52
  207. I remember wanting to start a channel kind of like that called "COPPA Cop" back when COPPA was threatening to take down a bunch of channels with its super vague rules. The channel would have been a critique of COPPA and shown how the law could have been used against almost any creator. I didn't end up making it because I wanted someone to play a rookie that doesn't understand everything about it yet, (I feel like they would have been super helpful for a wider audience so they didn't feel out of the loop) but I couldn't find anyone interested in the role.
    51
  208. This was a refreshingly neutral breakdown of a few very complex issues and had a good message attached to it. Gj lad
    50
  209. You have to have guts to ignore all the rules of succeeding in YouTube and to prioritize authenticity. Great video once again!
    49
  210. Many, many years ago, Google did have a bit of fine print about not sharing ad rates/revenue data, and as far as I'm aware, they never made any sort of announcement about removing it. While I can see some creators assuming that rule is still in effect, it's a benefit of the doubt that I would only grant to someone with a very old channel.
    48
  211. great video! yeah the hyatt thing was weird and makes the event very different. you should come to vidsummit this year! its great for meeting other like minded people and creators
    48
  212. ZACKARY SMIGEL UPLOAD??? best day ever
    47
  213. i love this guys editing! He's on a green screen, he's on a rooftop, he's on the stairs, he's at the bottom of the stairs...!
    46
  214. This was a great perspective on Google and the internet as a whole, and makes me feel even better about using the internet everyday. I practically live in the internet now, and it's incredibly cool how useful and connective it is. For example, it is mind blowing that I (someone from the West US) can be sitting next to someone from the EU or Japan and we can chat within 500 milliseconds (VRChat).
    46
  215. I’m so glad that you’ve been able to grow so quickly. Keep it up😊😊
    45
  216. I think they pivoted well and knocked it out of the park with "Shorts". I've heard multiple creators say those have helped boost their engagement
    44
  217. hey that’s me! thanks for the McDonalds, friend! 🖤
    44
  218. Can't wait to see a vid tomorrow with the title YOUTUBER ROASTS ASMONGOLD, React content isn't good?!? Great video and great points man! Especially the revenue split. While they aren't making the content, they are having an impact by reacting to it, both negative and positive. Revenue splitting would be a fantastic start to a healthy partnership with content creators and reacters!
    44
  219. I really love that you choose a variety of outdoor locations to record your videos. Always refreshing and unique to find on youtube.
    43
  220. This doesn't surprise me too much. I remember 10-15 years ago people were using video game character soundboards to prank call people and getting lots of views on YouTube. It was kind of funny when they had Cicero from Skyrim talking nonsense to sex hotlines until they realised it wasn't a real person. Less so when they were wasting the time and resources of the emergency services. As for the legal implications, as someone who wrote his master's thesis on personality rights vis-à-vis Ai voice clones, it's complicated. Unlike other copyright-adjacent rights, personality rights aren't harmonised within the US, or within the EU, so there's a mess of different systems offering different levels of protection across states and countries, and very little case law regarding voice rights in particular. And the case law there is tends to be about the use of voice impersonators in adverts, which doesn't necessarily apply to this sort of thing, because there's a legal distinction between doing something for the purposes of a commercial and doing something for commercial purposes. Basically, if you're using an Ai voice clone of Betty White to sell something, you're probably in trouble, but if you're using her voice to read a story you wrote on YouTube, it might be protected speech in one or other category. And having an Ai give responses of its own in someone else's voice opens another whole can of worms regarding who's responsible, the person doing the prank or the company that put the voice clone chatbot in their hands. Tl:Dr it's complicated, and we won't know until someone either has a big ol' lawsuit about it or legislators get off their arses and hamonise the rules.
    43
  221. What a great video! Two people that I missed in this list were Jacksfilms and Bo Burnham: both spectacular and influencial in their own ways. However, I see how creating such a list could have been very hard and I cannot disagree with your suggestions. Also, s/o to your latest video about youtube. It lead me all the way here. You deserve way more recognition, man!
    42
  222. Funny you mentioned it. Literally my worst fear is finally going viral right before getting monetized.
    42
  223. Another absolute slapper of a video Zack.
    41
  224. The part about ownership is sooo true. We face the same thing in Canada. But where I live, we have invested owners who try to outsmart online business and I'm so grateful for that. Our malls are doing pretty well. It ain't perfect but it's something at least. As always your video is super interesting. Thanks ! :)
    41
  225. We almost need to have separate shorts and long form content. I sometimes want to subscribe to only shorts or only long form from certain creators, and I really don’t like that my feed is all mixed up with both in my subscription box. Sometimes I like someone’s shorts, but their only long form content is for example live streams of video games I don’t play, so it spams up my sub box
    40
  226. This was such a fascinating ride, you're a really good story teller. I'm excited to see the wawa version!
    40
  227. I really like your suggestion on YouTube introducing a video tagging system. Especially since they have that for shorts right now. You always come up with banger ideas and I think you making this video really brings to light a lot of unspoken issues on YouTube. Keep up the good work man, super proud of you ❤❤❤
    40
  228. Sometimes I click on videos and get actual headaches because of the obsessive yelling, constant transitions, 3 new video clips every 2 seconds, "one word per-line" subtitles on screen, it becomes overstimulating and it becomes too much. I cannot manage 10+ minute videos with this over-the-top pacing. I feel like a year or two from now, the trend is going to go in the other direction, where the in demand channels will be the soft spoken, calm, and personal-feeling videos will be the ones most in demand.
    40
  229. Australian here! While my family doesn't bet, we do watch a lot of sport and there have been points in my life where I've been able to recite sports betting ads easily. They all finish with a "gamble responsibly" card but I guarantee you most people don't pay attention to that part. Great video!
    40
  230. 1:46 that is my video, for those curious that video paid me $11,115.00 as of Jan 2nd 2024
    40
  231. It’s always nice to see these lesser known, but great, channels posting entertaining and consistent videos.
    39
  232. I recently noticed I get slight headaches when I eat bread. Maybe I should get on the gluten free app 🍞 😆
    39
  233. oh man I totally agree. I like a lot of Apple products - M1 and M2 macs are actually incredible, every so often they make an iPhone upgrade which is actually worth it, and their display tech is just perfect (shame they're in no hurry to put it in non-pro models) - but the practices (as you'd expect from a trillion dollar TNC, unfortunately) are absolutely disgraceful.
    39
  234. The more Starbucks raised their prices, the more I cut back. So, I was spending $150-$200 a month there but the price hikes pissed me off, so instead of going every day, I started going every other day. Then another price hike, so it became three times a week. Then another price hike, became ‘just on weekends.’ Now I spend $20 per month there if that. They weened me off their product with their bullshit. Great job 💯💫
    38
  235. 5.2k views, 2.6k likes, 651 comments. What a ratio, what a channel. Thanks for the engaging content. Exactly what youtube connoisseurs been looking for
    38
  236. The way you were too sane and normal to assume Anthony and Ian had a falling out and were just being respectful about it online but also I cannot imagine how amazing it must have felt for them to say they are literally going to go back to making intimate sketches on their own literally less than a month after you posted this............unlessyousecrelyknewthiswholetime?!?!?!?! 😵🧐🙊👽🤔
    38
  237. I got almost 5 million views every single month for 4 straight years but then youtube shorts launched. That month, my views dropped for the first time. Literally since then I've only been able to get almost 2 million views every single month for the last 3 years. As someone who has been very consistent for the last 9.5 years I can say that more than half of users went to watch shorts and didnt come back. The only way I can see to make up for the lost audience is to make even longer videos since they pay more ad revenue. I think thats why we've seen an explosion in very long form content. I'm kind of just tired of everything being a short or a long video essay. I miss fun, nonsensical creative 5-15ish minute videos. Even I feel pressured to extend every video and I know that doesn't make the content better. Idk in the end it is what it is. We can only try and adapt and do our best.
    38
  238. I absolutely love the locations used for these videos, a pretty nature background while presenting depressing data
    38
  239. Important note- these devices are not waterproof, they are water resistant up to a certain standard depending on the device. I only say this as I worked at a phone store and met too many people that had that impression and damaged their devices. Great video, it is important to be aware as consumer of all the flaws of these giant companies. We as a large group can push these companies to change.
    37
  240. Agreed, I also hate all the AI narrated videos... I want real humans with some personality, not some monotone soulless AI.
    37
  241. I really love the way you just give glimpses into your life. It's good to see someone genuinely engaging with their community and I think more people should do that
    36
  242. Interesting, I didn't even know Stories was going away! I kind of want to make a few now!
    36
  243. Keep doin what u do man, I'm so glad the algo picked you up.
    36
  244. Thank you for this video! This topic is very important. I called my parents now and told them to be aware that things like these are happening. Always love your videos and I think that this was one of your best! 👏
    36
  245. Same I had no idea and I use YouTube ALOT. Hours and hours every day.
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  246. really appreciate how you balance a fun "challenge" with real facts and a throughput narrative that tells a larger story
    35
  247. People making silly vids for strangers on the internet turning into influential micro celebrities and THEN beating the shit out of each other for money is very strange indeed.
    34
  248. Another banger yet again. These videos you post allow me to think about these issues WAY more critically than ever before. I always thought I was crazy thinking about these topics. Glad to see I'm not alone here. Thanks Zackary!
    34
  249. Also I love the creative approach you have to inverting the thumbnail and the video title! It’s kind of genius as so many people look at the thumbnail first, and then the title to try and add context to it. I wouldn’t be surprised if people start copying that technique in the coming months.
    34
  250. I've heard about events where TikTok creators with millions of followers have like 5 people that come out to meet them because almost no-one actually cares.
    34
  251. Wow it’s awesome that the algorithm recommended this to me, I watch an awful lot of YouTube and this is a great video. Subscribed for more content like this.
    33
  252. Zack, this is incredible, your work's inspired me for a long time, this is another great addition.
    33
  253. Bro searching comments would be so helpful on old tutorial videos that the creators don't respond to anymore. To be able to see if anyone had the same bug in their code that i do and how they fixed it would be a GODSEND
    33
  254. The ad-free membership idea is great. I would pay for that. Way better than using YouTube Premium.
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  255. 2:00 You may not get it, but I do... [Chorus] Whopper, Whopper, Whopper, Whopper Junior, Double, Triple Whopper Flame-grilled taste with perfect toppers I rule this day Lettuce, mayo, pickle, ketchup It's okay if I don't want that Impossible or bacon Whopper Any Whopper my way [Outro] You rule, you're seizin' the day At BK, have it your way (You rule)
    32
  256. I just want to break in here and give props to the audio for this, it was clean and consistently intelligible throughout the entire video. And also it didn't have music blaring over the top of the dialogue. I appreciate your post-production.
    32
  257. I hate dating apps. I always end up uninstalling after a few days because I feel overwhelmed as a female who will actually respond, or if I don't respond right away, I get told off. I think I might just end up staying single 🤦🏻‍♀️ Another great video though ☺️
    31
  258. Interesting video and choices. Its a tough decision to pick just 4. I think a lot of it comes down to your interests on YouTube. For me, I'm 35 and YouTube came out the year I graduated high school. So I had been in the world of Newgrounds which was all about animated content, and eBaum's World which was mostly shock content like people getting hurt falling off shit or straight fucked up shit like the pain Olympics and backyard wrestling. That being said I was a pretty early adopter in YouTube although in the early days I used it mostly for educational content and how to videos. Even still, creators like Smosh, Jenna Marbles, NigaHiga, and so on never reached relevance for me personally. In fact I only know about a lot of those creators because of Philly D. Even Pewdiepie was someone I didn't follow much till much later in his career. If I were to go off your list I'd maybe have to chose Philly D, Pewdiepie, The Vlog Brothers (mostly for their education channels) and I'd have to add Rhett & Link to the list and put them up there too. I'd probably also try and force a 5th on there and add Marques Brownlee as well. At least for my experience on Youtube since it's inception, those would be the most influential in my view.
    31
  259. Amazing video as always. Nothing but the truth.
    30
  260. Dude! Your channel rules and it's cool seeing you tackle the crazy issue of online dating.
    30
  261. excited for the vid ! watched your sheetz one and loved it, you deserve way more support !
    30
  262. As a huge Quadeca fan it's a crime you didn't bring up I Didn't Mean to Haunt you, an astonishingly good album coming from anyone let alone an ex fifa youtuber.
    30
  263. Apple is a prime example where price does not equal quality. Its a shame too, because before the death of Steve Jobs, this wasn't true for them. The Mac and the iPod were genuinely great inventions, the iPod having genuinely superior audio quality and storage space compared to every competitor in a similar price range. Post-Jobs Apple is a shadow of it's former self, and it is depressing to observe.
    30
  264. I think your picks and reasoning are definitely solid! If this video was purely about digital creators, I'd say Rooster Teeth was extremely impactful in the early days of online video content. Unfortunately, their cultural relevance has waned in recent years but they were always very influential in my life and they inspired me to want to be a creator many years ago!
    30
  265. Nice. Pretty good long form videos on this channel so far.
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  266. 5 years from now: "It's Every Week Cuz" - Zackary Smigel 🎵
    28
  267. I just want to say congrats on joining the partnership program. it's nice to see a creator i can relate with. I've been on YouTube since 2009 with my other channel. Thanks for bringing attention to these topics. also, i saw a midroll ad.
    28
  268. I love the style of your videos, and calling out fans,creators, YouTube and everyone your amazing
    27
  269. Yeah, some of the ideas you (and folks on your thread on Twitter) suggested are incredible suggestions and I'd love to see the implementation of a react-friendly option and the splits being done accordingly. Also, YouTube, it's free real estate and y'all should pay Zackary a consulting fee for it too.
    27
  270. Same. Met my wife in an obscure super niche dating app. She was the first women I talked to and now happily married.
    26
  271. Really pleased that you are now monetised and that your video is blowing up (again.) You should now get paid. Really like this channel and your honest and laid back approach. I can see this becoming real big channel. (66.5k subs as of this comment)
    26
  272. After watching this video, all my social media algorithms changed and I’m being fed a disgusting amount of sports betting advertisements now. This has to stop!!!
    26
  273. man please keep making this stuff, im just praying that the algorithm picks you up as soon as possible, so this great content pays off!
    26
  274. Video quality keeps getting better and better, dude. Keep up the good work.
    26
  275. I'm an OG YouTuber and admittedly it's one of the few streaming servic. I like long form essay-esque content and have noticed a change. Your content is actually along my taste spectrum and I've found a few other new youtube channels from the change. But I sincerely feel like some more needs to be worked out as it has been difficult to navigate and recently I have found it harder to find things that might be interesting. I feel like you very eloquently summed up the situation and the differences I've felt.
    26
  276. Everyone is just a regular person at the end of the day. I've learned this very quickly working in Los Angeles. I've met celebrities, YouTubers, studio CEOs without even knowing it. I became friends with the coo of Paramount at the time not even knowing who the hell he was bc he frequented the place I worked at. I treat everyone like they're just some dude down the street now and I think that's a very healthy way of doing it. We're all just people doing different things for a living and no one is worth more or less because of what they do to make that living. It's just a job, and there is more to people than where they work.
    25
  277. This video got recommended to me in my sidebar, but I watch video essays a lot so it makes sense that I'd see you here.
    25
  278. Found you through nationsquid and I'm proud
    25
  279. Don't boss me! I haven't watched the video yet and I already have conclusions! I've concluded that I'm going to watch this video, and you can't stop me! I mean... I guess you could take it down before I watch it. But don't do that, I actually do wanna see it, just happened to have it up before I can actually listen.
    24
  280. im glad you found your voice just being yourself. your content is wonderful and over A HUNDRED THOUSAND PEOPLE agree! yay! keep up the great work. so excited to see you hit a million in the coming year or two.
    24
  281. This is honestly a fantastic video and you just know it’s going to be the one to kick off your channel keep up the amazing work
    24
  282. I do really like the idea of being able to pay a content creator directly And the idea of having a youtube red lite option. that said, I do think that a lite version of youtube red would be most effective in terms of like. being a universal adblock but not giving you access to the rest of the youtube red experience (like exclusive content or being able to download videos).
    24
  283. Here from recommended!!! With how polished this was, i was shocked to see you only had 771 subscribers - that’s practically criminal. Awesome video!
    24
  284. Never thought I would enjoy a video about discord so much, haha. 😁
    23
  285. Like many of the other commenters, I’m into video essays and commentary, so definitely your target audience! Yay! I was literally thinking this as I found your video and I’m so glad you spoke about this, it’s been making YouTube a little bland and the only benefit from this update was finding your channel! Excited to see more content from you :)
    23
  286. I really appreciate your willingness to do something completely different and appreciate your candor throughout, and also the SpongeBob night reference lol. The next time I see a Sheetz, I'll be fondly reminded of you and this video. Thanks man and good luck at Wawa!
