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Former Top YouTuber Leads Vlogging Revolution

Vloggerheads launchesFor months, YouTube Cewebrity Paul Robinette (Renetto) has been posting video blogs (vlogs) about his discontent on YouTube. He has criticized the site for how it handles the small but vocal video community, and has stirred up drama with the grace of an Olympic gymnist.

In the past few weeks, Robinette quietly launched Vloggerheads.com with 250 plus fellow vloggers. I previously reported that he was launching RenettoTube (see site), but apparently he had some help from branding experts.

The site, which was created using ning, is by invite only (info@renetto.com), and has already banned at least one controversial YouTube poet. The site has rules of ettiquette and is working to keep out unsavory “haters,” “trolls” and “pedophiles.” Fortunately that crowd has its own site (utubedrama.com). And don’t pretend you don’t surf for your name there weekly.

Renetto, who shaved my head years ago when I desperately wanted to be him, once topped the charts of YouTube but has fallen down the top 100 even faster than Nalts (which is rather sad given that I “jumped the shark” more than a year ago).

Renetto is loved and hated, but often the subject of discussion (see outtake clip that spoofs Renetto from a video I shot this week with YouTube Whore MrSafety). He’s best-known for his Mentos parody (nearly 10 million views) and was quoted regularly in the early media coverage of YouTube. In late 2006, Robinette rallied in support of YouTube-challenger Live Video, then changed his mind and brought about McCarthy-like challenge to those who abandoned YouTube (and took great pride in helping unravel LiveVideo). See NY Post article for more.

Vloggerheads is being listed as a “placeholder” site with larger goals. However it’s already attracting some of the YouTubers who don’t have top rankings but are staples among the inner circle of a vibrant community. My “poster child” of the online-video community (Nutcheese) is already addicted and that’s slown down her visits to Stumble! by 26%.

With just 800 videos to date and no apparent revenue model, Vloggerheads won’t soon be a threat to YouTube. But it’s an alternative virtual city where “hard core” community members are gathering, debating, communing and creating drama…

A smaller pond for those feeling lost in an increasingly commercialized YouTube?

Here’s my social commentary on vlogging. I wasn’t too sarcastic was I?

P.S. A reporter from Wired.com contacted Paul and said she heard about him from Nalts’ blog. That’s the power I have in media. Like TechCrunch I can make or break a company. Arington eat my pie hole you viralvideovillain promoter.

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122 Comments

  1. too much hype about a site that you have to be invited to ??? What about those who are just interested in seeing what it’s about so that we can decide if we want to be involved?

    I don’t know why I’m posting this here??
    Paul & Tom don’t visit this site anyway ๐Ÿ˜›

  2. Like I said before, for people with too much time on their hands. Besides, if they rejected MDJ, I don’t want to go there. Never liked Renetto anyway, regardless of what sukatra has said about me. Also, the invite-only thing seems a bit narcissistic (yes, I said that about Twitter, too; perhaps an inflated ego is necessary to fully enjoy most of these sites.)

    For what it’s worth, Nalts, I don’t think you’ve jumped the shark yet.

    PS-You still haven’t fixed the spelling of my name in your Blogroll. Perhaps I should start refering to you as “nuts”. It fits!

  3. Only 800 videos on Boogerheads?
    {SNORT}
    I have more than that on my nearly anonymous channel.

    Oh, factcheck time: Boogerheads didn’t reject me per se. They just didn’t invite me (because they–including Nutcheese–never heard of me….at least that’s what I HOPE happened, hahaha). Someone else in this blog (I don’t want to embarass them) sent me an group email asking if any of us emailed would be interested in a Boogerhead invitation and I immediately replied “Not me. Oh hell no.”

    I will NEVER be on Boogerheads because I detest private club mentalities, cliqueishness, elitism, inbred gossipism and also contrived drama. I like it real (trippy and surreal can be realer than what what a LOT of vloggers (spit) do) and I like it egalitarian. For instance, I still think EVERYONE should be a “Partner” on Youtube.

    Hahaha. I will not run for Boogerhead membership. If invited, I will not accept. I like The History Channel and I’ve got dirt dauber nests to knock out of mom’s doorways.
    ๐Ÿ™‚

  4. (this post caught me right after a strong cup of coffee)
    P.S. If you’ll remember, Kevin, it was YOU who dragged me kicking and screaming away from Revver into YouTube. You with your panglorious descriptions of the YouTube milk and honey, the streets paved with gold, the heavenly delights of Youtubism.

