View counts on YouTube are about to get BIG jump up.

Is it just me, or has YouTube been on one lately?! August has featured a never-ending list of major YouTube updates! I’m covering the big story for creators today, which is all about how view counts are changing and what it means for you.

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve had to explain to a brand why 10,000 views on YouTube is worth as much as, or if not more than, 50,000 on TikTok or Instagram.

We won’t have to have that conversation anymore.From Monday, 24th August, YouTube will count a view from the second your video starts playing (vs after 30 seconds of your video playing, which is how they previously counted a view). This will apply across long-form, lives, the lot. The change will allow their view counts to mirror that of Instagram and TikTok, who have counted a view from the second a video starts playing for years. We’re also going to be seeing “Engaged Views” in your analytics as a separate metric. These are the views that match the historical standard we’ve been used to alongside “Views”, which is the newly updated no minimum watch time count.

So you’ve got two numbers doing two different jobs:

1. The public view count (bigger numbers, front-facing)

2. Engaged views (smaller numbers, in YouTube Studio)

Now, I know what you’re probably thinking and no, your videos aren’t going to suddenly perform better; YouTube was just measuring exposure more conservatively than everybody else.

Also, worth a mention is that videos uploaded before the 24th August keep their old view counts; only the new views gotten after the start date follow the new view count rule.

So, what’s the catch?

Well, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows on the YouTube news front.

From 1st February 2027, the Partner Program requirements will change (& not for the better). The amount of watch hours you need to accumulate in a 12 month period will increase from 4,000 to 8,000, whilst the threshold for qualified Shorts views will increase fromfrom 10M to 20M per 90 days (you can find out all about it here in last week’s edition).

So a mixed bag of new to say the least! I’d love to hear what you guys think about these changes, leave me a comment below.

(a cautionary tale of how not to get cancelled on the internet)A small Australian activewear brand called SUAVE just announced its closing after a “gym shaming” video.

Let’s set the scene, a few months back the founder’s wife posted a Snapchat (from her personal account) of a man on a rowing machine with a caption mocking him. The internet wasn’t having any of it.

The short video went viral, and the brand got immediately accused of shaming an everyday gym-goer; the backlash snowballed.

It sounds like obvious advice, but never be cruel online (or in life tbh).

You could argue it goes deeper than that; the way you speak and show up as a brand (or person) means something.

Your online personality can provoke strong feelings from your audience, and like the old saying goes:

That’s why I always harp on about building a wider footprint, giving yourself a fighting chance online with an email list, a second platform; don’t go too wide at the beginning because you’ll spread yourself too thin, but always give yourself something to fall back on.

What may have felt like a funny behind-the-scenes clip in the moment became a full-on brand-level crisis.

The end of SUAVE brings home that one offhand piece of content on social media can end a business. My 5 cents?
Don’t be a bully online and you should be fine!

(Click the link above to listen to my voice note answering this question or read my reply below!)

Every week I ask you to reply with whatever’s burning a hole in your brain, no question’s too small.

Someone left this under my recent video on YouTube tips, where I talked about learning to ride the wave as a creator and how not every dip means something’s wrong.