Shannon Beveridge Talks YouTube and LGBT Representation at Love Fan Fest 2018

At Love Fan Fest, I was allowed to talk to Shannon Beveridge for a while, who is the genius behind YouTube channel nowthisisliving. I really appreciated this moment as I have just started my own YouTube channel. Being able to talk to somebody with over 600k subscribers is a chance you hardly ever get. What can you do with such a platform? What does such a platform mean to others? Also, what does she WANT to do with it?

In this blog and vlog, you will find out more about Shannon Beveridge, whom I think is very talented, caring, and chill. She talked about characters she felt attached to as a teenager, YouTube censorship regarding LGBTQIA topics, and visiting conventions.

Below, you will find a video of the entire interview. I was not the only press member present during this conversation so you will sometimes hear LGBT Fans Deserve Better. If you liked the video, would you give it a thumbs up, share it with your friends, and subscribe to my channel? That would help so much. Thank you!

A chill environment

The other press members and I were brought upstairs to the relaxing room of the guests. There, Shannon was chilling on a couch and jumped up the moment she was asked whether an interview would be okay: “Let’s do this!” I loved the enthusiasm! We decided to all sit at one big table so it would not be a separate interview per media outlet but a joint conversation. That felt very organic to me (but the lighting in the video is a bit off).

LGBTQ YouTuber

An interesting topic to me, which was also addressed rather quickly by LGBT Fans Deserve Better, was how YouTube’s rules regarding LGBTQIA content have affected her the past two years or so. After all, it is increasingly harder for us in the LGBT community to start or maintain a YouTube channel. The horror stories that I have heard from multiple YouTubers made me worry about starting my own channel. Would it even matter?

Background info

Maybe you need some background information to understand that question. I have a simplified version for you. If you put the words lesbian, LGBTQ or something similar in a video title, the video will often immediately be considered not advertisement-friendly. If videos are demonetized, YouTube is not making money off them either so the videos are not shown in suggested videos. That means viewers will not organically find your videos; they will actively have to search for them. If you do not put those words in your title, how is the audience that actively looks for these videos going to see your video? It is simply not a fair system.

If you want information from other LGBTQ YouTubers, these two videos are great examples: Bria and Chrissy and Michael Rizzi.

More difficult

Shannon admitted it was getting more difficult to get content to reach the people who need it the most. She gave a very elaborate explanation of how quickly videos become demonetized and what the effects are of that. First of all, creators do not get paid for their work and without resources, it is harder to make this content. Still, she feels she wants to make videos because they mean something to her viewers. However, if her video gets flagged, it takes about 24 hours to be reviewed. That is also the period you see the biggest jumps in views. As a result, it is hard to get in the suggested videos list after the review, gain a good spot in search results, etcetera.

Restricted Mode

Another issue she talked about is YouTube’s Restricted Mode. LGBT content often ends up being blocked in the restricted mode. Who uses restricted mode? Public schools, public libraries, and conservative parents do, she said. So, when you cannot watch those videos at home and you cannot go to your library or school, where can you watch this content safely? Man, I remember what it was like not knowing of any representation. I do not wish that upon anyone else!

Practical tips from Shannon Beveridge

I wanted to know whether Shannon had any practical tips for me. After all, our community will not be getting answers from YouTube itself anytime soon. For instance, would she advise me to put lesbian, LGBTQ or something similar in the video title or not? What does she normally do?

Shannon said that she usually does not put these words in the title. She wants to make her channel about more than just lesbian or LGBTQ topics even though it is a big part of her channel and many of her followers are queer.

However, if she does talk about it, she does put the word lesbian or something similar in the title. One example is ‘Lesbian interviews ex-boyfriend’. She told me to put the words in the title because I am specifically targeting that audience and they will search for it. Also, ‘Lesbian interviews ex-boyfriend’ did not get flagged. She called YouTube’s policy a crapshoot; you never know what will happen.

See, that is exactly what I needed: advice from someone with experience who has seen the changes herself.