    23
  287. Another great video- I think with the rise of tiktok, youtube will become (even more) of an engaged medium, with certain creators posting longer, less frequent, movie-style "events" - and authenticity is a huge part of that
    23
  288. I was so invested in this, seeing your dedication and how you explained everything was really informative and interesting. Definitely will be back to this channel
    23
  289. Premium is painfully expensive, but it’s still worth it for me. I watch videos while doing things or with my phone in my pocket, so the ability to listen with my screen locked and to not have to reach to skip ads while still giving money to the creators is totally worth it.
    23
  290. There are so many ways profits can be measured that you can potentially claim a company is making record profits while doing right by the consumer. For example, if something costs $5 to make and you charge $10 one quarter and sell one, then next quarter you charge $8 and sell two, your quarterly profits went from $5 to $6. Boom, record profits. That's a crazy over-simplified version, but this is just a YouTube comment. You could also claim a company is showing record profits when they sell items for the same amount but slash their R&D budgets in times of economic hardship so they can build a cash buffer. There are certainly companies doing shady stuff to make money, but some people are over-eager to point out record profits any way they can and as much as they can, which distracts from the real offenders. Honestly, it sounds like a tactic the real offenders would use to take the heat off of themselves.
    23
  291. Incredible video, extremely creative and had a lot heart to it.... also a lot of bananas. Loved it!
    23
  292. ​ @ZackarySmigel THE RECKONING IS COMING
    23
  293. I know it's not much but you got me with the Rise, Fall, and Rise Again part!!!! I nearly died because I have asthma and can't laugh too hard.
    22
  294. This is an entire journey and a great video, This is awesome, you're awesome. I'm absolutely checking out the Gas Station food more intently here in Brazil and see what are the hidden gems when traveling!
    22
  295. This thievery is a rampant issue in many YouTube communities.
    22
  296. My guess is at least $3000. Edit: dang I was far off. I used to do gaming content and the gaming niche pays jack shit. I get around $12 for 10,000 views each month. I also make $3 for 40k shorts views
    22
  297. I just want my pizzas delivered directly to the roof of my garage Breaking Bad style. Great video!
    21
  298. Already loving all of this!! As always, it was such a pleasure getting to see you again in person. You are a great creator, and most importantly, a great friend. Please return to LA soon!! :)
    21
  299. Thank you for using your newfound success to address YT directly about the big problems with the platform. I can only hope they listen this time. At least 5 channels I've watched for over half a decade have quit the platform this summer, and I fear more are following them soon.
    21
  300. Howdy! An Australian here! There sports betting ads have always been so over the top but recently they have been legally required to add a disclaimer at the end saying something like "what's gambling really costing you?" And "chances are you're about to lose". For me, that disclaimer feels like it takes the edge off the advertisement, like a little reality check. Another thing I want to highlight is that on social media they're deliberately targeting the Young Male demographic. I (26F) barely see those ads on YouTube Tiktok IG etc but my partner (27M) gets betting ads almost exclusively and gets completely inundated constantly. They really need to sort this out for real!
    21
  301. How do we know you're not already doing that?
    21
  302. 0:52 Don't know why it's there, but I'll always appreciate pictures of Cheydinhal. Great, now I want to play Oblivion again.
    21
  303. This reminds me of that one movie called supersize me, but less boring
    20
  304. As a person from Texas, looking at you eat Chipotle outside in the snow for us looked like a beautiful sacrifice. Lol Thank you for your service!
    20
  305. Imperial is margarine, not butter. Margarine is hygrogenated oil. Margarine isn't all that healthy, either. Sorry I'm making so many live comments. Hope these help you do numbers! XD
    20
  306. Always love seeing your content, keep it up
    20
  307. This is a very well made video. I was shocked when I saw the small amount of comments views and subscribers you have
    19
  308. That was Saucy ! 🍕And your DELIVERY had EVERYTHING ON IT! lol Another great video with great content. Good job!
    19
  309. this was a very random suggested video for me but you absolutely hit the nail on the head my man
    19
  310. Nice entertaining video, channel is moving pretty quick for how new it is.
    19
  311. "and that's okay I'm an Apple fan and I already hate myself" 😂
    19
  312. I 100% agree with a 50/50 split for the creator and the reactor. I do some react content on my second channel and I fully support this. If you look at some BIG react channels (you know who) they are getting 100 Mil+ views a month from react content. Imagine if someone like Zach, who did 750k views in the last 30 days, was paid out 500k views from a react video. That is MASSIVE for any mid sized creator.
    18
  313. Your videos are always so thorough and informative but still funny and entertaining. I imagine a great deal of work goes into creating them, especially the longer ones. Just want to say good job, and keep it up! Your videos are a diamond in the rough.
    18
  314. The jojo voice had me dying
    18
  315. I have been wondering for so long why my comments on some of my favourite videos kept disappearing. The paranoid part of me wondered if the creators had deleted them, but I didn't think that was a rational explanation, and now I know for certain that it's not correct. Thank you!
    18
  316. The interview section made me cry.
    18
  317. the differences in RPM are super crazy. my RPM last month was over $25. i think it must be due to audience demographics? great video! love your channel 😊
    18
  318. I really appreciate that you didnt spend a ton of time on a drawn out intro, a lot of video essays spend multiple minutes setting up a hook but you got right to it. Love your voice too, great investigation 🫶
    18
  319. I recognize that house! Great job on the video, Zack!
    18
  320. Once I saw you morph into Former President William McKinley, I knew I had to sub.
    18
  321. I promise, I haven't been disappointed by any of the video YouTube recommended me of yours. Also, before listening to the argument, I agree.
    18
  322. this is genuinely one of your best videos yet, keep it up Mr. Smigel
    17
  323. The goat returns with another banger of a video
    17
  324. I really loved the conclusion bit. Once in a while we get so caught up with life, we actually forget to explore life and take risks. This was a good reminder and I thank you for the video. Great research and honest disclosure all along the way.
    17
  325. If creators remain transparent and honest while they’re growing (and doing stuff like releasing behind the scenes videos and qnas which I feel like have disappeared in modern YouTube), it makes them seem more relatable and down to earth even after they get big Also your advice is great, mad respect to your content grind, hope you grow enough to reach your goal of doing it as a full time job!
    17
  326. Moonlight Sonata at the end, too good 😂 Great vid!
    17
  327. This is the first video I’ve ever seen of you and the first time I’ve ever heard about the gas station And I already love both totally subscribing can’t wait to watch another video❤
    17
  328. I absolutely love the channel
    17
  329. All great points. One thing though that I think should be added is that although the ad revenue for YouTube shorts is very low, and non existent for TikToks under 1 minute, people with lots of followers/subs are making good money if their shorts have a sponsorship in them. But that is probably a very low % of creators (that I am unfortunately not part of lol but I have some friends who do get some good sponsors for their shorts). Also, hoping your next video is “Shooting 3 pointers for 30 days”
    17
  330. You are my favourite youtuber! It's a matter of time before a larger audience appreciates you, so I wish you consistency and coherence - as you are now
    17
  331. I've been bitching about this for years. My account is nearly as old as YouTube itself and I've seen all the changes through the years (anyone else remember the 5 star rating system before the thumbs up/down system?). One of the major things I miss is being able to to view your own comment history. There was literally a place on your own profile page where you could see every single comment you ever made. I don't know how long ago that was but it seems like ages. Why did that go away? Maybe it was a technological challenge back then, but now? Now that YT is part of the great Google empire? You can search and sort through the vast internet, but you can't remember my (relatively) tiny comment history? That's just one gripe among many that I've had over the years with YouTube comments.
    17
  332. Your video’s are oddly built like memories
    16
  333. As someone who lived in NC for a year...Sheetz was a magical place in terns of just, something I could rely on being open 24/7 that wasn't McDonald's. That was also just really good. And I could get a redbull? I dunno. It ain't the best place to eat ever, but the food WAS good and convenient. And that was all I really cared about.
    16
  334. Every long time viewer has their own personal Mount Rushmore <3 Ray William Johnson has to be on there imo
    16
  335. i love your voice
    16
  336. I love this video, and thank you for talking about something that more people should consider. 10/10 no cap
    16
  337. I’m honestly shocked you don’t have more subscribers! Your videos are very high quality and your topics are super interesting!!
    16
  338. I always love to see a new video from Zack in my notifications! I think this is a topic that more people should simply be aware of, especially with how prominent the loneliness epidemic and online dating have become
    16
  339. Well explained! Your green screen work is quite good, too!
    16
  340. oh my god, i just discovered your channel (through nationsquid, obviously) and i LOVE it. internet's culture, history and other stuff like that are my favourite things to listen learn about... i feel like im in heaven...
    16
  341. Glad you got enough ad monies to eat at Sheetz for a whole 3 years (before taxes)
    15
  342. The ending was a masterpiece the fact that you spent 20 minutes to few second bit is amazing
    15
  343. "The Canadian's Airbnb" 🤣 🇨🇦 Great video Zack!
    15
  344. The yoda scream as he threw the rock was amazing 😂
    15
  345. I actually think the reason your first viral video went viral was because of the title, not the thumbnail. I'm pretty sure the title was what made me click on it.
    15
  346. Great video. I think the fascination with liminal spaces and dead malls also has something to do with the uncanny valley effect. Our brains know what a mall is supposed to look like, so we find it kind of creepy seeing it out of context like that.
    15
  347. My YouTube Mount Rushmore would be Smosh (Ian and Anthony), Vlogbrothers (Hank and John), Phillip DeFranco, and ShayCarl/ShayTards (I have mixed feelings about this, but looking back this is an obvious choice for me)!
    15
  348. You didn't peel the shrimp before boiling them? AND THEN YOU COOKED THEM MORE?? 😱 For future reference, the way you had the shrimp after boiling was the perfect doneness for fully cooked shrimp. You didn't need to boil them if you were throwing them into a hot pan. Hope these forays into cooking encourage you to explore more in the world of whole foods (not the store.)
    15
  349. 5%... family knows
    15
  350. As usual phenomenal content still can’t believe this channel is not at 500k or above but it will be soon enough 🔥
    15
  351. Is google like an onion which is like an ogre which has many layers?
    15
  352. I've been preparing to go full time on youtube for the last 3 years, my channel is so small and I'm honestly really concerned about my odds of making it. Thank you for showing these stats as they will certainly help me with my own decision. Wish me luck!
    15
  353. Would love to know how many of those matches were bot accounts. On the basis alone that bot accounts can even be on there, should be enough reason to entirely shut-down the whole idea of online dating period.
    15
  354. dude you’re doing amazing! just found your channel and subbed! can’t wait to see what else you got up your sleeve
    15
  355. I love this video so much and need about 100 videos with this layout
    15
  356. The narrative pacing on your video essays are masterwork, can't wait for the next one!
    15
  357. As someone who works with dozens of channels, I saw this trend happening early last year. I had a client go through exactly the same situation where a Short went viral and it brought in so many low-quality subscribers that it took months to recover regular views. I've advised clients to create SHORT channels as beta tests for a long tail strategy to avoid hurting their channels more by mixing both. With that, even with that strategy channels are significantly dropping because all the attention is being driven to the format thus taking away audiences to long-form.
    14
  358. I'm so glad hes finally growing ive been here since you had 3000 subscribers ❤
    14
  359. Yes, it looks like 500 comments is the max for a comment thread. Thanks for the great work, Zachary. :) Hopefully this video will be a catalyst for change at Youtube
    14
  360. Damn, YouTube really is just Game of Thrones.
    14
  361. you’ve become one of my favorite youtubers, always look forward to a new upload
    14
  362. I am from Germany. Just watched the whole video and it is really fascinating. And the dedication. I will definitely try this on my next US vacation😁
    14
  363. your videos are so good definitely deserve more than 115 subscribers
    14
  364. I wish you'd gone into a little more detail on the ethical issues, especially their union busting and the #AppleToo movement that happened recently. The product elements are definitely an issue, don't get me wrong, but Apple prides itself on its image and its ideals. Looking more at how its ethical issues show that that commitment to social justice is skin deep at best also really highlights the reasons why Apple makes these choices with its products. I don't know if you were planning on doing a follow-up, but I'd love it if you talked more about those ethical issues!
    14
  365. Well said take on such a nuanced topic with a lot of different moving parts (creators, streamers, clippers, youtube, fans). Fantastic work.
    14
  366. perfect video to watch while eating some sheetz
    14
  367. Agree 100%! Finally someone is talking about this and being transparent
    13
  368. I adore your videos, they are like having a chat with an awesome co worker who works in a different department but is super happy to help you out and show you the ropes. Your openness and sense of humor are icing on the cake. Wishing you an awesome 2024!!
    13
  369. As someone who lives in a largish town outside of pittsburgh but has been to so many way smaller towns in the sw pa area. Sheetz has overtaken the mall as the place young people go to hang out, for sure. It makes sense, when i was in high school we'd bs at the mall until it closed and then go to denny's and stay there until 4 am.
    13
  370. I was so hyped when I saw you got a sponsor, you definitely deserve it, I think it’s officially time to say I’ve been here since day 1 😎
    13
  371. Chipotle is unhinged, Zackary doing God’s work out here.
    13
  372. the cat here is the real mvp
    13
  373. LETS GO a new video after only 2 months what a treat thank you for your work and the entertainment! Very well made video!
    13
  374. Can confirm the sports betting ads are insane here in Australia.
    13
  375. I love these videos keep them up! Your are doing great!
    13
  376. 1:32 "online" being typed as "on-line" is how you can carbon date that article lol
    13
  377. So glad you made this video. Amazing work dude!!! 💙
    13
  378. Reddit comments are such a dream to navigate compared to youtube or twitter. You can easily tell who's replying to what. You don't get endless notifications just because somebody replied to some other comment on the same thread. There are (for better or worse) mods. Boards have done this for literal decades at this point, how are both youtube and twitter screwing it up so badly in 2023?
    13
  379. Hey Zackary! I came here from jacksfilm's video. I love videoessays but don't always have the time to listen to something for hours, you seem really cool. Keep up the good work!
    12
  380. They paid you with pokemon cards?!?! Wow!!!!11!212!2!!@!@@!21
    12
  381. Half-way through the vid and loving it! You're def becoming one of my new fav youtubers!!!
    12
  382. Zackary the hair is killing it, yet again.
    12
  383. Finding your channel has been the only good thing that has come out of the YT algorithm in the past year
    12
  384. You know it is bad when you start finishing the sentences in the ad cause you've heard it so much LOL
    12
  385. ERB needs to be up there. Maybe A Mashup of NicePeter & EpicLloyd as one face (each side being half of each’s face).
    12
  386. Your videos definitely are helping me shift my perspectives of things on youtube. Also your style of presentation is just chefs kiss
    12
  387.  @ZackarySmigel  haha sure did! Earned the sub
    12
  388. Fantastic video. Thank you for bringing awareness to the societal implications of these trend and this technology. Another aspect to consider is that generating these responses is very computationally expensive and the databases used to conduct AI responses suck down power. Every time you ask an AI voice impersonation a question, you are consuming an insane amount of energy. Multiply that by the number of people doing this trend to try and get famous and get paid, man.
    12
  389. A little over 1 out of 7 viewers have liked this video. That's an insanely high like ratio. Well deserved.
    12
  390. Zack with another banger, great to see the amazing growth in just a week and a half. I think you really prove that its not hard to gain an audience with effort and passion in your content. Can't wait for the next one
    12
  391. As soon as you said: “… could guarantee Modern Baseball will get back together…” I hit like.
    11
  392. great topic choice and as always, immaculate execution.
    11
  393. goodlongpee 3:01
    11
  394. Hey Zack, I'm definitely one of those people from outside your demographic. I must say i noticed the changes in YouTube, and you're right. There are certainly swings and roundabouts to the current algorithm. Having said that, I've picked up an interest in just from YouTube's tinkering, so as you point out yourself, it just needs some tweeking. Added bonus. I needed a channel that explained what the Hell my kids (They're around your age) are talking about, so I subbed.
    11
  395. Friendzoned
    11
  396. Oh boy, once you find out about the filthyfrank clones its gonna be all over
    11
  397. This was AWESOME! Keep up the good work... 💚✨
    11
  398. clicked without looking at views or sub count. Title was interesting and holy shit. I totally expected you to be in the 100k-250k sub count range and this vid to be in the 250k to 600k view count range. So good bro, keep it going. I see you with a youtube plaque for sure dooood
    11
  399. The ladder gag rocks, love when a tribute keeps the spirit of the original like that
    11
  400. Love love love this!! Keep it up and can't wait for more!!
    11
  401. At this point, the value of "Better Burger" places like Culvers and Shake Shack really aren't that much worse than McDonalds/Wendys nowadays. If you're already gonna pay upwards of $10/15 even for smaller meals, I may as well go for actual good fast food, or even takeout.
