My Useless Philosophy Degree (and the worst video I ever made)

The most criticized, most hated video I’ve ever produced for my YouTube channel is about a topic super close to my heart, philosophy.

“My Useless Philosophy Degree” was the name of the video. Click-bait? Yeah, a little.

The video is about all the ways my philosophy degree helped me in life and my career. I wanted to bring attention to the benefits of studying philosophy beyond simply “getting a job.” Of course a philosophy degree doesn’t lead to a job. “Professional philosopher” isn’t viable, anymore.

I was really proud of the video when I made it three years ago. Today it has 16,000 views, 280 likes, and 70 dislikes. That’s a 25% disapproval rate. My channel has a disapproval rate average of just 2%.

Yikes.

So, what happened?

Audience vs Intention

The problem was this: I made that video during the time I was a vlogger (video blogger).

For over 2 years I uploaded 3-4 videos per week on my YouTube channel. These videos captured the lifestyle of being a “successful but non-famous entertainer & speaker.” They were light and fun, and gave me a chance to experiment with filming and editing techniques, flexing my creative muscles in a new way.

It was a great way to pass the dead time on tour by monologuing to the camera or capturing my environment. It also made me more aware of my surroundings, as I was constantly looking for the next shot that would be interesting enough to make it into a vlog.

Although I was vlogging, I didn’t enjoy most vloggers:

“Here’s what I had for breakfast. Now I’m on a plane. Look at that statue. Time to go to bed.”

I wanted each episode to either tell a story, make a point, or stir a curiosity in the audience. And this particular trip, during which I’d be performing magic for alumni weekend at my alma mater, seemed like the perfect opportunity to talk about my philosophy degree.

The video was intended for my regular viewers, of which there were 300-500 on any given day. Over years of loyal viewership, they’d come to expect and understand the way I made videos. When I dropped this video on my channel, they loved it. Positive comments and a perfect 100% likes to 0% dislikes.

And then it spread.

When Outsiders Come In

The video unexpectedly jumped to 1000 views, then 2000, then 5000. With growth came negative comments and dislikes. Where were these people coming from? Who were they? How were they finding my little corner of YouTube?

It turns out the search “Is a philosophy degree worth it?” yields my video as a first-page result. High school seniors and college freshmen curious about studying philosophy were finding it, hoping for a cost-benefit or risk-reward analysis.

This video was neither.

It was a light vlog during which I ruminate on how my philosophy degree helped in my unusual career path, and a minute or so on why I believe everyone should at least take a philosophy class as an undergrad.

Here’s the comment that summed up the outsider viewer’s response best:

disappointed you didn’t talk more about your Philosophy degree and how it’s helped you. Instead, it was “a day in the life of an alumni” type vid. -_-

And of course, they were right. They came to my video having searched “Is a philosophy degree worth it?” expecting to learn about being a philosophy major and what kinds of careers it may lead to, and instead got a magician running around the campus of his alma mater randomly throwing in a few things here and there about philosophy.

Should I redo the video?

I’ve talked to trusted folks about this video and the question keeps coming up, am I going to make the video people were expecting when they searched and found mine?

Well, it’s been two years and I still haven’t. I’m not sure. The question is, who would I be making it for? If it’s for my core audience, there’s no need. They got it the first time around. If it’s for the outsiders, is that an audience I’m trying to reach and bring into my community?

It’s not that I couldn’t easily make that video. I could give hours’ long philosophy lectures, and indeed I used to. It wouldn’t be difficult to make a 15-min video about the 3 or 5 ways studying philosophy benefited my life, and why you should consider it as well.

But if you search “Is a philosophy degree worth it?” you’ll find dozens of excellent videos addressing that question. Do I have anything worth adding to the conversation?

These are rhetorical questions, of course. I don’t have the answer, or I wouldn’t be writing this blog post. But I would like to get your advice.

In my shoes, would you make the video people were searching for? Or stop looking backwards at the one video that really “failed” over 2 years ago and simply move on?

Let me know in the comments below, or send me a DM on Instagram or LinkedIn. Eager to hear your thoughts.