Annoying the Algorithm
👋🏻
The editing process continues to be tight. I really only have the introduction and the closer left to edit. I have a thumbnail locked in.1 Everything's coming up Millhouse.
I think at my current pace, the video will be done by next weekend. I'll pick a date when I am a little more confident in my timing. Since I am already well past my original deadline, I can be more cautious about picking my next public date.
Last time, I promised to share the story about a month-long YouTube support issue. The problem itself was rather simple, but the solution took time, Twitter, and a whole lot of crossed fingers.
After much deliberation and discussion, I decided to create a new channel wholly dedicated to my video essays; then after all that fuss, I fretted over what to name the channel for months on end. Finally, I stuck with what a friend told me from the get go and just decided to name new the channel "Max Frequency" and rename the original channel to something else. This lead to more contemplation, which—tell me if you've heard this one before—I decided to just go with the original idea and I slapped "Max" on the end like it is some new streaming service.
The slate of channels now looks like this:
- @MaxFrequency — The home for just the essays.
- @MaxFrequencyMax — "What YouTube should be like..." – Razbuten
- @MaxFrequencyLibrary — High-quality gameplay recordings for folks to use
My technical problem was that original channel had the handle of "@MaxFrequency." I needed to dump the handle and reclaim it as swiftly as possible for fear of losing my desired URL, name, etc...
Or so I thought.
When changing your handle, YouTube says you have 14 days to switch back before the handle is up for grabs. That seemed fine to me and so I waited. Two weeks passed and no luck. No one else had the handle, so I knew I didn't just miss out. Maybe it was 14 business days? Nope.
Over a month of daily checks to move a handle around and I still could not claim it on the new channel. I tried reaching out to YouTube Support via a help page, but their official channels for communicating with support are solely for paying customers of Premium or movie rentals.
It took tweeting to YouTube Creators, having Team YouTube reply, asking for a follow to DM (which is unnecessary because my DMs have been open 🙄), then them requesting I fill out a form so they can email me in 3 to 5 business days.
Except that YouTube did not email me within 3 to 5 business days. After a week, I sent another DM, was asked to fill out the form again(!) and waited.
Thankfully, this time they actually emailed me. I explained the problem and within an hour I had a response saying that the handle was now reserved for the new channel. All I had to do was rename it and I was golden.
Why? Why does it take jumping through all these hoops just to reach customer support? Why can't YouTube that I am the "owner" of the handle and am just swapping it between Brand Accounts? It was unbelievably frustrating to be in handle limbo.
But now I am free and freedom feels good. The new essay channel is set up and I have begun slowly re-releasing my older essays into the world. The original uploads are being flipped to unlisted when the re-upload goes live, to help preserve any existing links, playlists, etc.
I doubt the Algorithm much cares for re-uploads like this. I fully expect this transition to hurt the launch of my new essay. I think it is for the better in regards to my future of creating these essays though. It makes them more discoverable over time. It provides subscribers with a form of consistency and expectation. My other channel still exists. I'll still upload there. I have far too many interests and ideas that lie outside of the essay format. It may have been annoying to implement, but I am glad that this foundation has been built.
Until next time...
-
I just noticed that I need to slap the Max Frequency logo on the thumbnail, so not entirely locked, but you get the idea. ↩
This letter is one block from the newsletter Memory Card by Max Roberts. Thoughts? Send me an email at max@maxfrequency.net.
Max is the writer and producer behind Max Frequency. cultivate and curate curiosity—both for himself and for others—by delighting in the details and growing greatness from small beginnings.
He's written a rich history and dive on the making of Naughty Dog's The Last of Us Part II, celebrated the 15th anniversary of Super Smash Bros. Brawl with the voice behind its hype, and examined how Zelda "stole" Fortnite's best mechanic.
Memory Card is a real-ish time, raw, drip feed newsletter of his creative process for telling these stories. It’s how The Thing™ gets made.
It's all powered by Max Frequency and patrons.
Wanna see The Thing™? Check it out on YouTube. Read it on The Blog.