Dan & Phil Part 48: Exposing themselves via fidget spinner

[SquishPhan]

Looks like Dan's seeking out some sort of conversation surrounding the video, be it in quiz form! Could be an opportunity to drop in some thoughts, although the comment character limit is 140 characters :/

Well none of the three options given reflect how I feel about it, so I guess me going with I like dogs is the best option.

[Grey]

I mean, I think it's pretty insulting to Dan to just assume he doesn't know all of this already, and more. If he did rush it, it's probably because vidcon is coming up and he wanted to get something out now (and if he does do, or has already started, the tinder spon, maybe he wanted to put the ad between some non-spon content and timing is a factor). And no, a bunch of armchair YTers expressing opinions on his content does not amount to constructive criticism, wherever they happen to post them and however old they are (and however big of a fan they consider themselves to be). I hope what happens is he gets some feedback from other YTers (you know.. actual peers) that he respects in between schmoozing at vidcon, surely someone will ask him what he was going for with that vid (and whether they think it came across) and he'll get something actually useful from that, if he wants to.

I think the comments from non-youtubers about this video serve a different purpose than the comments from youtubers, but both can be constructive criticism.

His main audience is not comprised of big youtubers, so if non-youtubers (his audience) don't like a video for a variety of reasons, this is news he needs. They're the ones who will choose to watch or not watch his content in the future. Fellow youtubers aren't the ones making up the majority of his audience though so even if they all loved his video and thought it was flawless, it doesn't really matter. They're not the ones who watch it and pay his bills.

But I think his peers can provide him with info about HOW to fix the problems the audience has. For instance, I think the pacing in this video was off, but I wouldn't have a clue how to fix it because I'm not a youtuber. Other people who know how to make YouTube videos could give practical advice on fixing the pacing issue.

So if he combines feedback from non-yters and yters, he could get a product that is more appealing to more people, but still something he wants to create. That seems like "constructive criticism" to me.

[rizzo]

Looks like Dan's seeking out some sort of conversation surrounding the video, be it in quiz form! Could be an opportunity to drop in some thoughts, although the comment character limit is 140 characters :/

This just bothers me more?? What in the world are those options? Why doesn't he ask for genuine feedback? Why do I care so much?!

[obliviongrace]

Looks like Dan's seeking out some sort of conversation surrounding the video, be it in quiz form! Could be an opportunity to drop in some thoughts, although the comment character limit is 140 characters :/

This just bothers me more?? What in the world are those options? Why doesn't he ask for genuine feedback? Why do I care so much?!

Yeah, those were my thoughts too . I tried to put some genuine thoughts into the comment of why I picked "I like dogs," but like I said the 140 character limit doesn't really allow for much to be shared.

[LtrllySusan]

I am with you, rizzo. It's a meme-y poll with no meaningful outcome. Guess now he can say "well I asked for feedback!"?

[autumnhearth]

I don't want to detract from the important in depth conversation on Dan's video but... there is no way that is cardboard. I see no cardboard in the picture at all. There is a shadow being cast near the glass, but that is wooden flooring. A rather flat, light yellowish flooring with dark nicks and scratches in it, but not a beveled groove like what confusedpanda posted. May I remind you of this photo:

Same floor different lighting. It's at it's most yellow in the furry poof pic, its lightest and shiniest in the pizza and politics pic and it's rosiest in the centipede one.

AmazingPhil's room has very light beige (almost creamy white) flooring, I don't know if it's carpet or tile (for goodness sakes put a rug in the gaming room guys) as you can only see the corner of it in 'Predicting Dan's Future' (and it does meet the wall, so not a rug).

We don't know what kind of flooring is in the downstairs "slounge", or the kitchen, or if they even have a dining room. (I'm assuming this is where Dan is sat in the tiny part of his video when he has his laptop open and a frondy house plant behind him. I'm also assuming that is downstairs because "no hauling cameras upstairs" and the term "snug" relates to being near or part of a kitchen. But I think too much about things clearly).

Phil *could* have chased the centipede into the hallway or an uncarpeted closet in his room. Or he could be sharing the master with Dan, and that is either the flooring of the moon room, or he chased it into the upstairs lounge or hallway. One thing I'm pretty sure he didn't do was chase it from his downstairs bedroom into the upstairs lounge. But there are many other possibilities based on how little we know about their new place.

The important thing is that Phil's home!

