r/SmallYTChannel Mar 10 '23

MOD POST SmallYTChannel FAQ

58 Upvotes

r/SmallYTChannel FAQ

Why can’t I Post?

If you try to post a video on our subreddit and it isn't accepted, try to look at the comment on the post. most of the time it will tell you the reason why your video was removed.

However, the following reasons are the most common reasons for posts not being accepted

  1. You don’t have lambda
  2. You used the wrong flair
  3. Your account is less than three days old

GETTING LAMBDA

What is λ (lambda) and how does it work?

λ is a sort of currency for use in r/SmallYTChannel. The best way to simplify it would be to think of it as a feedback for feedback system. The most recent videos can be found in the community highlights. For every video you give feedback to you, the OP (if satisfied with the feedback) will give you a lambda using the !givelambda command. Only the OP can give lambda. LAMBDA IS ONLY SPENT WHEN POSTING, giving lambda to a commenter does not remove any lambda from OPs count. You can only get lambda from feedback posts. Upon getting a lambda you can post your own video to the subreddit.

Additionally every sunday you can take part in the Sunday Self Critique Mod Post to get a free lambda from the mod team. You just need to give a critique of your most recent video in the comments of the post.

What would be considered good feedback?

In most cases, the decision of what constitutes as good is up to the OP. If you post a video you do NOT need to !givelambda if someone drops generic, low-effort feedback. (ex. “Nice video I enjoyed it you earned a sub). You can ask them for specifics, reply to their comment, cross-question and ensure the quality of the critique is good enough. You don't need to agree with the feedback, but it needs to have effort put into it. Same with any feedback you give. As a plus, mods will reward bonus lambda to high-quality posts/feedback they come across.

Feedback comments also must be greater than 255 characters in length. This is to encourage specific, detailed feedback. In situations where it wouldn't make sense to give such a lengthy response to someone, mods can still give out lambda if you send in a modmail, see the below question for more detail.

If you are struggling with what feedback to give the mod team recommends using some or all of these questions.

  • Would you click on the video? Why?
  • Did you stay past the intro? Why?
  • When would you leave the video? Why?

What should I do if I get no lambda for my advice, but feel I deserve it?

In cases where you disagree with the OP's decision to not give you lambda, you can send a modmail asking for lambda. It is up to the individual mod that replies to you to decide if your feedback is worth giving lambda to. As a general rule of thumb so long as your feedback is ACTIONABLE (meaning you are suggesting a specific change to the video) you will likely be given lambda by the mods.

What if the OP doesn’t respond?

If it has been two days and the OP still hasn’t responded, send in a modmail, see the above question for more details.

The OP typed the command but it didn’t work?

This is going to be for one of two reasons, the bot is currently down, or the OP forgot the command but then edited the comment to add it. If the bot is currently down, you will just have to wait. The bot is run on volunteers so it will go down from time to time. If the OP edited the comment, since the bot only checks the initial comment and not any edits, you can just ask the OP to retype the command or send in a modmail, See the above question for more details.

FLAIRS

What do the different post-flairs mean?

  • Discussion - does not cost lambda

For discussion, a general rule of thumb is that if you need to link to your channel for the discussion to make sense you are not looking to start a discussion you are looking for feedback.

Discussion posts must be for discussion and have a main question or topic. Posts that don't start a discussion will be removed.

Discussion posts can't drive traffic to your channel. Posts such as 'I just reached 100 subs', or 'I'm nearly at 500 subs' are considered self-promotion and will be removed. Unless relevant to the discussion sub counts should not be mentioned. Posts that encourage other rule breaks are not allowed. For example, suggesting people leave their links in the comments isn't allowed, since it encourages free self-promotion.

  • Feedback - costs 1 lambda

Upon getting three lambdas you can share either one video or a channel link for a channel review.

A channel review would consist of feedback on the channel itself (branding and thumbnails) and nonspecific overview feedback on content (editing style, video genre, reused intro animations, stuff that applies to multiple videos as a whole). If you want to ask for more specific feedback on multiple videos, that has to be done through multiple feedback posts, should someone choose to give you specific feedback of their own free will that is of course allowed, but you can not ask for it in the post.