    11
  402. JoJo's voice SENT ME
    11
  403. Wow this video was great! Parasocial is such a fascinating sector of relationships to deep dive in this context. I think on some level we all experience them even in real life relationships. It’s easy to put people on a pedestal without realizing. A real work example would be a leader at a church, you see them and interact but because a lot of them have multiple people needing their attention the relationship doesn’t exactly even out for both sides. Or a boss. There is social hierarchy in most situations that let this occur. Some people get really angry at someone they can’t have access to and others are able to further cultivate this into true friendships. It’s just how we are in a situation that determines this dynamic I feel.
    11
  404. Many of your points are fair. However, Munchos are NOT a failed product. Can't agree with you there. Otherwise, nice vid. Keep up the good work.
    11
  405. I'm so glad I stumbled upon your channel with the "Why Youtube Feels Different" video because the stuff you've been putting out has been pretty fantastic and quite interesting. Keep up the good work my dude!
    11
  406. You keep making me proud that I discovered your channel early.
    11
  407. Super-interesting stats! Great video!
    10
  408. Congrats on the monetization!! You've killed it!
    10
  409. I had a friend in highschool order a pizza at lunch using bit coin!!!! i bet he wishes he saved that good video awesome voice box
    10
  410. you showed up as recommended.. glad i clicked, new sub and keep it up.
    10
  411. Amazing video. Your production quality is really impressive!
    10
  412. As someone that only got into YT subcultures in 2019 at age 38 I appreciate this video. A lot of names I know of, but not their histories.
    10
  413. Thank you for sharing these frustrations, I'm a long-time viewer and creator too so I feel the same way. I live with several other YouTuber and we watch a LOT of videos, in the past 6 months we all noticed how terrible the recommendation feature was. Search too. Really hope something's done about this. Also, hell yeah goodlongpee
    9
  414. 9:44 woah he turned into Thank You
    9
  415. So glad someone is talking about this. As an avid NFL and fantasy football fan, the sheer /amount/ of gambling ads has been insane, not to mention the questionability of leagues and universities partnering with sportsbooks. This stuff NEEDS to be regulated much more heavily than it currently is.
    9
  416. This man did not clickbait, he actually did it!
    9
  417. Hey that's me at 3:59 !
    9
  418. Another awesome video! I really like how you incorporated the fact that you’re in a indoor soccer league.
    9
  419. 9:30 Absolutely not. There's no way they could afford all those people and they didn't sign all of them.
    9
  420. 6:22 i could not have framed it better, excellent video.
    9
  421. Well it is definitely a banger so, no matter how it performs, be proud of it!
    9
  422. This video is very high quality and deserves to perform very well. I hope this hits the algorithm because this was very entertaining to watch. Keep up the good work🙏
    9
  423. If I had a nickel for every time, I got recommended a video of yours within this week, I would have two nickels. I think I am here to stay ^_^
    9
  424. Zach these videos are awesome, please keep making them 🥺 🙏
    9
  425. As a creator, I see comments disappear from my channel all the time. My viewers often mention they have to post a comment 3 different ways to 'allow' it to show up. These comments are normal and aren't filled with spam or vulgarity.... I would love to see some accountability in the YouTube comments section. You could click on a channel and instantly see if they are a TROLL LOL....
    9
  426. Well done Zack!! Your channel quality and growth this past year has been so great to see. Great job exposing a problem that YouTube really needs to address.
    8
  427. great video, don't know why it doesn't have more engagement, it definitely deserves it. keep it up
    8
  428. This was a very interesting video. I made a parody video on content cop with the idea in mind of transforming the stigma around content cop, but I never thought about how much this type of content influenced YouTube and the internet 😮 great job on this!!
    8
  429. wait, he actually did it
    8
  430. this video may have not blown up but i think it is very informative and you did a great job on it. thanks for all the videos you make, i'll always reserve time to watch 'em!
    8
  431. So many scams on YouTube it really is crazy 😂
    8
  432. So happy you made a full vid on this years vidcon, was truly hype as hell
    8
  433. I'm not in the partner program, and most of my videos are super short with low views - yet apparently people see ads on them😶
    8
  434. Here in Brazil the situation is also dire. During the world cup last year, the commercials during the games were sportsbet sites ONLY, you rarely saw commercials for other stuff. As a person who worked in sportbet/online casino customer support, that makes me really sad. I don't know if this industry is worth the jobs that it generates, you see so many people wasting their lives on this.
    8
  435. I think a lot of this has to do with Millenials (I'm 33) and older Gen Z wanting to go back to what you accurately described as the "older YouTube experience." They saw the content they liked and maybe even grew up on it (in my case, late high school and college) and thought to themselves, "You know what? Why are we doing all this Mr Beast type shit?" and it's working again to just go back to the roots. I couldn't be more happy. Thankfully, YouTube doesn't recommend any Beastification type stuff to me and hasn't for years, but if I log out and see the front page, it's still all over. There's a lot more work to be done.
    8
  436. Been here since the Chipotle video
    8
  437. I would say the reason content like Mr. Beast and other sensationalist style content is popular is because people are inherently shallow and vapid at least the lowest common denominator. I would say the rise of CoreCore is in no small part because the more enlightened, more educated and those who are generally less vapid have had enough. Which makes me happy.
    8
  438. AOE is goated! What your thoughts on AOE4?
    8
  439. brilliant and creative solutions at the end there
    8
  440. 12:16 I see you and your friends have a wonderful taste in music.
    8
  441. Yep, you're right, there's something weird about the algorithm. I had no idea about your channel, or any interest about the stuff you generally follow. So no idea why it got recommended. That said, I'm glad I found your channel, you're pointing out something important. Thank you!
    8
  442. For sure! Though, even with a ton of videos out there, there are still some creators, new and old, that don't watch a lot of videos, and I'd imagine if viewing time is limited, videos about how much other creators make is a low viewing priority. There also could be NDAs for direct sponsorships; having a personal zero disclosure policy prevents any accidental undesired disclosures from happening. None of this is criticism of the video, by the way, just some additional stuff I figured some may find interesting. I agree with what you've said here.
    8
  443. Oh wow he is busting out Sam Vime's boot theory! From Terry Pratchett's "Men at Arms". Would still have wet feet is the key part of all that.
    8
  444. Great video! After moving to Colorado from Eldersburg MD, I greatly miss daily Wawa and twice-weekly Sheetz - this brought me to earlier times, and reminded me of one of the few things I actually miss about the Mid-Atlantic.
    8
  445. Zach I've been here since the first YouTube Doc you put out. I've loved everything you've done ever since. Ps I stopped at a Sheetz on a road trip and it was garbage and insanely over priced.
    8
  446. Bro made that thin crust Altoona-style pizza. Only folks who live in PA may get that. But man the American cheese on that killed me lmao. Great video. Love your content.
    8
  447. Less than 1K views on this is INSANE btw, you’re def gonna blow up soon
    8
  448. 7:46 - The "Piggy Bank" idea would be GREAT!
    8
  449. I'm so happy youtube recommended me to your channel. You need more subscribers.
    8
  450. Came for the hair, stayed for the content.
    8
  451. The last time I went to a mall was this past weekend, and I realized it was reeeally bumming me out. Something about most stores being empty and being in a place you know is on death row is very sobering. But I agree with this video, malls need to pivot in this current landscape or they're just cooked.
    8
  452. Impressively straightforward and even-handed breakdown; no lies detected.
    8
  453. You have a very original style. Love your humor!
    8
  454. Very good video my friend! 🙌
    8
  455. i do have to say as a fupatrooper myself(h3h3nation apparantly) i thought it was widely known we are fupatroopers? also the past 2 years since frenemies has beeen so fantastic you missed the whole we do it live era, debate king era, streaming 4 hour eps 4 days a week and the many many other giant points about our subculture! but much love you are very well deserved with this fire video i expect to get recommended more from the algo thanks king!
    8
  456. finished finals week and got a new zackary upload, hell yess!!
    8
  457. I wouldn't have watched almost all your videos if Asmongold didn't watch your video. I watched tons of your videos, subbed and turned on the bell.
    8
  458. Holy fuck???? I expected you to have a ton of views and subscribers when I clicked on this. And only noticed the view and sub count once I clicked. P awesome video bro, I wish you the best of luck!! If you blow up I’m a real og tho ‼️‼️‼️
    8
  459. Bro this is such good news, I was debating so hard between being myself or creating a character for this channel but you've inspired me to just be myself, even if my previous conclusion was that my character would just be an exaggeration of who I already am. I'll be going live every week here on youtube to DJ live, talk about music and bring on guests to DJ and talk about their project. Thank you
    8
  460. Under 150 subs and making bangers like this? A crime!
    7
  461. This is a fantastic deepdive!
    7
  462. another banger vid
    7
  463. they way the audio stays so consistent when you're cutting between multiple locations is mint 🤌
    7
  464. Just an insane video! Great job, Zack!
    7
  465. Well done my dude, the green screen key is whatever -- having good audio-quality is of greater importance.
    7
  466. He actually did it
    7
  467. Once again you knocked it out of the park ⚾️! Great video Zack Smigel!
    7
  468. Zoey rolling over at the end made my heart melt 💓
    7
  469. Another amazing video, Zackary! I was so excited when I saw you posted. Your eating challenge videos are always so entertaining and informative! I've watched tons of eating challenge videos on Youtube, and by far yours is the best - entertaining, informative, poses great questions that then get answered and is food for thought! Watching other eating challenges that only test if it's possible to do so (which like, 100% of the time obviously is) feels empty because I don't walk away with the same educational value I get from your videos. I very much enjoy all the talk about prices and how you budget your money (very relatable for viewers who don't have that much to spend and would like to save up), how you FEEL after eating those meals (never thought much about how my food affects my mental health + no other youtuber I've seen does this which I think is so important. Anyone can eat frozen pizzas for 30 days straight but I want to know how it affects my health) and trying to stay healthy while having a diet like this! Very much enjoy how you approach these challenges. Please keep making these videos (but prioritise your health)! I've seen most of yours thrice now haha
    7
  470. Zach I genuinely appreciated your work in the last video and love how you went about this video
    7
  471. got a new sub, btw. unbelievable work. wow
    7
  472. Great vid, man! I just wanna add, as a YouTuber myself; that $7,735 figure is not guaranteed. I just reached a lifetime channel viewership of 2 million views, and yet I've made only a third of what you made ($2.5k). As far as I'm aware, there's no real way to control how much the RPM will be, aside from making longer videos in certain niches. And with how youtube can just demonetize you indiscriminately, It's simply not stable enough to live off of.
    7
  473. switching the places of the title and the "caption" that would normally be in the thumbnail is a brilliant touch that I haven't seen anyone else doing; keep up the good work
    7
  474. Dude! it was nice talking to you at the Canadian house & creator lunch man! My favorite part of vidcon is geeking out over Youtube with people and our convo was def that🤌
    7
  475. the image of you in front of the people waiting in line for an iphone is amazing
    7
  476. This was a great video, and something I had just talked to my wife about. Specifically shrinkflation, I feel like I'm high school I could barely finish one, and now I feel like I could comfortably eat two. And I'm only 30 now
    7
  477. western PA let's go
    7
  478. just wait until streamers start reacting to this; rlly good video too!!!!!!
    7
  479. I don't blame you. A lot of people do and for great reasons. Also, this video, while cheesy, was deliciously informative. Grate job! Please don't cringe at the puns.
    7
  480. real provolone homies hour
    7
  481. For a few years I never cared to use YouTube except for school purposes. Your channel, Cyberexboyfriend, and Landon Huffman are the only channels I consistently watch. I like that I can actually tell that you’re real people and not a manufactured personality.
    7
  482. Cool video, I learned a few things!
    7
  483. I also never get properly notified of my responses!
    7
  484. Trisha started out as a tornado. Top 5 worst anime moments in history.
    6
  485. goodlon gpee
    6
  486. hear me out bold and brash from that one spongebob episode is the best part of this video
    6
  487. "Logan Paul, known for his... trips to Japan" and subbed, bro that's hilarious
    6
  488. incredible analysis here! was interested to see how the video was gonna come together in the end and I have to say you really nailed it!
    6
  489. Your videos are great man! This video was so informative!
    6
  490. Zack, could you do a deep dive into niche and weird outliers of the youtube landscape? Finance gurus, mormon moms, tiny house wood nymphs, cash stuffing, preppers, study with me, cozy gaming etc etc
    6
  491. Congrats on 100K! well deserved! love these documentaries! also qdoba is better hands down
    6
  492. KICK, that is a very interesting you have mentioned here but really and quite bluntly I just don't know what the iffy uppity is about with that site yet from all my peers they say and have very mixed feelings about KICK... Some of them like it and some of them of the majority hate it. I think the extensional crisis that Twitch has added suddenly has made a lot of people run all over like ants back and forth... It's a bit more tedious over on twitch now more than ever thanks to there damn new rules but likewise I never let that get to me or throw me off mainly because I just go over there to watch who I like and follow etc... IDRC about it after they took the app down on twitch I really liked it a lot and missed it since then I let it go but it was very dumb for what they did likewise that site has some of the most softest but dumbest rules known to mankind like you can get banned very quick and very easily for you know having the wrong name or profile picture in your background mainly... I'm not kidding as it happened to me... Now as for (KICK) as mainly some have been warry about and others mainly looking at it as a new place to suffice and make exceptional $$$ change by I think it could be good for them as a (creator) despite the change or movement, I usually don't like these types of things but little old me has moved on with the changes people be making and just go with it seeing little to no end for how it will effect me which I don't think it will or has at all IDRC I just care about seeing the ones that I follow so much if they have any contact left over for me to see if they come up missing or just dip one day on the past platform they use to be on so much you know??? Also yeah some complain about KICK not being a (Safe space) or at least not safe enough for people allover to be "nice" to each other where I think mainly those on twitch are talking about banning people right on the spot for having crazy ass strict rules that'll literally ruin anyones life over there and make it tough but yeah the minority of people thinking like that are crazy for wanting or worrying about Kick not being like that I digress.
    6
  493. Thank you for this! I see it in car parts! Yes car parts!
    6
  494. The comment section is something near and dear to my heart too! I'm really glad to see you provide actual solutions to the problems here rather than just complain about the issues.
    6
  495. ​ @ZackarySmigel I fully expect the $1 to go towards food for Zoey the cat.
    6
  496. Some of the best storytelling on YouTube. Especially your camera angle style and how u change it
    6
  497. Zack you are releasing banger after banger after banger video, just wanted you to know.
    6
  498. Hey Zack! Came across this video and I really like everything about it, from your humor to the inspired content that's relevant to other folks. You seem like someone I'd hang with! Cheers bud. Comment for the algorithm and a new subscriber. Cheers!
    6
  499. crazy i haven’t heard of Sheetz but heard a ton about WaWa from the people i know that lived on the north east coast—you’ve taught me a lot today—when we make a scranton trip we will have to stop by a Sheetz
    6
  500. Good videos man! I like how you uncover/talk about major things on youtube and as danfram said i am also happy you blew up
    6
  501. I never thought RS music would be great for background music. Great choice!
    6
  502. This vid was awesome, thanks for crystallizing the vidcon experience into a 47 minute banger. It was great 2 meet you & can't wait for the next one 🔜
    6
  503. awesome video! glad to be apart such an amazing culture
    6
  504. I loved the video! Really enjoyed the video and you made phenomenal points. I had no idea that this was a developing thing! I think it's interesting that people are adapting the idea. I agree that using the format as a foundation to build upon is perfectly fine and very common in all forms of art. It's just important for these creators to build their own style within the format and not make a pure clone. Adaptation and Inspiration is great, duplication is not in my opinion! This is also assuming the content isn't harmful to others, which it seems like this format can be in many situations. So for me, I guess it's mainly on a case by case basis whether or not I think it's a good format!
    6
  505. Thank you for your work Zack
    6
  506. You clearly understand YouTube very well. Big ups
    6
  507. Happy to see you making this content, even if it's not as recognized as say... the YouTube.. err.. 'Behind the Scenes' videos I guess you'd call them. I dunno, after the Sheetz video I'm too invested in watching another one like it
    6
  508. Good day when Zack uploads
    6
  509. "i'm an apple fan and i already hate myself" lmao
    6
  510. I'm commenting because I liked the video, I've voted it up, subscribed, and all the other good metrics. Hopefully this helps you. very nice to see something so transparent, and hopefully you can continue to see that great growth and live a little more comfortably in 2024.
    6
  511. The mall near me is thriving like it did in the 80's its big
    6
  512. VATS joke on the basketball hoop was ace lmao
    6
  513. i love the challenge videos! and you have such a charming personality!
    6
  514. Good video
    6
  515. That trio of recordings that ended with "They're all connected" at 1:27 is an excellent bit of planning ahead and editing!
    6
  516. I think the state that movie theaters are in are going to be in the same situation. Could be an interesting video topic
    6
  517. 0:45 Zoey mentioned! Lets gooooo!
    6
  518. he did it again.
