Right now, social media has a lot of "rules" like using hooks to grab attention. But viewers are not fish, and creators are not fishermen. Instead of just making videos, the algorithm pushes creators to make "correct" content. It forces creators to judge people not as living beings, but as objects to control, treating them as just numbers and statistics.
The worst part is that even if a viewer subscribes to the channel, turns on notifications, watches the video to the end, likes it, and leaves a comment, there is still no guarantee they will see your next video. Having a million subscribers does not guarantee that a million people will watch what you post. The algorithm decides for itself who should like your video and who should not.
The logic that platforms want viewers to stay on their sites as long as possible is perfectly understandable, because in return they let you broadcast to the whole world. But the logic of the algorithms themselves is not obvious. If your video fails, no one tells you why it did not get attention, so you can only make conclusions based on guesses. It is hard to explain when the stats look perfect, retention is good, comments and likes are there, but the platform essentially says the video is not good enough and refuses to tell you why.
The situation is getting worse now that AI is taking over moderation. You can go on X and see that many creators are getting demonetized right now for "inauthentic content" without a clear explanation. They just get standard automated replies, which takes away the main income their content and lives are built on.
For a very long time, I tried to please the algorithm. I released videos on a strict schedule, followed all the rules, and made different genres from sad to funny, from complex dances to simple scenes where the character just stands and talks. Now I have slowed down a bit. I try to make content not on a schedule, but when inspiration comes. The algorithm punishes me by reducing traffic for "breaking the rules", but I can afford to do this because I have your help now. I can worry less that if a video doesn't blow up tomorrow, I won't be able to eat or upgrade my equipment.
This post might look like a complaint, but I just wanted to share the reality I have been fighting for the last few years. I want to show how much your support ACTUALLY helps me, because I only briefly touched on the topic of algorithms on my landing page. On top of that, I now have a group of viewers I can discuss the future of the channel with. I can ask your opinion on what I should do next and share things that the algorithm "forbids" me to do.
What do you guys think about this? Am I right, or am I exaggerating?
A lot of you have asked how I made my stylized fur. I made a couple of posts showing the basics and explaining that I do it by mixing mesh and hair normals. But that method doesn't work well in Cycles. I spent a long time experimenting with nodes to make it work there since Cycles is what I prefer to use.
I avoided showing how I built it because there were a lot of workarounds that only worked for my specific model. I also don't want to sell my actual model since it's the main asset of my channel. This left me with two problems:
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The shader was too raw for practical use.
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I didn't know how to properly show how it works.
I figured out how to fix both. First, I kept using and refining the shader while making animations. I fixed the issues that popped up during production, so now it works properly and I'm not ashamed to share it. Second, I realized I don't have to give away my whole model. I can just use a part of it, like the tail.
Soon I will release my first digital product. It solves a specific problem and it's something I'm comfortable asking money for. It will be a .blend file with Tomas's tail and the fully configured shader, so you can poke around and study it yourself.
This post isn't really an announcement though, it's a poll. I don't know how to price this product yet. Right now I'm thinking about $27. It's not so cheap that it devalues my work, but not too expensive for the utility it provides. What do you guys think? How much would you be willing to pay for a stylized fur shader like mine?
