Showing posts with label GBYT. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GBYT. Show all posts

Friday, 21 July 2023

How AI tools ROCK YouTube! GREAT BRITISH YOUTUBERS PODCAST with Neil Mossey & Solomon Jagwe E016



Solomon Jagwe is a phenomenal YouTube creator, writer, animator and filmmaker. His channels explore the tools for animation, AI and filmmaking, which help his audience to create exciting new worlds and characters. In this episode Solomon explains the highs and challenges of making videos for YouTube and running his channels.




GREAT BRITISH YOUTUBERS PODCAST with Neil Mossey
The place where we share tips, tricks and experiences from YouTube creators around the World. MORE EPISODES HERE!

TRANSCRIPT: (CLICK PLAY ON THE VIDEO ABOVE)

THIS IS THE TRANSCRIPT - CLICK PLAY ON THE VIDEO ABOVE!
With Nvidia Studio, they updated it where they have artificial intelligence in it that will take your eyeballs, right? They replace your eyeballs using artificial intelligence, and they make them focus on the screen. So, if you could, I could literally be looking over here, but the AI is making it look like I am looking at you. Like, seriously, right now I'm not using it so you're not freaked out.
[Music]
Welcome back to the Great British YouTubers podcast with me, Neil Mossey. Hello! It's the place where we share tips, tricks, and experiences from creators around the world. But very literally today, it's a special edition. We're going Stateside - Great British YouTubers podcast USA Edition. We are meeting writer, filmmaker, animator, YouTuber extraordinaire - Solomon Jagwe.
Hello.
Hello! Thank you so much for joining us on this episode because you have a number of YouTube channels. But your main channel has, I think, 644 videos, 22,000 subscribers, 3.2 million views. It's absolutely incredible. Before we go into the details of your channel, Solomon, what would you say to your 15 subscriber self? What do you know now that you wish you knew when you were starting out on YouTube? I probably would say, "What are you thinking?" You know, because I had no idea what I was doing. When YouTube first came out, I've been on this platform for a long time, actually. And it wasn't until the pandemic that my wife sat me down and said, "Do you know that you're sitting on a gold mine?" I was like, "What do you mean?" She said, "Come, I have a video to show you," and she showed me a video of another YouTuber who set out the cash - I saw the trend. I'm like, "You mean you can make money on YouTube?" And she's like, "Yes, look at what this guy did," and he said, "You're perfect for it." I'm like, "Oh my gosh!" So when I look at where I am now, I'm like, "Why didn't I start earlier?" You know, like, what was I thinking?
That's what I would say to myself.
Are you able to describe your channel? 
My channel has gone through an evolution. There was a time when it was dormant, me just throwing videos here and there. The early videos that I did were really just tests with me not saying much at all. Like, if I created a cool video in 3D, I'll just throw it up and then go my way. I didn't even care about subscribers at the time. It was nothing, it was just a platform to... almost like an archive, like something I can go back to, like a time capsule of sorts. Currently, the way the channel is set up is seeing how far I've come in this industry and seeing that I am an immigrant from Africa, having been able to make it to the U.S., have been made it through the defense contractor while creating video games, creating cinematics and animation, and creating films, and then creating an animated series as a one-man team. I've wanted to find a way to help other people who are on a similar path. Like, you can actually start somewhere, and I wanna show people, "This is where I was." You know, at one point in my life, I was a young African boy in a village somewhere, walking barefoot, having no idea what a computer is, to where I am now. And I want to encourage anyone who has a dream out there - the day we are living in an amazing time right now, the tools are on our fingertips right now, you can actually bring your dream to life. Yeah, that's so true, it's so true. And at the moment, Solomon, your main channel, it seems to be how-to's and tutorials in animation and animation technology. Would that be a good way of describing it? Yes, yeah, because one thing that I've always been as an artist is that I've always tried to do things a little bit differently. Like, how can I improve myself? I've never been comfortable or happy with how good I was yesterday. I'm always trying to better myself as an artist. And so, when I look around, I'm always looking around for tools that can help me tell my stories better. Like, I do a lot of facial animation and storytelling that is emotive. And so, I've always tried to find technologies out there that could help me. And when I find it and I'm able to do something really good with it, I share the showcase, and then I show the behind-the-scenes of how I brought it to life so others can learn from that as well.

One of your videos was absolutely incredible. I hope I explain it correctly, but it seems to be that you had created a script in AI, and a narrator, a human narrator, envisioned telling the story, and it was illustrated by AI. I mean, it just seemed so far ahead and yet so on the cutting edge of where we're living right now. How was that video to make?

I think, just like any artist out there right now, in the moment that we're living in, it is scary, you know, to see what AI is capable of doing, right? And you are constantly thinking of your job security, you're thinking about your style being taken by somebody else and essentially competing with you because someone can literally go into a pitching session having said, "According to the style of so and so," right? And then they present something similar or even better than yours because they're able to do multiple iterations with no effort.

When I did that video, I was like, can I actually... how far can AI really go in terms of storytelling? Can it do the facial animation? Can it do the script? Can I then take that text and then do an audio narration out of it? And I come from an environment in Africa where we grew up with storytellers around us, you know, with our grandparents who sit us down and they will tell us stories. But now we have this platform that can actually do a lot of that, right? And you can take a voice from somebody else, replace it, and so I was testing it to see how far, you know, in a way it was like, can this take my job? Can this technology take my job? And the more I think about it, I'm like, yes, we're going to be very easy to replace. And the reason I say that is because I was thinking about even, you know, the Tesla company, you know, the factories. I was watching a video, and I saw how these machines are able, they own a factory line, they're assembling the Teslas, and there was no human intervention. The only time that there was a need was when there was something that needed to be articulated and pushed into, like, a connection, like, you know, in the engine parts of it, and that's where the robots didn't have the dexterity. And so, as AI is advancing, I see more and more of that happening. And I mean, you can see the uproar right now online.

You guys are happily creating these things with midjourney, but that's on the back of artists who have come before. AI cannot create something out like in a vacuum. It needs to learn from someone, just like us as artists, we have to learn from somewhere to create. But the problem with AI is it's taking someone's hard-earned... hundreds of hours, years of learning to create that style, and then making it so easy for other people to recreate that with no effort. So someone who is like a writer doesn't really have to hire you if they would... if they want to create, like, a book cover, they can just say, "In the style of this person." The engines are getting better and better and better. In like midjourney 5.2 right now, it's crazy.

It's getting better and better and better, and after a while, I don't know if there will come, like, a time where there's a loop where it is ingesting its own what it has learned, like it has now its own database, now it's learning from that, and then you're starting to see things differently. But the offset was, it started off with a database of images that were scraped over the internet to create that. But when I created that video, it really was a test to see how far I could really go, yeah.

It's a really amazing video. I'll link to it down in the description. What is your favourite video on your channel?

Man, that's a hard one. Yeah, I think the most recent video that I've done, using the metahuman animator, of a meta human singing with me wearing a motion capture suit, I think that, to me, is a combination of all the things that I've been wanting to do over a period of time, to get convincing facial animation and be able to express something that is inside, because I really do lean on my faith a lot, and in all my videos, I always finish it with... I'm praying for you guys, you know, please stay safe and all that, because I truly believe in that, I truly believe in the spirit of love, and so that's the first time that I've really created a video and I'm like, it came out like I really wanted to, you know, so I think it is my favourite, but I also love to sculpt.

My most popular video is probably one of my favourite videos as well, being able to sculpt in real-time on an iPad Pro, that is also one of my top favourite videos, I think.
Can you tell me about your other channels? You have more than one channel, don't you? This is funny because the last time I made a mention of AI on my channel, I lost subscribers. Like, artists are really upset that I even dare to mention AI and...

No!

I was like, "Oh my gosh, yeah."

How many subscribers is it significant?

At the time, I think I lost about 10 subscribers in one of the videos, yeah, and it was jarring. I'm like, guys, I usually do these things, like, I look out there for technologies that are coming up on the market, and I share with you, but there was, like, when I say when I talked about AI, at the time, it was right in the heat of the moment, you know, where there was such an uproar, like anger in the art community. I could feel it, it was almost palpable, and I was like, "I understand, guys." So, I made a promise. I said, "Guys, I hear you. I am not gonna talk about AI in the way that, you know, where I'm experimenting with it. I'm gonna create a separate channel so that you guys who don't like AI can still enjoy the content on this channel, and for those of you who feel like you still want to know where this industry is headed, you can go to the other channel." So, I create a separate channel, and it's called Soreel RND. It really is like research and development, and it's about AI. There I unashamedly just go through and test products out there that are using AI and not worry about people saying, "Why are you creating this kind of content?" Because on YouTube, you get boxed in in a way sometimes, it's a good thing sometimes, not, but when people start expecting a certain way, and YouTube also expects it, like when they start seeing a trend on your channel, and then they recommend your content to a specific group of people, those people have a specific interest, you know? So, when that specific interest is threatened, they will leave. They are not gonna stay around because they feel like, "I don't need to be here." So, that's why I encountered that in real time, I experienced it, and I'm like, I understand, let me create something different outside of that. And then I also have another channel for Nkoza and Nankya, which is for our children's animated series.
How did that channel come about? That one actually is a product of our homeschooling journey with my wife, and so, my wife is African-American, and I am from Africa, in East Africa, Uganda. And we were trying to find a resource for our kids to learn about my culture, right? And so, the two characters that you see on the website are actually inspired by my daughter and son, and earlier on in the process, they did the voice acting. So, right now, we're going through, like, our actual situation where they've outgrown their characters because my son's voice has deepened, he's no longer playing the little boy, let's say. So, just like YouTube channels go through phases, yeah, this series has gone through phases, where even earlier on in the process, we had, like, a different type of look and feel, we've rebranded, and all our characters now match the comic book characters that we have in our three books that we've made. But it's one of my, that's my favorite project to work on, is that because I love creating content for children, and it's really a testament to my grandmother who I grew up with in the village. Because I remember in the 1979 war of Idi Amin da da, I think most people in the world relate Uganda to Idi Amin, but for me, I was a kid at the time, and I was in the war was going on, and I was in the village with my grandmother, we didn't have any sort of entertainment, and the only entertainment I had was my grandmother sitting me down in the evenings, to tell me stories of folk tales, and she would say the same story multiple ways, and that's how I learned to tell stories. And creating content for children, it's a legacy of sorts because my grandma has passed away, and I am doing my best to pass on that legacy of storytelling, African storytelling, to future generations.
It's amazing, isn't it? Because I, you know, I grew up in a time before YouTube, and the idea that we have something that is accessible for free, forever, globally, is mind-blowing. Once the channel started growing, companies started reaching out to me, and then I got access to hardware that I never could afford before, wow! And so, not everyone, like people in my audience, can afford the kind of hardware that I test, but I show them what is possible. That the next time you're thinking about going beyond the idea that you have, and you have a budget, this is the kind of quality that you can create with the hardware that's on the market right now.