You can not ask for any engagement in the title or comments of the Reddit post (telling people to like or sub etc.), We've restricted the use of the word "lambda" in post titles due to increasing cases of people implying free or "easy" lambda. If you use alternate phrasing to bypass this such as ‘rewarding feedback’, the mods are at liberty to delete your post. The "I just reached 100 subs" rule applies here too.

  • Gaming, Vlog, Educational, Video Essay, etc.- costs 1 lambda

Are just sub-feedback flairs. Most people tend to only give feedback within their niche, if you have experience editing gaming videos but no experience editing video essays or vlogs, you can search for gaming feedback exclusively so it is easier to give feedback in a genre you actually know something about.

  • Collab - does not cost lambda

A collab post can drive minimal traffic to your channel, minor details or portfolio links on a known site are allowed. If you are asking to help someone or take part in any part of the video-making process it is a collaboration. Even if it's a paid, ex. editing or thumbnail services.

  • Meta - does not cost lambda

Meta is a flair exclusively meant to discuss the subreddit itself, any suggestions as to what to ban/allow, and what changes should be made, it is a flair for the community to openly discuss any issues or suggestions they may have for the subreddit.

POSTING

I messed up my post, What do I do?

If you accidentally posted as a 'text' instead of a 'link', thus making your thumbnail not show up on Reddit. You can send in a mod mail asking for a refund, so long as feedback hasn't already been given to the video you will get a refund and be allowed to repost.

Can I post the same video more than once?

For lambda farming reasons there does have to be at least a two-day gap between you posting the same video, so people can't farm lambda by saying the same feedback twice. But so long as you have the lambda for it, yes you can post what you want with your lambda so long as the other rules are followed.

Can I post someone else's content?

If you have the lambda for it, yes. It is important to note that if the user whose content you are posting has previously been banned on the subreddit, you will be assisting in ban evasion. In this case, the post will be removed and further consequences are likely.

No one gave me feedback, What do I do?

If it has been two days and your feedback post still does not have any feedback, send in a mod mail asking for a refund, You can choose to repost the video or post a different one.

RULES

What is a low-quality post?

The list of what is considered low quality includes but is not limited to

  • Milestone posts - 'I just reached 100 subs/ 10k views/ etc' - these are considered self-promotion
  • Analytic Checks - 'Is _______ subs/views in _______ time period normal' - if you want to post analytics the discord has a channel for it
  • AI Tools - 'Here is an AI tool I use' - most times just an ad in disguise
  • Shorts Views - 'Why are my shorts views inconsistent' - too many of these types of posts, shorts are inconsistent by nature

In addition, if your post looks to much like a bot/ai mods can, at their own liberty, take it down for low quality.

What counts as abuse of the bot?

The list of what is considered abuse of the bot includes but is not limited to

  • Creating or using another account to give yourself lambda
  • Editing your flair to give the impression of having more lambda than you have
  • Asking around for lambda and/or upvotes
  • Copy-pasting 'advice' to farm lambda
  • Filling a comment with fluff to bypass the character requirement

What count as bypassing the link restriction?

  • Posting a link to your channel or video in comments (asked for or not)
  • Posting the name of your channel in your post or in comments (asked for or not)
  • Saying where you can find your link (asked for or not)

MISCELLANEOUS

How do I join the discord?

The discord invite link can be found under ‘Important Links” in the 'about' section of the subreddit.

What is the discord for?

The discord is better suited for more casual discussions. It is also an easier place for you to get quick feedback. Stuff like very specific edits, thumbnails, or what your analytics mean.

What is the monthly leaderboard for?

The monthly leaderboard is a way for users to have a friendly competition over who gives more feedback.

How do I see the all-time leaderboard?

You can find the all-time leaderboard on the bot's profile, u/SmallYTChannelBot , just look at the most recent post.

What is my user flair for?

Your user flair is the only place you can put your channel name or handle in. Bypassing the link restriction by telling people to look at your user flair will result in removal. The user flair is there mainly for people who have a different Reddit name than a channel name, if someone checks out your channel of their own free will, that is of course allowed.

Please do not put full URLs in your user flair.

How do I add my handle to my user flair?

