r/FoodieSnark

Daily thread for HBH chatter (Tieghan Gerard)

Daily thread for HBH chatter (Tieghan Gerard)

Daily thread for HBH chatter (Tieghan Gerard)

Daily thread for HBH chatter (Tieghan Gerard)

Daily thread for HBH chatter (Tieghan Gerard)

I will preface this by saying the intent behind my post isn't to self-promote, and the mods are welcome to delete this post if it's against the subreddit's rules. But I just have to rant about this to an audience that I hope will be somewhat receptive.

I am someone who both makes cooking videos and runs a food blog. By many measures, I have been successful. I grew my YouTube channel to over 5K subscribers in my first year having uploaded 50 videos and I also monetized my blog in the first 3 weeks after launch.

But frankly, I wouldn't even call myself a content creator or blogger at this point (which gets me into my rant). I mainly grew as much as I have with my YouTube channel because I got lucky with 2-3 outlier videos (currently at 235K, 180K and 73K views respectively). Most of my other videos are struggling to crack even 1K views. And after 6 months, I've barely made a grand total of $30 with my blog. It's not even properly indexed on Google search yet because I lack "authority" (a rant about this can be a whole 'nother post in itself).

I am mostly a lurker on this subreddit, although I do contribute occasionally (and some of you might have seen my replies) when I see a post that I just have to comment on. The reason I do lurk is because I'm just as frustrated as everyone else with much of the cooking content that we see. From all the poorly tested/devleoped recipes that are hypes, to the big creators with their apparent/toxic character flaws, to the rattlebrained TikTok-style editing that has permeated all the social media platforms, simply finding likeable people who make failproof recipes without all the filler might as well take an act of god.

As someone who has sought out to combat all of this with my own content, I'm quickly learning (the hard way) how hostile the social media & search algorithms are to new/small creators who try to "play it straight."

Let's look at Chef John for example. I consider him to be the gold standard for how cooking videos should be. He's been filiming out of the same kitchen with the same potato of a camera since he started on YT over 15 years ago, and he remains a markedly private individual that doesn't boast about his success or wealthy lifestyle. I don't even think he's ever done collabs (nor would he be interested). He also doesn't do cheap tactics for retention/engagement. He continues to do no-frills/BS, straight-to-the-point tutorials without all the unnecessary storytelling, b-rolls or Mr. Beast-style quick cutting. But most importantly, I've never heard anyone say a bad thing about his recipes.

The biggest problem with someone like Chef John is that the algorithm on YouTube is no longer hospitable to his style of content. Yes, he does have a massive subscriber base and still gets a decent amount of engagement that allow him the privilege to continue making videos full time, but if you dig deep into his numbers, they have been stagnant for a long time (and in some ways, they've even declined). In fact, I'm not even sure when's the last time he's had a "viral" video.

On YouTube in particular, new/small creators are fighting so many different fronts at once that throttles their videos and prevents potential viewers who might enjoy the videos from seeing them

1. Obviously, we know AI has become a massive throne in the side of all tutorial content. After all, why navigate the labyrinth of a 1,500 word blog when you can just have Google Gemini or ChatGPT spit out a condensed (semi-correct) answer in seconds? And AI has also gotten sophisicated enough that it can recreate food that looks just as good (if not better) than a human being, in order to satisfy those viewers who watched cooking videos for the food porn aspect. Adding insult to injury, YouTube recently rolled out an update in February that allows viewers to have a video summarized by Gemini *ON* YouTube without a user even having the watch the video. So it doesn't matter if the creator had an attractive thumbnail/title, because viewers can simply have Gemini tell them exactly what it's about before they even watch the video and give it a chance.

2. The rollout of YouTube shorts in 2021 took away a large chunk of the audience for long-form cooking channels. Shorts are great for those who are just seeking a quick dopamine hit from pretty-looking food, but are a horrible format for actually showing the entire cooking process and understanding the *WHY* behind a particular recipe. Not to mention, because shorts pay so poorly, the ROI from making them also isn't worth it for new/small creators (Jose.elcook is a *MASSIVE* exception to the rule).

3. On YouTube in particular, the algorithm places a *HIGH* importance on what it calls "viewer retention." In other words, if viewers aren't watching the entirety (or even the vast majority) of your video, it doesn't care that your recipe is failproof or that your science if technically sound. It's going to bury your videos in favor of the clown pumping out hugely flawed recipes or unrealistic-looking food because they keep people on the platform longer (whether it's for their celebrity status or for the drama they create). This is a massive shift from the "Chef John" era during the early 2010s where YouTube was both more search-driven and actually pushed videos to the proper audience based on a video's metadata. This poses a huge problem for new/small cooking creators because often times, we'll have viewers who will only watch long enough to poach our ingredients/measurements then leave. Inevitably, that's going to kill our viewer retention, even if the viewers were satisfied with the information shared in the video.

^^^#3 is also why so many of the big creators who might have been your favorites at one point in time (perhaps for having more of a "Chef John"-style of presentation) have started to resort to Mr. Beast-esque tactics. In essence, the algorithm favors pushing out content that it considers broadly appealing in order to keep as many eyes on the platform as long as possible (for ads), and being perfectly honest, those of us who enjoy no-frills cooking videos are somewhat of a niche audience. As much snark as creators might get for making more vlogs / lifestyle or becoming meme factories (I.E. Joshua Weissman), they've really just succumb to the reality that YouTube is much more accommodating to channels that are personality-driven (with the actual cooking/food being a mere sideshow), since they appeal to the lowest common denominator.

In my case, it is extremely frustrating because I've intentionally sought out to make exact videos and build the exact kind of blog that adresses the litany of complaints you see about modern cooking content in this and other similar subreddits. I just finished uploading a video for an Italian Dressing recipe that I've tested and developed no less than 15 times (in hopes that maybe with Memorial Day approaching, it would get an algorithmic push). It's not long (only 3 minutes), I don't waste time with a bunch of personal stories about family/pets, I get really scientific about why I use certain ingredients/techniques and most importantly, the recipe works (it even addresses the common issues with many of the other popular Italian Dressing reicpes you see, such as them being way too oily, way too runny or way too tangy). And yet, it has been a total flop with a whopping 6 views with barely over 100 impressions on platform with 150 million active users.

And don't get me wrong, I do earnestly enjoy cooking as a hobby even without making content for social media & search engine, and frankly it's not the end of the world if I don't make money off the videos or never blow up. But it really hurts that 1) I don't really have anyone in my personal life to share my passion with (I live alone) 2) So many people are being burned by these bad viral recipes being pumped out by creators who are trying to be "YouTubers" when I know my recipe is precisely what they need and 3) So many of these creators are being rewarded for their toxic behavior versus someone like me who plays it straight. And I'm sure I speak for many struggling new/small cooking creators when I say this.

That being said, I'm on the verge of just nuking it all, as it's simply not sustainable to continue doing for the lack of financial and/or emotional reciprocity I'm getting. But I did just have to get all of this off my chest, as well as share what I hope is some valuable insight as you snark about cooking bloggers and cooking content creators. The good ones (such as myself) are out there, but we are being throttled by cold and unforgiving social media algorithms and it's entirely by design.

For those who did take the time to read all of this, thank you!

Daily thread for HBH chatter (Tieghan Gerard)

Daily thread for HBH chatter (Tieghan Gerard)