Here's a very common tactic for faking success on YouTube and how to spot it:

[techaltar@mas.to]

@matix1000000 I'd rather not accuse anyone in particular of basically fraud, but you can look through some of the older channels and find some patterns yourself

[ponderosajohn@sunny.garden]

@Techaltar I didn't know "pay to play as an ad" was a thing.

[twitter_expat@mastodon.world]

@Techaltar
This guy motivations are that he wants a higher “impact” position. To be viewed as a “tech expert”. The same thing Musk did years ago and fooled millions. Why? Well it’s obvious why.
All social media nowadays are set for deceit, for scam, for manipulation. Social media is not an anymore a way to connect.

[mountdiscovery@twit.social]

@Techaltar I watch TWiST religiously and have watched it for years.

The channel has a great catalogue of content going back years.

You are correct the numbers do feel inflated (and that too by a lot) but the content is insightful and when I tune in live, I can see the engagement. Long-form podcasts can be boring for some.

I know YouTube numbers and metrics are gamified and tbf I have stopped noticing them.

[techaltar@mas.to]

@PonderosaJohn that's how all ads on YouTube work. You upload a video and then you pay to play it as an ad

[techaltar@mas.to]

@mountdiscovery I haven't listened so I can't comment on the quality, but my guess based on the engagement numbers is that you and maybe 3000 people listen on YouTube and they buy the rest of the 98% in fake traffic to make their numbers look good

[techaltar@mas.to]

@Twitter_expat I strongly disagree with social media only being for that. There are thousands of excellent, thoughtful creators making great things.

[mountdiscovery@twit.social]

@Techaltar even I was shocked seeing that numbers

It's 2K to 5K max if we are being real considering the topic

They should be ashamed of doing this because they are belittling the true audience.

[techaltar@mas.to]

@mountdiscovery Btw pls dont' tell them I told you, I don't want an angry vengeful VC on my back unless I must have one

[alihan_banan@mastodon.world]

@Techaltar russian speaking segment of internet(which includes Kazakhstan) has seen this many years ago. A blogger wylsacom that "leaked" M4 mbp14 recently is famous for doing this - dude has 10m of subs, but under 600k views and under a few thousands of comments because he has a lot of sponsorships from the retail companies. That's why many people here believe that he has shown fake m4 mbp just to attract attention to his dying media persona

[techaltar@mas.to]

@alihan_banan Ah, I guess that would not be completely surprising, haha