Wikitubia:Interviews/JackSucksAtLife

This interview was conducted on March 25, 2020, by Purzyckij.

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JackSucksAtLife is a YouTuber with over 1 Million Subscribers.

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Q1: When and how did you discover YouTube, and what were your first thoughts on the site?

• I discovered youtube sometime around 2008! The first Youtuber I can remember watching was Fred. I’m not sure if I liked him or hated him, I was about 11 at the time! I can also remember watching the Sneezing baby panda and the cult classic -Charlie Bit My Finger. I was very interested in the site & continued to explore it.

Q2: You have had different YouTube Channels over the years (SamSmellsofApricots and a different JackMasseyWelsh Channel) what was the reason behind creating brand new channels instead of rebranding one of your old ones?

• I wanted a fresh start, the type of content on SamSmellsOfApricots was very different to the Minecraft videos I wanted to upload in 2013. Also, originally I didn’t want any of my real life friends knowing about JackSucksAtMinecraft until I had gotten more practice with the videos & started getting views. I think I was on about 10,000 subscribers before I started telling people about my new channel.

Q3: What was the meaning behind originally calling your main YouTube Channel JackSucksAtMinecraft?

• I hated usernames that had numbers in, I thought that they were very generic. So I needed to come up with something different. I saw that Tobuscus would call his Minecraft gaming series “Toby Sucks At Minecraft”, so I nabbed that off him!

Q4: When did you realize you wanted to change that channel name to JackSucksAtLife?

• I changed the name of the channel in 2015. I had about 160,000 subscribers at the time, but was only getting between 2k-4k views per video. My channel wasn’t growing, & I was enjoying doing my Q&As more than my Minecraft videos. So I decided I would rebrand so that I wasn’t as locked into Minecraft! Ironically, not long after this my Minecraft videos started doing a lot better & I ended up uploading more Minecraft than before!

Q5: Who or what inspired you to start making videos on YouTube?

• My SamSmellsOfApricots channel was inspired by Freddiew. JackSucksAtMinecraft was strongly inspired by The Syndicate Project and the Yogscast.

Q6: Who was the first YouTuber you were a fan of and do you still watch them today?

• I suppose if we’re going back to 2008-2009 it would be Charlieissocoollike! To be honest I think he is the reason my hair is like it is today… I don’t watch him anymore, I used to check in on what he was up to every couple of years but it looks like he has stopped uploading now.

Q7: How long did it take for YouTube to become your primary source of income?

• I think it took about 6 months. But I didn’t have another job, so even though my channel was making £10 a day for a long time I still counted it as my job. I still lived with my parents so I didn’t have to pay rent or any other expenses.

Q8: Did any of the “Adpocalypses” affect your channels in anyway over the years?

• Not much, there was a period of time when maybe 1 of my videos per week would be falsely demonetised. It was always things like “Minecraft One Life” that wsas totally advertiser friendly. It meant I lost out on some revenue but I wasn’t hit anywhere near as much as some channels. These days it’s very rare that I get demonetised.

Q9: Has COPPA affected your channels in anyway?

• Not that I am aware of!

Q10: You have been uploading content on YouTube as far back as 2011, what keeps you going?

• I’ve always loved making videos & I used to make videos before I even knew Youtube existed (I wish I still had those files so I could make a video reacting to them!). At the stage I’m at now I’m still very much enjoying making content & because I have the support from various editors it doesn’t take up all of my time anymore, so I still have lots of time to relax & not get burnt out. I’m also very aware that Youtube is very up and down so I try to just save 90% of my income to protect myself in the future.

Q11: What is your favorite part about having a YouTube channel?

• I like being able to set my own work schedule & be able to take time off whenever I want providing I do enough recording in advance. I think it’s incredibly important that your job is something you enjoy seen as you spend such a big chunk of your life doing it, & fortunately I have always enjoyed making videos.

Q12: If making content on the internet wasn’t your full time job, what career would have pursued?

• I’m assuming I’d have done something related to TV or Film. Maybe editing? I was going to do Film Studies at university.

Q13: When you are not making videos, what do you like to do in your free time?

• I like relaxing, watching crap TV & spending time with Becky & the dogs.

Q14: Did you ever think you would have the amount of subscribers you do now?

• I always day dreamed about it when I was younger, so I suppose I did yes (but not in a cocky way..)

Q15: What video do you think helped blow up your channel?

• Lots of different videos over the years. I remember the first video that got 1000 views was my Minecraft Mod Showcase of the Doctor Who Dalek mod. That’s because I sent the video to the mod maker and he whacked it on his mod forum page. I would guess the video that I gained the most subscribers from was definitely my Tricking Youtube Gold Play Button video” I gained 150,000 subscribers in one month! Which is 10x more than I usually get.

Q16: When did you decide you wanted to make your Minecraft server Skycade?

• I wasn’t very happy with how things were going on my other Minecraft server EvoPvP. I owned this server with a few others & they were just very different from me & it just felt like more stress than it was worse. I created Skycade as the sole owner which meant I had full control over everything. I am very grateful to this server because without it in 2015 & 2016 I wasn’t earning enough money from Youtube ads to do Youtube Full Time. Skycade meant I had enough money to pay for all my monthly expenses.

Q17: How did you end up discovering our site?

• I’m always on the look out for a video idea, so I’d often google “JackSucksAtLife” in the hopes that I could find something worth talking about. I think I discovered Wikitubia in the first “Googling Myself” video I uploaded in 2016(?)

Q18: Do you have any memorable fan experience?

• I suppose a particularly unlikely one was went I went to Alton Towers Theme Park with some friends, I was wearing my Skycade beanie. Unfortunately the beanie was sucked off my head on one of the rides & I couldn’t find it when we got off. When I got home I went on Twitter to find some viewers had found the hat and stolen it!

Q19: What advice would you give someone trying to make content on YouTube?

• Just keeping making videos for as long as you’re enjoying it, the more you practice the better they will be & the more likely one of them will start gaining traction. But at the same time don’t upload too frequently while you’re a small channel as you might start getting frustrated with the lack of low numbers despite you putting lots of hours in. It’s just about balance & enjoyment.

Q20: What is the future for you and your channels?

• I’m not sure. I’d just like to keep going on every channel for as long as people are still watching & enjoying. I would definitely like to start doing bigger videos on JackSucksAtLife as I feel like I’ve fallen into a bit of a hole of “reaction” videos & I would love to try some bigger projects that that longer to make. My Minecraft videos on JackSucksAtStuff don’t seem to be getting as much interest as they used to so I’m going to slowly start doing different things on there to find out what people want to watch, fortunately people seem to be really enjoying the weekly Reddit videos again. My Jack Massey Welsh Tesla channel is probably my favourite project at the moment so I am going to continue uploading there twice a week. We recently reached my goal of 1 million views a month over there so I’m really happy. I’ve also just hit 20,000 likes on my latest Reddit video which means I now have to make ANOTHER channel - JackSucksAtGeoguessr. Hopefully there is another play button on the horizon here…