Type of content

Shannon Beveridge was asked whether she sometimes feels pressured to make content that she did not want to create. She told us that she feels much freedom. However, she also feels that her viewers want her to release four videos a month and that she does not know how to give that to them. She sometimes asks herself what is left to give as “you already know all of my soul.”

I sensed she was at a point where she was wondering what the next step would be for her channel. Coincidentally, she posted a video about two weeks ago, which completely differs from her other videos. It is about her trip to Spain, Love Fan Fest and other parts of Europe. It looks very creative and it has a different vibe, right? I would not mind seeing more of this!

Shannon Beveridge at Love Fan Fest

I hope you liked this description of the interview at Love Fan Fest. I thought it would be more fun than simply publishing a page stating the answers and questions. Next week, I’ll go back to the chronological order of my Love Fan Fest experiences. Last week, something happened that made me move away from the content schedule I had originally planned for you. As a result, I had no more time to add a blog to the videos I posted online. Sorry about that! Anyway, here they are and I hope to see you back as subscribers on my YouTube channel if you have not subscribed already!

I Had My Mind Blown at ClexaCon 2018 – Part 6 (ClexaCon 2018 Day 3)

This is part six of my ClexaCon 2018 adventure. April 4-10, I went on a trip to Las Vegas for ClexaCon, all the way from The Netherlands. Let me tell you, it was so worth the jetlag! You can find part one, part two, part three, part four and part five here. In this blog, I will tell you all about ClexaCon 2018 Day 3. This Sunday, I visited three panels: YouTube 2.0, Doccubus and Valkubus, and Shethority. And now I know that something called post-con blues exists. The horror!

If you need more info about what ClexaCon is, you should first read my blog post ClexaCon 2018 in Las Vegas: The Media and Entertainment Convention for LGBTQ Women and Allies.

‘I Had My Mind Blown at ClexaCon 2018 – Part 6 (ClexaCon 2018 Day 3)’ This is part six of my ClexaCon 2018 adventure. April 4-10, I went on a trip to Las Vegas for ClexaCon, all the way from The Netherlands. In this blog, I will tell you all about ClexaCon 2018 Day 3. This Sunday, I visited three panels: YouTube 2.0, Doccubus and Valkubus, and Shethority. And now I know that something called post-con blues exists. The horror! http://bit.ly/ClexaCon20186

ClexaCon 2018 Day 3: breakfast

I missed the first panel today. Yup, that was a direct result of the Ascension Party. My body and head just worked at a slower pace this morning. So, I decided to go for an extensive breakfast. Given the time, one might as well call it brunch 😉 After that, I was ready for the final ClexaCon day!

ClexaCon 2018 Day 3 – first panel: How to Use YouTube as a Platform 2.0

You know, I have never watched reaction videos. It just did not occur to me to watch other people watch my favorite shows. I would much rather spend that time watching the shows myself. When I saw this panel mentioned on the website prior to my visit, I was intrigued. I guess I never knew it was such a big thing.

It helped that I saw a Dutch name in the list of panelists. Elke van der Iest was going to be present. My Dutch pride took over: if ClexaCon has a panelist all the way from the Netherlands, I should be there to watch it, right?

The popularity of reaction videos does make sense to me now. Yes, you watch other people watching your favorite show while you could be watching the show yourself (or do you watch simultaneously?). Still, these YouTubers comment. In addition, people in YouTube’s comment section comment. And that is where this whole discussion about current LGBTQ issues takes place.

How interesting is that? If you are looking for like-minded people, these YouTube channels and their subscribers are a great hub. This realization might sound very idiotic to some of you but hey, I seriously had no idea!

Elke van der Iest

After the panel, I wanted to ask Elke if she had a moment to talk to me. Therefore, I walked up to her and asked her this in Dutch. Woopsy, I scared her because she was only expecting English. Sorry about that, Elke! Luckily, she agreed to talk to me for a bit.

During the panel, I learned that she was a film student. How cool is it to have a substantial YouTube channel (over 20,000 subscribers) about films and TV shows while majoring in film? I asked her how she ended up at ClexaCon and what she thought of the event. You can find it in the vlog!