    6
  519. Such an inspiration to small YouTubers and I know you’ll hit that 1 million!!
    6
  520. The GOAT back to share some YT knowledge. 💯
    6
  521. Hey Zack! I just want to say I found your videos thanks to your most recent video and have been bingeing your content every night! It's great to listen to, as well as calming for sleep! Here's hoping you make it to a million! You deserve it!
    6
  522. Another great video from the Zack man! Keep them coming they are so enjoyable to watch! You are really good with your knowledge of the content you put out and also love the green screen editing you do! Cool backgrounds!
    6
  523. Literally morphed into a thank you for a video, what a man.
    6
  524. this is a very well made video! you definitely deserve more subs, likes, views and attention in general
    5
  525. New subscriber here! Your videos are fab, thank you so much Zackary!
    5
  526. I'm glad your puns weren't grating, and as cheesy as my comment is, don't pan me because I'll have beef.
    5
  527. The RuneScape music in this video goes hard. Love the video and Sheetz!
    5
  528. These last 3 videos are top notch
    5
  529. NIKE 💃🏽GUCCI🕺🏾 ROLEX 💃🏽APPLE 🕺🏾 5:35
    5
  530. Great video. Great channel. Been keeping a watch on your thumbnail change and I would love a future video on your personal experience with your switch. I find the black with text more eye appealing personally, and the first switch thumbnail really took off, but it does also feel like a switch in content as well too. So would love to know if its an expermentation in progress and if it was the thumbnails or really honing in on the subject of youtube?
    5
  531. Just wanted to say that I really like the format and style of your videos!
    5
  532. My goodness, I just watched some of your videos about YouTube - I had a great time! Thanks man. Recent months had been rough (like, two years ago I was definitely making more money out of YouTube than now). I am enjoying your broad critique and perception about so many aspects of this crazy journey. Thanks and good luck in your channel too!
    5
  533. I hate to complain, but as a creator here, it's been rough for the last year. Just like most creators, I've had a sudden and steep decline in veiws. Even with a bump in quality and production value, I can't replicate numbers from a year ago. I wasn't surprised at all when I saw creators quitting. Just glad someone's shining some light. Great video!
    5
  534. Really hope Youtube starts to listen to creators such as yourself on what needs to be done or we are gonna see the decline of a website with so much potential! Awesome video btw! I never really comment on videos but I'm really wanting you to make it BIG and wanna drive up that engagement in whatever way I can! Keep doing you :)
    5
  535. LET THAT POOR WOMAN OUT RIGHT NOW
    5
  536. jack send me here, which is weird cause I am also jack
    5
  537. cool exploration! I appreciate how transparent & well documented you made your journey
    5
  538. Zackary: Even if it's just for a few moments. Me *binge watching this guy for the last 2 hours*:
    5
  539. Hi it’s me, your intended audience! I came from your most recent video which I also thoroughly enjoyed, glad the algorithm did something right, keep it up man!!
    5
  540. oh my god you were serious
    5
  541. Zack! Congrats on your channel exploding! Keep up the great work :)
    5
  542. And literally a month after this video was published, Anthony Padilla went back to being a Smosh owner and actor! lol
    5
  543. Appreciate the neutral take on sam Hyde when it would be so easy to hate on him
    5
  544. You've become my favorite YouTuber up next to: NakeyJakey, Manley Reviews, and other creators like that. You're doing great man! I know that this video will pick up views like crazy!
    5
  545. Keep it up! Glad to be in the top 100k subscribers here I'm sure your channel will do well! More 30 day things!
    5
  546. I randomly got recommended your video and I'm so frickin grateful! I absolutely adore your way of presenting your opinions and just the way you talk and connect as well as just a this smooth radio voice! Also, just so amazing seeing how you can shed light on other small and medium sized really cool creators too, and seeing how dodford creates their core core aesthetics is also just so flipping cool! I'd never have stumbled into that person if it wasn't for you, and I would've prolly never stumbled into you if it wasn't for some silly new experimental youtube algorhythm stuffsies. It's amazing how things just happens, and I'm so grateful for having bumped into the content you guys make! Just a warm thank you from a random stranger and fresh loyal subscriber on the internet, stay cool!
    5
  547. My problem with TikTok/Shorts is the amount of AI generated bullshit, stolen content without credit, and misinformation people spread. Oh, and the fact you can't filter out shitty ass content you don't want and repeatedly click "not interested".
    5
  548. This is a great video, yet another banger. You're not my favorite youtuber (Sorry but you can't beat Vsauce) but you are definitely one of the most important youtubers I know of when it comes to understanding youtube and netizens. I really love what you research and I hope you don't stop doing videos like this or your other youtube related videos even if they might get less views. THank you, kindly.
    5
  549. You are the best thing i have discovered on Youtube in years, i can guarantee. Keep marching foward. I hope you will not be censored one day, your videos are eye opening and very critical while being classy. Cheers from Brazil
    5
  550. My local mall is currently in a quite interesting state; it's not dying, yet it is. There are still lots of people that go to it (you even might still have trouble finding a parking spot), yet inside it feels... empty. I'd say about half the store spaces inside are blocked off and empty inside. Combine this with the oddly timed remodeling in 2021, and everything feels off compared to the "golden days." The place is still lively, dare I say even thriving, and yet it feels so empty and dead at the same time. The answer to all of this is actually quite simple yet fascinating: there are plans to turn it into a combined housing and shopping center (so half of it remains mall-ish, and half of it turns into apartments). My hypothesis for the empty lots is that they're preventing new stores from moving in, to save them the trouble of having to leave shortly or deal with whatever renovations they'll be doing. So for now, it's in this weird in-between time (liminal time, if you will), where it's in the process of being reborn into what may well be a glory just as big, if not bigger than ever before. P.S. It wasn't until typing this out that I realized how fascinating this story is in itself, maybe I'll even make my own video on all of this (I don't upload to this account, but the channel I upload to should be in the bio of this account).
    5
  551. It sucks when we get forced to upgrade. I used to be able to keep my phone for years. Not anymore.
    5
  552. 5:02 - someone gotta loop this golden clip
    5
  553. 12:27 literally my public financial sector conventions have this feature lol
    5
  554. This is the earliest ive ever been for a popular yt channel
    5
  555. Like everyone else, found you through nationsquid lol cant wait to see your content blow up, man! Keep it up 😁
    5
  556. This was on my recommended. Good work, you earned my sub.
    5
  557. Once again a nice video where you are spot on Zack 👍 And after managing a YouTube channel for 15 years, I would say it's a very complicated relationship that just gets harder and harder, but you try to persevere because you don't want to let your viewers down 😴 Then it's hard to find another place to post 1000 long format videos now when everything is popular to be filmed horizontally And about the coments I myself had also hoped that I would have received a notification as soon as there is a reply in a comment on one of my videos to have some chance of being able to both answer questions and also moderate. Because as you say you never know without checking when the spam bots are coming Take care from Sweden
    5
  558. the recommendation gods are at least doing something right cuz they sent me this awesome video
    5
  559. Pumped to see a new upload, keep it up man!
    5
  560. youre quickly becoming one of my favorite creators, love your videos man
    5
  561. Great documentary. I don't know if you've seen "Dan Bell's Dead Mall series" but I think I got recommended this video because I've seen most of his catalog. Also, I liked the comparison of dead malls to stadiums but I'd offer this perspective to expand on that point. I see stadiums as a destination for an event whereas malls are always meant to have people walking around them.
    5
  562. Great video! 🙌
    5
  563. This is very interesting, especially since I'm from AZ and have literally NEVER heard of Sheetz
    5
  564. ive always been curious about vidcon but none of the videos about it that ive stumbled upon felt authentic - this one did :)
    5
  565. I love your use of green screens it is so entertaining
    5
  566. His thumbnail gave you the impression he was a big channel? He made it in 2 seconds on Microsoft Paint
    5
  567. I went to my local last month! ... to return items I bought online. I'll be crushed if my local mall closes and I can't do that anymore. Going to the post office and standing in line is too much! lol I do miss the old mall days though, when they were full of people and stores, lots of hot snacks available...
    5
  568. He’s no Kurtis Connor, but I’ll subscribe
    5
  569. I used to comment on youtube videos all the time, but more recently it's started to feel like too much effort, so a lot of the time I end up just watching and continuing. Everything you've mentioned is something I've had trouble with, and it's actively hurting my motivation to interact on the platform now.
    5
  570. Something many people won't think about, but people with intellectual/developmental disabilities often use malls as local community hubs, especially for inclement weather days. I'm gonna say 2019 was the last I was in there, still. My local mall has aforementioned ownership problems but has somehow clung on across the street from a Walmart.
    5
  571. Good points all around. I really like your take on the mall death phenomenon, and it's something that grips me as I get older. There's a mall in Phoenix that was opened the same year I was born, and I almost mourned when they closed it down. A lot of people did, because it meant a lot to the community. There were so many memories there. But there are still malls here that are thriving because the owners actually care about the upkeep. Humans need our third spaces, and we get attached to them. So it says a lot when a mall gets run down enough to drive people away, tbh.
    5
  572. I commented back on your first video about the quality and how you were going to blow up. I'm so happy to see that you've not only got a massive following and your videos only keep improving. Cheers
    5
  573. Nice job with this video, I hope it does well. As a creator who's thought of attending a creator con but hasn't yet, this gave a lot of neat insights and ideas about what I could expect. Also shoutout to Jeff! Cool to see you guys get to meet up. :)
    4
  574. Another on-point banger - Zack refuses to miss in these videos (or on the court, apparently)
    4
  575. once again another Zackary Smigel banger
    4
  576. This opening music is from fucking RuneScape. My man!
    4
  577. I try to keep it real, mostly because I'm too lazy to do all that crazy editing. haha
    4
  578. Actual Comment this time. I guess I'm out of your demo by age, but I'd argue that the age matters significantly less than the actual watch patterns. I watch content similar to yours, but had to actually click a link to your channel from a vid you were featured in. Would prefer to get recommended more small-creator "similar to things you watch". It'd be a better divining rod for finding interesting content than "Has gobs of engagement of any kind".
    4
  579. Never thought I would see Marcel Vos and mrbeast in the same frame
    4
  580. You don't live in a white box!? Anyways great video 🙏
    4
  581. I was watching the bit where you interviewed people and thought "wow those memories are tame as fuck" but like... that's kind of the point. Took me a while to realise this'd be like if a park closed near me. It's not special, got a few memories there, but it was a core part of life, and it's... gone. And that's kind of sad and I think it's part of the fascination. If a more unique thing closed it'd be interesting for a bit and we'd move on. But so many communities across the US are losing a core part of what was, and that's so... weird.
    4
  582. hahah this was the best, just the perfect mix of comedy, informative and love for pizza. Btw, I found your channel through your this will blow up video. But I binged watched all your videos. Love your channel, glad you made the switch between real estate to commentary.
    4
  583. As a YouTube comment section, I can confirm that I am broken.
    4
  584. While I agree YouTube sucks, the comparisons to reddit scare me. In 2021, my Reddit account was banned after over a decade on the site for "multiple violations of rules". As far as I know I never violated the rules. I tried appealing to ban multiple times, but could never get an answer, or communicate with a person. But I had just spent several thousand dollars on "Reddit Gold" in political subreddits. Anyway, reddit is kinda infamous for censorship, and while YouTube isn't much better, censorship worries me.
    4
  585. All the best in your YouTube journey this year!
    4
  586. Im ok with a charging brick not comming as standard HOWEVER you must have to option to ask for a free one when you buy your device if you need it OR the price of the device must be reduced by the cost to buy a charging brick at that time from a shop. then you truly are reducing e-waste and not profiteering
    4
  587. We don't have Sheets or Wawa gas stations in our corner of USA unfortunately. Great video and Let's go The Crew!
    4
  588. Love from Akron, homie
    4
  589. This video made me vegan.
    4
  590. Keep it up king
    4
  591. I am extremely late to watching this video but I am glad that I did. My Content Cop was done on the fly and I had absolutely no experience making that style of video. My goal was just to make a one-off parody addressing the iDubbbz drama in a similar fashion to the man himself without the name calling like so many others were doing at that time. I had no plans to continue the format and was surprised that my video got any views at all. Even more surprised to see my face on your video. I admit I was pretty cringe but I had a lot of fun doing it. I go back and watch it every now and then just to laugh at my stiff and awkward performance. I appreciate your input on the topic and thank you for keeping an open mind about it all. I don't plan on doing any more parodies on other channels but if I do I will keep your advice in mind. Sorry for leaving a paragraph on a 7 month old video. You have my sub and I will check out your more recent stuff.
    4
  592. bro is built like a bitmoji
    4
  593. Well, now I want to know if Wawa's better. I really liked this video (for once, the YT algo didn't f things up) it had a Eddy Burback vibe but with a more "daily life twist"
    4
  594. Thanks for the feature 🫡 like I said, it’s not about size, it’s about WEIGHT Fantastic video once again. You just keep cooking
    4
  595. Thanks for the server boost!
    4
  596. Putting the YOU back in youtube :)
    4
  597. happy new year, sir!
    4
  598. Spotted Man Carrying Thing in the montage of authentic YouTubers. The absolute legend, he never misses!
    4
  599. I think extremely short form content will be a short-lived period in the long run. EXTREMELY long form content making a rise seems to be a sign of that already. And yeah, there's genuinely good shorts out there, and it's fun to play around with a new video format, but 90% of it really is just content farming trash.
    4
  600. 4:37 is literally me
    4
  601. Zoey is so cute! MEOW 😸
    4
  602. provolone homie checking in
    4
  603. Tons of great points in this video and as someone who uses Apple products and likes them, there’s no hate. In fact, I find it stranger that people who don’t use a product hate it when they don’t even use it. If they’ve used it before cool, but just because the experience they had was bad doesn’t mean it’ll be a bad experience for everyone. But anyways, a really good point was the whole update cycle thing, I really do dislike that but have come to think of it more as Apple trying to get SOMEONE to buy. Like I’ll upgrade my phone every 3 years maybe (when it feels slow or I have storage problems) and if there just didn’t happen to be a new phone that year then I might either go to a different brand or just not buy a phone that year. It still doesn’t mean that I like seeing a new phone every year and feeling like mine probably got nerfed but that’s the kind of reasoning I see behind the action.
    4
  604. what a neat video!
    4
  605. truly love these videos- super fun, great quality content and you’re so easy to watch. excited to see more in the future :)
    4
  606. I LOVE YOUR CONTENT NEVER STOP ❤❤❤❤
    4
  607. Interesting that Youtube didn't think that would be a possibility before rolling out 'shorts'. Feeling for all content creators really hurting from this though!
    4
  608. 5:35 ayo he suddenly started spitting bars
    4
  609. this video was hilarious, insightful, oddly inspirational at points and refreshing as well. Overall great content, i'm subscribing and i'll be looking for future videos. good job dude.
    4
  610. Tbh I usually don't click on suggested videos unless I'm on my TV. Somehow my TV has better recommendations than my PC and phone. Watching this on my TV rn and you managed to hook my ADHD ass attention with the first few frames, good job. Somehow YouTube knows what I like and it's a bunch of nonsense and learning and RuneScape music most of the creators I enjoy uses RuneScape music lmao. Keep the grind going and don't burn yourself out <3 Turns out I'm already subscribed lol god I'm sped
    4
  611. Your vids are such Ws
    4
  612. just watched this for the third time, great video, still waiting on that 30 days of wawa video!
    4
  613. criminally underrated
    4
  614. That would be a good video tbh
    4
  615. The Dadaist thing to do would be to eat the gas station food for 30 days without waiting to get 100k views. You know what to do my friend
    4
  616. My numbers loving brain always gets excited when I see RPM breakdown videos. Some data on my end for anyone curious about my niche, in 2023 I got 7.8 mil views and made a total of $10,562
    4
  617. sheetz is taken seriously in this area, i live close to where sheetz began. This video is going to be interesting
    4
  618. Can't believe this video has only 600 views, it's a real gem!
    4
  619. I found this video interesting and insightful - you made a new fan. Thanks for making the video.
    4
  620. this was a good video, I enjoyed it.
    4
  621. The kind of content I like to watch is about renaissance and baroque instruments and art, I don't know why this video was recommended to me, but it was interesting to watch and understand what's happening👍
    4
  622.  @ZackarySmigel  nah. Also, this style of content is VERY good. Another idea is to make a youtube version of the national film registry.
