Why Asian YouTubers Aren’t Doing Well

I noticed a lot of original Asian Youtubers like Nigahiga, WongFu, and Jason Chen are not really getting views or as popular as before.

One of the comments mentioned lack of personality in Jason Chen’s videos. And I think a lot of times Asians are seen as lacking in personality, and that might because we are raised to be more reserved and careful about showing restraint publicly for fear of losing face (especially among family).

YouTube has come to value personality and getting to know people on a personal level much more (increases watchtime, and is prioritized by the algorithm?). So, channels that highlight such will get more traction.

One example is CantoMando. The difference in this channel is that they are showing the real friendship between 3 guys. It is a bit of reality TV and has them teasing each other. That’s the kind of quirky personality that people like to watch, which the algorithm favors.

So, while old Youtubers that were more polishes like Jason/WongFu aren’t doing so well, personality channels are on the rise. But Asians tend to be more “restrained”, so there aren’t as many.

Nigahiga used to make more polished comedy videos, but I think things are gearing toward more vlogger style productions rather than overly scripted, so that may be part of why he was in decline. He had great quality videos, but he also wanted to stop.

People want to see and get to know YouTubers nowadays.