    I won’t be fooled twice.
    Hahahaha!

  5. Its the mometasone furoate, Jimmer, metered dosages or not, the stuff gives me weird energy rushes. Or maybe its the tumors in my head.

  6. The whole point of the invite is so that we are all tracked back to someone. If you ask for an invite, you’ll get one but it ensures that everyone is connected to someone. It avoids trolls sneaking in.

    There are many cliques on YT. I don’t fit into any of them…but it doesn’t stop me from interacting with the people I like and it’s the same with vloggerheads.

    The difference with vloggerheads! As soon as my account was approved, people that I don’t even know started leaving welcome messages on my page. There are many familiar faces and it feels like home…not like a dark and scary jungle (YT) where the animals just come out with claws and fangs to eat you up.

    IMO, vloggerheads feels safer and more comfy.

  7. This has been a bit more insightful then anything else I’ve seen in regards to vheads. With the quickly changing tide of tech. should’nt we be looking into more creative names for digital conversations? Gentrification seems to be prevalent not only in our cities but now even the net. Next perhaps Sushi bars on line.

  8. And it’s in beta testing…they are working on things so we are all guinea pigs LOL giving feedback so they can make improvements.

    One thing they are trying to work on…verifying your identity. Holding people accountable for their bad behavior, preventing their ability to make multiple accounts, etc…will cut down the stalking and harrassing which is a major problem on YT.

  9. The homes of the Stepford Wives were safe and comfy, too, Kim, but I wouldn’t want to do a reading there. And maybe I don’t want to HAVE to be connected to someone in order to express my ideas.

    And who can’t handle an electronic troll? Two clicks and they’re gone. And have you noticed that people who spend inordinate amounts of time isolated on their computers interacting only with electronic images tend to be, uh, well, shall we say….hypersensitive?

    Trolls, or those tarred with that derogative, need a union. Or an anti-defamation league. Rational discourse requires a dissenting opinion, don’t you think?

    As Kevin said in the above video: Bla bla bla bla bla.

    Hahaha! I amuse myself!

  10. V-heads hasn’t gotten off to a good start, unless all the drama (yawn) is part of the PR, and you know what they say about PR…

    People there seem friendly enough, but the excitement for watching vlogers has to be one or some of the following.

    1. I agree with you therefore I love you!

    2. I don’t agree with you therefore I hate you!

    3. Cat Fight!

    and sometimes

    4. Well, that was weird.

    Regardless, it has to be part of your life (no life) or entertaining; at least on some level.

    Will V-heads succeed or fail? [shrug] depends who’s paying the bills, but anything that lasts for any length of time on the nets has to have contrasts otherwise it’s boring as hell and the object in just about everything, especially in advertising, is to keep um comin’ back.

    Renetto created a little gated community; which I predicted would happen (see this blog somewhere) long ago. I’m now rethinking the value of that. The one thing gated communities offer is security which also happens too often to stifle diversity. You Tube has these gated communities as well, though the borders are obscured and mostly unprotected; rejection often comes in the way of ignoring or shunning. (It’s not haters, haters love you, they help make you popular. The secret is, without them knowing, you ultimately have total control over their words and actually use their energy to come up with more creative shit).

    You Tube is so big it’s really hard to get a handle on, however, one favorable aspect of its existence is there’s less opportunity to feel too sad about losing anything because it’s so big. Like living in the US, if you fail in your little town there’s always someplace bigger and better to go. Endless 2nd chances.

    You Tube has plenty of tough neighborhoods, people throw eggs and you can take it, fight back or ignore (delete comments block users).

    There’s value in numbers and value in small isolated communities, it really comes down to what the intentions are of those in control and those who support that control by how they participate.

    I happen to believe that the internets is really big and thereโ€™s room enough for everyone, but there has to be at least one common goal all users must agree upon, and that of course is the obvious, that the internet remains accessible. That’s one commitment every site and user should have somewhere in their byline or FAQ.

  11. Jesus, I can’t stop yapping this morning!

    Harassers help me get my videos into the Most Discussed category. Stalkers would piss their drawers if they saw me walking up their sidewalk with my carpenter’s hammer in hand. I am more worried about self appointed internet police who would censor Bukowski.

