Why You Don't Want To Go Viral

On a rainy Scottish island called Jura, it's time to talk about the Manual, about long-term sustainable success, and about not having just that one catchphrase. The term "viral" has fallen out of fashion in the last few years, which is why this series wasn't called "going viral". And in truth, that's not what you want to do.

Jimmy Cauty and Bill Drummond were better known as the KLF (or the Timelords, or the JAMs, or...). Their Manual is out of print, but I'm sure that won't stop enterprising people from tracking down versions of it, or footage of their burn.

The music for this series has been an instrumental version of "Game of Taking Chances" by Johannes Hager feat. Josefin Backrud, from Epidemic Sound

(you can find contact details and social links there too)

[TomScottGo]

And that's the last in the series! There's no video on Monday as there's been three this week, but normal service will resume on 10th September. Thanks for watching, everyone!

[bigclivedotcom]

Yeah. Over 1, 300 technical videos and the only one people remember is the one where I stuck a firework up a dolls arse and then pretended to be surprised.

[NateandNoahTryLife]

“Your dream job can still be a nightmare if you don’t have a back up plan.” I appreciate how real you’re being in this series.

[nivolord]

That zipper should get an Oscar for best supporting actor.

[skyclaw]

To quote xkcd number 896, ‘Marie Curie’: “You don’t become great by trying to be great. You become great by wanting to do something, and then doing it so hard you become great in the process.”

[PeninsulaPaintings]

The Simpsons also explained this well when Bart became famous for saying "I didn't do it." That episode was brutally honest about the downside of viral fame and how short lived and cut throat it is.

[PracticalEngineeringChannel]

Some very good lessons here. Thanks for this neat little series Tom.

[dasleo]

How to be popular on the internet: Be interesting and smart enough to make 6 minutes of monologue into the camera enjoyable and worthwhile watching.

[MuazOsman]

Beautifully put, i'm happy that youtube suggested this in 2020 when I needed to hear it the most

[simopelle]

Why is no one talking about the fact that the whole video is a one take? No scripts, and no cuts... I think this is astounding!

[SeeASquaRE]

I'd love a "Life Advice by Tom Scott" Series. This series so interesting.

[benfuller]

In this video: Tom takes a book in a bag out of his pocket, puts it in again, takes it out again, and puts it in again.

[cyriak]

Interesting video. One thing I would add is that trying to make stuff you think will be popular is a bit like letting the audience make your work, and audiences are not good at creativity - that's why they are watching someone else do it. By making stuff you think is good, the audience may be smaller but they will be drawn towards the ideas behind your work rather than just the work itself, and will seek out more of your stuff.

[opedromagico]

12 videos on youtube = 7.000 subs
13 videos on youtube = 170.000 subs
16 videos on youtube = 350.000 subs
- my going up was abrupt but it worked well, people would ask for more of the "same thing that went viral" but I would just do as I please. I make videos that I wanna do it.. I believe that when you start thinking "what people wanna see" is when the problem begins.

[shookings]

"How is there rain going down the back of my neck?!"
It's Scotland, Tom. The rain gets everywhere.

[stewdean]

Thanks. This reminds me of the story of a pottery teacher who split her class into two. One team was asked to make as many pots as possible and the other was asked to make the best possible pots. At the end, each team was asked to enter their best pots to be judged. The team who just kept on making pots with no concern for them being the best ended up making the best pots. This story is in the book 'Art or Fear'.

[onionbot]

5:27 ‘sure, my baseline is different to when I was starting out’
*bassline of outro fades in*
nice

[KarlRock]

Incredible advice for all the creative people out there Tom 👍 You gotta always be trying new things and finding ways to grow.

[MartinPoulter]

A lot of The Manual is about an industry that doesn't really exist any more, but a lot of it has been accurate beyond what anyone could have anticipated. They said music would be dominated by sampled melodic hooks over electronic beats, with rapped verses and sung choruses- a bold prediction then, but it still applies to a lot of hit music 30 years on. Their point that popular culture is about giving people /apparent change/ is timeless. I think the book's still a great read.

[EEVblog]

As someone else who's "made it" on Youtube and been doing it full time for 7 years now, I can say that this series is spot on, well done.