The Content Creation Paradox

So, you’ve clicked this article and you’re like c’mon, Josh. I know what a content creator is. It is a person that creates a show to perform for others. Content creator is generally used for someone who creates Youtube videos or streams live on Twitch, Kick or whatever.

This would be a simple article if we left it at that. However, there are some people who are referred to as content creators who really don’t create any content. They just add to it.

You may think surely the adders do not benefit more than the transformers and creators themselves, right? You’d be slowly getting more wrong with every passing day.

What is adding, transforming and creating content?

We need to define things before we go further on this such as adding to content and transforming the content.

Using an example of a CS2 game — casting is generally seen as adding to the content. You’re not changing the content itself as the game. However, you’re providing critical analysis, insight and emotion that the viewer may not receive. Observing also fits in the same category where capturing key fights, camera run-throughs and different perspectives is huge.

This is not to devalue the role of casting or observing. It is a part of the great picture to make the content great!

Casters and Observers generally end up creating content for the Tournament Organiser in the form of shoulder content.

For transforming the content, a Youtube Video of showing an example of a smoke grenade set up by a player would be transforming the content.

The content is no longer a part of the match but the specific smoke grenade that a player used. This video may include examples of what to look at, how to throw it, what binds you need and an example of it in action.

Creating content is the game itself by using various assets and mechanics, they are able to create Counter-Strike which is a game enjoyed by many. The match wouldn’t be there without the assets, maps and mechanics that Valve has created.

The above isn’t a hard standard on what is adding, transforming or creating content. It is a simple explanation.

So what is this paradox?

To keep it to the CS2 theme, normally the content creator would hire people to run esports for their game. These are generally tournament organisers like ESL. ESL would hire casters, observers and variety of support staff who would add to the content and making it a spectacle.

Valve/ESL would make the demos available for people’s personal use and for others to transform content via fair use.

However, the Paradox is that some of these adders are starting to repost entire videos and putting X person reacts to G2 v NAVI. This subset of adders are called reactors.

What is a Reactor?

The reactor generally has never seen the video that they are watching. They play the video in their entireity. They rarely seek any permission or gain permission from content creators before watching the video. They often seek permission after the fact.

They are normally already large content creators who have an established audience. Nobody starts as a reactor and gets popular.

You’d think surely nobody would watch this, right? You’d be wrong, a lot of the most popular “content creators” create this content daily and they thrive in it.

How does the Paradox work?

Imagine you created a video that took you weeks, months or even years to do. A larger content creator watches it on their Twitch/Kick stream providing their off the cuff thoughts.

They also take your thumbnail, put it as the same name as your title and call it Y person reacts to your masterpiece.

Their reaction gains more viewers and provides them with more impressions than you. They link your video in the description which you may think is enough.

However, every content creator knows that exposure dollars do not pay the bills.

What causes this Paradox?

Why would a reaction garner more viewership? With a larger content creator, people would like their opinions on a lot of things. Some of these people believe that these larger content creators to be an authority (a critical mistake).

This sort of interaction is a parasocial relationship. This is a known problem with Twitch/Kick/Youtube where viewers feel like they’re a larger content creator’s friend. On an unrelated note, this is a massive issue for female streamers.

Larger content creators can knowingly or unknowingly take advantage of that. This isn’t a concept that is limited to their audience but to other content creators.

With this relationship, people feel like that they’re watching a video with a friend instead of watching it by themselves. The smaller content creators feel like the larger content creator approves of them when in reality, it is another thing for them to watch and upload to Youtube.

The insidious part of this relationship is both the content creator and audience have no idea that the reactor will receive the most benefit.

Their audience even think this is shouting out the creator too and that there are no other ways of promoting this content creator without watching the full video.

Surely the original content creator would benefit?

The smaller content creator will only receive token benefits such as increased subscriptions, comments or likes on a video. It is very little compared to how much the reactor receives.

The reactor who receives twitch donations, twitch subscriptions, higher rank in the Youtube Algorithim, ad revenue and the list goes on.