  12. What’s fascinating to me is how certain so many people are about a place they’ve never experienced.

    VH is elitist? The members are people from all walks and all levels of previous video blogging experience. It’s a site in pre-alpha at the moment. As someone else said here, take a deep breath and give us a minute to figure some things out before being so sure about what this experiment might become. If you want to get a taste of what it’s like, ask for an invite. Then make up your mind.

    Oh, and Nalts, if you can’t vlog any better than you did in that blah blah video, you’re sure not going to be a very interesting VloggerHead!

  13. Has Old Baldy left Youtube now?
    Im confused. Is he just vloging on his RenettoTube or is he doing a bit of both? Youtube & Vloggerheads.

    Not everybody likes to do just blogging and Vlogging all the time.

  14. I hate Renetto. It’s pretty obvious if you’ve watched any of my videos. And it’s not like he got his notoriety, and gets payed by Youtube or anything, so he has every right to go to another website and bitch. ( I was sarcastic right there)

    Anyway, I’m not going to even attempt to get involved with this whole Vloggerheads trend, because I know that it will only inevitably end in heartbreak for ol’ Reuben. Plus I never vlog.

  15. I don’t HAVE to drive a farm tractor around, Tom, to know what it is for and where it should be used and that I’d rather drive a pickup on a paved street than hoe a row in the dirt for someone else’s benefit.

    Form follows function.

  16. Gated communities are for those who don’t want their sensibilities sullied by the unwashed masses.

    By definition, separatists want segregation. I’m for integration.

  17. Jim, you had me all the way up to there. One of the rights we have as citizens is the right of free association. People are allowed to form groups with whomever they wish. This is a (mostly) free country and internet. You can have your opinion and I will respect that, but it is not wrong for people to choose and they should not be restricted from building their own associations. Even if those associations offend your sensibilities. Discrimination is what is says “to discern between to different objects, people, concepts etc”. Discrimination is only wrong if used to exclude an individual based on race, ethnicity, sex, age, income level from access to a job or public facilities. Discrimination is part and parcel with the formation of all groups. You know that. It doesn’t make it fair or egalitarian but it is a fact of human nature.

    You seem to believe that because there are people who live a higher economic standard of living, deserved or not, that they shouldn’t act so high and mighty. That attitude can be colored as jealousy. People can do as they like on private property and in private groups, the Supreme Court has held that is true. Even today.

  18. If I were invited, I would probably join (mostly out of morbid curiousity), but I don’t see that happening, as: 1) I have no friends whatsoever in high places. Heck, I don’t even have friends in medium-high places. 2) I’m just not motivated enough to go crawling on hands and knees begging someone to let me into a party that I’m not cool enough to get invited to. I’d feel like I pushed my way in, and that tweaks my gentleman genes in a not-so-cool way. (Bad touch! Bad touch!)

    For now I’m going to refrain from posting my personal views on Renetto, or the ongoing TubeDrama, except to say that I think it’s sad that people feel the correct response to trolls and haters is to run away and join the No Homers club. If I ran away from every bully, moron, and troll I ever encountered, I’d be letting them win. I’d probably be in great physical shape, but that’s not the point.

    I’ve had a hater/troll or two in my day, but I’ve never had a problem with them. Most of the time they’re just stupid, unworthy of even being noticed. The really clever ones are usually about on the intelligence level of a 13 year old. Deep down, they’re all really the same, and just not worth getting worked up over. In fact, most of the time they’re pretty funny. I love it when they post comments like “Ur so fat!” on my videos. I’ve been making fun of my own weight since I started doing standup, and now I’m supposed to be offended by some dufus who’s only posting on my video because he can’t get a girlfriend, and even his dog won’t hang out with him, leaving him alone in his mom’s basement all night to watch videos and try to get responses in the only way his unstimulated mind knows how. I pity the haters more than anything, really.

    Anyway, Good luck to Paul and his team of developers. I’m not planning on running away any time soon, but if I ever do it’s nice to know there’s a place I can hide…maybe…kinda…if they let me in…which they won’t.

    ๐Ÿ˜€

  19. On the thought of being a “private party”. I don’t really have a problem with that. Heck, I’m doing a collab project with 7 of who I think are YouTubes brightest lesser-known members, and our collab site is strictly private, by invite only.

