#seriously though don't invest youtubers with too much of your trust we will eventually let you down

[ohnoitstbskyen]

So I'm thinking about doing Business

I'm going to experimentally pay for Tumblr's "Blaze" on one of my posts to see what the effect is, if any. I don't plan to use it often, but if I'm using this site as part of my silly little content creator job, maybe it makes sense to advertise some things?

I don't even know what it would make sense to use that feature on, either... posts with my official video releases? Stuff like that article I wrote about the experience of going viral? ... posts about my merch store? (oh god I don't want to advertise the merch store, I haven't added anything to it in ages).

Anyway, if you see one of my posts with a "promoted" tag on it, that's why. Just figuring out if that's something that should be part of my job on here. There are some extended personal reflections on using Tumblr for My Job™ below the cut.

On the other hand, Twitter was never that much of a Business Platform for me, either. That site and app is insanely bad at driving traffic anywhere else, which is part of why its ad revenue was so low depite the huge user base. Getting people to click away from Twitter to anywhere else is like pulling teeth, even for people with million dollar marketing budgets, and so I just... kinda never tried, really. Partly because it never seemed worth the work, partly because it was my personal Twitter before it accidentally became my Business Twitter.

Tumblr in that regard is different though. Four years ago, someone posted an outtake from a shitpost video I did laughing myself half to death over an article about how millennials are killing mayonnaise. That outtake went some degree viral on Tumblr, and that virality did prompt a lot of people to go find the full video on YouTube, making it briefly the most successful video on my whole channel.

So I dunno. Maybe it makes sense to use Tumblr for Business™ in that way. Not that I think I can manufacture a viral hit, of course, but maybe paying to have my work shown to more people on here could be worth it? I guess I'll find out once that Blaze goes through the moderation.

It sorta ties in with a broader pre-post-Twitter reflection I've been having about how I use social media, though.

I don't want to be my job

My personal twitter became my business twitter entirely by accident, and while it was fun at first to have thousands of followers on my personal shitposting, it wasn't fun at all in the long run. At a certain point, usually somewhere past the 10k follower boundary (or if you had the misfortune of having a pre-Elon checkmark), people stop treating you like a person or a fellow poster, and start treating you like a brand, a celebrity (however minor), like a Public Figure. And on the one hand that's good, kinda, because if you have a larger platform, you do deserve more scrutiny. On the other hand, it means you can't be a person on your own social media.

Dark humor, in-jokes, dumb shitposts with friends, dunking on some random hot take, all of that starts to come with the danger that some stranger, who is determined to misunderstand what you post in the absolute worst possible faith, will see it and start yelling about it.

And if, as a person who has a bigger platform, you yell back at them, or dunk on their bullshit... yeah, there's a real risk that you're the one being the bigger asshole, actually. When you have a big Twitter audience, you have some responsibilty for what happens to the things you put in front of that audience. And if you have fans, they might want to defend you, and if you have a lot of fans, some percentage of them aren't going to know how to act or where the line is, and go way the fuck too far.

It's the reality of having a public profile. People will come at you in absolutely wild ways, accusing you of saying absolutely insane things that they have derived from truly deranged (often willful) misinterpretations, and you can't respond to that like a person responds, or you run the risk of being the one who does more harm.

And so you can't be a person on your social media anymore. You now have to be a Public Figure, and if you don't figure that out you're gonna get in trouble. I should have made a private friends-only account on Twitter far, far earlier than I did, I should have made an official brand account far, far earlier than I did. But the only way to know that is in hindsight.

... which leads me back to Tumblr. I've been thinking about Doing Business™ on Tumblr - Blazing my posts, doing SEO, promoting my brand and all that other shit that technically comes with the job I ostensibly have.

I fled back here when I saw Twitter start to torch itself, because I need to post somewhere, but do I need to post for myself, as a person?

Or do I need to post because I am TBSkyen the YouTuber and posting is part of my job, my brand and my online personality which I crafted as a layer of separation between myself and the audience but which has at this point become so entangled with my real self that I don't know the boundaries between them anymore?

Am I going to look back on this and realize, as I did on Twitter, that I should have made a private, friends-only Tumblr account right from the start, and not mixed the personal with the professional and with Posting? I have around 2000 followers right now and this is still fun and casual, but what happens if I manage to luck myself into a real following again? When am I going to dunk on something I think is dumb and cause the person who posted it to receive actionable threats because someone who likes my videos doesn't know how the fuck to act?

Anyway, this is the kind of shit that gets powerblasted through my brain when I pay $10 to make some more people see one of my posts on a website - how's your morning going?

[thelocalshooter]

The Local Shooter Vs. Quan Draper

(LS) Hello thank you being apart of this great come up can we go ahead and start by introducing yourself for those who don’t know you? Who are you? Where are you from and what do you do?

(QD) What's good! My name is Quan Draper. I'm an artist and entrepreneur from Iowa - born and raised in Sioux City. I graduated from Iowa State University in May '18, but I been in the music game since before I even went to college.