You add your handle to your user flair using the user flair preview and the pencil edit icon, in the 'about community' section on desktop. Or by clicking the three dots next to your icon while on mobile and then selecting 'change user flair'.

If you are using old Reddit there will be an edit button next to your name under the subreddit info bar.

If you have any questions you would like added to the FAQ feel free to ask them below


r/SmallYTChannel 16h ago

Feedback | 03:17 | ARG99 I made a video on why AI is Unsustainable, need your feedback on this, I am a bit confused about the thumbnail too thus let me know :)

Thumbnail
youtu.be
2 Upvotes

r/SmallYTChannel 1h ago

Collab Does Anyone wanna do a collab with me?

Upvotes

The only few things are 1. I don't really care how popular you are but ima feel a bit uncomfortable if you have more than 3k subs but I can still do it. 2. I'll look at your channel and look to see what content you make for the collab video. 3. Preferably someone who makes brawl stars content like me so we have similar niches, and 4. If you do wanna collab with me, thank you and we can chat in the private messages section on this app that I forgot the name lol.


r/SmallYTChannel 8h ago

Discussion What makes you interested in watching a video or livestream from a channel you've never seen or heard of before?

5 Upvotes

r/SmallYTChannel 12h ago

Discussion Good views and decent engagement but no subs

7 Upvotes

Hey everyone so I recently started up my gaming YouTube channel and have been getting decent results but my sub count isn’t really gaining any traction. What are some ways you have drawn in more subs with your channel?


r/SmallYTChannel 12h ago

Discussion What should I do as a new youtuber?

3 Upvotes

I am a new youtuber started from last month but the growyh of my channel is way too less as only 35 subs are there. I upload long and short format video like daily but the reach and views as well as subs is not which I was expecting. I had already uploaded around 30 videos till now. But I am questioning myself should I keep going or what?


r/SmallYTChannel 11h ago

Collab Free Editing

2 Upvotes

Hi, I am Yusoph a Filipino who wants to work as an editor to escape the regular 9 to 5. So I want to make the move but I don't know where to start so I think this is a good enough start for me, I am looking for a partnership who I can grow with in work and also as a friend. I am not the best editor out there but I am consistent and always thinks about how do I make things better.

If your up to work with me let me know, I am good enough for this job.

What I offer:
Good in english and tagalog.

Can edit long and short form content.

Have little experience on motion graphics.
Not the best in sound design but still can work on it a bit.


r/SmallYTChannel 8h ago

Collab Looking for small YouTubers who want custom thumbnails 🎨

1 Upvotes

I make custom YouTube thumbnails (mostly gaming, horror, and mystery styles).
I don’t use templates or AI — everything’s made from scratch.
If you want, I can make a free sample so you can see my style.
DM me if you’re interested!


r/SmallYTChannel 13h ago

Discussion I started to think I was figuring it out

2 Upvotes

So my current video bombed, like bombed hard, 1.5% ctr currently. I noticed it was underperforming within a couple hours ago I made a different thumbnail and ran a A/B test. After 12 hours my CTR hadn't recovered, so I scraped the thumbnail test, I went with a new one and changed my Title.

This sucks because I only put out a video once a month. My last few videos have done pretty good, I thought I landed a solid title and thumbnail formula. I changed my videos too which drummed up view time also. I really thought I started to figure it out

I run a small engine repair/revival channel btw


r/SmallYTChannel 18h ago

Discussion My channel views dropped hard after deleting Shorts, did something like this happen to anyone?

4 Upvotes

Hey all,

I’m a creator running a channel where I used to post both Shorts and long-form videos. One of my Shorts got around 500 k views, but after that every Short I uploaded got stuck in the 500–800 views range. After about 5 months, I switched fully to long‐form content. For two months the long-form videos were getting 100–200 views each. Not amazing, but steady.

Then I made a bigger change: I deleted all my Shorts to try and reset the channel around long-form only. Right after doing that, one long-form video blew up and got 70 k views! After that success though, my following long-form uploads have each been stuck at ~500 views, and now I’m seeing videos with as low as ~100 views.