[nephilimcat]

Looks like Dan's seeking out some sort of conversation surrounding the video, be it in quiz form! Could be an opportunity to drop in some thoughts, although the comment character limit is 140 characters :/

This just bothers me more?? What in the world are those options? Why doesn't he ask for genuine feedback? Why do I care so much?!

Yeah, those were my thoughts too . I tried to put some genuine thoughts into the comment of why I picked "I like dogs," but like I said the 140 character limit doesn't really allow for much to be shared.

Yeah, I generally agree, even though I don't know how easy it is to find good feedback in his position anyway. He probably didn't want to be too serious when he made this completely useless poll in an attempt to ... well, in an attempt to what actually? This poll won't really tell him anything and the comments will be full of useless comments instead of actual feedback since there's a character limit and not everyone cares enough. I guess he has to sift through tumblr or read idb to find some posts with constructive criticism that will tell him something that could actually be helpful for future videos. But finding the good posts on tumblr between all the gifs, phan art and shitposting isn't all that easy and I wonder if he would really visit a forum dedicated to him and Phil. Who knows. If you're lurking, Dan, then I hope the posts on here that are critical and inoffensive help you out.

[Elemancy]

I was thinking about the video more and maybe part of the problem is Dan has already cultivated a presence online based on creating videos about personal anecdotes of his life which end up resonating widely with the rest of his audience who either share similiar experiences they can relate to no matter the age or just appreciate where he's coming from, but with memes there's not only a wide divide between people understanding and engaging with it, he never really touched on its personal significance to him and just made general observations on his impressions about it.
with his exams vid and others along those lines, everything is interspersed with his own examples of dealing with the dynamics and conflicts related with school, social interactions and his own thought process, so the audience can understand his perspective and relate to it with their own experiences, instead of here where we've been sat down to listen to his conclusions about a topic that's subject to interpretation without getting a more rounded idea of why he's decided this is true and how he arrived at deciding it in the first place. It's just, for me personally, missing that degree of connection and understanding while also being somewhat vague and disconnected.


...um, i mean, i like dogs.

[saffarinda]

I mean, with that limit he won't be able to recieve that much constructive criticism anyway (also bc it's ranked by likes and funnier comments go to the top). Not upset at the options though, he couldn't make it serious without causing some kind of "omG is dan okay?!?" shitstorm.

(Also I'm 100% sure he lurks everywhere, so he'll be able to notice any constructive criticism and take it on board... hopefully. If not, he might read some confusion in the YouNow chat next liveshow).

[iihappydaysii]

I was thinking about the video more and maybe part of the problem is Dan has already cultivated a presence online based on creating videos about personal anecdotes of his life which end up resonating widely with the rest of his audience who either share similiar experiences they can relate to no matter the age or just appreciate where he's coming from, but with memes there's not only a wide divide between people understanding and engaging with it, he never really touched on its personal significance to him and just made general observations on his impressions about it.
with his exams vid and others along those lines, everything is interspersed with his own examples of dealing with the dynamics and conflicts related with school, social interactions and his own thought process, so the audience can understand his perspective and relate to it with their own experiences, instead of here where we've been sat down to listen to his conclusions about a topic that's subject to interpretation without getting a more rounded idea of why he's decided this is true and how he arrived at deciding it in the first place. It's just, for me personally, missing that degree of connection and understanding while also being somewhat vague and disconnected.


...um, i mean, i like dogs.

I totally agree with this. Personalizing arguments almost always makes them better/more engaging. Maybe he'll realize he can recount a story about his own life without having to dramatize or exaggerate or deflect sometimes and he can add that element to these videos when he wants to talk about big ideas.

He's pretty young so i feel like it would be really nice to see him taking on these big ideas from the POV of like "Im a student of the world, not a teacher" and just sort of exploring these ideas with the audience, asking questions, more than making assertions. I'm rambling but I'm such a huge fan of his content and of him, and I want to see him grow and be able to make content he's happy with.

