Success: Youtubers vs Vimeo Users

With all the sites out there that provide services for you to upload videos and pictures to, it's sometimes hard to decide where you want to plant your feet. Let's take a look at some of the differences between the two as seen from a candid viewer like myself.

Youtube for me is a place to watch wacky clips of animals, viral videos, crazy people doing crazy stuff. But there are also quite a few Youtubers who have become quite a success. The first and possibly biggest as of late is Freddie and Brandon from freddiew and their friends Sam and Niko from Corridor Digital. These guys started off with nothing and built what is now a huge following. If you go back to some of their earliest work, you can see how well they've progressed through the years. They are visual effects masters but are always kind enough to run through tutorials on their second channels so that people like you and me can have a go at it. Their clips are short and entertaining. But now with a combined following of almost 3.5 million people (A majority going to the freddiew channel) they managed to get to a point where companies as big as EA (Electronic Arts), are impressed enough to ask them to make paid national commercials for them. The commercial is only going to add to their popularity and possible revenue to make more movies.

And speaking of movies, freddiew managed to get an insane amount of support on their Kickstarter campaign to produce what they believe to be (We'll have to wait and see) a great feature. Youtube fans have shown their appreciation for the art they've created so much so that they managed to make $273,725 in contributions when their goal was only $75,000. That's 4 times more than they asked for, give or take. Compare that to indie film DP Phillip Bloom's Kickstarter campaign which fell short almost $18,000 short of their $48,000 goal.

Which brings me to Vimeo. I like putting up my artsy stuff where someone might appreciate a little technical information or where some might be offered up concerning the video. To be honest, if I made a feature, I would like to see it up on Vimeo. For some reason the community there is far more constructive and appreciative of what you put up, as far as the comments go. The lack of trolls that are all over Youtube is what makes Vimeo very appealing to some. It's also less cluttered and simply a nicer viewing experience. Unfortunately, Vimeo does not have a system in place to monetize videos...and I don't know why with so many wonderful pieces there to watch. I admit, a different crowd would be watching, but still a great way for filmmakers to continue making more of what people like to see would be to offer a way for them to make money to budget for future videos. The limits set for regular, Plus and Pro users is either good or bad depending on who you are. Without going into too much detail, I've stayed a regular user and will upgrade to a Plus user when I am able to make better contributions to the channel I have. So who are the stars of Vimeo? Well, it's hard to say. There are some wonderfully talented people doing all sorts of creative and informative stuff. Phillip Bloom is someone I've followed. He likes to put his gear to the test and then share his experiences, and I'm glad for that. He does have a great following and I believe is very popular in the indie film world. Unfortunately, as I mentioned above, the Kickstarter campaign he was part of didn't do well at all when you compare it to freddiew and friends. That's not to say they are poor. Phillip and others like Vincent LaForet, Tom Lowe, the Stillmotion crew and others still make plenty of money doing what they love.

I'll end it like this: A friend of mine who is also a lover of films told me that his Youtube watching is like partying with a bunch of friends, eating pizza and drinking beer. Whereas Vimeo is like sitting down by yourself with a bottle of wine (Or whiskey) and enjoying the flavor in a quiet room alone and content. What do you think? Where would you put your feature? What would like Youtube or Vimeo to do to make it 'better'?