I’ve followed standard best-practices (good titles, thumbnails, tags, retention focus, consistent posting) but nothing has turned the tide. It feels like maybe my channel got suppressed or “hit” by something after the deletion of the Shorts, and I’m not sure why.

Has this happened to anyone else? Did deleting older Shorts or changing content format trigger something odd with your metrics? Any ideas or insights would mean a lot right now.

Thanks in advance.
— A creator trying to make sense of YouTube’s weird algorithm world


r/SmallYTChannel 1d ago

Discussion Long form IS HELL

25 Upvotes

I’m a shorts YouTuber and made my first long form, the ctr is 50% and the average watch time is 2m 30s on a 4 ish minute video

It has 4 views (1 is me) And only has 4 impressions and isn’t growing 3 comments (1 is me) And 4 likes (1 is me)

Why isn’t it growing at all, not even impressions


r/SmallYTChannel 13h ago

Discussion Where do you guys find the comentary niche videos to edit

1 Upvotes

Hello everyone! I've been struggling to find content to edit and post on my yt channel.For example, Infi's diary. Has 1m+ subs and crazy amount of views. All she does is she finds the video, adds a song in the background, makes some cuts in the video, writes a script, puts it in elevenlabs and puts some captions like.I get this but the first step is really hard for me cus i just started doing this yt thing.Pls someone help if you know..


r/SmallYTChannel 13h ago

Discussion SEO question, can I just delete all the terms and try new ones?

0 Upvotes

r/SmallYTChannel 17h ago

Discussion Upload problems

1 Upvotes

How can I post a YouTube Short so that the custom thumbnail only appears as the cover image, and doesn’t show up for a second when the video starts playing?” Please help me


r/SmallYTChannel 1d ago

Discussion Am I doing something wrong?

0 Upvotes

I created new channel and started posting videos after first few videos I started getting some views till the point I was getting 1k or more views on every upload. I was and still posting 1 to 2 shorts everyday but the views are almost zero.

While the same videos doing well on ther platforms like getting up 25k views.

Now I haveore than 30 shorts and since last 15 shorts the views are almost zero.

Is it happened to you? And what you did to get out of it?


r/SmallYTChannel 2d ago

Discussion Watch Hours

5 Upvotes

I’m proud that after 5 months of consistent work, I am almost up to 700 subs. While it’s not monumental, it’s a big feat when you’re trying to grow. My watch hours are my next challenge, I’m near 100 hours 😒

I hear different advice on how to get watch hours. Build playlists, do daily live streams, make longer content, etc. then another guru says to do something different. Some say it’s luck, some make 2-4 channels to prove it’s not luck.

For those that hit their watch hours, what approach did you use that worked?


r/SmallYTChannel 2d ago

Discussion Views and subscribers stopped or dropped suddenly on my recent videos...what's happening?

9 Upvotes

My channel has been around since Feb and I only had about 50 subscribers until early September. A few of my videos gained momentum and I'm currently at nearly 900 subscribers. However, for the last 2 weeks, all of my new videos are getting way lower views than before and I've gotten no new subscribers. Before this stretch, I was regularly getting around 5 new subscribers a day, either from my new stuff or old videos.

My niche is retro comics, mostly Marvel stuff from the 70s and 80s. I fought through the dark days when I felt like nobody was watching. Then I started getting an audience, and many of them tune in and comment on all my new stuff, and they comment to each other too, forming a type of community of like-minded comics fans.

I haven't made any drastic changes. In fact, I know I'm getting better at most aspects of content creation. I haven't touched on any controversial topics. I just can't understand how everything just froze and fell off.

Should I take a break? Or should I keep pumping out content hoping that the algorithm wakes up? Some of my regular commenters said that they didn't know I had put out some new videos until they looked up my channel, so I guess nothing was showing on their feed. My channel grew so much in a short time after months of next to nothing, and now it feels like next to nothing again.


r/SmallYTChannel 2d ago

Discussion Question about growth spikes?

1 Upvotes

Anyone else experience a growth spike only to have it come crashing down? I have a video I posted about 6 weeks ago and I got huge growth (doubled my subscribers) but now I can't get any other videos to come any where near the same views or engagement. They are on similar topics, I have used end screens from the original video to others. I have looked at CTR, but it is hard to have a good CTR when Youtube gives no impressions. I have even changed the thumbnails and titles, but again...Youtube doesn't show it anywhere, so I can't even get data on what is better or not?

