Wikitubia:Interviews/Benzo Effect

This interview was conducted on September 19, 2016 by Aidan Dunphy

Benzo Effect is a YouTuber with over 2,950 subscribers as of September 19, 2016.

Q1: How and when did you discover YouTube?
 * I had been using YouTube for the past several years. I use to look up on YouTube on how to do certain projects around my home. I still do for the most part.

Q2: Can you remember what the first YouTube video that you ever watch was?
 * If I can remember right, it was probably World War II History videos. I love history.

Q3: Who was the first YouTuber that you were a fan of?
 * Stevethegamer55 I would say was the first YouTuber I was a fan of.

'''Q4: Who influence you to make YouTube videos? '''
 * Stevethegamer55 was a big influence as to start making YouTube videos. He put out a video in 2015 about how he was riding a “Huge wave of subscribers lately” he also went onto say “There is no better time to start a channel than now.” He put the thought in my head that I could really do this.

Q5: How did you come up with the YouTube channel name Benzo Effect?
 * Ahhh “Benzo Effect”. It actually has a history behind the name. You see I am a Paramedic in real life. When myself and other fellow medics would go to 911 calls, we would arrive on scene. We had a key word for people that had a zoned out look about them. They looked as if nothing in the world could bother them. They were feeling very euphoric. That was because they were very much under the influence of Benzodiazapines otherwise known as Benzos. Some Benzos are Xanax and Valium for example. The key words that me and other fellow medics and fire fighters would use when dealing with these zoned out zombie style patients were “We are dealing with a Benzo Effect”. If I spoke to another medic, I would just shrug and say “Benzo Effect” as to why we were called to a house. The other medics understood right away. It became our inside language so to speak around the Fire House. So now you know where the name came from “Benzo Effect”

Q6: Do you like or dislike the new YouTube Advertiser friendly content guidelines?
 * Well to be honest, YouTube is very vague when it comes to their “rules”. Any video could be considered inappropriate. For examples violence could be considered inappropriate. Is it real life violence? Video game violence? Is it talking in a forum about violence? I feel that YouTube is starting to overstep their boundaries and if it keeps going too far, people will eventually go elsewhere to upload videos.

Q7: What made you want to upload LSPDFR videos? Q8: Currently who is your favorite YouTuber or YouTubers?
 * Mainly because I was already playing LCPDFR and then LSPDFR anyways. I knew I could do a good job if I bought the right equipment. I love learning new things and I love editing videos. So why not combine the two, made perfect sense to me.
 * I like to watch What's Inside? Channel. I also like Discovery Channel, I just love history and learning how things work.

Q9: Do you have a favorite and least favorite video that you have uploaded?
 * My favorite would have to be my Swat Episode showing off “swat Callouts”. My least favorite was probably when I did a video with no commentary – just writing tickets with lspdfr, it was a terrible video.

Q10: What is your favorite part about having a YouTube channel?
 * Good question: I would say editing the videos to my liking and watching the comments on the YouTube channel. To me it feels like a cool project that you do for a friend and watching to see if your friend likes it. The more people like it, the more I want to do.

'''Q11: You currently have over 2,950 subscribers. Did you ever think you would have that many subscribers?'''
 * No, not at the beginning. I figured I would have a few hundred to be honest. I stuck mainly to GTA 5 LSPDFR videos for the most part. It has a very small community of people that really like the mod. Slowly and very slowly my channel started to get recognized. It feels good.

'''Q12: You currently have uploaded 251 videos. Did you ever think you would uploaded that many videos?'''
 * Hell no, if you had asked me that in October 2015, I would say “are you kidding me, I do not have time to for that and have a full time job” Well I made it work. I love being a full time Paramedic and I come home and do YouTube mostly on the weekends. I have to pre-record several episodes in advance, this allows me to upload 3-5 days a week.

Q13: What is your lifetime subscriber and video view goal?
 * Subscriber goal 5 million, Video view 500k per video, total over 3 billion views for the channel. Would be very nice to be able to do YouTube as a job.

Q14: What was your lifetime subscriber goal when you first started uploading YouTube videos?
 * At the very beginning I can honestly say 5k subscribers. Now I can see a light at the end of the tunnel and see much bigger numbers.

Q15: What advice would you give to someone who is trying to make videos on YouTube?
 * Good question – My advice to anyone starting YouTube. You have to have patience. It takes time to allow viewers to find you on YouTube. Quality over Quantity always! Meaning, the viewer wants to see a quality video. They do not want to see a crappy edited video, or poor video render. Invest in proper equipment for your channel (i.e. a good microphone, a good graphics computer) but don’t go and spend a lot of money at the beginning. Do not expect to make money on YouTube. Last but not least HAVE FUN. Your viewers can tell if you are not having fun. If you are not having fun, they will not have fun and click off your channel. Also, even if your view count is low per video and you may only get 5 likes on a video, DON'T GIVE UP! Chalk it up to a bad day for people watching YouTube and keep producing content at least 3-5 videos a week if you can.

Q16: What is the future for you and your channel?
 * My future for myself is to keep working as a paramedic and a teacher. I want to expand the channel. I do not want to stay doing GTA LSPDFR videos all the time. I want to do FPS gameplay, Video Reviews and other gameplay commentary. I love to teach people things as well, so I can picture myself doing tutorial videos on perhaps different types of subjects. Would love to grow my subscriber base to the hundreds of thousands over the next 5 years.