    If they want to have a private party, that’s cool. What’s not cool is to have the mentality that “I’m in here, and therefore I’m better than the people who aren’t”. That’s the line between simply having a private party and being a jerk elitist I want nothing to do with.

    From what I’ve heard (and again, keep in mind I’m not on the inside of this group), they don’t cross that line yet. Some of them toe the line, certainly, and I know that in their heads, a few of them crossed that line eons ago (cough *ren*cough*etto*cough!), but as a whole, I can’t pass judgement, because I can’t see what they’re saying, but from some of the people I know there, they can’t be that bad.

    Then again, who knows?

  20. It’s “invite-only” because that’s how many sites do their alpha testing. It’s not that hard to get invited (shit Renetto himself invited me, and you know the shit we’ve flipped each other). “Invite-only” is not to create a club mentality, but to keep the site small in the initial stages so things are easy to fix when they go wrong.

    I don’t think they’ll ever take over YouTube and my vids there get less than 10% of the views my typical YouTube vid gets, but so what? I use it for actual vlogging, versus the other kind of shit I put on my YT channel.

    12seconds.tv is “invite only” too but they’re not getting the shit Vloggerheads is getting because they’re not run by Renetto (by the way, Renetto isn’t the sole personality behind the site).

    NewWarriorMan is an idiot.

  21. All though I agree with Mast that they are still BETA Testing the site .. I think it’s the hype that has everyone miffed … let them get that “NEW CAR SMELL” worked out, then we can all peer into the fishbowl. Of course we all expected anything that Paul would be involved in would generate attention, good or bad. Give it’s due and time to breath… like a fine “whine” … let them finish the testing and stop pissing on their parade. I can’t keep up with half the crap I’m subscribed to, let alone another site now that isn’t even available.

    Death to the Lemmings ๐Ÿ˜›

  22. Ugh, now I’ve started writing and I can’t stop. Somebody save me!

    To be honest about all of this, I think the real problem with viral video comes down to some people thinking they’re better than others, no matter what site they’re on. I can name 10 content creators who make better stuff than I do, but have way fewer subscribers. I can name way more than 10 YouTubers with over 10,000 subscribers who I feel have content that can’t hold a candle to the stuff many of my lesser known friends and I create.

    The point is, if you’ve got 50,000, that doesn’t mean you’re better than anyone else. Equally true is that if you’ve only got 5 subs, it doesn’t mean your videos suck. Ultimately, to the millions of people who don’t watch youtube aside from the occasional clip that get’s forwarded to their email (e.g. “most people”), the guy with 50,000 subs is exactly the same as the guy with 5.

    People on YouTube take themselves too seriously sometimes, myself included. Now get off your mouse, click on my name,and subscribe already!!

    ๐Ÿ˜€

  23. @24
    “One of the rights we have as citizens is the right of free association. People are allowed to form groups with whomever they wish.”

    Right. I reserve my right not to associate with Boogerheads. I also reserve my right to call them Boogerheads:D

    “This is a (mostly) free country and internet.”

    Having been to more repressive countries in the service of my government, I STILL have to disagree with the mostly free country part. Great country that it is, we are still mostly regulated by administrative policy if not actual law and inroads have been made into thought crimes.

    “You can have your opinion and I will respect that, but it is not wrong for people to choose and they should not be restricted from building their own associations. Even if those associations offend your sensibilities.”

    I don’t want to restrict them. I just don’t want to join them. And I want to reserve my right to shout from the rooftops my opinion that freedom loving people shouldn’t join them either. I’ve seen the damage cults can do. ( hahaha. Over the top? ๐Ÿ˜€ )

    Discrimination is what is says โ€œto discern between to different objects, people, concepts etcโ€.”

    I discern that Boogerheads is a personality cult.

    “Discrimination is only wrong if used to exclude an individual based on race, ethnicity, sex, age, income level from access to a job or public facilities.”

    I didn’t know it included income level. Wait, my first-hand experience as a homeless person tells me that I have been discriminated against. Even when I wasn’t homeless I was discriminated against on the basis of affirmative action and income level (turned down for government jobs based on my credit report). I should sue the founding fathers for bait and switch fraud!

    “Discrimination is part and parcel with the formation of all groups. You know that. It doesnโ€™t make it fair or egalitarian but it is a fact of human nature.”

    Thanks for reaffirming my right to discriminate against the Boogerheads for discriminating against my people.