The algorithim hinges a lot on watch time as if you watch something fully, it’ll determined you liked that creator.

If you watched for a second just to leave a comment/like, it determines you DIDN’T like that creator.

If you didn’t have a sudden realisation on why a reactor says to leave a like and comment on the video then read the above paragraph again.

With increased subscriptions — wouldn’t that be more potential income?

You could argue that the original content creator could receive a trickle of income from it. This is on the basis that their viewers still watch their past and future videos.

However, looking at multiple channels that were reacted to and Necrit’s own video. There is nothing that suggests that they received additional benefits from a reaction.

All I receive is a bunch of ancedotal comments from people who say that they watch both but the Youtube Analytics state otherwise.

Necrit specifically stated that his viewership stayed the same although disproven by DarkViperAU.

However, considering Necrit’s comments, if his viewership stayed the same that would mean his channel is not growing from his own content?

He mentions that reactors and himself don’t generally share an audience to disprove that point.

If Necrit didn’t allow countless copies of his video from reactors, you would have eventually gained that audience who are looking for news on Riot’s MMO.

Instead, Necrit is in a scenario where his potential audience would stay with the reactors.

It doesn’t just stop at one creator…

With reactors in general, they do not watch one person’s content. They watch a large range of creators so they are taking out of multiple creator’s pockets.

In combination with increased push in the algorithim since people watched their entire video, their videoes would always be presented to newer viewers first.

This is also in addition to the decreased push from their audience only watching 1–2 seconds of it to leave a like/comment before navigating away which reduces their lift in the algorithim.

Now let’s combine that with the next topic, quantity. The time it takes to make content. Where an original content creator takes days, weeks, months to make their masterpiece. It takes the reactor minutes, hours for their reaction.

And let’s add that a reactor DOES NOT need expertise in the video that they are reacting to either so they can have a larger range.

So the reactor now has the:

1. Strength of quality in content,

2. Strength in quantity of content,

3. Strength in range of content,

4. Strength in the algorithim due to their own false benevolence and

5. Strength of an established audience.

The reactor would always be promoted first due to their established audience. This would extend further by their strengths in quality, quantity and range combined with pushing the original content creator’s video down via the algorithim (only watching 1 sec to leave a comment/like).

The original content creator has nothing other than the DMCA strike which is costly financially, socially and lastly your entire career.

Hence, the paradox continues as the content creator has just become another tool for the reactor to use. The Pawn indeed becomes the Queen after all….

If you wish to know more about the impacts….

There are multiple videos that discuss this topic in great length such as Necrit’s video and DarkViperAU’s series and essay.

If you’re interested in how reactors impact the environment, you can listen to these series while going to work or while working out.

So let’s delve into why DMCA isn’t used.

So why isn’t DMCA used?

DMCA is rarely used by creators as it is seen as a great sin to take down another content creator’s works. I mean even big gaming companies like Nintendo feel backlash when they rightfully strike down someone trying to make money off Nintendo’s Intellectual Property.

One example that should be noted is CGP Grey striking down Vlogging Through History. CGP Grey received extreme backlash for striking down Vlogging Through History who essentially reacted to his video. He played the video in its entireity while pressing pause to give his opinion.

CGP Grey received a large amount of backlash and withdrew his DMCA claim.

It is unknown on why CGP Grey withdrew it whether VTH has no money, CGP couldn’t be stuffed getting involved in a dispute or if by some miracle, there was a case for fair use.

To put it simply, there are 3 factors on why people don’t use it

1. It can end their career — these larger content creators talk to each other and can simply have you blacklisted. This already occurs in esports — of course, there is a blacklist! I even heard people talking about it at TGX!
2. It costs money to fund a copyright lawsuit — lawsuits aren’t cheap and if the other person has no money. There is no point enforcing it
3. It costs time to gather all the proof to prove it. You could have spend this time in content creation.