So, brands reach out to you to get onto your channel?
Yes, my favorite supporter, I guess the sponsor in all of them, is... I don't know if it's okay for me to mention this, yeah? Yeah, on your channel. Puget Systems, they've been so helpful, like there was a time when I was struggling to render some of my characters in The Adventures of Nkoza and Nankya, and they put together a system with 286 gigabytes of memory, with an eight-terabyte storage, yes, you know, and I was using the Unreal Engine, I was just... I just couldn't introduce the Unreal Engine, and the Unreal Engine needs a lot of space for the projects. This system changed the way I do animation, I sped up, and it made me create my videos much faster for YouTube, like even there's a character that I created, he's a meta human, almost like a reggae star who was trying to find his way in The Metaverse, and he's trying to get gigs. He's an older guy, he's struggling because he's not getting the gigs that he's supposed to, but he goes out into the metaverse and says, "You know, performing at different events." I embody him and I talk as a YouTuber as him sharing my journey, and the first video that I did, I partnered with Reallusion and we did the "No Metahuman No Cry." That was the first video of him in his course, like his journey out in the world. And once that video became successful, I was like, "You know what, let me do a spin-off of his journey so that people can follow along." And the Unreal Engine and Epic Games changed my trajectory because I, before, I never been able to do, like, a realistic character, ready for motion capture for both the body and the face, and create a character and a personality. And I was actually invited on Purple Beach in the UK as a meta human, and I turned up, I showed up at the event as the master. The Purple Beach team invited me, and they first introduced me as Solomon Jagwe, and then they say, "He has a metahuman friend that he would like to, you know, who's been invited." So, I switched the character from what they were seeing on Zoom to the metahuman, and that was the first paid gig for my meta human, by humans paying him to actually show up as a virtual character.
My gosh, you mean you can actually make money as a digital entity, and so that changed my the way I saw video being in the Unreal Engine and the meta humans, that you can create a Persona that gains value, that I can actually start earning you money.

Absolutely brilliant. And Solomon, aside from the actual animating itself, what are the hardest parts that you find running a YouTube channel?

Being a YouTuber, and I just stumbled into it, so there are people who probably have more professional opinions and who have been doing it much longer than I am, more successful, but I think the challenge is when you have to do things yourself, you know? You have to be the crew and the cameraman, and I see like people like Mr. Beast, they're now production companies. He just has to show up in front of the screen, yeah, it has a whole team, you know, that works with him. But when you are still growing, and that is still... even though I'm at 22,000 subscribers right now, it's still relatively small compared to the bigger channels, right?

I don't make enough money to pay a team. I look forward to that, to a point where you can just... it's a business, because it has become a business, and I think the challenge that I'm encountering, and I didn't realize before, you have to see it as a business. You have to have an LLC, you have because you can't, at some point you're gonna grow, right? And you're gonna miss out on opportunities, entities for bigger companies wanting to work with you if you're not an LLC. Like, right now, I'm seeing more traction with bigger businesses wanting to work with me, because I might have an LLC, then when I just was an individual. And also, you don't want your home to be at risk, you know, should something fall out, people will take your property. So that's why it's very, very important to see this as a business as fast as quickly as possible.

And also understanding that at some point you may want to not be the business, you know? You may have to hire other people at some point. So, I've been having to read more in terms of business, of how a business operates, to understand how well I can, you know, posture myself for growth because once I get, once you get to 22,000, new opportunities open up. I remember when I used to see people getting, like, I’d see this little monetary icon on other people's channels, and then when they showed up on my channel, I'm like, "Oh, people can actually give me money by just clicking on that little button." And then now you can tag products in your videos when you have 20,000 subscribers. I never had access to that before, you know? So, then new things that are coming up, where YouTube is looking at these channels that they know they can use to get more ad money, you know? And so it's been a challenge, but I've done better of positioning myself so that channel can grow because if I stay as an individual and not as an LLC, it's not gonna grow. It's just gonna be a channel where companies really want to partner with you, but they don't know how to partner with you, and you don't want to put your home at risk if you have a family.

The other challenge has been the changing landscape of YouTube algorithms and how nothing is set in stone. It's like they're experimenting with us because they want to make money too. They're trying to figure out a way to, like, how do we help these channels get us more money.
"It’s true, they’re holding us upside down, shaking us for money! And so, and also trying to understand shorts, they say you're gonna make money from it, but then I see that there's a window upon once you upload that Short, okay, few hours had passed, yeah, and then it's put on the home and then you see it shoot up and then it's flat after that completely and then nothing happens after that, you know? I'm like okay, so that I'm I'm still getting grasp of how the Shorts work, yeah, but for me, I see there's a bigger goal out there because I want to grow the Nkoza and Nankya brand and then the YouTube channel, I just want to continue using it to inspire other people on the journey. So as this company grows, I want to continue showing people the behind the scenes of how you can run a successful company that creates content for YouTube, for merchandising, partnerships, and all that. I want people to truly grasp when you have an idea how far you can take it, how do you make toys, how do you partner with a toy maker? How does it go from a concept to the Shelf, you know?

Do you have favourite YouTube channels or influences? Yes, yeah, Marques Brownlee is one of my favourite channels because I saw a video of him when he was a little boy, you know? That video is so cool because it shows where he started and he had a little voice, he was just a boy that didn't know how to do, but he was really ahead of his time, you know? And I saw him reacting to that video, so for me, that is so heartwarming because I see my journey as a YouTuber as well. It's a compounding effect, you have to create content, you have to create videos because if you don't create videos, the channel is not gonna grow. YouTube doesn't know you, they need to know you by the content that you create, so if you are just haphazard, then they will not know who to recommend your videos to. But once you do, you do something consistently, then they'll understand what to expect from you and so that they can bring people. It's like a Marketplace, if there's a store on the corner of a market and that store has mangoes every Market Day when people come to the marketplace they know what that stall is gonna do.

When you are able to identify what Niche you have and something that you can do joyously, you know, don't do something that you don't derive joy out of, right? I derive joy in helping other people see what is possible with art and animation because I will wake up and draw, no one has to prompt me, no one, I can draw if I'm watching something, I can draw out in the world if I'm on a train, I'll draw. But I'm always drawing, thinking of how can I bring this to life. So find something that's really, really you're passionate about and you know that if you walk up and no one ever paid you a penny, you would still do that, then you'll be successful in your channel.

So true, so true. And are there any other channels that you watch regularly? I also like William Faucher, he's a like an Unreal Engine expert because I want to get into unreal engine and do the best I can with it. So he's one of those channels that I love watching. Do you have a drink there? I do, oh good, yeah. Should we have a little drink break?"
[Music]
And you too, have a drink with us, please. People will pick up on the vibes on your channel because there's been a video where I've created a video and I was really passionate about it, and someone has left a comment saying "I love you" in uppercase, you know? If you can create that kind of reaction in a person, you know you've hit a gold mine, not a landmine, because you're gone there.

It's positive.

Yes, well, a gold mine because when you create a video that changes someone's life, then you've made a video that is really impactful. And I think the video that has the most views on my channel, the one where I'm sculpting, people were blown away that you could actually sculpt on an iPad Pro, right? Like, people have had their iPads all along, but they didn't realize you could actually sculpt, and people are probably thinking, "I need to go buy a Cintiq to be able to sculpt," and they have the Apple pencils all along. So when I see the comments in that video and how people are reacting to it, I'm like, "My gosh, I didn't know you could do that."

The fact that you can do that on an iPad is amazing, and I could picture people in their living rooms somewhere sculpting away on their iPad. So, it's almost it created a movement of artists who are like, "You mean this has been sitting here all this time, and I could actually use it?" So, that was my proudest video.

Solomon, what tiny improvement would you make to make YouTube better? Something that I encountered by chance is I've always been able, I have wanted to loop a video because sometimes I find like a music video that I want to, I love playing in the background while I'm sculpting or animating and things like that, and YouTube has never really outright had a button of looping. Every other player in the world, I know, has the ability to loop, and for some reason, even now, like how you can, I go to a channel and I look at a video, and there's no loop button. It was only recently that I was on the app, and I had to go into settings that I found it. It actually is in there that you can loop a YouTube video, but it's not on the desktop version, and yet when I'm animating, I'm on the desktop. So that's one thing that I would love for them to make outright, like expose it to the front where you can loop a video. It's actually an opportunity for them to get ad revenue from constantly, you know, the same video if it's, I really like it. Yeah, so please add a loop button.

Yeah, YouTube, do that! That's a genius idea!
Maybe like a recommendation, I would like to be able to recommend my own videos to other people, you know? Like if I see a video that there should be a button on a video that says "recommend," and in there, recommend to all my subscribers. Because when you post a video, only like 10 percent is sent out to people who have notification bells turned on. But you have thousands of subscribers, but only a small, small percentage of them get notified when that video is sent out. So I want to be able to contact my subscribers, you know, like send things out to them and tell them, "Hey, guys, I think this is a really good video you should watch."

Absolutely, that's a brilliant idea.

