Why I don't share my social links
Introduction
When I say "I don't share my social links", people get a little confused because:
- I post on social media.
- I talk about social media... a lot.
- I teach social media.
- I dedicated a chunk of my time to creating a community-driven documentation project for the benefit of others
So where are my channel links?
The truth is that while I don't exactly hide my online presence, I still remain somewhat private about where you can find my stuff. This has caused plenty of discourse with certain troublesome characters, and can stem from a basis of wanting to speak freely and not have numbers held against me.
If you've ever looked at my statistics page, you'd know that I'm not by any means a big or successful creator, but that doesn't mean that I don't know things.
Why people might want to know my channel
But Ben, we don't want to know your channel! You're just a silly little narcisstist!
Okay sure, maybe a little, but certain people have and will again.
Argumentative ammunition
One of the biggest reasons I avoid having my channel links right up in the air for people to click on is because of the debates I find myself in.
Being an active member of YouTube-centric communities, I find myself often in conversation with people both more knowledge than me who I can learn from, but more often people who have a very fixed, toxic mindset.
I'm shadow banned! Youtube hate me!
It's also important to conceptualise the idea that someone being blunt to you isn't insulting you, but they are telling you the cold hard truth. I don't care you who are, a bad video is a bad video, and I'll tell you so directly if you don't pick up on my softer variants of "this isn't good" the first few tries.
Basic logic and proven facts are not taken well by certain people, and with the goal of hurting me, they'll try to pull up my channel simply to insult me. If they can't find my channel, they sometimes end up dropping slurs or other obscenities much quicker and then they get banned. Huzzah! The community is a nicer place now!
Honestly, I just want to avoid haters. They suck, and I have better things to worry about emotionally.
For credibility
Now this one's the big one. "Why should I listen to you if you only have x subscribers?".
I've discussed this before, but the main point is:
It doesn't matter who I am half the time. The points I make are often backed up with solid reasoning and logic. You don't have to trust me, you can make your own judgement calls based on the reasoning I provide.
So yeah, you should listen to me even though I only have x subscribers. You should also think about the words that said to you, whether or not they make sense, and then do some research yourself from reputable sources to come to the conclusion that I'm right.
Oh I also provide sources a lot of the time.
Because they're... nice.
Sometimes people are literally just supportive, and want to check out their friend's content. Nothing wrong with that. I'm guilty of """stalking""" other's channels to get an idea of what someone does, their skill level, etc. and in turn, that makes me selfishly paranoid. It's like that saying about bullies - they tend to be insecure about the very thing they're criticising about others. Now I'm not saying that I'm a bully per se, but there's more stakes and nuance with my case.
But yeah, I'm a bit insecure.
I also just don't want any pity subs, you know? I want people to find my content and be entertained, wowed, or simply useful. I don't want people checking out what I make just because they like me, but instead because they like what I do. There's a bit of an execption when it comes to my streams, as those are mostly just me dickin' around and having fun anyway.
So you're not gonna share?
Pretttyyyyyy much. My links aren't exactly hidden, they're just not plastered in the most obvious spots for the reasons stated above. If you're really interested, you'll figure it out.
You can always ask me very very nicely, and I may just link dump on ya. The Ben cinematic universe is in it's infancy, so I just really don't feel ready yet.