ClexaCon 2018 Day 3 – second panel: Happy Wife, Happy Life

As you can read in my previous blog, I promised the Tello team of Happy Wife, Happy Life on the red carpet to come watch the taping of their show on Sunday. It was the same time as the Doccubus and Valkubus panel, so I had to make it a short visit. It was actually pretty cool because I could watch the entire preparation before the taping. As you may have heard in my vlogs, I love watching all the things a production requires backstage. I decided to film that and stop when the actual taping started. You can find the preparations in the vlog!

ClexaCon 2018 Day 3 – third panel: Doccubus and Valkubus

I was right on time for the Doccubus and Valkubus panel. I was curious to see what they would talk about since they had already been on stage with Emily Andras and the others on Friday. WayHaught had also been on a larger panel earlier but that relationship is still on a current show, so it seemed much easier to talk about.

Unfortunately, the moderator asked the same type of questions as the ones that the actresses had been asked in the previous panel. I had expected them to zoom in on those two relationships but it was more the general stuff about shooting Lost Girl and the characters’ sexual orientation.

Do not get me wrong, I can watch Anna Silk, Zoie Palmer, and Rachel Skarsten any day but this separate panel did not add anything. Okay, it added laughter to the day. They sure have humor!

Want to watch Lost Girl? Try Amazon! Want to own the DVD/Blu-Ray? Try Amazon, eBay, Zoom, Zavvi, or Bol.com.

ClexaCon 2018 Day 3 – fourth panel: Shethority

Afterward, I went to the panel on Shethority not knowing what Shethority is. Shethority is a website founded by Chyler Leigh, Caity Lotz, and Maisie Richardson-Sellers to empower women through shared stories, support, and inspirational guidance. The website is not live yet but they were actively inviting everybody in the audience to share their stories there once it is live and create a sense of community.

End of ClexaCon

That was the final panel of ClexaCon for me. I walked around the vendor hall one more time to soak in the last ClexaCon vibes. I was feeling sad that it was over. My new-found friends Immy and Denise (more info in previous blogs) and I recorded some more videos. We recorded two together and in the ClexaCon recording booth, Immy used my mic to get her video done. She helped me get some photos on The Throne and I took her bag of fan pics up to my room for safekeeping. See, we really were a team 😊

Las Vegas sightseeing

We decided to walk the Strip together to do some sightseeing and get some food. It turned out we walked way more than we had initially intended. Even though we are not the biggest fans of Las Vegas (if you have been there once, you pretty much get the gist of it), we just kept going. I knew a nice spot that was a bit un-Vegassy (it is a word now), so I wanted to show them. They did not really trust me as we were all getting hangry and tired but man, once we were there, they loved it. Where? The botanical gardens in the Bellagio. You can see it in my vlog!

I finally said out loud that I was feeling very sad. I just had to share it. Immy said something about post-con blues and it was like a light switched on in my head. That makes sense! That is exactly what it was! Post-con blues. Wow. I never knew something like that existed but yes, it is real!

Finally, we ended up at a taco restaurant where we had a great meal. As Immy and Denise had tickets for the Blue Man Group, we had to rush back. They barely made it but still. I left Immy’s photos at the front desk and went to bed.

Final Last Vegas moments

On Monday, I walked around the Strip once more. Seeing actual daylight and feeling the sun on my skin was a new sensation as I had hardly been outside all weekend. My eyes caught a big sign saying that a patio was meant for brunch, which seemed too funny after the ClexaCon brunch joke. My Instagram followers agreed.

At 5 pm, my flight left and I had to switch planes in Salt Lake City. I tried to see that big temple but unfortunately, it was nowhere to be seen. Maybe on the other side of the plane? My flight home was good and arriving home felt great. I unpacked all my stuff immediately and went to the daycare center to pick up my son. He was really happy to see me but he was also a little mad that I had been gone for six days. I persuaded him with a gift though, so all was forgotten soon.

When we came back home, my wife was there. Home Sweet Home! Nope, I hardly suffered from a jetlag that week. Apparently, my body never adjusted to Las Vegas time, ghehe.

Tag: YouTube