Is there a video on your channel that you love that doesn't seem to be getting the love that it deserves?

Yes, there's a video that I did, and I thought it was really deep, and it's actually not animated at all. It's I shot it, I went to the beach with my family to Virginia Beach, and I wrote on the ground in the sand, and the waves were waving, you know, coming back and forth eventually, and I remember feeling I was feeling burnt out when we took that trip, and I wrote in the sand, and the waves eventually came and washed away all that stress. And I was trying to encourage other people that, you know, take a moment sometimes to unwind and just, life is more than this, there's life outside of a computer. You need to step away, you need to disconnect, and things like that.

I think that video was really good, but it didn't get any traction. It's so unfair. I will definitely link to it up on the screen and down in the description.

Okay, yeah, it's really good, you know, YouTube never suggested it to you, but I am suggesting it. I'm recommending it to you.

Are there things that other YouTubers do that you definitely won't do?

Yes, I am not the kind to do crazy stunts for views, you know? And I know that's a thing, and I've actually talked to a friend of mine who used to do that kind of thing, and he no longer does it because he's now in a different space. It takes a toll. The pandemic was so revealing, you know? My goodness, it showed us that we need each other more than anything. You need people, and your mental health is so crucial to your growth, you know? You're trying to fit an audience that wants more and more of that, but you as a human being, you're not wired that way. It will deplete you at some point, and I've seen multiple examples of people who are depressed, having been through that. But no, I really value content that has a lasting effect, definitely, definitely.

Solomon, can we have a bit of a gear geek-out? Because I can see in the shot now, I can see a gaming chair, and I can see a really nice microphone...
What equipment do you use for your channel? I rarely actually appear in my videos, right? I don't know if you've noticed that. I rarely appear in my videos because I want people to focus on the content and not me. And even down the road, I want that content to be timeless because we are all gonna get older at some point. We grow hair, you lose hair, and things like that, maybe you have a pimple every now and then, like this one right here. I don't really shoot myself with footage, but every now and then, I'll get my phone and then start to record whatever I'm working on or even mount my phone on top of a tripod and record myself like drawing or sculpting, like the video that I did, but the one that has the iPad Pro.

For the phone itself, I'm using a Samsung S22 Ultra. It has a beautiful camera and it does a really good job. But when I need to show something here, then I shoot with my iPhone 10 to be able to record my Samsung phone. So it's like I go back and forth, depending on which one is right, and this one has a lot of space, and it's still doing its job. You know, I have not upgraded to a new iPhone yet because it does, and it took me a long time to upgrade to the 22.

In terms of gear, again, I had to upgrade my sound because people complained, and I go back and watch some of my videos, and I cringe because I can hear the audio, like, "Ah, come on, Solomon!" And so I invested in a much better mic, and also I use Nvidia Studio, which has a denoiser, and then I get much better audio as a result. And of course, this little guy right here makes a big difference because every now and then, if I'm too close, I don't want popping sounds and things like that.

The microphone and the computers are really what my content is about, and when I need to shoot outside, then I use my S22 Ultra.

I have two computers that I use. One is the Threadripper from Puget Systems that I do all the animation on, then I'm streaming it onto this machine, and this is the machine that I record on using OBS Studio, right? So really what it's doing is capturing this screen, and then I'm putting the screen through a little adapter, I pass it through OBS, and then I'm able to record whatever I am seeing on this another side.

Then I have this microphone connected to this computer. So that's incredible. So you're effectively streaming and recording, and you record the stream rather than stream it live?

Yes, I record the stream. So when I'm recording the stream, I'm really recording a production of what is being done on this particular computer. So you get way better quality, and you have the ability to change the transfer rate. When you're streaming, you want something less because on YouTube, you don't want things stuttering and things like that. But because I know this particular video is going to end up in Adobe Premiere, I just crank it up all the way.

I recommend that setup because it's technical, but I have a video that I actually recorded that shows the whole process. I had to repeat myself multiple times because it's kind of like wires, like this is connecting to this into this and into this and into that, and then now you see me. And also, there's a new update that came out, talk about artificial intelligence. So for the longest time, when I would stream as a YouTuber as a metahuman, I'd have trouble maintaining eye contact.

And in the Unreal Engine, it's only recently in 5.2 that they introduced the ability to lock the eye to something. With Nvidia Studio, they updated it where they have artificial intelligence in it that will take your eyeballs, right? They replace your eyeballs using artificial intelligence, and they make them focus on the screen. So if I could, I could literally be looking over here, but the AI is making it look like I am looking at you. Like, seriously, right now I'm not using it, so you know, freaked out. But when I'm streaming, it automatically takes away that hassle. And that's the thing about AI, you know? There are some things where it is so applicable, and it really takes away the tedious things that you as a YouTuber used to not be able to do, and you will blink. And when you blink, it disables the AI. The moment you open, then the eyes get replaced. Right? So it's crazy.







That's incredible! Oh, Solomon, you seem really prolific on your channels. Do you have a video idea that you really want to make that you haven't made yet?

Yes, my channel, I want to do more short films, from beginning to end, because I've been learning the Unreal Engine. It wasn't until this new update from Epic Games with a meta-human animator that now I feel like, you know what, the technology has finally caught up to my dream. Because I've been wanting something that I don't have to struggle so much when it comes to facial animation, and I can actually truly act out this story and it's captured authentically captured. So that when the performance is shown on the screen and you can see... when the two videos I just posted of the meta-human animator, the lip movement, the eyes, the expression, you know, is way, way better than we've been able to do in the past. And actually create content that matches up to what you see in video games and even better.

It used to be that those studios were creating that kind of quality facial animation, but now anyone can do it. It's actually free, and it blows my mind that Epic Games is still offering it as a free product. In the coming few months, I'm gonna be doing more short films so I can actually tell the story and also inspire other people, to show them... I took a song by a gospel artist, I lip-synced to it. I wore a motion capture suit, I wore a head-mounted camera rig. I didn't even have to care about it, and all I did was just record, press record, and I acted it out. I did the actual session, then uploaded it to YouTube. And one person commented and said, "My gosh, I'm now inspired to pursue my faith-based animation after seeing this."

And that's it right there. It's like now people seeing what's possible and saying, "This has actually helped me finally decide, you know, I'm gonna do it." That, to me, the goal is if I can help other people see what is possible and bring those ideas to life, I am a happy camper.

Solomon, thank you so much for sharing all these details about your channel. Where are the best social places to see your work?

Yeah, so you can find me on Twitter as Solomon Jagwe. I think I go by Soreel, S-O-R-E-E-L, and then I'm on Instagram, Solomon Jagwe. I'm on Facebook as The Art of Solomon Jagwe, and my website is sowl.com. You can find me on YouTube, Solomon Jagwe, as well.

It's really inspiring, and I can't wait to see what you do with the technology next. Solomon, I hate doing this, but would you mind posing for a thumbnail with me? [Music] The things we do for YouTube. We have to! And thank you for joining us. Hitting the thumbs up button helps others to find the show, and obviously, if you can subscribe, you'll get to see more brilliant advice from YouTubers. Like these episodes here, we'll see you on the next episode of the Great British YouTubers podcast. [Music]

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Thursday, 6 July 2023

How to KEEP GOING on YouTube GREAT BRITISH YOUTUBERS PODCAST with Neil Mossey @CandidClara Ep 015



Great British YouTubers Podcast with Neil Mossey ep 10 and  @CandidClara  Reviews!
We talk about 16 years on YouTube with 8 years most active as a parent products reviewer.
How do you keep going on YouTube? What do you find hard about running your YouTube channel?
What gear do you use to shoot your YouTube videos?

MORE EPISODES HERE! GREAT BRITISH YOUTUBERS PODCAST playlist:

How to KEEP GOING on YouTube | GREAT BRITISH YOUTUBERS PODCAST with Neil Mossey @CandidClara Ep 015



TRANSCRIPT: (CLICK PLAY ON THE VIDEO ABOVE)

THIS IS THE TRANSCRIPT - CLICK PLAY ON THE VIDEO ABOVE!

