London Southwark Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 25 minutes ago, cypherman said: I am sad to see that this thread has turned into lets slag some off because we do not agree with him. Several people here have made comments that show more of them selves than Sam. As for the comment made here about company's that pay him. Just which companies are those. Do you know if so share. This is no worse than the big magazines giving free publicity by getting models and other items free from the manufacturers to review. Especially as like the N class the problem about derailing was not mentioned in any reviews I can find. Only becoming apparent when they were bought. So ladies and gentlemen if you do not agree with him just say so. Do not leave facile and demeaning comments. I personally think this thread should be shut down now by the moderators. I am very disappointed by some of the people here and their comments. OK Sam we all will say sorry but at the end of the day it's just a opinion ( nice carpet) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HonestTom Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 I have mixed views on the guy myself. I do watch his videos when the subject captures my interest. My big bugbear is that he seems to base his reviews very heavily on "quantity" of loco, i.e. how heavy it is, how big it is, how much detail it has. His reviews aren't much use if you're looking to determine how accurate a model is, which is a major consideration for me. I do take them with a pinch of salt. I'm not a fan of his "stunt" videos either - I don't really care if he's built a loco that can go at a scale Mach 1 or that can go underwater or whatever. I don't have any interest in a Top Ten video, because I think every model needs to be judged on its own criteria - you can't fairly compare a starter loco or toy train to a top-of-the-line scale model. The less said about "El Cheapo," the better. But as a YouTuber myself (on nothing like the same scale as Sam, and nowhere near making a living off it), I do feel that I have to play Devil's Advocate to some extent here. People in general seem to be a little bitter about the fact that it's possible to make a living off YouTube at all, especially if it's by doing something that's not to their taste (see also). But the fact is that he's producing videos for an audience who appreciate his work enough that he is able to make a living off it. That audience isn't people like us. It's a younger audience, perhaps newcomers to the hobby, presumably people who are looking for a nice loco rather than something specific. The train set crowd. If you don't like his stuff, then there are plenty of other YouTubers who are likely a better fit for your interests, who have been mentioned before in this thread. On a side note, I kind of feel like the term "clickbait" has lost all meaning these days. The video describes itself as Sam's worst trains of 2020 and that's what the video is. It might be attention-grabbing (which you kind of have to be on a huge platform like YouTube), but it's not clickbait. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cctransuk Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 47 minutes ago, cypherman said: I am sad to see that this thread has turned into lets slag some off because we do not agree with him. Several people here have made comments that show more of them selves than Sam. As for the comment made here about company's that pay him. Just which companies are those. Do you know if so share. This is no worse than the big magazines giving free publicity by getting models and other items free from the manufacturers to review. Especially as like the N class the problem about derailing was not mentioned in any reviews I can find. Only becoming apparent when they were bought. So ladies and gentlemen if you do not agree with him just say so. Do not leave facile and demeaning comments. I personally think this thread should be shut down now by the moderators. I am very disappointed by some of the people here and their comments. If you put yourself on the internet to make money, you're fair game as far as I am concerned. Put in the effort and do the job properly - and teach yourself the basics of what you intend talking about - and you might be taken moderately seriously. Prattle on in a totally uninformed way and you deserve all that you get. All these 'influencers' and 'influenced' deserve each other - but it's the former who are laughing all the way to the bank; at the expense of the latter! John Isherwood. 2 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HonestTom Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 (edited) 22 minutes ago, cctransuk said: If you put yourself on the internet to make money, you're fair game as far as I am concerned. Put in the effort and do the job properly - and teach yourself the basics of what you intend talking about - and you might be taken moderately seriously. Prattle on in a totally uninformed way and you deserve all that you get. All these 'influencers' and 'influenced' deserve each other - but it's the former who are laughing all the way to the bank; at the expense of the latter! John Isherwood. Are you fair game if you don't make money? What about if you don't set out to make money, but wind up doing so anyway? Speaking as someone who's been on the receiving end of some extremely unpleasant abuse for such heinous crimes as not talking about autocoaches and not mentioning the North London Railway, I'd like to know whether I should be upset or not. Edited January 18, 2021 by HonestTom 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Phil Parker Posted January 18, 2021 Administrators Share Posted January 18, 2021 23 minutes ago, HonestTom said: Are you fair game if you don't make money? What about if you don't set out to make money, but wind up doing so anyway? If you deliberately wind people up to bring in an income, something that can apply to Piers Morgan, US "Shock Jocks" etc. then yes you are fair game - but then it's a game you have chosen to play and you enjoy the notoriety. As an aside: Worst Model Trains 74k views Best Model Trains 31k views It just shows what people want to watch. No-one forces them, that's the choice the web-viewing public have made. