🧵 YouTube hates you. That is the reason your channel isn’t growing....
Abu (YouTube Strategist)@NotNotAbu2
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Sep 02, 2025
~3 min read
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🧵 YouTube hates you.
That is the reason your channel isn’t growing.
Let me explain: (thread)
That is the reason your channel isn’t growing.
Let me explain: (thread)
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PS: YouTube doesn’t literally hate you, but it also has no reason to be on your side. Whereas there are creators like MrBeast whom YouTube treats like royalty.
And the reason for that is because channels like MrBeast have years of data showing they can pull millions of people in, keep them hooked for the entire video, and drive massive ad revenue.
And the reason for that is because channels like MrBeast have years of data showing they can pull millions of people in, keep them hooked for the entire video, and drive massive ad revenue.
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YouTube has an invisible ranking system (it's a lot more complicated than that, but for the sake of understanding, let's just say it's a ranking system).
Every channel starts at the bottom. When you upload, YouTube will quietly test your video with a tiny audience to see how people respond. If those early viewers click and stay, you’ll get more reach. If they don’t, distribution dies quickly. In the early stages, the algorithm assumes nothing about you. You have to earn every inch of trust.
Every channel starts at the bottom. When you upload, YouTube will quietly test your video with a tiny audience to see how people respond. If those early viewers click and stay, you’ll get more reach. If they don’t, distribution dies quickly. In the early stages, the algorithm assumes nothing about you. You have to earn every inch of trust.
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The only way to climb that ranking is to prove that your channel helps YouTube achieve its single biggest goal, which is keeping people on the platform for as long as possible so they can watch more ads. That’s it. YouTube does not care about making creators happy, it only cares about making more money.
There are 5 important pillars that you must abide by to get high up in YouTube's ranking.
There are 5 important pillars that you must abide by to get high up in YouTube's ranking.
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Pillar 1: Consistent high-quality uploads
This doesn’t mean daily posting, it means a predictable output of videos that hold people’s attention for a long time.
And all of your videos must do the same, you cannot have highly successful videos and then extremely underperforming videos, that sends a mixed signal to YouTube. It will be a gamble for YouTube to push your video when there is a high risk of the video not keeping viewers' attention to the end. And YouTube doesn't want to gamble, it wants total
This doesn’t mean daily posting, it means a predictable output of videos that hold people’s attention for a long time.
And all of your videos must do the same, you cannot have highly successful videos and then extremely underperforming videos, that sends a mixed signal to YouTube. It will be a gamble for YouTube to push your video when there is a high risk of the video not keeping viewers' attention to the end. And YouTube doesn't want to gamble, it wants total
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Pillar 2: Watch time
Getting people to click is the 1st step, but it doesn't really mean anything if people leave after 20 seconds. YouTube looks at the average watch time of your video compared to similar videos in the same niche. If you’re holding viewers longer than your competitors, you’re proving you can keep the audience engaged at that's exactly what YouTube wants.
Getting people to click is the 1st step, but it doesn't really mean anything if people leave after 20 seconds. YouTube looks at the average watch time of your video compared to similar videos in the same niche. If you’re holding viewers longer than your competitors, you’re proving you can keep the audience engaged at that's exactly what YouTube wants.
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Pillar 3: Being real
YouTube’s systems track your account’s behavior outside of uploads too. If you watch and engage with other content in your niche, you’re helping YouTube understand where to position your channel in the ecosystem. A channel that behaves like part of a community has a clearer “profile” for the algorithm to work with.
YouTube’s systems track your account’s behavior outside of uploads too. If you watch and engage with other content in your niche, you’re helping YouTube understand where to position your channel in the ecosystem. A channel that behaves like part of a community has a clearer “profile” for the algorithm to work with.
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Pillar 4: Do not kill trust
Nothing destroys your standing with YouTube faster than misleading packaging. If you use clickbait titles and thumbnails that don’t match the video’s content, people will click off in the first few seconds. That tells YouTube your content loses attention, which is the exact opposite of what it’s looking for.
YouTube takes this very seriously, and often just terminates channels that use misleading packaging without any warning.
Nothing destroys your standing with YouTube faster than misleading packaging. If you use clickbait titles and thumbnails that don’t match the video’s content, people will click off in the first few seconds. That tells YouTube your content loses attention, which is the exact opposite of what it’s looking for.
YouTube takes this very seriously, and often just terminates channels that use misleading packaging without any warning.
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Pillar 5: Doubling down on winners
When a video starts performing above your average, it’s a signal that you’ve hit on something valuable. The fastest way to build trust is to replicate that success with newer videos that appeal to the same audience. This shows YouTube you can deliver repeatedly, and one day it will start trusting you like it trusts MrBeast.
When a video starts performing above your average, it’s a signal that you’ve hit on something valuable. The fastest way to build trust is to replicate that success with newer videos that appeal to the same audience. This shows YouTube you can deliver repeatedly, and one day it will start trusting you like it trusts MrBeast.
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TL;DR: YouTube has an invisible ranking system. You start at the very bottom and you have to work your way up if you want to grow. And to do that, you must follow these 5 pillars:
Pillar 1: Consistent high-quality uploads
Pillar 2: Watch time
Pillar 3: Being real
Pillar 4: Do not kill trust
Pillar 5: Doubling down on winners
Pillar 1: Consistent high-quality uploads
Pillar 2: Watch time
Pillar 3: Being real
Pillar 4: Do not kill trust
Pillar 5: Doubling down on winners
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If you found this helpful:
1. Follow @NotNotAbu2
2. Like/retweet the 1st post
1. Follow @NotNotAbu2
2. Like/retweet the 1st post