    “You seem to believe that because there are people who live a higher economic standard of living, deserved or not, that they shouldnโ€™t act so high and mighty.”

    Having driven callgirls to the ultra rich and famous in L.A. and having seen these privileged folk in their underwear acting out every filthy perversion my mind could have never imagined, I’d say I’d have to agree with you there!

    “That attitude can be colored as jealousy.”

    It could, jimmer, it could. It could also be painted as anger or disgust at the hypocrisy. Paint it any color you like. Except sympathetic. Please don’t color it that. (Christ, I’m burning bridges today!)

    “People can do as they like on private property and in private groups, the Supreme Court has held that is true. Even today.”

    Ahyup, they can. They can swap their wives or exchange child porn or plot to fly airplanes into skyscrapers. It’s a “free” country, paid for by the blood of my comrades who died so that people could be silly on the internets.

  24. P.S.
    You all know that Renetto hired me to stir up publicity through controversy for the site, right?

    You KNEW that, didn’t you?

    I mean, really, otherwise I wouldn’t give a rat’s ass.

    How do you like me NOW, Boogerheads?
    ๐Ÿ˜€

  25. Renetto hired me to grind the top layer of skin off his feet and wax his car.

    I got fired when I accidentally grinded the top layer of paint off his car and waxed his feet.

  26. Hahaha, somecallmejim. He hired me to . . . .

    Aw, I just don’t have the heart to do the oral sodomy joke. Not to poor Paul. He catches a lot of heat for being manipulative, poor bastard, what with being sexually molested by his dad and all.

    No wait. That was his dream, he said.

    My aspirations are higher.
    HAHAHA!

    No wait. That wasn’t nice. But neither were all those mind games played by those who would be Boogerheads. (Still earning my keep, Paul baby)

  27. I swear I made a very insightful, deep, and evocative comment here earlier that would have had all of you kissing (not waxing or grinding) my feet for the wisdom I articulated, but it must have gotten deleted.

    Now you will never experience the thrill of my astuteness because the moment has passed. Your loss. ๐Ÿ˜‰

  28. @ChristopherMast
    โ€œInvite-onlyโ€ is not to create a club mentality”

    Too late. That horse has left the barn. Seems like the massive premature leaks about a site in alpha testing has dis-served them, made them look disorganized and amateurish. Or maybe they ARE disorganized and amateurish. Maybe YouTube’s sterling management of videos made it easy for them to appear smart over there but exposed them on Boogerheads.

    Mismanagement is the key to success! Yessir, that’s who I want managing my videos and PERSONAL INFORMATION (NOT!).

  29. @marquisdejolie
    I didn’t give any personal info, except my name and zip code which pretty much everyone on the video ether already knows, so…

    Bitch about them if you want. I personally think your efforts with such energy might be better spent elsewhere, like… oh… I don’t know… maybe feeding some homeless?

  30. you elitist kids dragged haters in with you. vh will the have the same problems as youtube

  31. @comment#37
    Did that in San Antonio and Los Angeles (for real, not just crocodile-teared lipservice in some inedible vlog). I’ve saved as many lives as you have. Maybe more. And I had to put my own ass on the line to do it, not just write some tiny little check from the comfort and safety of my gated community.

    I personally think Boogerheads energy definitely would be better spent elsewhere, likeโ€ฆ ohโ€ฆ I donโ€™t knowโ€ฆ maybe feeding some homeless?

  32. (WHISTLE) Personal foul! Unnecessary Guilt!

    (WHISTLE) Personal foul! Low blow Chop block!

    Offsetting penalties! Replay the down!

  33. Hey ref! I didn’t even get a chance to mention my work personally feeding and clothing the orphans overseas when I was there or caregiving my completely stroke-paralyzed wife for 2 years or being a single parent after she passed at 37 or saving Creepy’s life or saving Grace or raising my eldest granddaughter the first year of her life or my many hours of volunteer community service or about the old homeless attorney I adopted or the dogs I have saved or digging my mother out of my sisters’ pit or

    Well, nevermind. Vlogging is more important.

  34. I never got the group email asking people on this blog to join. I feel slighted.

    Actually, I’m kind of overwhelmed by all this new stuff people are talking about. Plus there are wayyyy too many words in some of the comments on this post.

