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Comment by iknowstuff | Hacker News Reader

You’re incorrect about Alec from technology connections. He is very aware of hooks for videos and retention is very much on his mind. His videos are well scripted, for the most part, given his niche. But the reason the videos are an hour long is BECAUSE of the algorithm rewarding long form second screen content.

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Has he mentioned this somewhere we can cite?

I’m sure he’s aware of it as all creators have the tools to be aware of these sort of things, I just don’t get the impression from his content that he’s super concerned about taking that information and acting upon it.

I.e., if YouTube didn’t provide any analytics of any kind, I don’t think his content would change.

Yeah if you pay for his patreon you can read his discord where he’s mentioned it. Also I think on stage at a recent youtube convention in san mateo he mentioned he always looks for the hook. Note also the increase in video length corresponding with the platform’s algorithm changes

Can you clarify what you mean by "second screen content" here? I don't feel like I would get anything out of Alec's videos by "watching" them while really watching something else (which is how I understand that term, possibly incorrectly). Do people really do that?

the main screen could be web browsing, video game, work. That screen is the primary focus. My wife watched 20-60 min yt vids during her work day on an ipad.

Normally “second screen content” refers to something you glance at while doing your main task such as a day job (emails, etc).

Another example is Old School Runescape, which has gained a moniker of “second screen game” because a lot of the boring grindy content can be done while focusing on something else.

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