    4
  623. your video last time was really great as well as this one. keep up the good work and keep putting that pressure on the companies that exploit us
    4
  624. Damn you are highly underrated
    4
  625. Oh hey, that's me at 7:29 look mom I'm famous. Once again, very good video.
    4
  626. Great video! Keep it up 😊
    4
  627. Found your stuff from Asmon and I've been watching all day! I like your style, it's really entertaining! Doing video part time I really appreciate the effort into editing and it's worth it for retention in my opinion
    4
  628. Not only are you hilarious, but you've proven to be articulate and insightful too! I'm so glad to have subbed as I wildly anticipate more amazing content from you this year and beyond! I love your vibe! 💕🙏
    4
  629. Bro lettuce on hotdogs is crazy 😂 great video though I liked learning the history and local rivalry
    4
  630. I'd like to see a history of every comment I've ever left on a video.
    4
  631. Fun channel Zack. Really enjoyed the gas station post. Good luck mate <3 from Spain
    4
  632. i really appreciate your videos. they add a sort of consumer consciousness to social media usage that controls so much of our lives
    4
  633. Absolutely love your videos, dude. Utter banger, yet again!
    4
  634. I definitely agree with the whole right to repair thing, it should be easier for people to repair their own stuff if they can. Buuuuut, I do disagree with a few other things you mentioned. Regarding cables, I think the switch to USB-C is a good thing. They changed from the old 30-pin connector to lightning over a decade ago, before USB-C was even a thing, so given it’s changing as the EU mandates it and every other manufacturer also changes, I don’t think that’s a negative. Also you missed that the EU are mandating that every electronic device should use USB-C, so the decision to switch to it on Macs as devices originally began the move seems kinda forward thinking in hindsight. (And you can get a USB-A to USB-C adapter for like, $3 now). The ‘slowing down old devices’ thing is a bit of a misnomer. The iPhone 6S (IIRC) had a batch of bad batteries that degraded much quicker and started causing problems. The issue is that when doing something intensive, the CPU can require higher voltage than a degraded battery can provide, causing a restart. This led to an update that reduced max CPU speed when the battery aged, because the alternative was the device restarting. Imo that sounds pretty consumer friendly to me. On releasing new phones, people are buying new phones all the time, why not incrementally improve them? You’re still making and shipping them after all, what difference does it make if you put a faster chip in them? And it drops the price of the older model when it probably wouldn’t on a 2-year release cycle. Most people won’t buy a new phone every year and if they do, clearly they’re rich enough that we shouldn’t care about them. Anyway, just my thoughts. I think people can get a little too lost in the sauce over what’s basically just a YouTube and Instagram device.
    4
  635. This is an awesome video! Such great quality and insightfulness. I hope you grow big one day.
    4
  636. You bring such a great energy to your videos, and that always brings me back.
    4
  637. I really reallyyyy like your thumbnails btw. It's just something that draws me into the video, and I stay cuz I love the content
    4
  638. Love the RuneScape remix
    4
  639. Heya, just wanted to congratulate you, your videos are absolutely amazing and I really like your humor and editing style! Also, big props to your dedication to health and fitness, it's very inspiring to me, and I have huge respect for you for pushing through so determinedly. I greatly struggle with a lack of motivation; your videos help me to be more optimistic. You absolutely deserve the success and I hope you gain more! Greetings from Germany :)
    4
  640. piza
    4
  641. Congrats on 200K btw!!!
    4
  642. love your vids!
    4
  643. Woah another video already? This dudes quick with it
    4
  644. the flute salad song killed me haha
    4
  645. Oh shit! Got to see my name in the Patreon list. Very cool. Love the content, man!
    4
  646. Great video and I'm happy the algorithm showed me some new blood.
    4
  647. Yes. I DID find this video through it appearing on my homepage. You GOD DAMN Wizard...!!!
    4
  648. babe wake up zackary smigel posted
    4
  649. My first video watching of yours and I must say I really did enjoy it and subscribed! Will be watching more!
    4
  650. Broooo tf you deserve way more subs amazing video hope the algorithm pick up on you great video
    4
  651. Here from JJJacksfilms. Great work!
    4
  652. Haha! 5:15 of course it is 🎉
    4
  653. Yooooo great video; I personally just finished my capstone about the effects of TikTok on society for YSU and will absolutely share your vid with my classmates
    4
  654. This is very helpful!
    4
  655. Every second of this video entertained me, please don't stop these incredible uploads!!!
    4
  656. Deserve more views for this level of dedication
    4
  657. You share very interesting if not familiar topics that you really get to the point with and I like that a lot :glasses-purple-yellow-diamond::glasses-purple-yellow-diamond::glasses-purple-yellow-diamond::goat-turquoise-white-horns::goat-turquoise-white-horns::goat-turquoise-white-horns: LET HIM COOK :face-purple-smiling-fangs::face-purple-smiling-fangs::face-purple-smiling-fangs::face-blue-star-eyes::face-blue-star-eyes::face-blue-star-eyes:
    3
  658. Great vide bro, definitely got a like from me!🙏
    3
  659. I am not making videos like you but I am inspired by you. Your videos are so good. idk if u have a team. When I see your vids pop up.... "I"m Like all ready"...! Grate stuff.
    3
  660. I also have the Problem with the not getting notified
    3
  661. Ayyyyyy I'm a western pennsylvanian too! Love your content dude.
    3
  662. Zackary Smigel out here making history
    3
  663. 13:30 bros head is colossal, last snap handgon on for dear life. much love Zack <3
    3
  664. Fun and informative as always Zack but can you do me a favour- Can you put a silly gif in that AIO cooler just cause 19:32? Thanks!
    3
  665. Love your videos
    3
  666. W sponsor
    3
  667. Love your stuff dude, so impressed by how consistent the mic quality was despite switching locations so much 😂😂
    3
  668.  @ZackarySmigel  I appreciate you responding to my question...and now it absolutely says "no tags".✅ Your content is AMAZING ...Keep up the great work❣
    3
  669. this is what youtube was, sometimes is and definietly should be. great watch😊
    3
  670. hope you've been enjoying all the bo21s from hera's tournament :D
    3
  671. I've now seen three of your videos and all three were slam dunks! You've made a subscriber out of me.
    3
  672. Protect this video at all costs
    3
  673. meh, 13$ is a completely fair price for the amount of content i watch. However, creators get a tiny piece of that, is what pisses me off. On the other hand, and more importantly, TV stations have been regulated for ages now, in terms of how often they can play ads. Perhaps it is time we put YouTube under the same rules.
    3
  674. If I had a cent everytime this random channel made a video on a topic I was really concerned and no one seemed to talk about, I'd have two cents. It isn't a lot but it's weird it happened twice
    3
  675. Are you telling me I've spent hundreds of hours tagging videos when it literally does NOTHING?
    3
  676. Top tier creator
    3
  677. Great video
    3
  678. Recommended out of nowhere on my main page but I appreciate this so much and now feel validated! Subscribed!
    3
  679. Hey man! I found your channel from the YouTube algorithm video and I'm so happy you popped up in my recommended again, just subscribed! Im about to binge your vids lmaoo
    3
  680. Youtube Jesus promises, and he delivers once again.
    3
  681. Mate you are invading my recommended
    3
  682. Were the clips with you in the morning, eating a banana with your headphones, were moments you were editing this? Because the editing was insane! I could imagine you starting to edit the video through the challenge just to make sure it could be finished quickly! I live in Texas and never heard of Sheetz, still totally entertained :)
    3
  683. baysideee❤❤❤
    3
  684. You sure love karaoke haha
    3
  685. Absolutely love your stuff dude. 25% of the reason I’m subbing to you is because you use Old School RuneScape music as your background music
    3
  686. church basement punk hits different
    3
  687. Support small business
    3
  688. Put the tags into the bin and don’t pay for these terrible services !!!!!!
    3
  689. Your vids are FIRE bro.
    3
  690. Oddly sincere ending props for the experiment and I hope your next video gets the views you clearly deserve…for the algorithm
    3
  691. Great video Zackary!
    3
  692. Very nice shoes man, I didn’t get watched your last upload when I got recommended to me, but I’m glad you are tackling the annoyances one encounters as user of this platform. Keep it up, cheers ✌️
    3
  693. another zackary smigel banger! i wouldnt mind youtube shorts if the algorithm wasn't awful and also just reposted tiktoks that ive seen a few weeks before. instagram reels are fine tho from the small amount of time i scrolled on there
    3
  694. I think that you just popularised the new title/ thumbnail meta for video essays. Essentially merging the tn with the title is pretty smart. I won't be surprised when other creators fall in line
    3
  695. Very good video!
    3
  696. Thank you for including some limitations of the data. There's potentially a lot of interesting psychological and sociological analyses related to dating apps, but proprietary access in general means any public data sets will have some sort of bias. Conclusions are fair with these caveats, and it often gets left out even in scientific papers. Cheers for that, it's the scientific impulse I love to see: to understand the world as it is
    3
  697. Wololol
    3
  698. your videos are so good! looking forward to the next
    3
  699. thank you for this, I've been losing my mind thinking tags are useless while everybody says to me they're so important
    3
  700. Wow! "The Sheetz" diet! What a concept! 😂
    3
  701. great joke Zack !
    3
  702. Dude your videos are insane
    3
  703. Homie dropping bangers
    3
  704. It was nice of Zack to take the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey to meet the elephant with him
    3
  705. Autumn voyage was an excellent choice for music
    3
  706. Okay, now THIS is epic
    3
  707. 33:39 goin' in....Review Bruh style.
    3
  708. thats a bingo
    3
  709. I seen youtubers use stories on here before and when I watch this video I can see why I did not see no body use stories anymore and great video Zackary Smigel :]
    3
  710. I love the idea of YouTube Premium Lite. I would sign up for that version in a heartbeat.
    3
  711. I had the same problem with monetization. Had a video blow up with 60k views and finally hit 2k subs (back when that was the threshold) and after a week of waiting, i was finally accepted. Too bad i missed out of most of those views and only started monetizing at about 150k views on that video. I missed a ton of money on it 😔
    3
  712. This might possibly be the most important video of 2023. Just looked through my recent favourite videos of this year and yeah, they all tick this box. Incredible summary and observation. I'm just enjoying the genuine authenticity era before people try to mimic, market and commoditise authenticity. lol
    3
  713. Excellent video! Subscribed 👍
    3
  714. I really found this enlightening cus I feel like the mall connects everyone, and ownership is a part of accountability in the successes of these places. It's overall a sad, weird, nostalgic feeling when you go to a place after childhood and see the massive changes.
    3
  715. I live in England and got no clue about Sheetz, but if i ever go to Sheetz I'll be thinking of you!
    3
  716. Very Well done. Great presentation and definitions
    3
  717. Wholesome moment at the end, I really appreciate the video it was great
    3
  718. Yooooo been waiting for another challenge video :D
    3
  719. The MORE important question is: how much of that money is spent smothering that cute cat with affection.
    3
  720. You should do video about YouTube-8m dataset and all the big YouTubers in it. You would be mind blown 🤯 everyone in it!
    3
  721. Hi Zack! I swear I think we watch the same exact videos. When Jay Alto posted his most recent video, I was honestly so giddy to see that you were one of the first commenters on there! I literally made my own video talking about how exciting it is that YouTube is heading towards this direction, and seeing you have this perspective almost entirely makes it very clear that we and the rest of YouTube is definitely heading towards the direction of authenticity. I, no joke, have a 49 minute video being uploaded at the moment of this comment because I wanted to share my genuine thoughts about my life, primarily about how I ended up crying terribly hard today and I felt the need to share that to the rest of the internet. I just wanted to share that your videos have sincerely left a remarkable impact on the way I view YouTube, and have brought me to the path where I no longer want to create "content" but genuine videos. Hopefully one day we can get into touch!
    3
  722. On the note of YouTube lowering the requirements for the YPP, hitting the new requirements of 500 subs and 3000 watch hours only gets you access to super chats and channel memberships, not adsense. It is better than nothing, but given the culture of YouTube, it is unlikely that most will make any money from those features, where they very much could from adsene. So, idk, I really don't think YouTube deserves any credit for the change. Also, even just 3000 watch hours is a massive barrier for small channels, so it should be much lower. Love your piggy bank idea (they clearly have the infrastructure for it already as it is essentially what they do when there is a disputed copyright claim) and hope to see YouTube consider implementing it one day, although I doubt they will.
    3
  723. omg dude i know you from Real Estate wizerd thats crazy lover you stuff
    3
  724. This video really hits the spot, like most of your videos. I also found you through the viral video, and I was so blown away by it. I'm amazed by how you can keep coming up with these spot on POVs.
    3
  725. This is actually my favorite video from you ever 😭🔥
    3
  726. Here's a comment to keep the train rolling to the next guy. Thanks for covering this in such detail, looking forward to the next one!
    3
  727. OMG AOE2 pro match used as stick footage lets go. 08:30 I believe that's Heras stream if I'm not mistaken
    3
  728. Bro, I simply loved this video
    3
  729. Dodford is peak new-age media for me. Core core in general is a large inspiration for my channel, especially recent uploads. Great think piece, Zackary. Your approach to these videos always has artistic intent behind them & it's appreciated.
    3
  730. I’m bad at writing comments but 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
    3
  731. Ooo l like yr editing style
    3
  732. In the last week I have been recommended this channel twice: this vid and the one for vid monetization. I have no idea why, I don't even watch content related to your stuff. On the other hand, you're a great speaker, and your presentation is crisp/clear; thought you ought to know...good luck with all your endeavors. -- Someone outside of your target audience
    3
  733. I recently found your channel because of the Dollar Store food video and instantly subscribed. Your content is great. I'm sure you're going to have over 1 million subscribers one day! Looking forward to your next video.
    3
  734. Would you believe it if Zackary said: Tiktok is one of the main reasons youtubers are quitting? - I believe that Economics in short form videos are unsustainable? - Yes that sounds reasonable Zackary is good at basketball and almost got drafted by the New York Knicks? - Yes because it's oddly specific, don't break the trust ...
    3
  735. 0:01 So what am I if I use Firefox? A fire foxer? A fox burner? A fire furry? xD
    3
  736. Great Video
    3
  737. THE WINNER???? Sharon pa???? What the fuck is that town doing in this video
    3
  738. this is such a good video. ty for this
    3
  739. another banger from zackary smigel
    3
  740. your sub count should be at least 1000 times more
    3
  741. Love the wind waker sound effects
    3
  742. I have to say that i really like your video style ✌🏻
    3
  743. Thanks for giving me the motivation to delete the apps off my phone. I’m sure I’ll be back on them at some point but fingers crossed I just meet someone normal in real life
    3
  744. I love Zack's video's, they are some well presented (love the filming in random scenic locations too!) and deliver the point without a strong bias, he doesn't come to bash on people using dating apps or to support them, he presents the facts, it's refreshing seeing a youtuber who does so much research and presents it so well in video format, keeping it engaging, interesting and informative but not boring either. Keep it up man.
    3
  745. 13:35 woah, i didnt realize you were behind that. you're a national hero, my dude.
    3
  746. Yes more video essays!
    3
  747. I really liked this video Zack. This video perfectly resonates with me. A lot of the stuff on YouTube can be quality but the best way of describing it is that I feel sick if I see too much of that non-authentic content, especially if it’s a repeat video.
    3
  748. love the rs music
    3
  749. I wonder how the youtube gurus will talk about your success lol Amazing vid pal
    3
  750. Just letting you know that your pinned comment can no longer be replied to at 501 comments! PS- this channel is nothing short of wonderful❤
    3
  751. This video really made me think, great job! I was wondering if you think parasocial relationships could play into this era of authenticity?
    3
  752. " For legal reasons this video is an opinion" 😂🤐
    3
  753. Hey! Coming here before this video absolutely blows up again, I just wanted to give you some insight as I thought it was interesting: I saw your previous video on my Home Screen for the last two days straight. Within the first 6 recommendations. YouTube really wanted me to watch it, but I didn’t (sorry haha) and today… THIS video came up on my Home Screen. I just thought it was interesting considering I didn’t engage with the previous one, it’s like YouTube REALLY wants to promote you right now. (I did end up checking out your videos and I am now subscribed, good stuff!)
    3
  754. You should change the thumbnail to say "YouTube Feels Different (You're Crazy)", and then back to what it is now and just keep doing that randomly, creating another Mandela Effect Or not it's your video, would be funny tho
    3
  755. Glad to hear those tags are a big waste of time, something always seemed off about them I used to spend like 5 seconds using a free tag generator website (you input your video title and it generates tags) and i started forgetting to do that and it had absolutely no effect on my statistics
    3
  756. Brother, just wanted to say I love your videos. They've been a breath of fresh air for me, with your chill personality helping me with anxiety and stuff, keep up the good work man!
    3
  757. That's epic to see the flexispot sponsor how has it been?
    3
  758. FUCK yeah getting to this early is an amazing Friday treat
    3
  759. I've noticed the 3rd/4th video on the suggested tab on the right of the video is almost always one of those random low view videos Youtube is trying to push.