    I don’t know what this “blogroll” thing is but I fucking better be on it or someone will lose his nuts.

  35. Oh for christ’s sake. You mean I actually have to have a blog to be on blogroll?????

    Life is so hard.

  36. -ya know your talking about people who sit in front of a camera and bitch about one thing or another um.. what did you expect would happen to a site where people sit in front of a camera and bitch?

    They should call it bitchheads or bitchheading -Marilyn, can you come up with the correct grammar usage of the term and use it in a sentence?

    -mdj you’re way to sensitive. The monkeys are just poking a stick at something they don’t understand. Mostly because they got tired of bitching and throwing their poo at you tube to fix things and provide more options.

    of course it didn’t occur to many of the monkeys that if they didn’t trust the general public to watch or comment. on their vids they could gather in their little groups and make them private.

    It didn’t occur to them to unite either and do what Az did, like help to force changes through the power of a damn good argument and a united front that didn’t let up. Course the guy did get fired, but his cause was worthy.

    -Vlogerbitchingheads is perceived as a Renetto thing; because no one else has stepped up to take the heat or perhaps he just likes all the heat? Which makes me wonder… If Renetto is a big part of this new thing is he off the You Tube dole and if so I want to see his “vlog” on the You Tube back story. Everyone does.

    -sukatra suck it up!

  37. I may be a hothouse lilly online, jblah, but I’m still 6 and 0 in my last 6 street fights. Last one in my fifties. Not bad for a crippled old fart, eh?

  38. I’m still 6 and 0 in my last 6 street vendor hot dog purchases. And I think the last hot dog I ate was from the fifties. Not bad for a morbidly obese midwestern looser, eh?

  39. You know, there are all kinds of comments I could make in response to jan’s “suck it up” comment to me, but they would all be incredibly crude and therefore totally out of character for me.

  40. Wait. I beg your pardons, but something doesn’t make sense here. Look at comment 11 compared to comment 37. Kimosh says Boogerheads is going to do all these wonderful things that YouTube can’t to prevent haters and cheaters and gamers yet ChristopherMast says the only info you have to give is name and zip code.

    What? They doing some kind of magic over there? Practitioners of zip code voodoo? How are they gonna do all of comment #11 with only zip codes?

    I call bullshit.

    And that’s my last word, I promise. Unless somebody ELSE pulls my chain.
    ๐Ÿ™‚

  41. For you youngsters out there, let me give you the etymology of the phrase “pull my chain.”

    In the olden days, the water reservoir for flush toilets was located near the ceiling. You had to yank on a hanging chain to flush and when you did, the most gawdawful roar of flushing would occur, leading to the expression “who pulled your chain?” after someone had just ranted about something.

    At yer service, kiddos.

  42. i’m kind of reminded of the live video exodius of ’07 which lasted a whole of two weeks

  43. Me, too. And then they came sheepishly sneaking back into youTube, pretending they’d never said the most gawdawful foolish things they’d said when they left.

    Oh, the hubris of amateurs!

  44. MDJ…did you miss the beta testing part? We’re not required to give more information yet…they are still working on it.

    And I should correct something I said previously…while it’s comfortable (for me) to see many familiar faces…they are allowing a large diverse group of people. Some people have a rep for being a hater…the point is, stalk or harrass someone and you’re gone. They are developing a system to try and keep people out once they are gone.

    sheepishly sneeking back to YT? LOL Are you saying we should be exclusive to YT? that’s hilarious. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I never intend on closing my YT account…I enjoy watching WTB. :^)

    jischinger [boo]

  45. I think everyone might just be taking all this a little too seriously. Deep breath, folks. Say it with me: Goosfraba.

    There, feel better?

    As far as I can tell, the site itself sounds to be at the least, a neat concept. And if they acheive what it sounds like they want to get, not only will it be a good place to be, but it will be the first time I can recall since I went online in the mid-90’s that an internet site doesn’t have trolls.

    That being said, if the ultimate goal is to make it an open site to anyone, I think it was an error on their part to make it so public so soon. It’s true that a lot of great sites started testing in invite-only mode. Heck, look at gmail, which is by far the best free email service I know of. They were invite-only for years. (Incedentally-I had an invite within about a week of when gmail came out, mostly thanks to my brother who was a pioneer in the online gaming developer’s world, and a demigod to many hardcore online gamers . So neener-neener-boo-boo!)