Instead of boring you all with Copyright Law, Fair Use and how all of it works, you can look at the Fair Use Standards here.

So how can we fight against this paradox?

Dealing with the Paradox

Ok, I know this article has been quite a slog for most of you who may not care as deeply as I do about this.

There is no real way to fight it other than telling Youtube to not recommend reaction channels to you and informing others about the harmful aspects of it.

I’ve tried multiple times via Twitter, Twitch and Youtube to advise on why it is harmful to very little success.

I even had a run-in with a small reactor who called me a toxic, ignorant bonehead via video reply because I said his entire channel is a react channel. He even told me to take a deep dive on his content.

I had admittedly only watched 2 videos which were him replaying a trailer in full then giving his thoughts. The other video was him replaying someone’s video about Last Epoch/Diablo 4 and giving his thoughts (in a game he doesn’t play… yes I checked your Twitch, buddy).

So i watched 10 of his videos, 5 of them were reaction to trailers giving his opinions, 3 of them were him reacting to Asmongold reacting to another content creator (Holy Triple Reaction..), 1 of them was him reacting to another video made by another creator giving his opinion and lastly, 1 video was his him playing Plunderstorm.

It was sad to see the creator comment stating that this was the best reaction he had seen. He is clearly unaware of what the insidious nature of this relationship can be.

Even after providing all the resources to them, did it work? Nope, that “content creator” to this day is releasing unedited reaction videos ripped straight from his Twitch stream. I think he only got angry at me because I called him out (it tends to happen).

Essentially, getting into a twitter argument doesn’t generally work but there must be an alternative method

The only way is to provide alternatives to ripping someone’s full video to promote a smaller creator’s channels. And guess what, there are ideas in doing so.

Fighting the Paradox via Education

There are a lot of alternatives to promote a smaller creator’s channel without ripping them off. I even did it for Eddie (Bowser0) when he released his video, de_clutter by shouting him out on a youtube short which links me to my first example

1. The shout out — you can simply post something on your socials about a video and providing a link straight to it. A twitter post will suffice — it is so easy!
2. The advertisement — you can show portions of the video and talk about the features it has in it. One example, would be if Eddie introduced a pro-player like INS to give his thoughts and anaylsis on why the changes would be great. A movie trailer is similar.
3. The review — actual professional reviewers will give clips and their thoughts on the work. Late night shows do this a lot where they give their thoughts, play a few clips and invite an actor or person involved on.
4. Ask for permission before re-watching it. I’d highly recommend against this without a contract and without you receiving some sort of compensation. Avoid doing things for exposure dollars. If a larger content creator is targeting you then your work is worth something.

And this isn’t even an exhaustive list that I just made up on the spot.

A return to equilibrium — an end of the Paradox

As I realise that life is naturally unfair from the start as most of us can be born in a well developed country compared to being born in a poorer country.

However, I still believe that hard work and effort should be rewarded instead of a person who is lazy and puts no effort into their work.

Their rewards should be far-reaching such as further efficiency, further resources and their own self-gain (or team gain if made by a team!)

These reactors are only in it for themselves and want to do the least amount of work to get there. They want easy money whether it is to keep their other businesses running, continue living their lavish lifestyle or just pure greed.

The infamous XQC tweet of “one gives me a headache and the other prints paper” in response to Ethan from H3H3 reveals the true nature of why do it.

It isn’t about promoting other people. It is about putting these other people to be a part of their collection to milk them dry.

These people are toxic in a corporate level where they only order people to do things. They will never involve themselves in the coal face unless forced to do so.

One quote struck me by Isaac Asimov when the Robocop Plagiarism Lawsuit was going on. Issac stated this quote in his deposition, “You don’t steal from your friends”. This is when it clicked for me.

If the people reacting to your content were truly your friends. They would be advertising it and sharing it with their friends.

They would not be reposting your entire video under their name.

This paradox is being kept alive because the audience and the smaller content creator’s belief that the reactor is doing it in their best interest.

However, the reactor only cares about their own interests….