Shorts (Patreon)

I have received a few messages in reaction to the 'shorts' I posted recently, and think that perhaps it might be wise for me to explain myself more fully.

The 'shorts' are those videos which by YouTube decree must be under one minute long and formatted no wider than they are tall.  This is part of YouTube's attempt to compete more directly with the Chinese company TikTok.  

Why can they not be wider than they are tall?  Apparently, most mobile telephone users are too stupid, lazy, or unfit to turn their telephones ninety degrees.  

Why am I making 'shorts' now?  Well, because YouTube is my living, and it has held a gun to the head of all channels of around my size.  Since YouTube is the only 'platform' that can offer people like me a living this way, it can get away with doing whatever it wants.  So, it has been made clear to people in my position that we now either make shorts or get forgotten by The Algorithm.  Also, I have to make ten million views in ninety days or I get paid nothing.

I announced the shorts here, because I thought that people here would be interested.  I know that it isn't what you signed up for, though.  I will still make long-form content.  I will never charge for shorts made from material you may have seen before.  So far, I have charged for only one of the shorts, and that was in a month when I uploaded six of them and no long content.  I hope that this does not seem too wrong.  In the future, I intend to publish long-form content every month and not to charge for shorts.  

I have been trying to get an editor to help me make more videos.  So far, no luck.  Working remotely with editors has so far proven fruitless.  I need someone to come in and work next to me in the editing room.  Then, I hope, I will be able to start catching up on all the backlog of footage extending all the way to 2011!

Many thanks for all your support.  

No, I have not charged you for this text post.  Patreon has a button which enables me to do that, but I wouldn't.  I wish it displayed my posts to you in a way that made it clear whether or not they are free or charged-for.