[Stakhanov]

I was thinking about the video more and maybe part of the problem is Dan has already cultivated a presence online based on creating videos about personal anecdotes of his life which end up resonating widely with the rest of his audience who either share similar experiences they can relate to no matter the age or just appreciate where he's coming from, but with memes there's not only a wide divide between people understanding and engaging with it, he never really touched on its personal significance to him and just made general observations on his impressions about it.
with his exams vid and others along those lines, everything is interspersed with his own examples of dealing with the dynamics and conflicts related with school, social interactions and his own thought process, so the audience can understand his perspective and relate to it with their own experiences, instead of here where we've been sat down to listen to his conclusions about a topic that's subject to interpretation without getting a more rounded idea of why he's decided this is true and how he arrived at deciding it in the first place. It's just, for me personally, missing that degree of connection and understanding while also being somewhat vague and disconnected.


...um, i mean, i like dogs.

I agree with everything you said and i find your remark pretty insightful. Even though I'm more of a cat person

Leaving my swamp to comment on the first video since Dani Snot On Fire tragically died. He will live on in our memes though.

I like his video. I can hurl a lot of criticism at it, I don't think it's particularly deep or well- executed but all in all I would like his content to take this direction even if he's bound to disappoint my high expectations on youtuber vids on more cerebral topics. The research he put into this video doesn't come close to the likes of Vsauce or Corey Anton (to name a 'prominent youtube philosopher) but Dan does have a knack of bringing topics in an entertaining way.
But as Gnosia hints it, the biggest problem with this video is perhaps that he neglected to really talk about how the meme relates to himself or something he experiences. He sorta suggests that he's a bit of an escapist and that memes are his coping mechanism for having the feeling he should do *big* things with his life, but it's all very general at best.

When i compare this to a bland anecdote about getting a muffin in his eye, i very much prefer this vid.
I wonder if all the 'rebrand' meming and his name changes has got him thinking about what kind of content he wants to make. His channel was kinda dead during the tour, it took a sweet long time for this video to materialize so hey maybe it IS that time where he "owns up to his name" Daniel Howell.
Or maybe we'll get some collabs because of vidcon getting double the views of his hard-laboured, introspection heavy Serious TM video and we're off to more casual vids than ever.
What do you think?

[VengefulBlue]

first thought on the poll/quiz thing is he maybe did it so he could say he asked (like LtrllySusan said) and then he can discuss actual feedback he saw by lurking. Like "oh yeah I did that poll and in the comments most people were confused, some thought I went to fast, etc etc" as a way to say he saw the opinions, but not bring up that he lurks everywhere

[Stakhanov]

first thought on the poll/quiz thing is he maybe did it so he could say he asked (like LtrllySusan said) and then he can discuss actual feedback he saw by lurking. Like "oh yeah I did that poll and in the comments most people were confused, some thought I went to fast, etc etc" as a way to say he saw the opinions, but not bring up that he lurks everywhere

It's a way to get feedback from those subscribers that watched the video, limited to small readable 140 char chunks. It would make sense to me that he looks at the general comment section and use this as additional information to find out if it was well received by the most loyal subs.

His polling options weren't the best though. He would have been better off formulating it in a way more neutral way. Did you like the Video? Yes / No / No answer.
Would have been better to gather clear and simple feedback but by choosing this form you also lose the well articulated, more substantive replies that don't fit into 140 char.

I tried to say something meaningful but there's only so much you can do with that character limit..

Enlighter
"inspired to forget my responsibilities and make memes all day"

Yes, I did like the vid because seeing you talk and reflect on life provides a canvas on which I can project my own thoughts and feelings.

[dontpanic]

I think allowing more than 140 char. would be a bad idea. He's going to get tens of thousands of replies (a lot of which will be joke replies), so it's not like he can read everything even with the 140 char limit. he's prob looking for more "fix your pacing" type comments rather than "I disagree with your premise and here's why."

When i compare this to a bland anecdote about getting a muffin in his eye, i very much prefer this vid.

[kenzieisnotonfire]

Hi, guys. Another long-time lurker here. Just wanted to say hi And hope that Father's Day goes well for you all.

[LtrllySusan]

I was just about to post that tweet too, kenziei snot on fire! Also,

Very "on brand" comment but kinda strange he wishes a Happy Father's Day to a virtual character when he doesn't speak of his own father.. like, ever? Guess it's a good subtle "Ah btw have you watched our latest Sims video" comment.

PS: Is Father's Day a big deal in the UK? I haven't really thought about that holiday in many years.

PPS: I like the muffin video!

[saffarinda]

I was just about to post that tweet too, kenziei snot on fire! Also,

Very "on brand" comment but kinda strange he wishes a Happy Father's Day to a virtual character when he doesn't speak of his own father.. like, ever? Guess it's a good subtle "Ah btw have you watched our latest Sims video" comment.

