Over 3 years ago (thanks for the super accurate date system, Google), Jamie, Andrew and version 1 of The Oracle did our very first live stream. The occasion? To celebrate the YouTube channel hitting 100 subscribers.
Yesterday Scarlet pointed out (shoutout Scarlet) that during the build stream (Wednesdays 11am ET on Twitch and YouTube) we hit 700 subscribers. Wow.
I do keep my eye on our numbers, probably more than is strictly healthy. With a limited amount of time I need to make sure that whatever O:P does is reaching the most number of people, so if a particular project isn’t performing well (looking at you, Frankie Play), it needs to be moved down the priority list or dropped completely.
However, I also realized early on that O:P was never going to be “big”. It’s a niche of a niche, and in some cases (again, Frankie Play), another niche inside that. Every niche recursion loses a significant percentage of the audience, so instead of just “make the numbers go up”, I decided it would be best to just make O:P the highest quality I could and build a core dedicated audience who would stick around. Nothing is worse for creator burnout than the fear that not churning out regular “content” means that your fickle following will suddenly disperse like a shoal of frightened minnows. I’d rather have a smaller number of true community members who feel valued and invested rather than a large collection of hungry baby birds who need feeding.
That’s what makes the 700 YouTube sub number special. It’s still a tiny percentage of what even other puppet folk have, but I’m still extremely proud of it. As anyone on the Discord knows (join the Discord), we are very much a Muppet-like family. I may be the designated Kermit, but it’s all in service of keeping something larger than myself running. It’s a comfortable respite in a chaotic world, and it’s my intention to keep that going as long as I can.
So thank you everyone. I raise my glass to you. Or rather, this attractive mug of, yes, coffee.