    I think what’s causing all the strife is the feeling that in some ways, this is an “insider’s club”, and only the cool are being invited. I’m sure much of that is unfounded. But for cryin’ out loud, whomever picked Renetto to lead this charge had the wrong guy in mind for building unity. I personally have no beef with him, but I do feel like for every cloud of dissent he tries to settle, he kicks up two more in the process. And that’s not because he’s a bad guy, but it’s just his nature.

    Sooner or later, something on vloggerheads will have to change though. Since the first BBS’ came out (does anyone even remember the old dial-up bulletin board services?) there have been trolls & haters anywhere the general public can sign up. I think most experienced web-users would agree that of the three traits popularity, public access, and troll/hater-free, a site can have two of those, but never all three and sustain that state.

    So the question is really which two vloggerheads will keep. Do they want it to be a public place that’s free of trolls? It’s too late for that, because they’ve already got the popularity. Day one it goes public, I can guarantee you that every viral video troll and hater will sign up, looking for weaknesses in the anti-troll armor. And they’ll find the holes.

    Got more to say, but I’m at work. Pity!

  46. I was being snarky about the zipcode voodoo part, Kimosh (Robinett, send me my check!).

    To do any kind of troll filtering, they’ll have to get your IP address and it is my understanding that a bunch of personal information can be gleaned from that. Maybe I’m wrong.

    I don’t know and I don’t really care much. I’m not a believer. I haven’t drunk the kool-aid. I’m not even much of a YouTube fan. I believe that EVERYONE should be a YouTube “Partner”: trolls, haters, poets, musicians and yes, even vloggers (spit).

  47. I DO remember BBSes, jim. I made a healthy little chunk of change in the late eighties/early nineties setting them up for service bureaus and print shops. Ah, those were the days. Business owners were awed by us wizards of the baud rate and would throw big chunks of money at us “IT Consultants” for wiring them up to their customers.

    Ah, happy memories of when I strolled through Linotronica Scitexia as a giant.
    ๐Ÿ™‚

  48. Sheesh! I had to check the damned “Hey, Nalts. Notify me of followup comments via e-mail” thingie at the bottom! GAH! Now I get a damned email every time MDJ makes another reply… and he’s doing that at the rate he makes videos.

  49. @jblahblahblah -I personally think “dickheads” would be the most appropriate name for those people, but that’s just my opinion and you know how I hate to foist my opinion on anyone! ๐Ÿ™‚

    BTW, I spend one day away from my computer and sukatra reappears and everyone else is posting non-stop! I can barely keep up with the comments, let alone come up with something someone else has already said.

  50. 64. IMDB response.

    I step off a cliff for a few minutes and look what happensโ€ฆare they chem trailing the skies with fenal barbital again?

    48. made me laugh [click]

    50. I feel all shunned now. Iโ€™m just not worth your time anymore am I? And itโ€™s too late now, you canโ€™t make it up. Iโ€™m hurt, so donโ€™t even try.

    52. Guinea pigs indeed. Renetto better be carefully or his name is going to be synonymous with Gestapo. I was willing to cut Vlubberheads a break with the poor PR โ€“ i.e. the surrounding drama of the faux pas โ€œinvite onlyโ€ rather than emphasizing โ€œbeta alpha testing.โ€ I accepted that their marketing people or lack there of SUCKED; a smarter bunch would have consulted and offered to pay You Tube Nalts for some advice, BUT the fact that they ask if you would be willing to share your phone number or credit card raised red flags up the christophermast and set that annoying smoke alarm off in my kitchen. Since no one person seems to be in charge other than Renetto, who refuses take full responsibility for the place Vlubberheads is quickly becoming the poster child of what-not-to-do web sites. Pay close attention grasshopper and learn.
    [flash picture] Renettoโ€™s big bald head and black rim glasses.
    [captions] Would You Trust This Man?

    53. Clemenza: Yeah, I left it noisy. That way it scares any pain-in-the-ass innocent bystanders away. All right, you shot them both, now what do you do?
    Michael: Sit down and finish my dinner.

    54. 55. Renettoโ€™s such a tool. Youtubeโ€™s P.T. Barnum may have the gift of gab, but heโ€™s ultimately out for #1. Iโ€™m convinced he believes half of what he says. You should too.