Do you, do you find, I'm going to ask you a question now, but do you find that some of your friends think you're a bit mad for doing it?
Yes, yes. 
[Music]
Welcome back to the Great British YouTubers podcast with me, Neil Mossey. Hello. This is the place where we share chips? Oh that would be nice.
This is the place where we share tips, tricks and experiences from creators around the world. And right now, if I press this button, we are meeting this YouTuber: Candid Clara Reviews. Clare, can you hear me?
I can hear you, yes. Where are the chips?
Oh yeah, I'll have to leave that in now. But Clare, your channel Candid Clara Reviews has at the moment two and a half thousand subscribers on just 73 videos, which is absolutely incredible. I think it's only just been remonetized.
Neil, you're so full of flattering. I like to go with the... what is it? A million views? I... I'm trying to find the statistic that sounds impressive.
A million views sounds impressive, doesn't it?
1.3 million views. But not many subscribers yet.
For all of us trying to get monetized, if you could go back in time, what would you say to your 15 subscriber self?
I... I do think it is about volume, isn't it? It is about... um... I mean, you're the one who introduced me to the concept of the hundred crappy videos thing, which I think is so true. And I think you can give up too soon. I think you just have to push through blindly, ignore anyone who thinks you're mad because people will think you're mad. You say you're doing a YouTube, particularly if like us you're middle aged and they're like "Isn't that... isn't that for gamers and 17 year olds? What are you doing YouTube?" And I think you just... you've got to push through at least till you hit the 100 mark and see what happens.
Yeah, that was um... Roberto Blake: make 100 crappy videos. And some people have actually... some big YouTubers have reacted badly against that and said "No no, you shouldn't. You should..." I know.
I think it's so wrong. I think it's really bad advice to say "Hold back". You know, YouTube gurus who say "Don't put stuff out". I... I don't need help NOT putting out videos. I'm way ahead of you on that one Mr YouTube guru. Uh... I need to find ways to... to get stuff out. I... I figure if I learn one thing every time I do a video then I'm making progress. You know? And every single video I do there's something in it that's new to me that I'm doing that's better. You know? I've improved upon. I think you've just got to keep doing that and... and you know what? I... I don't think YouTube viewers want perfect videos. I think they want useful videos.
How would you describe your channel?
So... um... how would I describe my channel? “Could be better!”
No no no.
It's okay.
It's...
Every guest okay is... thousands of subscribers, millions of views and yet we manage to somehow find the thing that we're not...
Yeah.
100% Happy with.
Um... so I review products for family and home and I don't review like the... the techie... I don't review iPhones and all the sexy tech stuff. I review the stuff that we as parents generally have to go out and buy and it's things like washing machines and climbing frames and stuff that isn't particularly sexy but... but I am somebody who when I buy something I want to know everything about it before I buy it. And... and I think that's quite a male trait normally and in fact the bias on my channel is for male viewers but... but you know when we're buying online I want to know that stuff and you often can't find a way of finding it out. And... and so yeah, so things like how tall is that thing? How does that thing fit together? What does that look like when you open it up? And all those little gritty details and...
And one of those videos has done really well right?
Yeah oh this is funny so everyone says "What's your biggest video on YouTube?" And I really want to say it's something really exciting or funny or cool and it's a review of a washing machine.
Right not snowboarding or you know, parkour...
For a while my lead video was one that was a review how to make donuts in a donut machine and that... you know that's kind of cool isn't it? That's... that's quite cool but no the washing machine thing is not sexy, but yet people… people want to know. 
So it’s like what? 175,000 views?
Yeah. And has it made any money?
Oh yes. Oh yeah. They’ve… they’ve all made money. And this is… I guess this was my problem is I stumbled into monetization and I took it for granted and then… um… I just thought it would carry on forever. I just thought YouTube would just keep sending me money. And then I stopped producing videos and dropped off monetization and then… uh… and then I’m like “Oh yeah, oh”.
So you like fell below the… the watch hours?
Yes.
Wow. I didn’t… I didn’t… I did not even know that that actually happens. That’s fascinating.
What do you mean, that actually never… cause it clearly happens.
Did they… did you… did they give you any grace period or was it that instant?
Yes, they gave me a grace period. So they said “Um, oh you’re in danger of dropping below the hours and why don’t you upload some new content?” And other stuff was going on in my life and I just was like “Neh neh, whatever, I don’t wanna”. And then of course the moment that they took it away I was like “Oh, how dare they take away my monetization? I want it back instantly”.
What is it about YouTube then? What is it… what… you know, apart from them… because I can’t imagine that the… the money was life-changing. So there must be something else about this platform that makes you want to compulsively put the next video up.
So different motivations at different times. When I was a blogger, it was money related because I was doing YouTube videos as part of like collaborations which were… I was being paid for. So yes, it was a financial incentive. 
Coming back now, YouTube ticks so many boxes for me because it is the creative challenge and you and I know this so well of having to get our fingers into things that as media professionals we were never involved in before and now we have to get our head round and it’s lighting and it’s cameras and it’s sound and it’s everything that sometimes makes me want to scream but equally I love the reward of getting it right.
I think I’m going to be alone in saying this: I think YouTube is quite democratic in a way because you make content and unlike in the professional media arena, it’s not a manager who says “Yes, no, I like that, that isn’t good”. It’s the actual audience. So you get to put something out there, if it’s good it takes off and if it’s bad it doesn’t take off but there’s no gatekeeper on your creative content and I love that.
100%. For those of us going on camera for the first time, is there anything that you do where your presenter background has helped you?
I find sometimes I’m going to talk about a product and beforehand when I’m setting up lights and stuff I’m thinking “How… how on earth am I gonna… what am I going to say about this thing?” And something switches in my brain when the camera goes on that I just talk and I… I don’t know where it comes from but I can just waffle about… well not waffle clearly, it’s very incisive and useful content but I can talk very well about stuff and that is surely coming from conditioning of having done it for years.
It is. I think the hardest thing… um… this is what I find not having a background as a presenter is you start talking and then your brain starts analyzing what what I’m saying and then I stop and I start again and I watch back the recording and it was… it was totally fine but there’s this… there’s this kind of red light, there’s this stop sign that suddenly pops up like literally mid-sentence to say “That’s rubbish” or “You said that wrong” and yeah and it was fine.
Yes, it’s real. Like I say, it’s really challenging juggling all the elements that we juggle. It’s really challenging but potentially so rewarding.
What is the hardest part of running your YouTube channel?
I think it’s trying to be everyone. Trying to be the lighting person, trying to be the camera person. I constantly think “I’ve done this before and there was people to help me out”. And… and I can’t believe that I’m fast forwarding to this point now where there’s no one to help me and I’m expected to do everything. 
I was recording a video recently in the garden and I needed to use a reflector and I didn't have a reflector stand so I had it attached to my light in the garden and then the wind picked up and the light was falling over halfway through and then the battery runs out in the camera. You know? And it's like "Ah". Yeah. Um... it's... it's really challenging.
I want to get to the silver play button. Are you obsessed with the silver play button?
Yeah, yeah. You know, I've got one in the background that my son made me out of hama beads. I don't know if I can... I'll zoom in on it in the edit.
And does it say "Congratulations, you've got 10 subscribers"?
Yeah, a thousand. We decided that the thousand subscribers is the... is the brown button.
Oh, that's nice. 
What is it, Clare, though? What is it about that button that is entrancing, isn't it?
Oh, I mean, I literally... there's nothing else I would rather win. I mean, I used to work in... uh... radio so you know, the Sony radio awards were the big thing or the New York festivals. I... I honestly... I'd rather have... and I can tell you why. It's because if I did get a YouTube play button, it would be a hundred percent myself. Whereas if you... if you win a award for a radio award, it's... you might have a co-host or a producer or whatever. But if I got there, that would be a hundred percent me. You know? That would be my life.
And yet Claire, I find running a YouTube channel desperately lonely even though I'm in a house full of people. I just find this... 
You're in a sauna aren't you? Isn't that a giant...
It's actually a barbecue hut.
But I just find it really lonely in... in... you know, you've got to kind of create this thing by yourself and then you might get comments or some kind of reaction but...

