From shifts in the short-form algorithm, to a homage to the Outdoor Boys channel and how it earned ‘cult status’, we’re exploring what it takes to be successful as a creator in 2025. Stick around for stick insects, cheese rolling contests, another Mr Beast lawsuit and some highly meme-able sound effects.
The future of your Explore Page
What’s on your Explore Page? If it’s anything like ours, it’s likely full of AI-generated cats, Disney narrator voices, and ‘propaganda.’ But how did we get here?
It feels like gone are the days when you’d open your phone to find content from creators you actually follow. Instead, platforms are getting better and better at recommending content that’ll get likes and shares, regardless of whether we follow them or not. In short, our feeds are becoming more curated by an algorithm obsessed with engagement – but is this content we really want to watch?
Or is the Explore page becoming easy to exploit by channels looking to farm engagement? We’re seeing our feeds shift towards attention grabbing short-form content (hello, AI cats), versus content that we purposefully subscribed to watching. But what does that mean for creators, especially if you’re just getting started?
The death of the follower→ Creators like Katie Steckly think it’s now harder to build an engaged community on social media.
Friends in other places → Non-algorithmic platforms like Discord and Patreon are on the up as creators look for innovative ways to connect with viewers.
Virality just got easier → The algorithm loves new things –– that means it’s easier than ever for your content to get discovered by new audiences.
Outdoor Boys leaves YouTube after 11 years
What would you do if you hit 15 million followers on YouTube? For Luke Nichols, his answer was – quit.
In a video titled ‘goodbye’, Nichols explained that his channel’s success threatened the normal life of his family. For context, Outdoor Boys amassed over 12 million subscribers in the past 18 months, quickly achieving ‘cult status’ among viewers.
But what made Outdoor Boys special? Nichols’ simple videos of the outdoors gave viewers a window into his life, without the need for special effects, over-the-top scripts or flash thumbnails. You could say that Outdoor Boys was a much needed rest from an internet that, quite literally, doesn’t have an ‘off button’.
A recipe for great content? Authenticity has always been the key to success on YouTube, and Outdoor Boys was as authentic as you can get. As Sandy our Content Coordinator puts it – “Nichols was just a regular guy, going about his day, occasionally catching a fish.”
What are we watching?
For this month’s ‘what we’re watching’, we caught up with our Marketing Coordinator Maria Malinowski to ask her a couple of questions about the YouTube channel she’s been loving recently.
What's your favourite channel right now? "@AntsCanada, a channel that turns the microscopic lives of ants into kingdom-style sagas."
3 words to describe? “Theatrical. Epic. Ants.”
Why do you love it? “This guy once made me relate to a praying mantis on an emotional level. And that’s kind of special.”
Elsewhere on the web
Note to self: don’t sell chocolate in a Mayan temple. Mr Beast faces legal action with the Mexican government.
A school for influencers? Dubai launches the first Academy for viral-hopefuls.
LA-based company, Visional Pop, plans to turn kid cartoons into global franchises.
Firmly in their ‘hustle era’, Gen-Z rate LinkedIn as more important than both Instagram and TikTok.
Google launches Veo 3 and the internet is losing its mind over how realistic it is.
Contestants from around the world compete in Gloucestershire's annual cheese rolling contest.
Latest updates
Ready to up your content game? Kevin from The Creators Cut shares his approach to video editing on the Uppbeat blog. And if you’re looking to add a cinematic touch to your next upload, our Pop Culture Zone is full of the best sounds inspired by cult films, games and more. Or if that’s not your style, add chaos with meme-able sound effects.
