Why Did I Start a YouTube Channel?

Preface

Well, simply put, I started a YouTube channel. It feels just like finishing a blog post and excitedly wanting to share it.

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Trying Different Mediums of Expression

In 2020, besides continuing to hone my craft in programming, I also wanted to present things I’m interested in through another medium. In essence, it’s just like blogging, only using a different format—and of course, I’ll continue writing on the blog as well.

Making videos, however, proved to be far more challenging for me. First came camera anxiety, plus the habit of rarely speaking out loud in daily life, which led to noticeable filler words. Then there’s the pacing of the shoot and figuring out what viewers actually want to watch—things you’d never have to consider just writing an article (at least for me).

Beyond shooting, another thing I learned was video editing. Even though I’m not making a heavy-VFX channel, this format has vastly expanded creative possibilities, and it’s quite fun too.

I firmly believe that whether it’s text, audio, or video, every medium of conveying information has its own uniqueness and cannot replace another; each has its pros and cons. Video just happens to be the medium I wanted to try out recently.

Due to the nature of video, its reach tends to be better than pure articles or even podcasts. Through YouTube’s recommendation system and discovery channels, videos can be pushed directly to people who are interested. Rather than just purely digging into code, I hope to learn more interesting things in this flourishing era.

Additionally, I have some topics that are harder to write into articles, or don’t attract much attention in written form (Raspberry Pi, Arduino, Sonic Pi, etc.). When paired with video and hands-on demos, these topics leave a much stronger impression and are more likely to inspire people to take action right after watching (hopefully). Of course, once I find a suitable format, maybe I’ll start a podcast too—who knows?

I admit I have rather eclectic tastes. Beyond my current professional field, I also like exploring various other domains, like the topics mentioned above. I’ve found that the deeper you go into the lower levels, the fewer Chinese resources there are, and the fewer people there are to share with. So I also hope to rally like-minded peers through this channel.

Beyond Deepening Expertise: Building a Personal Brand

What’s quite interesting is that because YouTube itself is a community, any skill needed to grow a community applies to YouTube as well. That’s another thing I wanted to experiment with this year—Growth Hacking.

YouTube has always been a platform I wanted to try. Although I don’t know how effective it will be, as an engineer, embracing an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) mindset—getting something out first before perfecting it—feels like a good approach.

Reaching a certain stage, you often realize: I clearly have a great idea and built a very complete side project, but why is nobody noticing me? That feeling can be very frustrating (at least for me). So YouTube serves as a real-world testing ground. It calculates all kinds of metrics for you—click-through rates, watch time, impressions, etc.—making it very easy to analyze the content you produce.

There don’t seem to be many channels in Taiwan with my kind of focus (if there are, feel free to share them with me!). There are people covering frontend and backend, but some focus only on specific niches, some only on certain programming languages, and some just upload livestreams. There are relatively few broad-scope YouTube channels, and not many that edit with that true “YouTuber” style (if I do say so myself XD).

Content I Want to Make vs. Content Viewers Want to Watch

Another fascinating topic is how to strike a balance between what viewers want to watch and what I actually want to make. I’m still searching for the answer myself; having only uploaded 6 short videos so far, there’s still a long road ahead.

My short-term goal, however, is to get my content seen by more people. Only then will people actually watch my stuff, and only then will I know what needs fixing and improving.

When regular software engineers want to acquire information or fill knowledge gaps, they usually don’t turn to YouTube (unless watching conference talks); they go to online platforms like Udacity, Coursera, Egghead, and so on. While I’d also love to make more in-depth content, doing so would inevitably pigeonhole the channel into a super niche audience, making it no different from writing a blog.

A Few Takeaways

I think if you’re an engineer also thinking about starting a YouTube channel, you must be prepared for one thing: making videos will drastically reduce your productivity.

Coding is inherently a solitary, quiet activity. Now, you have to code while keeping an eye on the camera, interacting with the audience, and thinking about the script. It’s far more exhausting than you’d imagine. And I don’t know if anyone else experiences this, but after coding for too long, you suddenly forget how to speak.

The most painful part of all is video editing—once you start cutting, 6 to 8 hours just fly by. Ah, so many things left to learn QQ.

In this testing-the-waters phase, there’s still a lot of room for improvement. But if you’re interested in coding, remember to hit subscribe and check it out!

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