Well this is why Neil, I've got... I've got to set up this community right? So... so be interesting to see if anyone's listening who wants to join this community because I have this idea of setting up this... it's going to be the MidMod YouTubers and the MidMod YouTubers are middle-aged moderately successful YouTubers and I would like to set up this to help each other. So um... you can't join, I'm afraid, if you're young and beautiful. You also can't join... sorry Neil.
So that rules you out.
Um... and you can't join if you're ridiculously successful. So I think probably anyone who... who's got a play button we wouldn't let them come.
That's beautiful.
Yeah.
So we'll put details of that in the in the description.
I've got to set it up now.
You have. I think it's a great idea. So we'll put all your socials in the in the description and a link obviously to your channel. Is there a video on your channel that you love that doesn't seem to get the love that it deserves?
Oh, that's a good question. Um... I hope it's still live but I did one... my daughter learned to swim by the time she was three and when I was doing all my bloggy content, I did this lovely video about her swimming journey of how she learned. She learned with Water Babies, the company, and all about how that progression starts from 10 months all the way through to her diving deep down in a swimming pool at the age of three in France and... and I loved that video but hardly anyone's ever watched it.
We’ll put a link up on screen for it so it can have one last hoorah.
And on that front Clare, do you have any favourite channels or influences? It sounds like the mummy blogs might be uh big in your history.
I have lots of people who I'm slightly obsessed with um...
I know. In a borderline stalky way.
Don't you?
Yeah, 100%. So no particular order, this is not showing favouritism but can you flick through uh a few of them and we'll just flash them up on screen?
So Hayls World is one of them so this is and I'm particularly interested in her because she reviews tech stuff and I can see on her videos the progression if you go right back to the beginning she started out as a beauty blogger and so she's got her hundred crappy videos of being a beauty blogger and then suddenly hitting on something that worked with tech and then if you scroll through you can see "Oh when she got to 100000 she suddenly took on a premises and then she gets to 300,000 and she takes on a premises and she's up in the millions now and so I'm a bit obsessed with her because I can see that journey and that's really really interesting.
Oh, Freakin Reviews because that's an American guy who's who reviews products like me. The other one I... um... are very interested in is Fabulessly Frugal because she is a lady of a similar age to me and she's doing lots of... um... slow cooker content and things like that and she's doing really really well. And the final one, this is a bit of an outlier here, but there is a guy who runs a channel which is all about vacuum cleaners.
Okay.
All he does is review vacuum cleaners. He's had 129 million views. I think he's a brilliant example of of niching down and just working out what you're really really good at and producing really informative videos and he's... I'm not quite sure how to pronounce his channel but it's Ibaisaic I believe. I just think good for him. He's found the thing that works.
I think we... I think we're about probably halfway through. Should we... should we take a little drink break?
Yeah, yeah. And you too, you too at home as well. [Music]
Cheers.
Did I do that right?
That was wonderful.
You’ll make people want to go to the loo!
Always. I don't need the drink to do that.
Clare, what's... tiny improvements would you make to make YouTube better?
I would very much like to have the facility to replace a video with another video.
Oh, that's genius.
Yes, because I had this really painful experience in the last month or so where I put a video up, it got great traction and then I went to put subtitles on it and while I was putting subtitles on it I realized it was a chunk about 40 seconds in the middle of the video where I doubled up the audio in the mix. So I had to pull the video and re-upload it and it didn't get the traction that the first video had got. I find that very frustrating. I mean, in podcasting you can... you can just remove the file and put another file back but you can't do it with YouTube.
Yeah, YouTube, change that. That's pretty... that... that is absolutely... that would be transformative. That is the best suggestion. 
Also, the end screen thing, the... the like the editor for the end screen thing is horrible, isn't it? Um... you know when you have to sort of drag it to where you're into... that's horrible. If they could just make that a bit more intuitive, that would be good.
That's another good one but not as good as being able to just replace out a video. And I... I would totally get if they... reserved replacing the video for people who were partners, you know? So you... so you couldn’t just do it immediately... you couldn't just set up an account and just be able to swap your content because people could abuse it. But if they said "And if you did abuse it, you would just be taken off the partner thing". You know? If you put something completely different on there, they would just go "Uh, strike. You're not being monetized".
Do you... do you find... I'm going to ask you a question now but do you find that some of your friends think you're a bit mad for doing it?
Yes, yes. And yeah, yeah they do. And I have friends who work in traditional media and it's like "Oh yeah, well done Neil. That's really... I watch your videos". And they do but I'm not sure that's a good thing.
Okay. People outside of media and they sort of say to you?
“Oh so what are you doing at the moment?”
And you sort of go:
Well, I'm doing stuff on YouTube. Do you find them sort of going "Uh"?
Yeah, I do. And I find myself holding back as well. I did this... I was actually on a shoot holding a camera with my friend who has 150,000 subscribers.
Oh, he can't join. He can't join the MidMod vloggers by the way.
He should be an honorary member but... um... you know, you get some kind of... honorary member coat. 
 But so the... the person behind the counter said "Are you a YouTuber?" And I could not bring myself to say "Yeah". Even though I am. I'm double trebled down on this platform. It is my happy place, my medium. Even then, I couldn't say "Yeah, I make YouTube". I... I think I played it down and said "Oh, do a bit on the side". You know? It's like... what... what certification would we need to say "Yes, you do this"?
Silver play button. 
You think it's that?
You've got it all done. I'm gonna tell everyone when I get this silver play button. 
I'll be like "Hello, I'm Clare and I have a YouTube channel and I have a silver play button". 
I mean, a hundred thousand is really impressive as well and you're a lot closer to it than I am and... and I mean, I... I've been watching your figures tick upwards even in the last couple of months. Have you found that your subscribers have sort of accelerated the more you've got? Because I have a theory and on views too that the more you've got them all a bit more appealing you are.
It definitely compounds. And you found that?
You know, just by sticking at it. You know? To get from 46 subscribers to two and a half thousand. You know? That is a huge huge multiple.
I've had a growth spurt.
The Google video?
Yeah, yeah. Google photos video. So one video is responsible for all of the views of all my other videos combined. It's double that. So it's a real outlier and it's not really that hugely linked to to you know, the topic of my channel. So I don't think it's harmed the channel. Just from my experience, if you're thinking "Oh, if I have a slightly left field video, I'm worried that that's going to wreck my channel". I don't think it's true. I think what it does is it put you in a shop window.
Yeah.
People will come and take it or leave it but... but I do worry that that one video will become dated. They all have shelf lives so... so I'm worried that it's gonna drop and then I won't feel quite as excited about the channel but...
So I'm just trying to ride it.
Isn't that hilarious? I mean, you're saying now what exactly what you were saying to me earlier which is kind of we get to a place where we've achieved something but then we're already anticipating the problem or or what we can improve upon or you know and... and uh... it's like just... just live in the moment.
You've got so far. 
Completely.
Can we have a little bit of a gear geek out? 
A gear geek out?
Oh, what... what do you use Clare to make your Clara reviews?
Um... an interesting question. So I have a Lumix um G7 camera which I bought quite a while ago maybe eight years ago. That's... that seems quite a long time ago when the Canon G7X was really really popular vlogging video. It was the first one where it had the um the screen on it you could sort of turn round and that was a big thing and I nearly bought that and funny enough, I watched a YouTube video and the camera guy on the YouTube video said "I wouldn't bother buying this, I'd buy the Lumix G7 because it's got an input for a microphone which the Canon didn't have". And I'm very grateful to that cameraman because I'm still using it all these years later.
What else do you use? Do you have a microphone to plug in?
So yeah, I have a corded um uh what are they called?
Yeah.
Clip mic. It's got like 12 names.
There's clip-on lavalier...
Thank you yes um so I have a corded lavalier mic and I'm really envious of your uncorded one and that is my next purchase and I have it in my wish list on Amazon because every time I'm recording something, I spend a lot of...
That's my dog. Do you hear my dog barking by the way?
I did. You've got a good microphone to pick...
My dog wants to go out so... um... but I'll finish this and I'll go and let the dog out. Um... no, so every time... I'm recording, I have to do ridiculous things like climb underneath desks and stuff because I'm attached to the bloody camera and it... and it's so irritating. But I will upgrade but just like you know, I'm gonna... it's gonna be at a point where it's worth doing it. 
Because you... you have a podcast, right?
Yes, I do a bit of podcasting. That's my main job. Um... and uh... yeah, so I have um... the Shure... which model is this? This is the Shure that everybody has and I can't remember what model it is. The SM7B. I might be making that up.
No, that sounds... that sounds right.
Yeah. Everyone, all the huge YouTubers yes swear by it. 
It's a fantastic microphone. And what's really funny is my 11 year old son is desperate to set up a gaming channel and I'm like "If you start the gaming channel, I have the best microphone for you. You could just record on this and you'll be like leagues ahead already because you'll have a brilliant microphone".
That's brilliant that you... that you shared like that. That's fantastic. And... and I've got to say, you've got um... is that your dog over your shoulder?
It is! Tell you what, can I let my dog out the front door just...
Please do so this is our doggie walk break. If you have a dog, now's a good time to let them out. If I have a... have a little walk while I do that. I actually... I've actually got Casper down here in the happy hut very patiently waiting for his walk down there.
Is there anything else that we haven't covered about YouTube?
I don't think so. Um... other than you not having to wash your hair every time you do a video.
Is it a challenge. You know, hair, makeup and wardrobe.
Yeah, I think... I think it really is. And also let's talk about the fact that we are older than a lot of YouTubers and I think we need to make more effort into looking good on screen. You can't kind of... you know, we have bad sides. I have a bad side. Um... and so yeah, I do have to faff around with putting more makeup on than I would normally. I tend to record my videos on the hair washing day because I'm in every other hair washing day and my hair looks better on the hair washing day.
And you don't have this problem.
No no but I do have a bit of shine because it is absolutely... it's like an oven in here right now.
Yeah, I'm not feeling as um bright and fresh and made up as as I could be but I also feel as a man you're probably less... you... you probably wouldn't be judged if you were sort of looking a bit sweaty and dishevelled in a video in the way I think women feel we have to show up looking better.
But the downside with that Clare, if this is any consolation, is that I really let myself go and I watch back the footage and I'm like "Oh no no no, I shouldn't have worn that T-shirt". And... and the worst is product reviews where I go close on the products and I'm like "Oh, could you not have like cleaned your nails at least?" I've been digging potatoes which I have! 
So yeah there have been a few uh moments of vanity recently so if that's if that's any... I know it’s not even on the scale--
No no but it's... it is a thing.
Is there a favourite video idea that you haven't made yet?
Not that I can think of. What about you? Have you got something? If you've got like a big idea that you want to do?
I get a bit personal now but I have a dad channel, a vlog channel. And I really want to make a... a video about my sleep apnoea.
Yes.
And how I fixed my sleep.
I'm more than happy to talk about it and... and I think what's holding me back is that I've got so much to say about it that I think I'm... I'm afraid of knowing even where to start with it because it's such a big idea.
What we come back to you know, the... the helping people thing. And... and I think that is one of those videos that genuinely would be so helpful to so many people. You've got to do it.
It's not even a... the reward might not be financial. It might just be helping people.
It's true. Uh...
What an absolute bombshell of wisdom to end on.
Should we... should we pose now for a thumbnail?
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
I was gonna say are we gonna have to do some like you know gurning? 
[Music]
Clare, thank you so much for being so generous with your... your take on YouTube. Good luck with your next videos.
Thank you for sharing your wisdom Neil because there are lots of things I'm learning from you and... uh... yeah, it's... it's... it's very interesting and it also is lovely to know someone who's in a similar position to me. Uh... so that we... the rest of the world thinks we're mad.
Thanks for joining us. If you're watching this on YouTube, thank you for hitting the thumbs up or the subscribe button because right here are all the other Great British YouTuber podcast episodes.
Can you please help my dad get to 1 million subscribers? Just click on his face. Thanks, bye.
Can we have dinner now?



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How do you make money on TikTok?


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Friday, 30 June 2023

How do you make money on TikTok?



What is it like being a Tik Tok creator? How do you become a TikTok influencer? 
Recorded 2 years ago, before YouTube Shorts: I'm talking to  @StevenMckell  about his experiences of having over (NOW) 3.8 MILLION followers who shares how influencer marketing works on the front line. How do you actually make money on TikTok?!
 
Combined episodes of my podcast with Scottish TikTokker Steven Mckell, about how he structures his comedy and what really works on TikTok... How do you actually gain influence on TikTok? 
Magnificent insights on what specifically works with the TikTok algorithm. 

MORE EPISODES HERE! Great British YouTubers Podcast playlist:

FULL TIME TIKTOK creator shares his secrets! GREAT BRITISH YOUTUBERS PODCAST @StevenMckell Ep 012



TRANSCRIPT: (CLICK PLAY ON THE VIDEO ABOVE)

THIS IS THE TRANSCRIPT - CLICK PLAY ON THE VIDEO ABOVE!