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steamport Southport Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 47 minutes ago, HonestTom said: I have mixed views on the guy myself. I do watch his videos when the subject captures my interest. My big bugbear is that he seems to base his reviews very heavily on "quantity" of loco, i.e. how heavy it is, how big it is, how much detail it has. His reviews aren't much use if you're looking to determine how accurate a model is, which is a major consideration for me. I do take them with a pinch of salt. I'm not a fan of his "stunt" videos either - I don't really care if he's built a loco that can go at a scale Mach 1 or that can go underwater or whatever. I don't have any interest in a Top Ten video, because I think every model needs to be judged on its own criteria - you can't fairly compare a starter loco or toy train to a top-of-the-line scale model. The less said about "El Cheapo," the better. But as a YouTuber myself (on nothing like the same scale as Sam, and nowhere near making a living off it), I do feel that I have to play Devil's Advocate to some extent here. People in general seem to be a little bitter about the fact that it's possible to make a living off YouTube at all, especially if it's by doing something that's not to their taste (see also). But the fact is that he's producing videos for an audience who appreciate his work enough that he is able to make a living off it. That audience isn't people like us. It's a younger audience, perhaps newcomers to the hobby, presumably people who are looking for a nice loco rather than something specific. The train set crowd. If you don't like his stuff, then there are plenty of other YouTubers who are likely a better fit for your interests, who have been mentioned before in this thread. On a side note, I kind of feel like the term "clickbait" has lost all meaning these days. The video describes itself as Sam's worst trains of 2020 and that's what the video is. It might be attention-grabbing (which you kind of have to be on a huge platform like YouTube), but it's not clickbait. It's definitely clickbait. They always pop up on my right hand wall when looking at YouTube videos and I don't even watch model railway videos. I was looking for the Ivo Peters S&D footage as I've only got them on VHS and this appeared. If that's not clickbait then I don't know what it is. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators AY Mod Posted January 18, 2021 Moderators Share Posted January 18, 2021 1 hour ago, HonestTom said: but it's not clickbait. I think it is when there's any imagery that's not part of it; it's not like he's actually burnt any of his models. Anyway; for a little purification of the soul have a look at Luke Towan's work - I thought someone had gone and nicked The Iron Bridge during Lockdown* - * This would have been a cause for major concern if one was not able to wander over the bridge from the car park to visit Eley's Pies (best pork pies in the kingdom). No flames, no sensationalism - just good modelling. 7 1 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HonestTom Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 (edited) 8 minutes ago, Steamport Southport said: It's definitely clickbait. They always pop up on my right hand wall when looking at YouTube videos and I don't even watch model railway videos. I was looking for the Ivo Peters S&D footage as I've only got them on VHS and this appeared. If that's not clickbait then I don't know what it i What pops up on your feed is nothing to do with Sam, it's automatically decided by the YouTube algorithm. Presumably you entered something in the search box along the lines of "Somerset and Dorset Railway," the AI gave you a result based on that. The AI has no way of knowing that you personally aren't interested in a video about a Hornby train set. It just knows that other people have entered that search term or similar and that this is a popular video among those who did so. As for whether this video is clickbait, it certainly is not. The title of the video describes exactly what it is. The thumbnail depicts the train set that is being unboxed. I'm not saying that Sam never indulges in clickbait, but this isn't it. Edited January 18, 2021 by HonestTom 4 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SD85 Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 When it comes to clickbait there are far worse Youtube channels out there TBH. As an aside, I sometimes look up the Ivo Peters S&D clips on Youtube, but they tend to be broken into smaller sections. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Legend Posted January 18, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 18, 2021 Another aside , Scotrail are putting up cab views of some of their routes on YouTube . Yesterday I did Crianlarich - Oban . Very relaxing . I've done the route several times by car , and a few times by rail , so I was picking out all the familiar places . Only thing is theres no sound , but it was still very good . Well it beats Midwives on Ice or whatever was on last night! 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HonestTom Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 1 minute ago, Legend said: Another aside , Scotrail are putting up cab views of some of their routes on YouTube . Yesterday I did Crianlarich - Oban . Very relaxing . I've done the route several times by car , and a few times by rail , so I was picking out all the familiar places . Only thing is theres no sound , but it was still very good . Well it beats Midwives on Ice or whatever was on last night! I love Midwives on Ice! Gets a bit messy when the waters break though. 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
London Southwark Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 4 minutes ago, HonestTom said: I love Midwives on Ice! Gets a bit messy when the waters break though. Better than dancing on midwives I suppose 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators AY Mod Posted January 18, 2021 Moderators Share Posted January 18, 2021 42 minutes ago, SD85 said: I sometimes look up the Ivo Peters S&D clips on Youtube None of which seem to be published there by the copyright holders - another measure of what consumers care about (or not). 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steamport Southport Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 37 minutes ago, HonestTom said: What pops up on your feed is nothing to do with Sam, it's automatically decided by the YouTube algorithm. Presumably you entered something in the search box along the lines of "Somerset and Dorset Railway," the AI gave you a result based on that. The AI has no way of knowing that you personally aren't interested in a video about a Hornby train set. It just knows that other people have entered that search term or similar and that this is a popular video among those who did so. As for whether this video is clickbait, it certainly is not. The title of the video describes exactly what it is. The thumbnail depicts the train set that is being unboxed. I'm not saying that Sam never indulges in clickbait, but this isn't it. No. Somerset and Dorset wasn't used as a search term. I actually think I used Ivo Peters Westmoreland If it's not clickbait then how come it was the only video like that on the entire wall. All the others were things that were relevant such as BFI footage. Screenshot. I haven't clicked on any of Sams Trains videos apart from the one above. