Elle, I've brought you here to meet Tod, who is one of the wizards of the algorithm.
So, this is a wonderful opportunity
to ask any questions of Tod about how the system works.
I'd love to talk about creator vacations.
We've definitely heard creators say before that if you take a break from uploading
that the algorithm will punish you
and that creators definitely feel like they can't take vacations
or the audience will disengage and their views are going to go down.
Is that something you feel like you've experienced before?
See, I agree with that.
I feel like when growing an audience, consistency is the most important thing
because you need to build trust with your audience
and they need to know that
like every week they're going to be able to see a video from you.
And once you gain that community and that trust
then I think that's when you're able to be a little looser
with this upload schedule.
But have you ever taken a break from uploading?
Now I think my upload schedule is like a mini break every single time
but my first big break was back in May.
What was your experience with that?
Well, see, I think mine's a bit different.
What had happened was I had a huge public breakdown online
and I feel like people came back for the next video
because they wanted to see if I was OK.
And so, I just had a huge breakdown
went off the Internet
and then my video coming back was explaining that.
But I try to refrain from taking too many breaks
because then people are less forgiving.
I feel like people are more forgiving every once in a while
they're like "OK, we get it, it's been a lot."
But if you keep on taking too many breaks
then I feel like the loyalty starts to fade.
Thank you for bringing up the loyalty part
because I think a lot of people blame YouTube immediately
when they take a break.
But their fans and people out there
have so many options
that if you disappear, they could start watching other people.
Yes, and I agree with that, because YouTube's so fast.
But yeah, I do agree that there are definitely some YouTubers
that are quick to blame YouTube
when I think it's just them dying down unfortunately.
Yeah, I actually dug into some of the data
for hundreds of channels that did take at least a 2-week break.
I did this last summer when it first started coming up
but I just did it again yesterday, just to see what was happening
and I actually saw a variety of things that were happening.
There were some channels that actually came back with big gains
there were other channels that did actually see a dip
but overall it was kind of in the middle.
So, I think it really depends a lot on the nature of your audience
and the type of content you're doing.
There probably will be some channels that see less traffic
if they take a lot of time off
but we see just as many channels that see more traffic.
If somebody does take a break
and their audience is still interested in seeing their content
we're trying to make the algorithm show that to them.
It's like I kind of expected.
Because it depends.
I feel like it depends on how engaged the viewers are
how dedicated the viewers are, I think.
But do you think the algorithm favors creators who do post consistently?
I think it really depends on the channel
and the nature of the content, and how the audience interacts with them.
There's some channel types or content
where the audience is really expecting a consistent experience
you know, connecting with the creator
maybe a vlogger, where that consistency can be really important.
But I don't think it applies to all channels, and we definitely want to set YouTube up
such that all different types of channels can be successful
and really let the audience drive what gets recommended.
So if you're uploading videos and it's on a regular schedule
and the audience likes that
and that performs well
then we'll continue to recommend it
and if you're not consistent and the audience doesn't really care
then we don't put any rules in there that say
"oh, well, let's make sure that the weekly creators get this
"and the daily creators get that."
We really let the data drive and reward whatever works for the audience.
So do you think you encourage creator vacation?
I try, whenever I talk to creators, to personally encourage people to take a break.
We've seen that some people actually get
you know we were talking about inspiration earlier
that break can actually help them identify something new.
And we really want creators to be able to sustain themselves.
It doesn't help us if creators are burning out.
Absolutely, it doesn't help us
it makes us look bad if all these creators are talking about burnout.
Do you have any best practices for people who have been going weekly
or whatever
and they want to stop for a while, take a month off, or something?
Is there anything you can do, do you feel like?
I feel like being honest with the viewers helps
because then they feel like you trust them enough
you're like "I just need this time for myself"
and if they care enough, they're going to be like "for sure"
and they will be back.
And just giving them a heads up that you're taking time off
and not just doing it out of nowhere.
I think that will help for sure, yeah.
And one of the best practices we've developed from watching other creators
is also telling people when you're going to come back.
Like if you can give them a date, "I'll be gone for the month of September
"but I'm back in October," or something like that.
Yeah, because then it's like a countdown and they get more excited
and if you do it right
your first video back will have an extra amount of views.
Did you feel a lot of pressure with that first video back after you took a break?
Yeah, 100%, because that video
it wasn't just a regular video, it was explaining my burnout
and so it was a heavy topic
and I was also actually very scared that the numbers would be lower
and I was scared that I'd lost my engagement
because my engagement had been really great.
So I was definitely refreshing the entire day.
- Yeah. - Yeah.
What's one piece of advice you'd give creators about taking a break?
Taking a break? Do it!
If you're feeling really overwhelmed.
Obviously only do it when you need it, I think.
Because I think it is good to push yourself
but once you feel like you've pushed yourself to your limit
that's when you take the break, I think.
I think you'll be able to tell when that is.
So, take your time, don't put like a timeline on it
like a deadline on it.
Once you feel motivated again, then that's when you're ready to go back into it.
Makes sense.
So it's worked pretty well for you
to see how you're feeling
and then decide to lean into making more videos
- or lean out? - Yeah.
As opposed to saying "I know that I need to take a 2-week vacation
"and I'm going to plan that, in February, I'm going to force myself to take time off."
You tend to find it better to just kind of see how you're feeling about it?
Perhaps it's just me, but I think that does work
because then I know when I feel I want to make videos again
then I know that I'm ready
because that's my brain telling me that I'm ready
I've taken enough time off I'm recharged, I'm ready to go.
So, just listening to your body, honestly, is key.
Elle, thanks so much for coming to YouTube headquarters
it's been great to have you here.
Well, thank you so much.
So, do you have any words of advice
or comforting words to creators who do stress over video performance?
Yeah, I've seen a lot of examples
where creators are worried that if they do one bad video
that their channel's just going to die forever, right?