I've got some zzzz'ing going on here.
Sorry I think it's a fly, my bad, there you go! 
[Music] 
Steven Mckell! 
You have--
Yeah!
2.2 million followers on TikTok 
51.7 million likes 
I, I don't know how many views how... how many views would that rack up? 
I don't know it's something like 400 million, 500 million around that ballpark figure, which is like mad to me it's really it's insane. 
I don't know I never thought I'd be able to kind of get that.
But not only that, you also have a YouTube channel, so you are the best Tik Toker I know to ask about the differences between TikTok and YouTube.
Before we get into any of that though, what is your favorite own Tik Tok video on your channel?
Oh that's the hard one! 
If you ask a TikTokker this, this is hard.
I think, I think it's the one where I've done Miss Trunchbull.
I've done Matilda and pretended to be Miss Trunchbull and it got like, done really really well.
I think that's my favourite one because I think that really encompasses like my favourite childhood movie, it's acting, it's fun, people really resonated with it.
And so I like dressed up like Trunchbull, had like my hair slicked back and I had my suit on... my suit on-- my suit jacket on with like a belt and like these shorts and I was and I pretended to be the scene where she chucks Amanda Thripp over the fence - just before that?
And so I reenacted that scene with Miss Trunchbull and Amanda Thripp the little girl so it was very-- it was... I don't know what it was.
It was one of those things I was like I'm just going to film that today and we'll learn the lines and then film it and do it in like my way and it done... it done really well. 
I was really proud of it and but there's a lot of videos that I'm proud of and it's really hard for me to pick one but I think that one really... that was another thing people knew me for at the end of last year. 
They were like "oh you don't like-- you're like Miss Trunchbull!"
I'm like "Hehhh, I am... yes!" [LAUGHS]
And what's your video with the most views?
It's the lip challenge and it's got like, I think it's got like 34 million views or something which is madness.
It's got like 30 million views and it's basically me, this is how... this is how the Tik Tok algorithm works and how anyone can get big on it.
It was me putting like three like lipsticks like with lips, I was going to put one strip there one strip here much like... I... just like this!
It was this to the song and it was madness.
It was like the least effort you could put into a video and that done like... got the most views and everyone knew me as the, the boy... "Oh you're the guy that does lip challenges!" and I was like yeah, I know, and it's...
Even now it would be posted like every 6 months and it'd still get like 10 million views and I'm like "Why!" Why does this? Like, why do people love this?
But I think it's aesthetically like people love to watch those kind of makeup stuff.
Did I detect a slight eye roll when you gave that answer?
Are lip sync videos seen as perhaps a lesser art form?
The worst thing was it wasn't even lip sync.
It was me literally just going... [DOES LIP MOVES]
...to like smudge the lips - the lipstick - to make it look like I had like three colours of lips.
So like it wasn't even lip sync, so it's like even worse, but I think in the realm of lip syncing... so the app used to be called musical.ly, erm... which you know, we don't call it anymore and that... that traditionally was a lip syncing app.
That's how it was - It's how it got its notoriety.
However I kind've done original comedy back then and I've done lip syncs as well but original comedy and like dancing and like meme style content... 
But I think now, although people that do lip sync still do very well and they can just sit in front of the camera and lip sync a song and get 10 million views... I'm not jealous... um but no, that I think that now there's a higher standard now.
Now it's a platform with... you oh there's there's so much in there and I think lip syncing is maybe seen as something that's not something like they want to push like...
"It's a lip syncing app!" because it's not now.
It used to be but now it's more like you know, if you want to really be like big on the platform and really want to be there for a long longevity you've got to kind of... you've got to be able to reinvent yourself, I think.
And you have a YouTube channel and a TikTok channel?
Yes.
Why is Tik Tok better than YouTube?
So I think TikTok's better than YouTube because, one, it's like it's shorter media.
So it's short form media, whereas you know YouTube's long form media, traditionally.
And I think with Tik Tok it's... it's easy to get involved in videos or see trends that you are um you can relate to, that you can erm, that you feel like you want to do.
The thing about YouTube is that you watch a video and you're like that's great and they make me laugh, it's fun and you think I'd love to do YouTube! 
However then you have to get a camera, lights, edit and it's really hard to be a YouTuber really really hard. 
It's the hardest platform to gain followers on, whereas Tik Tok you can watch something and you can think to yourself "I know I can do that better" or if not I can have just as much fun as that person, and you just need to set up your camera.
So that the difference between making... to making the content's way on the other spectrum.
YouTube's harder.
TikTok is very easy.
You can upload 10 videos in the space of, you know, half an hour on... on Tik Tok and get you know triple the views you would if you'd done it on YouTube.
So I think the algorithm favours better to people, because it has like a broader spectrum of content that likes to put in the "For You" page, and so it gives people a better chance to be seen, to have fun, to interact with other people, and...
I like YouTube! I used to-- I've not made videos on that in a while and I was doing YouTube until when I was doing TikTok, like a few years, ago so I was doing both side by side, and I felt like you... your Tik Tok was just so much easier.
It was just... it's a platform where um you have to really be authentic for people to really like... to really, to really grow on it.
Whereas YouTube, you have to really have a uh some sort of... not a facade but you have to have a really different kind of push yourself like 110% whereas TikTok about maybe not as much.
I've got some zzzz'ing going on here.
Sorry I think it's a fly, my bad, there you go!
Do you know what--
That's a long-winded answer! [LAUGHS]
No, no, Steven: That is so fascinating because I hadn't thought that the actual, you know, production technique would actually have such a big effect on the what... "what you share" and how you express yourself, so have... being able to just get straight online quicker means that you put out something a bit more authentic.
I hadn't really thought of it like that.
Yeah I think that's erm... that's really, it's a really big um pull factor for when someone who starting out on social media, who wants to kind of be big. 
And this is a... this is a delicate question, an awkward question, but do you make money on TikTok?
Yeah I do. 
I have um, when I first started it for the first few years and you know, there's different ways to make money on Tik Tok, and I think some people a little bit um dubious to talk about it because, you know, they...   they don't want to.
But I'll be the one to set the record straight!
Now, no don't get me wrong - there's, there's different ways you can make money on TikTok.
You can do live streaming and where people then send you gifts and they buy gifts from the app and they send you them, and every time you like some people have livestreams where they play games, where they do... and now you can guest people in sometimes.
It's like something so... you get something back for that, or if you want to support your your favourite creator you can do it that way.
Me personally? I've never asked for that on live streams.
I've been given gifts and no matter... you can tell it... you can tell people "don't give me them" all you want -- some people are still just going to give you gifts, and a lot of minds nowadays like the small gifts and like "thank you but like save it and like donate to somewhere or do something else" erm... whatever,I just want you to join my live streams to have fun but other people can make a living from it.
They can make the--- they put a lot of time and effort into live streaming, and I used to live stream like I used-- I livestreamed like two years straight on the platform every night.
I livestreamed and that... that was for me to build my following.
Back then it was really big because it was cheaper for gifts and people some... some creators in America got... done really well on gifting, and but now TikTok have put in like measures to keep it safe for... so kids can't send gifts on the app, you have to be 18 or over, you have to be 16 or over to livestream - which I totally agree with because they-- what they're doing is safeguarding the, the people watching but also the creators who are livestreaming.
But that's one way you can do it.
This is a long-winded answer as well I'm sorry! 
No no this is an 'anoraky' kind of podcast so go into as much detail as you feel comfortable!
Yes you could-- do you could do it through the livestream and things like that, which a lot of people do, and a lot of people - most people - put a lot of work into livestreams where some people don't.
And there's other pla-- erm, ways of doing it. 
So you could do sponsored content... content like you would do on YouTube or Instagram or Twitter.
Most of sponsored content that's on TikTok is music, because music drives the platform.
It's in all like, most videos you'll see you'll have a music tagged at the bottom of what artists that is etcetera.
And so you get brands that will come to you, want to like promote a song, and like you then get a campaign, and you talk to like the artists-- not the artists, but like the music, record label etc erm, or your management and you kind of figure out what you want to do with that.
Oh there's a variety of ways, you can put things in your bio, you can make videos that are ads.
Like I... like help sometimes I'll try and help companies like build on TikTok.
So if you've really got a lot of knowledge, you can use it to then help companies build on the platform like-- they can like pay you, or you can work with them or whatever way you want to do that.
And you can help them build - give them knowledge to build on Tik Tok, and I know a lot of people that have done that.
There's some people that I know that have stopped doing Tik Tok all together on their page, and went and ran another TikTok account for a business, because that's how...
TikTok now is not going anywhere.
We know that in terms of... erm, how big it is - it's got to a point where it's so big.
I think that it'll just consistently evolve, like things like Instagram, Snapchat and stuff.
So companies are now jumping on it now and realising they'll get... they'll do good to start with, and they'll be like "oh we need to have..." 
"how do we keep going?"
"how do we keep putting out the content?" 
So there's a variety of ways you can make money on it.
Some more reliable than others.
But that sounds really wise Steven because it means that your um... your income doesn't just rest on the platform on what the the platform deigns to give you, like on YouTube.
The... you, you are building relationships that will last longer than the next...
Yeah.
...pay out.
Yeah exactly and I think, I think there's a difference... whereas we would LOVE on TikTok if our effort... if we ever, ever content was monetized and we've got... 
we'd love it, it'd be great!
You know I mean like just like YouTube does.
I don't know how they would do that now, you know you've got different things where they're trying to build different things to help creators and, and brands connect.
TikTok are actively trying to do that.
However I think they need to just be like... they need to make it not for everyone, because if that happened you'd, you'd have hundreds of millions of people like abusing some sort of system - so they have to make it really like they do on YouTube.
You have a certain amount of watch time and a certain amount of videos and stuff.
But we would love it if it was monetized but um there is ways to do it, you know, and relying on me making the, the work the effort to make a video, to get me paid instead of relying on like the views - not relying on the views, but it's better thinking "I've worked hard for this money" than like not doing anything at all really.
If anyone's listening from tiktok: we would still love for our content to be monetized 
i.e our, like videos get views, because no one's gonna pass that up are they if they could do that in a way that was that was fun and great then we would love it! 
Shall we both ask TikTok now?
Please, TikTok.
Yeah, yeah, do it! 
Please monetize.
Monetize the videos!