    3
  760. Person w/ a 2016 account here, watching YT since 2012 wo/ an account; My algorithm for YEARS, spat out what I watch- and used to watch- i.e German Let's Play youtubers. I don't get said German ones anymore, but I still get them on occasion. I'd say, ever since CEOs were switched, so was the algorithm. The moment I heard, that Susan left Yt, is when I noticed these random low-view/low-sub channels, that recommended me things I liked in the past, but don't as much anymore. At first, I was really delighted- as I ALWAYS wished for a change like that. To make a more even playing-field on yt is a dream, to me. But. Just like you mentioned in your video, so has the search tab become a scuffed version of recommendations, and so do I keep being oushed content I'm not interested in. It's a double-edged sword, as I wanna see small creators, especially animators and artists. But- again, the algorithm is doing its baby steps, even with a person like me, who listens to youtube videos all day in the background, whilst I draw. Even with years of data from people like me who don't delete their history manually, the algorithm still somrhoe picks out things I'm not interested in. It's technically good, that it does that, due to this change, I found brand new music artists I adore. But that's the only plus thus far of this algo-change. I absolutely agree with you, (and am glad you also noticed) that the switch needs some good working-to, in order to properly work and deliver, what a person actually wants to see.
    3
  761. I originally came to this channel for the gas station eating challenge but I’ve stayed for the investigative reporting. Cheers Zachery!
    3
  762. just recently started watching thanks to the Sheetz video being recommended, and now this - heck yea, great vid, keep it up
    3
  763. Asmongold sub here to show you the love. Great video!!
    3
  764. Really enjoy your videos, well researched and presented. I don't watch sports but this was fascinating to know what's going on. It's crazy. Thanks Zachary!
    3
  765. The dedication is crazy man great vid 🎉
    3
  766. This vid looks like it’s gonna get big views lol
    3
  767. i freaking love oliver tree
    3
  768. I'm a simple woman, I see a Zackary Smigel video, I watch a Zackary Smigel video. 10/10 once again.
    3
  769. one of the few pretty enjoyable lengthy videos. Good stuff
    3
  770. This man is about to single handedly revive the YouTube video essay.
    3
  771. loved watching this video. great video and honestly one of the best youtube videos I've watched. 🔥
    3
  772. Omg the morphing thank you 😂
    3
  773. I’m so glad I found your channel! (The Sheetz video was in my recommended). Love your honesty and fresh voice.
    3
  774. the og runescape music is great
    3
  775. shout out to western PA, i always get excited finding other people from/living around there!!! i saw your post on twitter the other day and the reactions (haha) were crazy with how normalized it's become for streamers to just watch other people's stuff and continue to profit for little effort while their audience tries to justify why you, the person who is seeing a loss in momentum, actually benefit from this encounter and should be grateful. i personally have a very negative view of this type of reaction content and feel that they’ve only ever evolved in their attempts to actually do good by the creators due to immense backlash rather than wanting to do the right thing. it feels like the channels themselves continue to prey on smaller creators who think it's their only chance to get recognition, which validates them still doing reaction content in turn. youtube already shows when a short reuses a sound from a video, so i can't imagine why they wouldn't be able to create something similar if they allow reaction type content. its a very convoluted issue that everyone has different opinions on and i appreciated hearing yours!
    3
  776. I hope big pizza takes notice and sponsors you
    3
  777. Just wanted to say I’ve grown to love your videos so much. I’m always shocked how you don’t have more of a following! You go out there and actually DO the video. Love your style man keep it up ❤
    3
  778. love the challenge but the deep dive at the end was even better! great work!
    3
  779. You’re an incredible storyteller.
    3
  780. Great video :) <3
    3
  781. im really curious to see how the dynamics of parasocial relationships will change in the following years... it feels like people are constantly getting more involved with time passing, as the internet and its culture become more and more influential
    3
  782. impressive. everything you said is 100% right
    3
  783. Fun fact: on mobile you actually can see a commenters comment history by pressing their profile picture, it shows a couple recent comments. So YouTube CAN easily show you people's comment history, they just don't want to
    3
  784. Thank you for the shout out dude! Great video
    3
  785. In japan, there are strict regulations when it comes to packaged foods. Such as the ones on juice, if the juice isn't 99% fruit, you cant display a realistic fruit on the packaging. The less realistic the food shown is, the less the fruit % it contains is. You also need to show snacks as close to their actual size, to avoid misleading. I think that we should have similar rules worldwide, but most places wouldn't want to give us the luxury of normal and transparent advertising...
    3
  786. bro really in downtown Sharon in front of the worst Mickey D's ever lol
    3
  787. I love your videos! So well spoken and clearly thought out. Keep it up!
    3
  788. Omg its the Sheetz guy!
    3
  789. You've rapidly become an instant click for me
    3
  790. I got an ad. A Youtube premium ad 😂 great video btw!
    3
  791. This video and your entire channel has deeply inspired me to finally pursue content creation. Thank you.
    3
  792. Your videos are awesome!!!! I've been watching since the YouTube feels different one. Love this channel. Was wondering if you were planning to make a video on YouTube mobile ads? Its a bit of a rabbit hole but I'd be interested to see someone cover it lol. Thanks for all the videos and I can't wait for the next
    3
  793. Watched the whole thing, loved this video! Great work!
    3
  794. That gas station video was some of your best work, can't wait to see more videos from you!
    3
  795. I know that this is a SUPER small thing to point out, but seeing bizly's videos as examples of good and authentic yt videos made me immediately like the video
    3
  796. Zachary. Continue to do what you do. Your sub count can only increase.
    3
  797. everythign here is so comfyu you are my new fav channel
    3
  798. I've even gotten a creator heart without ever getting a notification. The worst is when it says 1reply under a comment but when you expand there's nothing there. I think overall YT may have gotten better but maybe not for long because of the way they seem to be forcing creators into a certain mold in terms of what you have to do to grow a channel. There were so many great creators that just don't fit the mold, and either burned out or became a Jim Carey caricature of themselves.
    3
  799. I love the nod to steve jobs' black turtleneck and jeans lol. I've been wanted to switch to Samsung for years, but I've had the same number with Apple for a decade. Not sure if I'm willing to deal with those shenanigans (connected # to almost all my social accounts).
    3
  800. My favotie Dumb apple move was when they stopped including the Wall plug part of the chargers with their phones and claimed "its better for the enviroment, and saving e-waste" but the cable they included was lightning to USB-C so all the people that were upgrading from the last generation most likly only had a USB-A wall plug.... so they needed to by another one anyways. This happend to my wife and my dad when we all upgraded, I just happed to have USB-C wall plug, but im the only one that has multiple electronics
    3
  801. I'm surprised you didn't blur the revenue analytics. I guess it's just part of the authenticity and connection.
    3
  802. awesome video!!! dammit david lmao
    3
  803. dood!!!! the "masking skills of your introduction are flawless!!! thank you
    3
  804. who the heck are you and why are you on my home page
    3
  805. please stop making such ACCURATE VIDEOS PLEASE GET OUT OF MY HEAD OUT OF MY HEAD OUT OF MY HEAD
    3
  806. You’re quickly becoming one of my favorite channels on YT. Keep up the good work!
    2
  807. I didn't believe you were at the Sheetz in my hometown. Me and my friends go to Sheetz every Friday after school. Also, good job for putting up with Sheetz for a month.
    2
  808. A man of culture and a member of the Grossi Possy!
    2
  809. I thought I had left runescape open lmao.
    2
  810. @1:06 Time to First OSRS song (TTFOSRSS) is my new metric for your videos.
    2
  811. SHOUT OUT FlexiSpot for sponsoring Zackary u guys the real one
    2
  812. you need to work at youtube bro. they need you.
    2
  813. You did well to dodge that rabbit hole 😂. It's crazy to see how AI is developing, and it's unfortunate to see people using it this way... scams aside, I understand the desire to make a quick buck but this is just cringe... Sick video once again my dude 👌
    2
  814. I’ve never heard of them. But i do know more about women LOL
    2
  815. Love this genre of video
    2
  816. Thanks for this video, dude! Another banger.
    2
  817. Man, I love the part where he just jams out to ruin escape music
    2
  818. I've really grown to appreciate your content as a whole and love the real, factual discussions you have. Having something a little more thought provoking on YouTube is a treat and I encourage you to keep making. I've thought about your fast food video quite a bit especially as I see some really cheap food deals coming from all the fast food companies IMMEDIATELY after your video. Really interesting to see the real world reflect a discussion on YouTube.
    2
  819. I agree with this guy.. who even is this guy?
    2
  820. Love all of the content! One of the best creators in this space and this video perfectly exemplifies that
    2
  821. Philip de Franco? Never heard of him. Will Smith, that's what defines YouTube to me
    2
  822. Bro this video was legit as fuck. I’ve been feeling the exact same way for months now. I’m in the fitness niche similar to Sam Sulek and I’ve just started creating VLOGS again of me being my authentic self and it’s so much more gratifying as a creator. I’m gonna stick it with it for at least 6 months and we’ll see where it goes. But I’m so tired of the sensationalism and mrbeastification of YT. This video spoke to me and thanks for making it.
    2
  823. One of those videos that will help many, especially in the internet era we are living in
    2
  824. 10 minutes felt like 2 minutes what the heck. how do u do this?
    2
  825. happy this ended up coming up on my homepage. i’ve seen your other videos and thought i was already subbed, great video once again. :)
    2
  826. aoe2 vid when ?
    2
  827. Thumbs up in the first 10secs just for the Al-Kharid music. OSRS music = best royalty free music
    2
  828. I appreciate your piece on this. I was wondering why I was getting this weird heavy push from Bet MGM in 21' and 22'. It seemed like I was swamped by those ads by like 5:1. Due to me watching combat sports and getting back into the NBA, After I had stopped watching years ago. I didn't know it was recently legalized in that many states. And just like you, I find those ads super predatory cause they seem like there everywhere with no check to them at all. But keep up the good work on these video essays man 💪🏿 your content had been like a breath of fresh air, man.
    2
  829. meowwwwwww
    2
  830. I'm glad I accidentally found your channel because of that 30 days gas station food challenge, this was such an interesting video to watch.
    2
  831. Oh you went crazy Zack!
    2
  832. another great vid!
    2
  833. This man only speaks facts
    2
  834. Jacksfilms sent me, great vid.
    2
  835. "Liked by creator", "responded by creator" and "most replied" options would be great
    2
  836. Shoutout to @internetpitstop I love that guy
    2
  837. relegated after 1 game is crazy lol
    2
  838. Bros got style
    2
  839. discussing his Sheetz video "I really wanted to sink my teeth into it..." 😂 This is why I'm here. Oh, and the thoughtful content.
    2
  840. 💥I do love your channel Zackary.....I'm curious though why you added 26 tags to this video if tags don't matter? (Please don't delete my question LOL🤣) I really do want to know.🩷
    2
  841. Hopefully the dating scene corrects itself to encourage more irl third spaces created for people! It’s tough out there.
    2
  842. I was waiting for you drop some sweet knowledge on everyone the moment you mentioned the Youtube Premium Lite option, but since you didn't (because you might actually not know it): Youtube started testing a Premium Lite subscription in some European countries (maybe others as well) a few years ago. The subsription allows the user to enjoy Youtube without any adds and completely skip Youtube Music. Personally, I was really looking forward to this and I jumped on it the moment it launched in my country. I pay €6,99 per month for about 2 years now (in Belgium) and don't get any adds. It isn't the fully featured Youtube Premium experience, because downloading videos for offline use is not possible for example. I do know that if Youtube offers the option in your country, they tend to hide it quite well. I had to specifically Google it to end up at the subscription page. Hopefully someone finds this information useful :)
    2
  843. Burritoman went viral... AGAIN 😅
    2
  844. Damn…knicks would be lethal with you. Probably would’ve swept the 6ers.
    2
  845. Cool video. I'm also a huge apple fan and i understand your point...
    2
  846. Loved this video. Please do more!
    2
  847. Okay, but that video title is fire 🔥
    2
  848. Heyyyy i spotted the IUP glass, what's up my Pittsburgh area brother!!
    2
  849. I love your documentaries
    2
  850. I'm telling my kids this was Supersize me. You did a bang up job, congrats!
    2
  851. Love these investigative food challenges! No one does it like our GOAT! Also I need to know: did those shrimp need to be deveined? Since they were raw and shell-on, my immediate fear was "is the intestine still there?"
    2
  852. You suck at basketball though, like really bad
    2
  853. Releases a bunch of well thought out and insightful videos about the platform? am interested Releases a, slightly unhinged in the best way, over 30 minute long video in depth analyzing and consuming gas station food while critiquing the contrast between value and health in capitalist America? am subscribed
    2
  854. big agree on the memberships resulting in ad free viewing!! i've been a member on lud's channel for over a year and it kinda feels like i do it for nothing since i Still have to watch countless ads on his videos (which i tend to binge watch). wish youtube would change that at the very least
    2
  855. Love your content mate, legit every video you made on this channel is amazing. Also very nice to see your 2 latest videos have such a great view count!!
    2
  856. This is one those videos that will pop up in the recommend tab and get like more than a million views because this ia amazing
    2
  857. Sheetz stock tripled because of banana sales influx
    2
  858. hearing the osrs log-in music is the best way to start a video
    2
  859. That transformation into a "thank you" at the end got me good
    2
  860. Hey Zack, I love this video. I’ve been watching for awhile and just subscribed. I’m from Erie County PA. So hey neighbor
    2
  861. Yeah why didnt youtube recommend me this channel until now lmao +1 subscriber lmao
    2
  862. And is it just me, or are there now AI ads on YouTube? I've seen one a couple of times where a Canadian news anchor is promoting a cannabis website; I think that'd be against the terms of his contract, and I noticed that certain gestures and facial expressions seemed a bit "off" for him. There's another one with Oprah's best friend Gayle advertising something; I swear that looks AI generated too! 🤔
    2
  863. Finally got around to watching this! So informative and interesting!
    2
  864. I love seeing bros progression. First sponsor video I'm happy for him fr.
    2
  865. How do you only have 143k subscribers? Thats the real crime happening here. The quality of your videos and attention to detail keeps bringing me back!
    2
  866. good video i was very invested the whole time <3
    2
  867. 3:01 ah, I see you're a man of culture... I'm actually somewhat of a goodlongpee enjoyer myself.
    2
  868. my friend sent me this video and i agree with you. i love this type of content too 😊
    2
  869. Really enjoyed the Jump To Conclusions game board addition, nice reference 👌
    2
  870. Amazing, Zack! You're filling a niche of meta-youtube investigative journalism that I've never seen done better. I love the direction of the channel and I'm excited to see where you go! Future collaborations with/contributions from other creators would be awesome, and totally on theme for the channel. Plus its a good way to find new audiences! (Actually, I'd love to see a video discussing the benefits and challenges of youtuber collabs, how to make a good/bad one, how to best afford audience transfer etc...) Love your work! 🙏✨
    2
  871. Wonderful that you’ve already seen GoodLongPee.
    2
  872. WOLOLO!
    2
  873. you will need to cut a mountain a bit more for an extra head
    2
  874. LOL just got to the part. keep it up my guy!
    2
  875. LMAO the gift card for the Birthday present 😂
    2
  876. To respond to the end of your video, people are so oddly nosy around here, the video of the dead mall told me you're basically a "neighbor." Just remember they're the weird ones for gathering in a crowd to watch a lone person practice their 3 pointers hahaha
    2
  877. It shocked me when you were wearing a nike hat. You look like the type of fella to wear a Hot Mulligan hat.
    2
  878. Man this was awesome. Appreciate your insights.
    2
  879. Great video as always Zack!! When I initially started really taking off with YouTube, I found the search tools you mentioned to be incredibly useful at the time. But as time went on, I couldn't help but wonder if the results were...fake in some weird way? I remember using it not too long ago to search up keywords on a topic, and I kept getting the exact same score every time, no matter what the keyword was that I typed in. I even typed in something like "fdsjfdjs" and got the exact same score! Either something fishy is going on or they were just glitching up that day. I am hoping it's the latter.
    2
  880. Hi Zackary, you just apeard on my page. Good you did, because now I know why the algorithem does the strange things. I don't like sports, no sports no mater what. But I get it al the time. Also I guess google news uses the same algorithem. There sports al the time, even if I tell it I don't like sports. So thanks for explaning it all!
    2
  881. another banger dropped thanku zack
    2
  882. Thanks!
    2
  883. Did you mispell pockets?
    2
  884. "It ignited wars" plays age of empires 2 militia spawn sound lol
    2
  885. Stumbled across a post on reddit abut your video after asmon reacted to it and i stayed the chipotle vid and this are really good content thank you 🫡
    2
  886. World class documentary and journalism with flair and a bit of funk !
    2
  887. Love the video zack
    2
  888. 2 banger videos in a row, i think we have ourselves a winner ladies and gentlemen
    2
  889. Modern Baseball mentioned 🎉
    2
  890. I love your transparency MEOW
    2
  891. Ken Swizzle! That’s a old one, I remember watching all the OE videos on their website before YouTube was a thing!
    2
  892. All great ideas with the YouTube membership. One of my favorite creators just stopped his membership program (probably because not enough of his audience saw any value in it) and I had to stop supporting him. I only really watch about 10-15 creators daily / whenever they upload, so giving back to all of them at once and killing ads in the process would be great. W video 🔥
    2
  893. First video of yours I've ever watched and even though it was nearly 60 minutes long, it was both riveting and oddly therapeutic. Job well done, please keep them coming.