(LS) How do you think music affected your life? What was your first memory you remember where you knew that music would be your passion?

(QD) Music's always resonated with me especially as a young half black / half white kid. Music is woven through sports, TV, film, etc and it shaped who I wanted to be. Music affords me the opportunity to influence people and relate to them without having to get to know them. I'm able to entertain, inspire, empathize, and educate people by using my creativity and my taste. Some of my first memories of music stem from early memories of my father. Having looked up to him as my primary role model, I looked forward to him picking me up from daycare and after school activities with his 22" rims blastin' hip hop through his speakers. He's a hip hop head so my preference for bars comes directly from him. Since I could remember, music was important for me and it was always a passion. As a kid though, I was encouraged to do some other things that I was good at - mainly academics. It got me a full ride to college, but I knew music would prevail for me because I was always writing music - in class, in traffic, at home. That type of consistency spoke to how much I loved it and it drove me to take my career seriously as I got my bag up.

(LS) You have a couple projects out of major platforms right now, with lovely being your most recent release what’s your next move? What’s in the works right now for Quan?

(QD) I have a lot of music in the vault, I just have to prepare them for release! I wanna drop a couple visuals, a couple EPs, and a lot of singles to really establish myself with my core fans. I gotta be more invested in giving them content and being visible.

(LS) What are you goals as a musician are you looking to get signed eventually if so what would be the top three label you would want offers from or are you better of being independent?

(QD) I'm honestly not looking for a deal right now. I believe in my skills as an entrepreneur so I don't see myself needing to work with a major unless they could solve a problem that I couldn't solve myself like radio play or securing a direct support slot on a major tour which could benefit me greatly. Most production can be done without a label's backing, you just have to get on the phone or get in the DMs of the right people and take action. It's cliché, but life really is what you make it. Nobody will pickup the phone and give you opportunities. You have to earn them and you have to ask for what you want.

(LS) When it comes to your creative process are you picky about your studio? The time? The people or are you one of those who can literally put a mic in the center of the room and get things done?

(QD) I'm particular, yes, but I'm all about working with what you have. You can successfully record at home, on the road in a hotel room, at a recording studio, or anywhere. It depends on context though.

(LS) Who are some artist you look forward to working locally or even out of state? Do you look for certain something in the artist you work with or how does that work?

(QD) Features goin up in 2020 for sure. Psychedelic Sidekick, Zypher, and iswearimjoey from my city are all dope as fuck. Marc J as well. I'm good friends with Norman from Ames, Iowa. We got a solid rapport. And there are a couple guys out of Omaha that are nice, too - BODA and K Sean. I pay attention to how guys move and if they're forward thinking. I wanna link with guys who are building short term and long term. It's not easy or cheap to move like a boss, but I refuse to work with anybody who moves like an employee. I can hire for that, I need partnership.

(LS) As far as local talent how do you think you place? Do you find your friendly locals to be more of competition or just peers?

(QD) I'm not gonna compare because everyone has their own lens on it, but I know I'm top tier talent-wise globally. I'm not even thinking locally. I haven't proven myself completely, but I can compete with anybody when it comes to this music shit. I'm comin from all angles - merch, visuals, projects, singles, and at some point short films and a youtube show, etc. It's all in the works, I just need time. We're peers though. They wouldn't fuck with me on a competitive standpoint. I don't think they have any incentive to make that sort of choice.

(LS) You have visuals out for “QB1” already do you plan on doing any more for any other singles this year or is your focus more on the tracks for now?

(QD) Visuals are a toppppp priority. I got a few concepts I'm ready to shoot with my guy Devin Phaly. Hardest working guy I know! Very grateful to work with him. He pushes me to be great and not just good at my craft. We'll do at least 3 more videos this year, maybe 4 if I can build momentum.

(LS) As you’ve grown and traveled through the journey of making music what’s one valuable lesson you learned going through it that you carry with yourself through the rest of the journey?

(QD) I think trusting the process and commitment to your definite chief aim is mission critical. I've learned that you don't get better at making songs unless you make more songs. It's easy to set long term goals. It's a challenge to stay committed when you aren't seeing results. Detaching from results and focusing on what you control can really drive productivity and quality up because you're harnessing your energy in the right place - the product. That's what lasts. That's what people remember. Not the cover, not marketing, but the song itself. I've made a commitment to myself that I'll chase this dream and I'll make the necessary sacrifices to see it through.

(LS) Thank you again for being apart of this great come up, anything else you’d like to let the fans and viewers know about what you got going on or any links you’d like to drop where they can listen to your music? Should we keep our eyes open for anything else coming this 2020?

(QD) Add me on every platform - Quan Draper or @quandraper. I'll have more everything out in 2020, but specifically be ready for content in all forms. Thank you for having me! I gotta do this again soon. I appreciate your time!

The Local Shooter Vs. Quan Draper