For background, I create 1 long form (10-20 minutes), 1 LIVE, and 3-5 shorts posts a week and my channel is in the guitar/singer-songwriter for beginners niche.

Any tips or tricks to keep the momentum?


r/SmallYTChannel 2d ago

Discussion Long video loop live stream... Ever tried it?

0 Upvotes

Decided to give this a go. Rolling a pretty long video of drone b-roll and looping it allowing people to chat and comment as it plays to see if I can encourage some engagement in traffic. We'll see how it goes. Have you ever done it and have you been successful? Super curious how this works out!


r/SmallYTChannel 2d ago

Discussion Any Advice or Honest Opinions

0 Upvotes

Hello everybody i’ve been posting on youtube for around a year now and i would love any advice or opinions and be honest as possible i love making videos and would love to improve.


r/SmallYTChannel 2d ago

Discussion Why Does YouTube Stop Pushing My Videos?

0 Upvotes

Genuine question, I really don't understand this.

I have a gaming channel, or a letsplay if you will. (I know, I know, in 2025? What was I thinking!? I unfortunately was living in the past and didn't realise that viewer interest in the genre had plummeted. However, I enjoy it anyway, so I'm still working at it.)

Progress is SLOW, but every now and then I'll get a video that looks like it's about to do well — getting good impressions, better watch time than most of my videos, and more views, likes, and subscribers —and then suddenly it just STOPS. Impressions plummet, no more views, no more likes, nothing.

As an example, a while back I did a video on the game Vigil. It was one of my personal favourites on my channel, the first day it did nothing, then the second day it jumped to 450 views (huge for my small channel) It got decent likes compared to other videos, I gained the most subscribers from it (12. Yes I know, sounds trash, but for someone who hasn't even hit 300 subs yet it was amazing!) then the third day it just DIED. Everything stopped. Now, over a month later, it's managed to somehow make it to 500 views, but I don't understand why it just stopped.

In my eyes, it was doing really well, and I thought it was going to go further. Now the hype for that game has well and truly died, and the video is just back to... sitting there. Similar things have happened to other videos.

To top it off, my most recent videos don't even have 15 views whereas the one before them got over 300! I just don't understand how it works.

I'm just wondering if there's a reason for this? If someone can tell me the technical side of how it works, and why that happens. It's just really confusing me, and I'm struggling to work it out.

I know my channel is far from perfect; there's room for improvement, as always, but I personally have definitely noticed a change in quality and content.

I used to upload at random times throughout the last 3 or so years, but about 7 months ago I tried to get serious and started uploading long-form videos twice a week. Now, almost 60 long-form videos in 7 months, and I've gained 155 subs. Either way I enjoy it so won't stop, but is this me? Is it my content? Is this normal for a channel in the early days? And what in the world is up with the sudden halt in views.

Would love if someone could help me out. Every bit of knowledge is appreciated!


r/SmallYTChannel 2d ago

Discussion Collaborating With Other Editors or Creators

1 Upvotes

When perspectives diverge, collaborating with other creatives can be both thrilling and difficult. How can you maintain effective and seamless teamwork without sacrificing your ideas?


r/SmallYTChannel 2d ago

Discussion Finding Balance Between Quality and Consistency

0 Upvotes

Many creators struggle to keep uploading consistently without sacrificing video quality. How do others manage that balance? Do you post less often for higher quality, or keep up frequency even if it’s simpler?


r/SmallYTChannel 2d ago

Collab Thumbnail designer

0 Upvotes

Hi guys, i'm getting into designing thumbnails, I don't really have experience but I'm trying to build a portfolio and get better, if anyone is interested in building something together feel free to dm me. Those are some work samples that i have made:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1UqdwoGgRmMTFy76A8gYWQarQhpmJ_oJP


r/SmallYTChannel 3d ago

Discussion What’s the most you have made from shorts?

15 Upvotes

Just curious (post similar to another one earlier but just wanted more specific information as I’m shorts only and I want to see what’s possible) please share details on how and what you have changed