Instagram Is networking to grow your channel harmful?

[Kindred]

For example, pretend I join a group of Youtubers making similar videos to me. They would obviously subscribe to me - but would YouTube view this as spam and see think I'm doing something dodgy even though I'm not doing a sub 4 sub. I hit 700 yesterday and today I noticed a slight drop. Does YouTube get rid of those accounts or am I overthinking this?

 

[SILTHW]

There are a few things to consider. Subscribers that don't watch your videos don't help you and can potentially hurt you. Anything that causes you to gain subscribers that don't watch your content does more harm than good.

Second, sub count will always fluctuate. Subscribers will simply unsubscribe because they realized they subscribed and never watch. YouTube purges bot accounts and removes the subscriptions and the views those bots generate.

All of that said, many people are in communities that support each other. Most legitimate support communities understand that just subscribing to subscribe is not the best way to help each other out. This forum is an example of a community like that. If subbing to other members of a community is part of the requirements or expectations of the group, you are in a sub4sub community no matter how much they say it isn't a sub4sub community.

 

[NanoniumTheDude]

You're better off "networking" by doing collaborations with creators in the same niche than joining groups where you share a video a likely get a low watch percentage let alone click-through rate

 

[Naheed]

@SILTHW has almost explained each point. I will suggest never to
go for the group or join the group which guarantees watch time along
with subscription. Various such groups are available for joining.

 

[Beanie Draws]

For example, pretend I join a group of Youtubers making similar videos to me. They would obviously subscribe to me - but would YouTube view this as spam and see think I'm doing something dodgy even though I'm not doing a sub 4 sub. I hit 700 yesterday and today I noticed a slight drop. Does YouTube get rid of those accounts or am I overthinking this?

How I see it, I'd ONLY promote in groups VERY SPECIFIC to my interests, and ONLY after already establishing a relationship with members. A group that's only for sharing generic videos in the hopes to get some views is kinda pointless because that's more likely to generate low quality "I love this video, check out my video" spam, which you don't want.

But if I were to joing some pen and ink groups, or maybe some dinosaur groups, and I've become friends with people in that group, I could post a video, and because they are interested in my content anyway, I'm more likely to get quality views and interactions.

You want a goal in mind. You don't want to be just throwing videos at all the walls to see what sticks or you'll end up with mess everywhere. But if you have a strong network of likeminded people who share a similar passion, and not just for views, you'll always have a more engaged audience.

 

[amisclinic]

i believe youtube loves collaborating, but hate manipulating...

 

[The Scripting Guys]

i believe youtube loves collaborating, but hate manipulating...

Think so too

 

[HenryBR]

I don't see why it would be. It's all about networking with the right people doing things by the rules.

 

[lifeinplastic]

There's nothing wrong with promoting your videos in Facebook groups specific to your niche. Support groups are okay, as long as the members understand that supporting isn't limited to subscribing. I've joined some Facebook groups where a few members actually watch and comment relevant things on my videos--not the worthless "I love this video thanks for posting" crap.

 

[Stanley | Team TB]

Think about it this way; forget that subscriber count. it's a vanity number. If you are 'networking,' then these peers should be watching 100% of your videos, letting the ads play and then sharing out your work on social media. You only have so many hours in the day, so there are only so many people you can do this for in return. Because of that networking should be limited to a few close associates whom you can discuss thumbnails and content approaches with. Maybe you join each other's Patreon to help give a visual boost to the numbers there. Things like that. Long story short; these relationships are worth more than a subscriber count and if they are not... well then honestly it's just sub for sub.

 

[The Storm is coming]

For example, pretend I join a group of Youtubers making similar videos to me. They would obviously subscribe to me - but would YouTube view this as spam and see think I'm doing something dodgy even though I'm not doing a sub 4 sub. I hit 700 yesterday and today I noticed a slight drop. Does YouTube get rid of those accounts or am I overthinking this?

IDK, I thought the question was about a network where you partner up with an business

 

[jessicabano]

Yes, unfortunately YouTube ranks primarily on watch time, so purposefully making short videos will probably hurt you. Not a direct punishment, but in the sense that you won't rank as well as other longer videos. The general advice is to make the video however long it needs to be.