PS: Is Father's Day a big deal in the UK? I haven't really thought about that holiday in many years.

PPS: I like the muffin video!

I mean for my family we never really celebrate any holidays like mothers day and fathers day apart from giving them a card (my parents are money conscious and difficult to buy for so it's always fun to pester them constantly and recieve no answer because they want me to save my money). Anyway, it has the generic ads and general appreciation, but nothing in comparison to, say, Christmas.

I think it's a subtle allusion to the Sims ep too, maybe getting a small amount of hype regarding Dil's baby as well.

Also, what muffin vid are y'all referring to that I've forgotten about? All I can think about is the Pistachio muffin from "I nearly blinded myself"

[onetruetrash]

Also, what muffin vid are y'all referring to that I've forgotten about? All I can think about is the Pistachio muffin from "I nearly blinded myself"

Pretty sure that's the video they were referring to lol

[malday]

Phil did use cardboard to scoop the centepede according to his ls, so that settles it.

[The_Blonde]

"What is that face? How do you achieve such a face?" - Phil's thoughts on Chris Pine are the same as mine

(also I had no clue that I was getting myself into SEVEN WEEKS of Love Island whhhyyy).

[SquishPhan]

Phil went to a family thing where he met some relatives he hadn’t seen before.

He thinks that Louise’s baby should be named Philip or Philipa. Not Daniel though.

Phil thinks that Dan is worth 6 whole pounds.

No live shows until July. Vidcon and I’m thinking some other stuff as well.

Phil loved Wonder Woman and thinks there should be more movies with women main characters who kick ass. I agree.

Phil agrees that Chris Pine is distracting and has an attractive face.

Sadly one of my cousins does believe that the earth is flat so I know it's a thing.

And he is abandoning us again after the 40 min mark.

But he did not leave before getting some Dan promo in.

[onetruetrash]

Shit, I forgot what time the show was at. I hope nothing interesting happened.

[saffarinda]

Is is just me that's been preferring Phil's liveshows over Dan's lately? The humour and content of them is just appealing to me more.

SO many Dan mentions, why do some fans just get all the notices? It's not fair

Anyway: The family talk was interesting, 9 brothers what the fuuuuck?!?

The "NO DANIEL" about Louise's baby honestly had me cackling, and Phil saying Phil was a strong name for a baby (and later a dog) is always amusing to me. I love how Dan's always like "I'm not naming it!!" but Phil just goes for it.

Centipede story was cool, not surprised Dan noped outta there lmao.

Don't personally like the cat paintings but I think they'd suit Phil's room oddly enough (well, the colour palettes would). Only Phil and Dan like them, and they're going in Phil's room... new theory, Phil's bedroom is actually their joint room and "Dan's bedroom" is just the Daniel Howell set

I'm now really interested in knowing what plane incident Martyn was in, but that's a tad intrusive.

"This was a whole £6, that's how much Dan's worth" incredible, amazing, awe-inspiring. Phil's humour never fails me lately.

Phil Lester - feminist icon. What a star tbh.

The pounds story was interesting - esp when he realised it was pounds as in weight not money lmao

The beauty tips again was so funny, I like how he just popped into the youtube chat aha (I watch on YouNow but I can imagine those in youtube were just ?!?).

The clean me daddy is still funny, idk how but Phil's response to it is perfection (also the way he says clean is oddly satisyinng to me who knows why).

Some cheeky Daniel mention at the end, supporting the bf's channel.

This younow satisfied me immensely, despite the fact that he's leaving for a few weeks. Whilst I'm sad Phil leaves 15/20 mins earlier than Dan, it does manage to keep it to the best content. Excited for more vids soon!

[nephilimcat]

I totally forgot there would be a ls today, what a nice surprise Pleasant and adorable as usual, I just love Phil so much! The meow at the end was especially cute and kinda jumpscared me. So sad there won't be another ls this month

[VengefulBlue]

missed the first 10-15 minutes, will rewatch when posted. highlights for me:
• dan is worth 6 pounds
• phil is haunted by 1997
• he seems to think every youngling of every species should be named philip
• phil was the cannibal all along, he just accused us to throw everyone off (my reaction to his reaction to attack on titan stuff)
• did he watch the same dan video we did?? he says it was funny??
• somehow this angle makes the room more believable to me as a sleeping space.