Monetize videos, and I think that the way to do that I think, you know, it's hard for them, because it is - because they've, they've worked hard to get monetization to like a creative place where you can... brands and creators can connect.
Which is fine and fun.
However brands... some brands are going to undercut the smaller creators, and give them peanuts and they're going to take them.
I like... I love TikTok as a platform and you know I've been on it for years, so like it's my, it's my baby, um but like there's a lot of new creators that come up now and, and they get a bit of a following really quickly and then it kind of plateaus which happens to everyone -- and like, and then you know, if they've not got a lot of knowledge on the platform - or how to um keep themselves safe from brands or people trying to take advantage of them, like management or whatever...
You've got to try, and you try and let them know, but at the end of the day you know, some people just are going to choose their own decisions.
But that's the issue that you have now.
You've got a lot of people coming up. Get big for a little bit and then get like "oh what are they doing? 
People trying to take advantage of them.
It's like any platform you're on - any social media - anything like that.
There's always someone that's probably out there to kind of see what they can get from you without really giving you your worth.
Whereas I'm really lucky.
I've kind of... I've built my knowledge up, I know-- 
not worth in terms of money because money's, you know, it's something you think about - because it's a job - but it's not my first priority.
My first priority is that "will my content inspire people in some way" 
That's all I... that's what I think about when I make content.
Money comes like third or fourth for me.
What advice would you have for anyone starting out on TikTok?
There's a lot.
Oh, some really cool advice would be stay authentic and do the trending hashtags, and do the content that's trending erm... and you know don't be discouraged by not getting you know loads of views whatever really quickly, and don't be discouraged if you do get the views or if it kind of plateaus a bit - that happens to everyone... and but really stay authentic to what you like, what you do.
If there's a niche content that you love doing whether it be point of view content, meme content, makeup, dancing... hone in on that craft and do that.
TikTok loves people that um can have like some sort of niche that they're really good at and if you consistently... be consistent.
Post-- I post every day where I think TikTok you know they advise to post like maybe between three and five times a week, but most creators post every day um or every few days.
So it's like really... just depends on like what you're kind of in-- like what your schedule would be.
But yeah stay authentic be consistent do the trending hashtags and have fun!
Have like the best time you can.
That's what I do.
Sorry I just let my cat in.
And how do you cope with that Steven?
Do you have um so if you post every day some some days presumably you post more than once a day? Do you have times where you feel I’m absolutely killing it and... and other times where you think “oh I'm falling behind”.
That I’m not outputting as much as I would like to?
Yeah yeah absolutely right now actually I’m in that kind of zone where I’m not outputting as much as I want to because my views aren't great.
And it should never be about the views and I think that's something people have to understand that it should never be about like your views, likes and stuff.
However if it's part of your job you then worry about it.
So I do worry about that because sometimes you have big, big times you have low times...
Everyone has it.
It's just any social media so at the moment I’m kind of like that, like I'm not going to put out like videos every day.
Sometimes I put out three videos to five. 
Some people-- sometimes I’ll put one video.
Back in the day years ago I put out like 15... 20, because it was mostly like dancing, you know lip synching, or acting videos which are very easy to do.
I think kind of what I’ve done is... I kind of set a bar really high for myself in terms of my content, so that I can't revert back to that now to kind of do that for an easy win.
It doesn't work on my page - the algorithm doesn't pick up - so it kind of... you have to, you know, some days are going to be bad.
So sometimes I have bad days I’m like oh my gosh like I’ve worked for four years, it's um it's slipping through my hands and with-- my accounts dying and which I say that a lot and and sometimes I just I have to kind of just have a rant to myself or to my friend and then just get on with it.
Because at the end of the day I make content for um myself and other people and if someone watches it and goes “oh he inspired me” 
Somone watching it goes “that made me laugh” 
Then my job's done like that's my day done, like you know, in the grand scheme of things to... to make someone's day or to make someone feel comfortable in themselves as a gift that... that's you know priceless really.
So yeah I just get through my bad days by just having a day off.
Posting one video and being like if it does bad it does bad, or if I am-- I really post a video that I don't enjoy, I think if I’m not I’m not gonna post if I don't enjoy the video.
You know what I mean - I have to have fun doing it.
That was probably a long answer to the question - very broad but yeah! 
Steven Mckell what shouldn't I do on tik tok?
Don't get swept up in the things - this is from personal experience - but don't get swept up in this, you know, looking at everyone else's accounts for the views... comparing yourself to other people to erm thinking you've got to be like someone else.
I’ve done all those things and it honestly what it does it just ruins your whole entire vibe.
It's not something you want to get involved in.
You've got to be able to be yourself, so don't-- don't compare yourself to anyone else ever.
Just don't do it. Believe me it's the best thing, just don't do it.
And, and it's it's almost as if you almost found your medium because you were posting on YouTube but this one it just it just kind of unleashed something different?
I think TikTok is just more easier for me to make content.
I think it was more easy for me to like have fun and like connect with fans.
So it was very  much easier for me to make this, the short form media, and have... and work around like the 15 to a minute, 15 seconds to a minute videos, whereas YouTube is like long... long... like longer videos and it was fun.
I can't say YouTube wasn't fun - it was great - and it's not that YouTube is bad I’d love to go back to it and plan to go back to it soon - and do videos but like I... 
It's the idea of like having to post like every single like week or every few days whereas TikTok is just so much easier to post.
It is hard for someone like me. 
I can't just post, you know, a lip syncing thing or dancing thing - it does well.
I have to really put effort into it, so um and that's you know I mean... because I think someone like me on Tik Tok, or any platform: I don't look like the natural beauty standard as people would have it.
I'm still beautiful but you know I think I don't have like what the... you know, our society nowadays deems is beautiful and like what you should watch.
So I kind of look out of place a little bit.
I act a bit out of place, which I love that.
I love being like the alternative kind of influencer or creator whatever you want to call it, but I’m all... I’m on the outside looking in at a lot of stuff when it comes to being in on the in-things.
My cat's just jumping around my room right now so I do apologize, but yeah, and YouTube was just a bit long.
It was just long videos and it was filming it, editing it. and I just think TikTok just... just took off over that and I thought: I just need to focus on TikTok now and that's what I did.
I thought - I’ve had focus on both of them now.
I don't think I’d be as successful or as big on TikTok as I am now, because I am... I just ditched YouTube and I don't have the-- I don't have time for it!
I’ve got to just do something else and then that's what I did so... 
And it sounds like there's something driving you behind that then because it's... it's one thing to post a lot, but to keep going there--
It seems like there's something behind it Steven, something that-- 
Yeah 
Um, there's something you want to express.
I want to be the person that I didn't have growing up, watching on TV or... or social media.
So I-- I’m 26 so I... I didn't really... social media was a thing in the mid-noughties, but it wasn't as big when I was the ages of like you know... 10 to 16. 
You know you were outside all the time.
That's what exactly-- that's what I explain to people.
You weren't on social media all the time.
It wasn't massive then, um and especially in like Scotland or anything.
So I wanted to be the person I didn't see in like TV shows or I didn't see in like social media.
Wwhen I first started it was all very much the same people, brands or companies were only focusing on the same people... whereas um I’m not you know...
I’m fat.
I'm someone that's asexual and someone that's looks a bit out of place and that's all positive for me. 
Fat - it's not a negative word that for me I-- I use it as a positive because I’m fat but I’m flawless.
You know what I mean?
Erm, so I want to be the person I didn't have whilst watching social media, whilst watching TV and so I was like "I know I’m going to be that person then" and I think that I have-- I like to think that if tomorrow TikTok shut down or my account was deleted, or whatever happened... I like to think that you know what, ain't even set over social media in general,
I think - I like to think that I’ve done - I’ve done well and hopefully I've inspired people and I’ve been inspired by people.
So my legacy if you could call it one is - it's been positive - it's been fun.
I've stayed very authentic and... and that was one thing I just - that was it.
I just didn't really see anyone else like me and now there's a lot of people that are like me - not like me I think I’m quite a unique taste - but there's a lot of people that are - that have got my initiative really I think that are like "okay I’m just gonna be different" because different's okay and different's fun.
If you know, if everyone, if everyone was the same the - like the world would be such a boring place - so and yeah I just wanted that person that I never had online or on TV's and movies and stuff that I didn't have growing up.
Totally what we're seeing now is the death of "mass" isn't it.
Mass media, mass entertainment, mass... one size fits all.
It's so positive that you're inspiring people to, to... to share their voice.
Yeah that's it I think that, and for me it's never been like being big than anything because size is not part of my comedy.
You'll never see a video where I’m like "I’m so big!" that's never been part of my comedy because it's just it's not I’m-- I can you know, if that is part of someone's comedy then good on them and like that's how you can relate to people, then great.
It's never been part of mine so my thing's always been about, it's all about... be like be there for you is I’ve always had that - that and my sassy squad.
But 'Be the For You' is a slogan I always use to people because it really is the hardest thing in life and this is the truth is to really be your free authentic self, because you know when you are being free in yourself uh you know you put yourself up-- you open yourself up to ridicule and people opinionated about you people being awful because they might not agree with what you do and to that I say you know - I won't swear - but you know it - you just let, let them jog-on, because you know life's way too short to really worry about about what everyone else thinks of you.
And people think that oh he's like that on social media but I bet in real life and you'll meet me and I'll be like "I don't give" 
I really don't care like if someone doesn't like me that's a them problem not me problem, and-- and they can deal with that to the side and it really is... I think especially nowadays - generation coming up you know - I think my generation's a bit soft.
We're the millennials so we're a bit soft but I was - in my family I was brought up really tough you know really like you've got to be tough and I think a lot of people don't have that kind of toughness to-- and so I try to teach people that you know if you're getting bullied this is a big rant now - if you're getting bullied like you know, or think people are saying something to you then like don't never let them see you sweat.
You never, you know, and call them out on stuff because people that are like that, hate getting called out.
No one loved-- bullies never like getting called a bully, you know what I mean?
So I try and teach people to love them-- the skin that you're in and if you don't love it, change it to a way that - to your standard not someone else's.
