I was going to post this during the last time people were discussing the state of Dan's channel, but I missed the opportunity when the thread moved on. But I knew that this topic always comes back, so...
I think Tomska's latest vlog is very relevant when we're trying to understand what's happening with Dan, I've always liked to compare them, because despite the obvious differences (Tom makes videos which involves a lot of other people, he runs a production company and is very transparent about his process, his mental health issues are a bit different to Dan's), there are also a lot of similarities (they make comedy videos, they both have been doing youtube for a long time and since they were very young, they both struggle with depression and procrastination, they both watch a lot of shows and play a lot of video games, they have somewhat similar type of humour). So, in his
June's vlog , Tom's saying that he's in a relatively good place right now and he's talking about the state of his channels and why he isn't really worried about youtube (from 3m01s), and then, later, about his recent series of silly videos on his side channel that he's calling "Content" (does it remind of you anything?) which makes him enjoy doing youtube again (from 14m25s). Others have already said it on different occasions, but it's just another argument to support the theory that the gaming channel (and AP in some way) is providing this space for Dan, allowing to take off the pressure that he is the one to put on himself, sure, but it doesn't really make it easier to get away from it, does it? It's not really fair, in my opinion, to complain that Dan isn't making videos like he used to. I see a lot of that and I understand the disappointment on a personal level, I really do. But people change, they grow up, their sense of humour changes, too (which is for the best, I might add, considering the amount of problematic jokes in Dan's older videos), and anyway there is no contract between him and his audience, this is the thing about being an author/creator, you have a lot more freedom in deciding when and what you're creating. A lot less stability, though, and no regular paycheck.
For me, I really don't see a problem with Dan's main channel, and I especially don't feel like he has anything to apologize for to his audience in relation to his uploading schedule. He DOES upload videos (with Phil), quite regularly, considering they don't have a super big team helping them, and that still get a lot of views, compared to other old school youtubers. No, it's not some high brow content, but it makes people happy, which is the important thing. And now deppy are on
tour with a quite challenging schedule, and they've
learned their lesson last time and prepared videos in advance to post. If anything, I'm not very happy with the II content itself and the gap between how it was advertised and what it contains in reality, but it's a whole another discussion and anyway, I acknowledge the work that went into doing it and the fact that it gives people what they want and brings them joy, while I'm in the corner enjoying my instagram stories, the lack of bedroom related drama and the domestic masterpiece that is the texting video (this is the content I've subscribed for!).