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SD85 Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 TBH it could have been the algorithms picking up that you'd looked at a thread on here discussing the Sam's Trains video and decided to suggest in in your Youtube feed. They work on a pretty wide basis; just because you read up on something on a forum elsewhere probably isn't a barrier to Youtube suggesting it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold tomparryharry Posted January 18, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 18, 2021 53 minutes ago, SD85 said: When it comes to clickbait there are far worse Youtube channels out there TBH. As an aside, I sometimes look up the Ivo Peters S&D clips on Youtube, but they tend to be broken into smaller sections. Well, the Somerset & Dorset is real clickbait, isn't it? Coat on, heading for the Mendips.... 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talltim Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 On 17/01/2021 at 12:29, Paddy said: I asked my daughter this and she is equated live game streaming to watching any other sport... Kind regards Paddy I don't get why people watch any sport. Playing them, yes. For full disclosure, my kids spend far too long watching people play video games. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steamport Southport Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 13 minutes ago, SD85 said: TBH it could have been the algorithms picking up that you'd looked at a thread on here discussing the Sam's Trains video and decided to suggest in in your Youtube feed. They work on a pretty wide basis; just because you read up on something on a forum elsewhere probably isn't a barrier to Youtube suggesting it. I first noticed it a long time before this thread started. It always happens with anything railway related. Doesn't happen when looking at music videos which I watch a lot. Also notice that nothing else has appeared apart from that one video sticking out like a sore thumb. Jason Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Enterprisingwestern Posted January 18, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 18, 2021 1 hour ago, AY Mod said: Anyway; for a little purification of the soul have a look at Luke Towan's work - I thought someone had gone and nicked The Iron Bridge during Lockdown* - Not bad for an Aussie either! Mike. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hroth Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 3 hours ago, tomparryharry said: Looks like an important week in Johnster Towers.... There is absolutely no basis in the rumour that a certain reviewer has new carpet delivered to the loft...... Something like this, I hope... The lime green would probably be ideal... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johndon Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 35 minutes ago, Steamport Southport said: No. Somerset and Dorset wasn't used as a search term. I actually think I used Ivo Peters Westmoreland If it's not clickbait then how come it was the only video like that on the entire wall. All the others were things that were relevant such as BFI footage. Screenshot. I haven't clicked on any of Sams Trains videos apart from the one above. But if I use the same search terms and select the first video to watch, non of Sam's Trains videos are shown on the right hand side at all although I do get a link for a property program, clearly nothing to do with what I had searched for but YouTube put it there as it is similar to other things that I have watched... John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HonestTom Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, Steamport Southport said: No. Somerset and Dorset wasn't used as a search term. I actually think I used Ivo Peters Westmoreland If it's not clickbait then how come it was the only video like that on the entire wall. All the others were things that were relevant such as BFI footage. Screenshot. I haven't clicked on any of Sams Trains videos apart from the one above. It's not clickbait because that's not what clickbait is. Clickbait is a link given a tantalising or misleading description in order to make you click on it. So here's an example. This is clickbait. It's designed to make you curious. The website it is sending you to is nothing to do with the photo or its description. It is bait to deceive you into clicking on a website you would otherwise not visit. The Sam's Trains link is not clickbait. If that link took you to something that wasn't a video of Sam unboxing a Somerset and Dorset Railway train set, then yes, it would be clickbait. If the thumbnail implied that the video was something more exciting than an unboxing video for this Somerset and Dorset Railway train set, that would also be clickbait. And again, even if it was clickbait, its appearance in your feed is nothing to do with that. Sam does not decide which videos show up in your feed. YouTube decides what to show you based on what you've searched for recently, what you've searched for in the past and what other people who have searched for the same things have watched. If anything, it's the opposite of clickbait, because it's trying to show you a video it thinks you would enjoy. It has no way of knowing that you don't want to see that, unless you specifically tell it by marking the video as something you're not interested in. YouTube is actually weighted against clickbait, because it not only monitors what videos you watch, but how long you watched them for. So if a video is misleadingly titled, lots of people click on it and immediately stop watching, YouTube learns that that's not a video it should be recommending to those people. As to why you now have the top 10 worst trains video, it's because it knows you came here, where that video is linked. It knows you didn't watch that video, but you are clearly interested in the subject matter. And it knows you linked another Sam's Trains video here. Edited January 18, 2021 by HonestTom 1 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold tomparryharry Posted January 18, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 18, 2021 25 minutes ago, Hroth said: Something like this, I hope... The lime green would probably be ideal... Oh no! not another argument about Brunswick Green..... 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete_mcfarlane Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 I'm confused. How is the Bachmann N class a worst model of 2020? I remember buying one about 20 years ago. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithMacdonald Posted January 18, 2021 Author Share Posted January 18, 2021 6 minutes ago, tomparryharry said: Oh no! not another argument about Brunswick Green..... <pedantic mode> I think you'll find that's an LNER green carpet (before weathering) </pedantic mode> 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts