YouTube is the world’s largest video platform and, on the surface, seems like the ideal place to build an audience. Its massive reach and discovery features promise creators the chance to go viral and attract new fans. But if your goal is to foster real relationships and deliver the best possible experience to your audience, YouTube’s structure and incentives might actually work against you. Here’s why.
1. YouTube’s Algorithm Prioritizes Clicks, Not Connection
YouTube’s recommendation engine drives 70% of what people watch, but it’s designed to maximize engagement, not deepen relationships. The algorithm rewards content that gets quick clicks and longer watch times, pushing creators to chase trends, use clickbait, and constantly optimize for what’s popular right now. This means:
Creators often feel pressure to make content for the algorithm, not for their core community.
While it might seem like a win-win to follow the algorithm, a good portion of content that YouTube needs is meet the needs of advertiser and search engines and those are often not subjects or topics that are great for building a loyal group of subscribers. Following the algorithm could generate views on videos that people want, but would never have any use for following.
Videos optimized for the algorithm attract “transactional” viewers—people who come for one video and leave—rather than “relational” viewers who want to stick around and engage.
As your channel grows with random viewers, your core community—the ones who actually care about you and your message—can get drowned out, making it harder to build lasting relationships.
2. Limited Control Over Audience Experience and Branding
When you host videos on YouTube, you have little control over the user experience or branding. Your content sits next to unrelated videos, ads, and comments. YouTube’s interface and recommendations can distract viewers, pulling them away from your message and into a rabbit hole of unrelated content. This makes it difficult to:
Guide your audience through a curated journey.
Keep their attention focused on your unique value.
Build a memorable brand experience.
3. Analytics That Don’t Tell the Whole Story
YouTube’s analytics are robust in some areas but lacking in others. For example, it’s difficult to track unique plays, understand how individual viewers engage with your content, or segment your audience in meaningful ways. This lack of granular data makes it hard to:
Identify your true fans.
Personalize your content strategy.
Measure the real impact of your videos on relationship-building.
4. The Wrong Viewers Hurt Your Channel
If your content gets promoted to the wrong audience—say, through paid promotions or algorithmic mismatches—your channel can actually suffer. Low retention and engagement from mismatched viewers signal to YouTube that your content isn’t valuable, which can reduce your reach even further. As one creator put it:
“When I post new content and those new subscribers don’t engage with it, YouTube won’t push the new videos out to a larger audience… the low retention will most likely kill my new video from gaining any traction outside of the promotion.”
5. Community and Comments: A Double-Edged Sword
While YouTube allows comments, open forums can attract trolls, spam, and negativity, which can harm your brand and alienate genuine fans. Closing comments, on the other hand, can make you seem unapproachable or afraid of feedback. Either way, meaningful, positive engagement is hard to guarantee.
YouTube Isn’t Designed To Help You Build An Audience
YouTube’s algorithm drives 70% of what people watch, but user feedback like “Not Interested” or “Dislike” only stops 11–12% of unwanted recommendations.
One rejected video can spawn 115 similar recommendations over 7 months, making it almost impossible for users to get the content they actually want and the algorithm functions counterintuitive to what users often perceive.
On average, creators get only 7 subscribers per 1,000 views on their most popular videos, compared to 47 per 1,000 on videos that resonate with their core audience.
Conclusion: Can You Build Your Audience On YouTube?
While YouTube can help you reach a large audience, it’s often at the expense of real connection, control, and community. The platform’s incentives and design make it difficult to deliver a tailored, relationship-driven experience. If your goal is to build lasting relationships and give your audience the best possible experience, consider supplementing your YouTube presence with platforms where you control the environment, own the data, and can nurture your community on your own terms.
Considered an influential figure in the world of digital content, Tyler has enjoyed a rich career as a marketing executive and has contributed insights to leading publications; including AdWeek, ESPN, and The Harvard Business Review. His career is complimented by a personal life where he is a prolific figure in the world of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competition and and MMA; both as a broadcaster, former professional fighter & competitor, and one of the earliest analyst's of grappling competition. Despite little activity in these arenas today, Tyler remains keenly interested in combat sports as husband to PFL/ Bellator top contender and American grappling pioneer, Jena Bishop.