    2
  894. Wait.. Unlimited fries for 10 bucks a month?!?! Dude.. I'm moving!
    2
  895. Love the editing, the sound effects and the music man you rock
    2
  896. I’d be ok with the UI changes if we were able to properly customise everything. I watch shorts on desktop quite often, but I really don’t care about seeing ‘for you’ videos in the search results and it would be great if that experience could be curated.
    2
  897. Came for the video, stayed for the RuneScape music and GoodLongPee cameo
    2
  898. How'd you manage to beat me to this idea literally a day before me lol? Great video once again. (and mine is pretty different, just happens to be Mr. Beast focused)
    2
  899. I felt like I got whiplash going from watching a Waligug video to watching this & hearing his voice.
    2
  900. Prepare yourself to eat 30 days gas station food. 100.000 is coming. I made my part 😅 Much love 💕 Matthias 👋
    2
  901. Another great video.
    2
  902. Thank you for this
    2
  903. Definitely agree with the autenthicity prediction a year later. I fell in love with YouTube during what was labaled as the "connection era" which is more like the first era of autenthicity. Now, after so long of sensationalism, people want to go back to how it was before. Me included. The only channels I watch regularly are the people who stayed true to themselves and just post "real" content.
    2
  904. the Jojo siwa voice took me out lmao
    2
  905. I love your content and I’m here for it ❤. YouTube has become a good chunk of my day over the last year as I recover from an injury. I find myself mostly watching videos of people playing video games, or creating things, doing the things that I would be doing if not injured. None of the content that I enjoy has a “try hard” feel about it, I like to describe it as “it feels like I’m having coffee with a friend”. I really liked your points in this video, I hope the over sensationalism takes a bit of a break soon and allows some more down to earth creators to shine though. Keep up the great work, Zackary! 🎉
    2
  906. Another great video by Zack!
    2
  907. Protect this man at all costs! I’m so glad your channel blew up Zack! You deserve it 🤙🏾
    2
  908. Nothing that fire can do to warm up your cold, cold heart.
    2
  909. Watched the whole thing while walking on the treadmill
    2
  910. lol sheetz people are wild. you should have done more sheetz after dark lol
    2
  911. Hey man just found your channel and really appreciate the advice. As someone about to start my own channel this was some great insight cheers dude!
    2
  912. Friends listening to Title Fight? God I miss them. Also I'm interested in commentary and internet culture so this was up my alley.
    2
  913. aside from Arizona Ice Teas and Costco hotdogs
    2
  914. i just like video essays, man.
    2
  915. w turnstile shirt
    2
  916. 00:49 HA YES I have made it onto your algorithm!
    2
  917. I really love your apartment tee shirt honestly if you made simplistic merch like that that looks cool id love to buy one to support you :)
    2
  918. The Old School Runescape background music is always appreciated
    2
  919. Here as someone within your niche. Yes, something's definitely changed in the algorithm recently that's boosting smaller channels tho I might be biased for it cuz I am one of said smaller channels and have gotten a massive boost in the last couple months (50 subs to 2k subs). But it is true that I find more and more that my recommended tab is full of stuff I'm not interested in.
    2
  920. Your Premium Lite idea is just brilliant!
    2
  921. The jump to conclusions reference is underrated
    2
  922. holy shit i was gonna leave a comment about how great this video was and then i saw 26:28 and im LITERALLY IN IT?? im Azalea, hi!
    2
  923. Tha ka for featuring my comment. I was recommended that video by YT. I like essays of all types. However this specific subject was foreign to me. That's why I clicked it.
    2
  924. feel like I got hit over the head when that Minecraft shirt showed up on screen
    2
  925. You’re definitely my new favourite YouTuber. Loved the last video about the gas station, I love the range of your content
    2
  926. Love this video and the simplicity of its sincerity. You just gained a new sub Zack🎉❤
    2
  927. DAMN Zack in a single video you managed to pin down why thumbnails work and some don't - Explain to me why people like dodford and show me a bunch of creators I want to learn more about. Well Done!
    2
  928. This video gave me hope for the future of mankind
    2
  929. seriously underrated
    2
  930. Smigel >>>>Netflix
    2
  931. Another great video 🎉
    2
  932. Really appreciate the insight! Great channel, glad I found you! Keep up the fantastic work! ❤
    2
  933. You must love karaoke
    2
  934. We just need more customization!!!
    2
  935. Just found your page and I gotta say, I enjoy the videos a lot
    2
  936.  @ZackarySmigel  no worries mate great video! I'm just making fun of the 35-36 demographic devide haha. I've turned over to the dark side.
    2
  937. The best youtube journalist about youtube lol
    2
  938. I've never been interested in the stories on any of the platforms so it won't be missed by me. It is interesting though when these companies come up with something new and just copy each other. I like the uniqueness of each platform and i hope they don't evolve into homogenous platforms. Thanks for your interesting commentary.
    2
  939. What a great video! Thanks for the research and well-thought out analysis!
    2
  940. The first time I ordered a pizza online was thru papa John’s in 2001. It was years later that I ordered another one online. It was only later I discovered that papa John’s actually had physical locations. I had to create an email account to get it. I still use that account. Good times.
    2
  941. YUSSS! Turnstile!
    2
  942. yup, this is why the 3rd video on the sidebar list of my current video is always a small video that i usually don't care about (and sometimes in languages i dont speak too), i have not clicked on any of those videos yet, except this video. thanks zack, you're an underrated youtuber :)
    2
  943. i never knew video tags were different than shorts hashtags... TYSM 😭 you are a lifesaver i'm trying to grow my art business, but i need a platform to do it, so i have begun growing my channel and my social media, a lot of these videos have been very misleading so thank you so much
    2
  944. Youngstown, Ohio really would be a final boss of a foodie challenge.
    2
  945. Great video man
    2
  946. great video!!!
    2
  947. Your Spotify recommendations look a lot like mine, which can mean only one thing - we’re now friends.
    2
  948. You seem to be such a nice person! I'm so happy that you're succeeding here on YouTube. I hope that your channel will grow even more next year! 🙌
    2
  949. I got excited since it’s such a weird regional phenomenon, along with the cousin stores - Wawa. So hype to see where this goes
    2
  950. I love this journey for you. ❤ it wasn’t the destination, or the journey, or even the friends… it was the schmuffinz we ate along the way. 😅 This stirred a lot up inside; I worked multiple years of night shift a couple decades ago; had great and terrible experiences, and in the conclusion you perfectly nailed describing it… in a way I couldn’t do for folks outside of the Sheetz-osphere. Thank you!
    2
  951. Heres some money. This was cool
    2
  952. Great video as per usual!
    2
  953. This was super interesting and I enjoyed learning more about how ordering online developed.
    2
  954. Always with the banger must watch videos, this guy YouTube’s
    2
  955. Sway away dude! It's your god-given right!
    2
  956. 15:10 i love how we're not the full state name, always just PA
    2
  957. Great video man it really helped lol
    2
  958. great video, came here from the new york times article
    2
  959. Great video !
    2
  960. kinda unrelated, but the runescape backgroundmusic at the end really took me back over a century and i did not expect these kinda flashbacks
    2
  961. I could hear the actual commercial when you played part of the Burger King ad... it's extra annoying because the ad is significantly louder than the actual video.
    2
  962. Dude I don’t see anything different with YouTube recently but I clicked on your vid because my last name is also smigel and I don’t think I’ve ever met a single person in my life (aside from relatives) with the same last name as me
    2
  963. Real educational! Good job Zack!
    2
  964. YouTube fully replaced TV and Netflix/etc for me a few years ago. I could reliably sit down and find something new I enjoy. But the past few months it’s been taking longer and longer trying to actually find something to watch. And I’ve been getting more frustrated. Obviously there’s still good stuff here, but I just feel like that balance has been lost and it’s pushing me to do other things that little more. I really hope it improves again
    2
  965. This is my new favorite channel ✌️
    2
  966. Zack never misses, great video as always
    2
  967. Love the Runescape music
    2
  968. Love the full body green screen!
    2
  969. I'm in a niche spot because I follow both you and Asmongold, watched your video, then his reaction to that video. I love your content and I enjoy reactions to your content so I can see how their reactions and opinions compare. Obviously I'm a minority here and almost no one is going to watch both videos fully. I think the short term solution is for streamers to wait 10 days to post react content at a minimum. That way there's time for the video to grow naturally. In the long term, I think you're right about a [reaction] tag that YouTube can factor into their algorithm to boost both channels. I think a revenue split is also rational, though I couldn't guest if that should be 50/50, 10/90, 90/10 etc. Anyway, just wanted to let you know that at least 1 reaction viewer also just loves your content on its own!
    2
  970. If Zach has time to read my comments along with the other 28,519 people who've commented in the last 10 days, I have some swamp land in Florida for sale (just kidding). Seriously, though, I'm commenting because I like to rant. No, never heard of Zack. Interested in his video? Maybe a little. Who are the top 10 most popular YouTubers? Here's a quarter. Go call someone who cares. I don't like many of YouTube's suggestions but they eventually get around to some good suggestions along with an equal number of losers. I suspect Zack wants to keep his annual YouTube earnings up around the $47K mark like the amount he earned previously. Hey! I'm for that! I hope everyone making a living off YouTube does well financially. The problem I have with many of them, though, is they focus most on earnings while their content is either click-bait or AI narrated refuse. I hope YouTubers like Zack (with real content) outsell those bums so much that YouTube puts them all on the back burner and pays Zack and people like him what they're really worth (LOTS!).
    2
  971. Aww don’t hate yourself buddy you doing great, love from France (づ￣ ³￣)づ
    2
  972. Love seeing little things like this on random videos that appear in my recommended @ZackarySmigel 
    2
  973. another banger as always
    2
  974. Im happy this is being addressed
    2
  975. Just found your channel and I’m working my way through your videos. Love them!
    2
  976. i have a flexispot desk! i love it so much!! took me longer to assemble, though, lol
    2
  977. This is top tier content. Not sure why it didnt pop off like it should have. Great vid myguy. This deserved a milli
    2
  978. Shows how many people criticise in bad faith. I critique stuff, at least openly and directly because I want things to be better. So, I am critical of the things I use. Some people are critical because they are emotional, feel personally attacked by something that truly isn’t about them or because they don’t like something likely for ideological reasons, often times regardless of the quality lol.
    2
  979. another zackary smigel banger 💯💯
    2
  980. Well put together video
    2
  981. Now that the video is at 1.2M views, it reached it's audience, kinda. I LOVE this kind of video, and would have loved to see it a few days ago lol. But tbf I'm much more interested in the geeky under-the-hood stuff about YouTube, rather than the culture stuff which seems like most of your other videos. So there's some feedback :)
    2
  982. W for OSRS music
    2
  983. Your OSRS music has revealed you are a man after my own heart.
    2
  984. The audio quality in this video is UNREAL
    2
  985. Love the content and rs music. Earned a sub
    2
  986. If you only watch a few videos a week, I agree YouTube premium is overpriced, and a lower cost option may make sense. But I each YouTube multiple hours per day. I haven't seen a single ad in years. I think the lack of ads has created a positive feedback loop where I enjoy watching videos and spend more time on YouTube. In fact, my biggest gripe is sponsor segments. I wish YouTube premium had a feature where I could clip "skip" on someone's sponsor segment. No, I'm not buying factor / ridge wallet / nord VPN / atlas VPN / established titles / anything else.
    2
  987. Saw this video in my reccs, didn't expect a visit from the Sam Vimes "Boots" Theory of Socioeconomic Unfairness. 10/10 video, would buy again for $1.25.
    2
  988. Another excellent video from Zach. I haven't really developed an attachment to any mall from my past or present, but it's still an interesting topic.
    2
  989. was not expecting to see hot mully in this video
    2
  990. Off topic but nice shoes
    2
  991. Youtube OG huh? "OSRS music starts play" aight it checks out.
    2
  992. So fucking glad I watched this for the Hot Mulligan segment.
    2
  993. Great video!
    2
  994. We are waiting for the Zarkary Smigel album
    2
  995. Yup. You popped up on my Home Screen. I want videos on Paris. Got you instead.
    2
  996. Came for the YouTube essays stayed for the brand I've never heard of until today challenge.
    2
  997. YouTube ads represent this lose-lose-lose situation with YouTube. You have to watch 5 ads for every video, which annoys you to the point of using an adblocker, only for them to block your adblocker and stop you from watching videos. So you give in and pay $12 for premium, ONLY FOR THEM TO RAISE THE PRICE TO $14 A MONTH LATER. To recap, YouTube punishes you for watching ads, for blocking ads, as well as for paying to not watch ads. No matter what, Google hates you. All of this, for creators to see RPMs barely above $1 (I can vouch, already being a YouTube partner and having a video of my own blow up), necessitating you to get MILLIONS of views a month just to make a living, forcing them to do sponsors, thus innundating everyone with MORE ADS that not even Premium can cut out. And Google wonders why people are mad.
    2
  998. Thanks for the informative video
    2
  999. I thought you were man carrying book for a while
    2
  1000. If apple cared about its environmental impact, they would make their devices repairable. Because making a whole new device takes more energy and resources than it does to make the part that's broken.
    2
  1001. I appreciate you for calling out services like vidIQ and tube buddy. I learned the hard way about tags on YouTube when using these services and this breakdown was well said! It’s such a huge misconception that tags played a vital role here on YouTube when it does actually does squat for your channel and video
    2
  1002. "Honey? Im just backrubbing the directions!" There is a timeline where this sentence is uttered.
    2
  1003. ​ @ZackarySmigel  Yeah I don't disagree with you, I just thought it was funny. Great job keep it up!
    2
  1004. Wow this is a really good video
    2
  1005. I'm really glad I was recommended this video, I think I'm gonna like the rest of the content on this channel ^_^
    2
  1006. You almost got me with the fake skip ad button.
    2
  1007. HOMIE WENT TO MY SHEETZ IN COLUMBUS THATS CRAZYYYY
    2
  1008. I'm really starting to think runescape background music stems from a runescape addiction WHICH IS OKAY and I need to know your total level and osrs/rs3 x)
    2
  1009. tremendous video brotha very helpful infromation you provided! :D Thank you very much :))))))))
    2
  1010. YouTube should just straight up copy Reddit's commenting UI. There's even a browser plugin that replaces all YouTube comment sections with Reddit comments.
    2
  1011. age of empire 2 sound is engrained in my mind
    2
  1012. It would be nice if there was a collab feature like on Instagram, and it allowed you to rev share a joint video.
    2
  1013. Your videos are awesome!
    2
  1014. Great job on the video and covering the topic of creators and their followers! The interviews also really helped bring everything together. Keep up the good work!
    2
  1015. ahh shoutout zematrex better get that ranged up
    2
  1016. Subscribed at "How the f* was my total $36" I can relate 😂
    2
  1017. If things keep going well, I could see you getting to at least half a million subs by the end of the year. 100k is a good goal in the short term though. I think you'll get to 100k after another long form video or two. Also, I really like the message of the video. It's nice to hear, wholesome, and you're proof that dedication and hard work can help you achieve something. People like Ludwig have also showed before that YouTube isn't entirely luck based. Part of it is luck, yeah, but he made a channel that got a lot of traction with just 1 video on a new channel with nothing about him attached. That channel is gone now (Repurposed for his music stuff iirc), but there should still be a video about it on his main channel. Edit: Zoey vibing in the background is great. I really like cats lol
    2
  1018. Now I have a new video to send to those irritating YouTube SEO spam emails telling them no.
    2
  1019. modern baseball mentioned 🤟😔
    2
  1020. Well done! It was scripted phenomenally and your message was conveyed concisely. This is a master piece.
    2
  1021. Why don't we get to hear you sing karaoke? Can that be a separate video? 🙂❤
    2
  1022. love your videos man keep it up
    2
  1023. Que currado el guión, que interesante 👏
    2
  1024. For science, I did not get an ad on your video. By the way, that was a great thumbnail
    2
  1025. The way my ears perked at the modern baseball reference! Hell yeah!!
    2
  1026. You know I'm not that bothered by the recommendation system, but I do hate the terrible search functions that serves me shit I'm not looking for.
    2
  1027. Using Jordan Schlansky in an example of an algorithm gone awry is pure poetry.
    2
  1028. It's a shame more people don't watch this channel. Your larger viewed videos are the same quality as the rest and deserve the attention.
    2
  1029. Cool thing that you like pro AoE 2
    2
  1030. Nice job Z!! 🎉
    2
  1031. This was super interesting and you did a great job distilling and condensing into 32 minutes.
    2
  1032. Every time I hear AoE2 music, I get Vietnam style flashbacks to my Goth opponent hitting the castle age and sending a horde of huskarls to remove me from existence
    2
  1033. Very good insights
    2
  1034. Why does your William McKinley sounds like an old Ozzy
    2
  1035. you know it's gonna be good when they hit you with that Arabian track from OSRS in the background.