So it's just - I want to be that I just want to be that voice that people can listen to but it's about your size your mental health what about your sexuality and whether it be about um being inclusive and diverse... 
I just hope people kind of watch my content and be like "oh like he's someone that gets it" and I learn every day.
I don't know everything about everything you know what I mean - that's the truth I don't know learn... I learn just as much as everyone else does so um people think that I’m -  you know he must know or he thinks he knows - oh I don't.
That's the end of my TED talk.
[LAUGHS]
There's this one... should we take a little drink break?
Yes that'd be great actually.
Let's take a little drink break I’ve got some, I’ve got some juice here.
And you too at home, why don't you have a drink too? 
I love oh yeah I love it - I love water.
Ahh, refreshing! 
I love that it's a good segment I love it.
Steven Mckell!
What do you find are the hardest videos to make?
Hardest? Original-- original comedy content is very hard to make because you have to be-- you have to be funny and you have to have a good sense of humour.
You have to be quick.
How do you make a funny TikTok video?
What's your process?
How do you go about it? 
It depends on what I’m making. 
If I’m making a video like, if I’m using like a sound underneath it and it's not me talking - I think "what's going to grab someone's attention in the first four seconds", because that's your window that you've got.
Sometimes it's shorter depending on what kind of video it is, but you've only - only got your first few seconds to... to hit someone with what you need.
So my thing is how what if I make a video that I want to watch for 15 seconds or more, how can I get the punchline in there - if it's non-verbal - within the first few seconds.
So I think of that, I think "how can I get that in there quickly" then, "what's the story 
after that?"
Because people love watching a storytelling that-- if it's-- and that's hard to do itself if you're doing a comedy video without you actually talking.
And you're just doing something that's funny, you're trying to tell the story through your actions or through the writing on the screen.
So you've got to have a plan and I think: "plan but don't plan too much" 
It's hard, it's like "do this but don't do this!" You know "go to work, don't go to work" but anyway um so you've-- 
You've got to plan but don't plan too much.
Plan like: "this is the beginning middle and end" and allow yourself to have a bit of leeway of um spontaneity have been-- like spontaneous.
Put that in there as well and just do stuff that you think will be funny and watch it back, but yeah... 
I think that have a plan for it, making sure you're getting that real comedy punchline the very first few seconds to hook people in.
Because if you do it for the first few seconds they'll stay for 15. 
If you're still good then they'll stay to 30. 
And people that are really intrigued-- if you can get them intrigued on what you're doing then great.
If it's stuff like you know, you actually want to be a character, and you want to do like an actual original comedy video where it's just you talking?
Plan your characters out. 
Plan what you want to say out, film it and film until it's good you know that-- 
You know those kind of ones where you pretend to be people and you're trying to be like "oh I’m gonna you know" - you have to make sure - I make sure that my timing's quick, so if it's from speaking from people to people which a lot of TikToks are and you've got to get that timing really quick between the characters.
You've got to know what you're going to do, and you've got to think how is TikTok going to perceive this? 
What's my caption going to be um-- is 
Is it going to be a build up to the end where people know what's going to happen but are still going to watch and that's the kind of stuff that my process is.
If it's character-wise you've gotta, I’ve got to make sure it's character developed and but also be spontaneous throughout it because, if it's too planned TikTok will know.
People that are watching will figure it out.
That's why it's different to YouTube.
YouTube like... people make sketches of actual like tv shows right. 
You can do that on TikTok as well and-- but if it's not authentic and you really have planned it out to the point where it's like: "My name is Stacy, and I’m doing this! My name's bit--" 
People are going to click right off and be like that's not fun, the person's too much in their head. 
That's really interesting. 
When you-- when you're planning do you-- do you literally write it out or do you keep notes for yourself? 
Sometimes I write it out, if I want to get a point of view across, if it's-- if it's not-- if it's a comedy video, but I want to get a point of view of what I want to say in the video, I’ll write it out because then-- I’ll put it in my head but then my head gets jumbled - mambo jumbo - I've got dyslexia so sometimes it's like, "what did I just say?" and, and that's why I always record if I’m doing takes and stuff because sometimes you forget what you said - you have to like watch it back!
I’ll write some stuff down and like this is what's going to be like a few of the lines but not all of them because I think you have to have a way of just ad-libbing it and doing it and-- and not everyone can do that, erm.
What you might not be good at doing comedy, you might be good at singing.
If you're not good at singing maybe dance.
If it's not dance maybe it's art stuff, maybe it's arts and crafts, maybe it's point of view content.
Some people do really really great acting on point of view content which I don't-- I am not great at, I’m not, because how they edit it and how they make the videos it's... 
Yeah if you go on TikTok, you just put in #POV you'll find a lot of these like dark videos and you think you're watching like a little episode of-- it's great! 
People do like 10 part series of stuff and I’m like... I’m watching the whole thing!
What you're actually outlining is basically rehearsal on camera.
Do you, you tend to just rehearse record?
See me, sometimes I wake up at 3 in the morning like "this is gonna be such a great comedy stuff" 
Put my phone up and I’ll film it there then because my... my mind was telling me this is really gonna get the best kind of content for this video, now, so I’ll be in the hallway--
Mum and dad will be asleep and I’ll be like strutting down pretending to be like a character and, and I think that's really great because once you start doing that it's tough to start with - but it's like any content, whether it be comedy, singing, dancing, point of view, meme style, artsy craft and telling-- storytelling you find a way of doing it that works for you... works with people watching your content and for it to do well.
That's the one thing when you work with brands, they're stuck with YouTube and Instagram in mind.
You can't do that for TikTok. 
You-- you really should, brands... if the brands are watching this.
Brands should really open it up to the creator and say "well what this is - what that's the idea that we have - and it's great whenever... when a brand comes with an idea... be like "we think this" because it shows that understanding of TikTok and that's great because any company should look into the platform, they're looking to promote on or Insta the product on - that's just the tee! um 
So they'll come with a plan and I’ll say-- this is me just rambling on now-- and I’ll say that's great and then we'll take stuff out and say "but this would work on my account because of this" 
So having that between-- some brands have a fully realised campaign.
Fully realised brief and I’m like "That's great, I love-- and I love the... the, you know, the music or the product and that's great and that works for me and my fans or people that follow me..." I don't want to- I call them Sassy Squad because like "fans" is like a weird thing um 
But I'll tell them this will work this way on my account because we're all different.
And so sometimes you get a bit sometimes and I’m like I’ll do it like I’m happy to do... because what you've got is good, but I know it won't work.
So like sometimes I’ve had-- I’ve done it and it's been alright, I’ve enjoyed what I’ve done but other times I’ve been like "if I can't do it that way then I’m not going to be able to be part of it" because it doesn't fit and-- and what it's going to do, is it's going to do an injustice to you as the artist or the brand. It's going to do injustice to me and injustice to people watching.
Where some people wouldn't do that.
Some people be like "give me the money and I’ll post to you" and that's you know, that's, that's-- that's alright.
That's people that you know will do that and they have that.
Me? I’m not.
I want to do stuff that I feel that I’m really passionate about.
That if it's a song, if I don't click with a song I won't do it.
If it's a TV show, whatever.
If I don't like the idea of it, I won't do it because then that's essentially what every creator should be doing.
You-- you should be doing it in a way that, "okay this is fun and I think my fans would love watching this" 
Or fans would love listening to this.
Or they're going to have fun watching me doing this.
That's the issue that you have nowadays with brands with er-- 
if that's a conversation you have with someone, that's the issue that you have, is you're just-- they're so like Instagram driven.
Instagram story driven?
No.
They look like ads!
[LAUGHS] That's right, it's true! 
Steven what... what would you say to your 1000 follower self?
Oh that's hard!
I would say um you'll... stick to your-- stick to your guns on, you know, how you want to be perceived and how you want to be kind of um looked at in the world I think, um.
And you're gonna have ups and downs and that's alright, um, but it's alright just to say to people like, you know, no!
Get away.
You don't have to be-- you don't, you know and people... some people might be a bit mean to you.
Social media wise some people are gonna be mean to you, or some people are going to have opinions about you that you don't... they've never met you and they never are going to meet you and you have to just really take yourself out of that mindset and just focus on doing what makes you happy.
Because I didn't do that to start with, okay. 
I was like "other people--" and people didn't like me on musical.ly
I was you know my name was "Mr. Chubby" or something like that - it was so bad um 
Well, I say "fat" isn't my comedy but I had my name as Mr Chubby!
But yeah I’d say to myself, just stay authentic, have fun and-- and just don't let what other people think of you, like annoy yer.
And I don't do that now, but it took me a bit a while to kind of get into that, you know, I got hate on the first-- my first day on TikTok.
On social media in general I’ve had hate comments.
I have them now so it's just about persevering and realizing...
My Mum taught me you've got two options: you can really let it consume you and reply to them and kind of defend yourself... and then like think about it or like you know really argue with them. 
OR you can kind of take it in, let it go over your head and just move on.
And so that's what I did.
I said "that's it!"
That's what I’ll do, just like move on.
If someone's got an issue that's them, so 1000 follower me, keep doing YOU and don't let anyone stop you!
Steven what do you think TikTok will be like in 2021?
Oh I, I think it'll be more um... I think it'll be bigger than it is now.
I don't think it's-- good I’m looking at the wrong camera... 
I think it'll be bigger than it is now TikTok 2021.
I think that... that the fight for the "For You" page is going to be a lot tougher than where it is now.
I do think it'll be bigger and it'll be better and I think that it's going to encompass a lot of stuff that the... this... all generations can get involved in more and more because it's a platform for everyone.
There's everyone of all kind of ages on it and there's not a... there's never been another app or platform that's rose to this kind of fame, in such a short time.
So for 2021 I just see it being bigger.
I see... I hopefully see creators you know getting more monetization for the the work that they do but I am, I think-- it'll be... I think it'll be harder for creators though.
I think it'll be a lot-- it'll be a tougher game, what YouTube was back in like you know 2012... 2011 a lot of people just uploading content and it's you know, it's survival of the fittest and only the strong survive.
When it comes to being a big creator on it.
But in terms of people making content, you know, I think that it'll be more people of all ages that are on it hopefully... you know, hopefully it's not shut down!
You know these things about getting banned and stuff - it never will be like that.
But yeah I do see it-- I see it being twice the size it is now and just taking over the world even more.
Should we just pose for thumbnails?!
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