Steve brings up some pretty good points about the inaccuracies in LTT videos. What they did to Billet Labs was almost unforgiveable IMO.
It's a bigger problem of marketplace realities: you have to
constantly pump out content in order to stay SEO-relevant these days. According to Wikipedia, Linus Tech Tips employs over 100 people:
en.wikipedia.org
According to google, Linus is estimated to have a net worth of $85 million dollars & apparently received a $100 million buyout offer:
In a video titled I'm Stepping Down..., Linus said his decision to step down as CEO of Linus Media Group, which runs not only the YouTube channels...
www.techspot.com
LTT has multiple channels with over 15 million subscribers total, so they're
constantly on the hook to deliver fresh new video content on their feed, which has turned into
an issue of quantity over quality. Which normally wouldn't be that big of a deal in the world of online entertainment (ex.
7 gamers on one tower)...except that you're dealing with a bunch of ultra-technical people who
delight in accuracy, specs, comparisons, etc., which resulted in a 45-minute call-out video by Gamer's Nexus, which has already generated nearly 2 million views within 24 hours of release.
The hard thing about being publicly called out is that people feel the need to go into self-defense mode instead of fixing it. Admitting our mistakes is hard enough; doing it publicly is even
more difficult because then we have to admit that we were wrong & that not only feels bad, but can affect sponsorships, branding, etc. People
like Linus & his channel, but the content is starting to have issues, and in the niche world of technology reviews, accuracy, honesty, and transparency are
extremely relevant! I study marketing extensively & we've had 3 recent public examples of these types of issues:
1. Scott Adams: After racist-sounding video went viral (which he now calls "
obvious hyperbole"). He eventually did a
30-minute justification response on CNN, but not before
losing 80% of his income.
2. Kanye West: After making bigoted statements, he lost an estimated
$1.5 billion in net worth, losing his billionaire status, which in turn
cost Adidas an estimated $1.3 billion in sales.
3. Elon Musk: After publicly
making fun of a disabled employee, it came to light that he was potentially on the hook to pay out a
$100 million termination contract.
Linus could fix this in five minutes: post a straight-up apology video, admit to the mistakes, and commit to do better. Go fix the Billet Labs situation. The end! Probably won't happen, but one can hope!
