Power of Youtube

I just finished watching a eye-opening Youtube video by Matthew Patrick, otherwise known as MatPat, the Youtuber that runs the channel "Game Theory". His channel attempts to scientifically analyze the different aspects of video games, such as "Why do we play video games?" "Why is the faceless protagonist so common?" "Does Mario have diagnose-able psychological diseases?". His recent videos were about the success stories and the failures of the gaming industry. What causes a game system to be successful?

In general, gamers tend to like to stick to a pattern, which is why sequels are so popular. Buying a video game is now a $60 investment and so they tend to stick to games that they know will be good. The interesting thing he looked at is innovative games. He tried to examine why some innovative gaming systems flop, such as the Virtual Boy, and why other innovative gaming systems, such as the motion-controlled Wii, go on to be the most profitable and successful gaming system yet.

The basic idea is found the Diffusion of Innovations Theory. Essentially, only 2.5% of the human race are considered "innovators". They are innovators because they have become powerful and influential enough that they can take the risks associated with trying something new. Behind them are another 13.5% of the population referred to as "early adopters". They pick and choose from the innovator's ideas and spread them, which is slightly less risk than the innovator. These two groups set the trends that eventually lead to the majority appeal and viral diffusion.

Youtube contains this same system for gaming. It is no surprise that the main innovator for all of Youtube's gaming community is Pewdiepie. It's no surprise because he was named King of The Web, and has one of the largest amounts of subscribers than anyone else. Pewdiepie can innovate by playing lesser known games. If these games are successful, the other gaming channels serve as the "early adopters" and do their own videos on them. The games then reach the majority, us, who start to play these games.

One of the ways this affects things is by causing the viral gaming trends. Flappy Bird got extremely popular around the same time, January 27, that Pewdiepie posted a video of himself playing Flappy Bird. Soon after that, the "early adopter" channels posted their own videos, until the game had mass viral appeal and publicity that reached almost everyone.

In the same way that Flappy Bird exploded in popularity, games and game systems can be stifled by lack of publicity. One of the reasons that the WiiU extremely under performed is because Nintendo has a very strict copyright policy for their games that makes Youtuber's hesitative to play those games in fear of the blocking of their video due to copyright issues. This has led to a lack of support from innovators and early adopters which leads to a lack of interest in the popular majority.

This system of innovation and hierarchy of ideas shows how Youtube can have serious real-world applications. As Youtube continues to grow in size and influence this effect  becomes more obvious. When used correctly, Youtube can be the most powerful marketing tool in the world. However, a lack of publicity on Youtube can, at least for gaming systems, easily kill a product.

MatPat's video- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyXcr6sDRtw&list=PL35FE5C4B157509C9