    2
  1036. This video makes me wasn't to play runescape and listen to likin Park while eating fast food for a dollar.
    2
  1037. Zack is 70% bananas now
    2
  1038. Great video! (I am already on this team, so I skipped over the testimonials, I already believe you) I've wondered this a lot about VidIQ lately. As you say, they have backpedaled this position in their videos, but not in their actual application. I did recently begin paying them again, because I like some of their non-tag related features, but it does feel really weird and awkward to see all of this stuff in their app that contradicts what they actually say regarding best practices.
    2
  1039. Another banger video Zack!
    2
  1040. Ronald Mcdonald is going to show up at your house at 3am telling you to take this down
    2
  1041. This feels like your usual style to me anyway, in the way its interesting, with a unique point of view and full of personality
    2
  1042. holy crap this madman did it. peak Dadaism
    2
  1043. Good video, first time I have seen you. Watched the whole thing and I have never been to or had food from Chipotle!
    2
  1044. +10 bonus for osrs music <3
    2
  1045. Hi Zack, im the random channel you shouted out at 11:06 😂😂😂 This has made my day!
    2
  1046. Modern baseball reference earned the instant like and sub
    2
  1047. Random Age of Empires 2 content is love
    2
  1048. Love that you used a Mr. Beast to back your point (nice ethos)
    2
  1049. RuneScape OST index I've found to be in this video ☺ 0:43 - Yesteryear 1:33 - Adventure 5:12 - Harmony
    2
  1050. There is a special place for people like you @zacary smigel Great documentary exploring with real data! Solid work with the video editing and a well earned subscribe!
    2
  1051.  @ZackarySmigel  “youtube’s DISGUSTING conspiracy theories” at around 11:40 🥰
    2
  1052. This was surprisingly inspiring, thank you!
    2
  1053. First video I've seen of yours, and the content is just as gas as sheetz
    2
  1054. Morgan Spurlock walked so you could run
    2
  1055. the homie in the knocked loose shirt at the beginning
    2
  1056. 2.5M VIEWS! BRO, THAT'S AMAZING!
    2
  1057. Dude has just the chillest energy
    2
  1058. Hello fellow hat-on-the-last-nub person.
    2
  1059. I saw your comment on Shane’s video and I clicked on your video. I’m so glad that I did. Your video style is great. Great idea to go to different locations.
    2
  1060. Editing yourself standing in front of the Bravil Skooma Den is clinically insane
    2
  1061. Turnstile rules
    2
  1062. Bro your editing game is WAYYY better than last year lol
    2
  1063. I'm so happy the YouTube algorithm show me your channel a couple months ago. It's always well explain and well edited. Thank you for your work ✨
    2
  1064. Asmongold sent me here. Great video Zackary
    2
  1065. The Jump to Conclusions mat😂 I love office space!!
    2
  1066. 44:01 omg thats me with the Peter Griffin figure
    2
  1067. I feel I can speak for all of us when I say that your content makes me feel seen! 😂 Well done 👍
    2
  1068. Ngl top tier content
    2
  1069. super well done video and research. now im hungry at 10 am lol
    2
  1070. Commenting for the subculture lore
    2
  1071. Good stuff!! Love seeing your content doing well!!!
    2
  1072. Holy heck, that was unexpected. So, I am interested in this sort of commentary content on occasion, and I clicked through and was enjoying the vid...had no idea you were the Real Estate License Wizard but I know you from a certain discord server that I mostly lurk in post-COVID. That was a totally wild moment for me--you referenced your previous channel and I was like "Hey, I know that guy!" Excellent script, good delivery, well done--wishing you the best on your new channel. Looks like it's already off to a good start!
    2
  1073. I was playing RuneScape while watching this video so the background music was really confusing me for awhile lol
    2
  1074. This man is the first Youtubologist
    2
  1075. Hi Zach, whoever you are LOL but you are right on about all the annoying changes...especially the question why I don't want to watch the next "suggested video" UGH! or how YouTube keeps showing me already watched content...I'm trying overly hard not to play their game...I even started letting the ads run to the end to help monetize the creators I do love. I'm a 60ish knitting, gardening, and travelogue enthusiast...occasional video essay viewer...but it was nice to meet you :) see you in my news feed or maybe never again !
    2
  1076. this is off topic but im surprised yet not surprised of how much you blew up after the last video, congrats!
    2
  1077. I’d love a search option. Whenever I watch Philip defranco, I want to engage on 1 particular story but I can never find any comments related to it
    2
  1078. Wait, are those Halo Beam Rifle sound effects for those thumbnails popping on screen at 5:19? 😂 10/10
    2
  1079. Holy hell this vid is blowing up. I swear like 3 hours ago it was at 500k. Now it's at 800k+. Great job, man!
    2
  1080. I would totally watch the Mount Rushmore video and never got it recommended to me! I'll go do that now actually lol
    2
  1081. Great video.
    2
  1082. Gold content!
    2
  1083. this is great, but it doesnt include sponsorships, which is capable of doubling or more the amount a youtuber makes, assuming they are making similar to you through youtube, easily more than double for creators who dont get millions of views. reality is, youtube doesnt pay enough right now for people not to take these deals, unless theyre posting daily, or getting crazy view counts.
    2
  1084. Great video my guy! I agree with all your points, I think to say "tiktok ruined youtube" is a dramatic oversimplification and there's a lot more nuance to it than that. I honestly think the more accurate statement is "Youtube is ruining youtube" because they didn't need to chase the tiktok trend and change how people get paid. They could have doubled down on the audience they have now and dug deeper rather than trying to dig wider and end up screwing both short and long form creators, making it worse for everybody.
    2
  1085.  @ZackarySmigel yeah im just busting your balls. Also i have the same 2008 steelers sweatshirt as u!!!
    2
  1086. Brb setting aside 56 minutes to watch this all
    2
  1087. Thanks!
    2
  1088. YouTube has lots of caps. For example, you can't have more than 5000 liked videos.
    2
  1089. Amazing Video as always!!
    2
  1090. Randomly recommended, also a small YouTuber. I agree with this 1000%
    2
  1091. Another banger video
    2
  1092. I'm missing ERB and Rhett and Link, especially. Other than that a great video and great video. You got yourself a new subscriber for sure!
    2
  1093. I feel the need to say that being tagged is also not the same as hashtags and tags, but maybe this is obvious
    2
  1094. Your videos are amazing, don’t know why they aren’t getting pushed out more. I watched your first video that blew up and definitely wanted to see more of your content so I watched a few more and subbed but I didn’t get any in my recommended for a while and forgot. 😅 Luckily I saved one of your vids in my watch later playlist. Keep up the good work 👍
    2
  1095. When you inevitably hit a million subs; US vs EU fast food comparison. Multi part series, comparing every chain that's in both the US and EU zone countries. (I'm only half kidding, but if anyone could do that and deliver an objective report is you)
    2
  1096. Love how there is a Hot Mulligan clip.
    2
  1097. hope you grow huge!
    2
  1098. recommended to me out of no where..
    2
  1099. Bro just started doing YouTube and already speedrunning 100k subs. Congratulations on the massive growth bro.
    2
  1100. Love the classic Pizza Hut restaurant interior. Instant nostalgia
    2
  1101. Rly great vid. Been following for a while and you’ve explained this better than I’ve seen pretty much anyone. Revenue sharing seems like a great middle ground
    2
  1102. I cannot comment on the pinned comment; it's showing 501 total replies. Wonder why it's different but close to the 499 of the last one?
    2
  1103. 23:29 him walking out of the frame was funny as shit not gonna lie
    2
  1104. Love your content!!! Relatable and high quality!
    2
  1105. I like the tree wall against the parking lot film location. Very cool visual backdrop
    2
  1106. Zach, in my opinion, you missed a lot of crucial things that truly set Apple apart in terms of technology. I agree with you on the charging connectors, but I do not agree with you on the USB-C (Thunderbolt) this was needed for when they introduced the M1 Chip as they wouldn’t have the ability to connect to desktop monitors and docks without it. They choose 2015 so people would be eased into the new design language for when they dropped Intel support, they would already be used to thunderbolt (usb -c) which is a superior connector enabling up to 130 watts of charging through the port. The reason you pay so much currently for Apple products is the SOC, without it, you’re not getting 10-20 hours of battery life, try it with any Intel or AMD chip, you’ll get 5 hours MAX. Apple truly is leading the way with chip design at the moment, same thing with the chips inside their phones, nothing comes close with the eco system that Apple provides. Apple gives simplicity of one eco system for a price, that’s what apples mission is, of course they’re over priced, you’re paying for that refined eco system that just works.
    2
  1107. Why does William McKinley have a British accent? 😂
    2
  1108. Hey Zack. Awesome video. If you’re not, you should be really proud of this video, regardless of what the YouTube algorithm says. Genuinely, this is an incredible video. Thanks for sharing!
    2
  1109. “Your friends are listening to: Title Fight” you sir have good friends. Everybody should be listening to Title Fight. That aside, very interesting video! And yes, it was recommended to me even though it is not the usual content i consume on this platform.
    2
  1110. That Premium Lite/Memberships remove ads is a genius idea
    2
  1111. tried to sneak some runescape music in there huh
    2
  1112. 1:10 you including jenny makes me so happy 🥰 i loved her aragog vlog
    2
  1113. whenever i watch your analysis videos i literally never want them to end. they’re always so personal and full of insight and clear dedication. love it! :)
    2
  1114. Can we talk about the crazy sound quality U got outside while it was snowing??
    2
  1115. Why isn’t anyone talking about stick figure Zack and his epic hair. 🐐GOAT 32:07
    2
  1116. I love these kinds of videos
    2
  1117. You do lots of karaoke. I've never done it but it seems like so much fun. Could you do a vid on karaoke? What would that look like?
    2
  1118. thank you for the runescape music!!!!!!!<3
    2
  1119. I love your documentaries
    2
  1120. I love your vids my man.
    2
  1121. The lady getting married at 16 by a robot 😭
    2
  1122. I didn't click because of title or thumbnail. I clicked because its Zackary Smigel.
    2
  1123. bro you are everywhere on my youtube since you postde the other day
    2
  1124. they should put dave's on one end and buster's at the other tbh
    2
  1125. I've heard so many youtubers claim they're not allowed to talk about their income. Glad to know, that's just not true
    2
  1126. Youtube does actually have something called Premium Lite, which is available in only a few countries, includes my country of the Netherlands. It's 7 bucks a month here and all it does is remove ads, so you don't get YT music or YT red shows. I use this because I only care about removing ads.
    2
  1127. Thank you for the rickroll
    2
  1128. Yo new video already! Let's go dude!!
    2
  1129. I’m not sure if I’m the only one but when videos are highly edited (Mr beast esc) it can feel exhausting to watch I’m really glad that most of my feed is full of videos that are not highly edited and just authentic people making videos they enjoy. :) I’m glad I found your channel !!
    2
  1130. Thank you!
    2
  1131. how do you keep making videos articulating something i had a conversation about literally last week? that’s a wild superpower you have there (and fwiw, the algorithm is definitely on your side. this is the third video of yours i’ve had in my recommended and at that point i might as well subscribe, which i have lol)
    2
  1132. Zack I was opening up age of empires 2 when you played the sound at 1:21 and I freaked out lmao. Thank you for always making such interesting videos!
    2
  1133. I say this with high regard, you look like you'd love midwest emo
    2
  1134. Funny hair man speaks truth
    2
  1135. Well Zack, I think you just got monetized with this video as the outlier on your channel. Congrats. Brilliant title, I might steal it. Subbed.
    2
  1136. underrated
    2
  1137. Omg we made it in your video!
    2
  1138. I'm waiting for them to do something with the mall by me, it's got a mold problem that they don't speak about to the public, but everytime i'm in there i get sick, the hot topic and spencer's clothing often smells slightlly musty.
    2
  1139. just when you thought this couldn't get anymore ridiculous he starts packing sheetz for the road LOL
    2
  1140. Absolutely love your videos, you are always so thorough and do an amazing job every time!
    2
  1141. Zoey the cat is cute
    2
  1142. Was it a bot that asked me to make a Modern Baseball video? lol, btw it's on the way
    2
  1143. Great job on this! First time I have been here, and I WILL be back. Thank you!
    2
  1144. Great video Zackary, your opening really grabbed my attention and you certainly kept my attention throughout the entire video.
    2
  1145. Great video. Looking forward to seeing what else you come up with. 🤘🏼
    2
  1146. AGREED brother, well done well donnneee! This is what we need. Love your stuff man keep it UP!
    2
  1147. This is eye opening as someone who only has recently been made aware of unit price instead of the price labeled as such. I hope you mend your relationship with food with this taxing process, and thank you for making these brain-stimulating videos!
    2
  1148. Idk who you are but this is so true
    2
  1149. Hot Mully feature??
    2
  1150. Time for my weekly osrs soundtrack listen
    2
  1151. 75yo thinking about creating a channel. Made comment previous vid. Subscriber. Keep the guns blazing. I am EDUCATED by your work.
    2
  1152. Another banger by zach from smash topp
    2
  1153. MOBO 4 LIFE!!! Instant subscribe lol i’ve been in a very happy relationship because of tinder… i often found myself saying i was looking for a girl to go to emo shows with me on first dates. This girl said she loved The Wonder Years and it’s been 3 awesome loving years!
    2
  1154. I swear officer, I'm merely weighing my burrito on the side of the road
    2
  1155. Ha ha AB Starkilla 😂😂
    2
  1156. I love this new meta on thumbnail 😅
    2
  1157. The most interesting thing about this video is you find it scary to talk to people on the street but I could do that, and find it scary to go on stage
    2
  1158. Our local mall has a pet rescue, so I pop in there every now and again if I'm feeling down and use it like a little petting zoo. I leave a little something in their donation box on my way out. Not making much of an economic impact on the local retail economy, but helping a little with homeless critters. 🤷
    2
  1159. Went to Eastwood Mall for my birthday in April was a lot of fun! Did some shopping and eating. Love that mall.
    2
  1160. Excellent video!! You have a great opportunity for a part 2 of this video. I think you should have spent time on “over malling” by developers especially in the steel/rust belt where you live. As malls were built practically on top of each other with the same retailers and also in very rural pocket valleys… industries died, jobs left, people moved away, got old or died off. There was no population or household income to support so many malls. Also, let’s take a look a bit further back to when malls and big box killed Main Street USA… now the main streets that haven’t been demolished are hot properties for small business owners in many cities and small towns. Also, I am a former 10 year resident of the Pittsburgh area and we used to go to Shenango and Eastwood while visiting Kraynaks a few times a year. Great old towns and we miss those places! 🎉🎉🎉
    2
  1161. Interesting video! Good job!
    2
  1162. Hi! Recommended to me out of nowhere, stayed because of the RS music.
    2
  1163. I too have got this video randomly recommend to me. Just wanna say I love how you used some old school RuneScape music in the background. Having grown up with YouTube from its infancy im intrigued with your content now...
    2
  1164. he just keeps making bangers how does he do it
    2
  1165. If you type “2 for” in the search bar you can order your 2/6 deals any time of day, same goes if you type “late nite” for all the 2/6 late night deals
    1
  1166. I like how guys from Hot Mulligan and Every Time I Die were featured talking about it lol
    1
  1167. not the the modern baseball mention 😭💔
    1
  1168. Wish I would have known about the tag thing years ago 😅
    1
  1169. 4:49 i feel called out, and i do not regret x) and i'm half surprised a lot of creators aren't transparent with their income! really interesting. also your expression at the end is priceless with your cat 😂
    1
  1170. Not only is this video's information great, I've been nostalgia tripping to the RS music all the way through ❤
    1
  1171. I live in Florida and I am a LIVID Wawa fan. My fiancé is from Pennsylvania and he's always told me I would probably like Sheetz. Let me preface this by saying he did not disclose the fact that Sheetz vs. Wawa is a whole wild thing up north, which I think he did on purpose. As someone who has probably had every single item in Wawa's made to order menu, did you ever get the feeling that everything started tasting the same? The customizability of everything makes me choose similar ingredients in different forms, so at the end, everything starts tasting the same? What's your insight? Update: Aight... I subscribed.
    1
  1172. you look like a well fed jesus with glasses
    1
  1173. Unrelated to chipotle (I’ve had it like 3 times and found it underwhelming) you should check out Preserving Underground in new kensington if you haven’t been there before and enjoy live music!! They’ve got some really cool artists that play there :)
    1
  1174. I LOVE making my own thumbnail because is fun. And I agree, I can never watch AI content unless it is well done, like maybe a documentary narration. As you mentioned, I find videos similar to those of Mr.Beast rather exhausting and not truly enjoyable at times. Nothing wrong with their content, just not for me. Great video and informative.
    1
  1175. 37:43 spiders are arachnids not insects. They should call it arachnid lake
    1