    56. ๐Ÿ˜‰

    58. Stop stealing my mojo! No one is allowed to write comments longer than mine so no one reads them, wassa matta you?!

    mdj – Iโ€™m getting just a little tried of you always playing the age card.

    63. Hey, how about a cutesy flush!

  51. that guy’s all sideways, but as they say, great minds, eh? ๐Ÿ˜‰
    I still don’t know why someone didn’t make a video spoiling You Tube Partners long ago.The power of Google contracts or all that incriminating data they’ve collected on everyone in the world? When will someone quit, not caring and write a tell all book? Does Google have Mafia ties or what?

    I don’t care for kool-aid, what a strange invention, but has possibilities as a new project. Get your twinkies on cheezers!

    feh Skeehan, he’s out of shape and in love, I don’t think he has it in him any more, that lion has lost his roar.

  52. YAY!
    Someone came up with the UPSIDE of Vloggerheads (click). I was SOOOOOOOO looking for something positive to put in this thread and here (click) it is!

    Contrary to OhCurt’s pollyanna groupthink-inspired opinion, I DO like finding silver linings. I do. I really do. I’m not a totally bitter and sour old curmudgeon. Not totally. I love my dog, momma, children and grandchildren and am not, OhCurt, a gun totin’ bible-thumping backwoods mean-spirited southerner suspicious of outsiders and change.

    Well, four out of five ain’t bad.
    Click for the silver lining.
    ๐Ÿ™‚

  53. mdj – I thought that was rather lame – his Hindenburg [click] was funnier, predictable, but funny especially, a few of the comments. It also seems he has a thing for Greg Soloman; another You Tube drama, over that stupid YouTubit song, which, being a free garage band loop, made popular on You Tube, least I always thought, by our very own Kevin “Nalts” Nalty. Maybe he should sue somebody too? Anyway, I am so glad I am not in the middle of all that crap. So little time, so many nuts to crack.

  54. I thought the Hindenburg one was a mite cruel, Jan. I don’t want the Boogerheads to die. I just want them to never ever ever come back to YouTube.

    Vloggers (generally) suck. I mean it. You can feel their suck. They try to suck you into their petty little pollyanna groupthink yet backbiting world and try to parent people twice as intelligent as them. Screw ’em. But don’t kill the poor untalented freaks.

    That Garageband loop was used by Theaterofmemory 7 months before Renutto used it and I used it in one of my videos 9 months before that. It’s been around more than a $2 crack whore in Gardena.

    Have a pleasant Sunday, my friends. I love you all so much.

  55. I rather stay on Youtube and do my on thing I’m not one for to many rules.I just got some real good hate comments can’t give my fame up!lol

  56. I love the drama! This is better than anything on TV – without the Bee and Skeehan flubberheads would be oh so boring – I bet Renettos is paying them. Wouldn’t that be funny? this could be the new lonlygirl15

  57. OK, I’ve had enough of the drama. Let’s change the subject and speak no more of the dickheads.

    Oh, and somecallmejim, I loved your video.

  58. Is this the record number of comments that you’ve EVER gotten on one of your posts, Kevin?

  59. mdj- people may get sick of the drama, but drama like humor is all we got to make life interesting and I think you and Renetto are both scary, day or night, in a dark ally or a day lit street I know for certain I’d never want to meet ๐Ÿ˜‰

    somecallmejim I agree with Maryland, I was entertained.

    DC Vloggerheads aren’t really that bad. Renetto and his pals got something going. I’m actually surprised at the number of people he was able to cajole over there. I like that he possesses a little threat to YouTube/Google, there’s some value and free market stuff in that. His motives are another thing, I really want to know what his contract deal with You Tube was/is/was/is.

  60. I had no internet for the weekend and this place blew up. Think my boss will allow me to sit here and read all of this? LOL

    Um, is all this drama worth it?

    MDJ-make any good videos lately? ;^)

  61. ^ Possible answers
    1) No
    2) Why should I start now?
    3) They’re ALL good.
    4) My dog ate it.
    5) Define ‘good.’

  62. Where’s “6) All of the above”?

    I think I’ve got a new goal; to see this post reach 100 comments.

    Surely for that sort of popularity Uncle Nalts will throw us some tasty morsel.

    …or at least quit pooping on the few he does give us!

  63. Well, I’ve contributed 33 comments to this post. It’s someone else’s turn.
    ๐Ÿ™‚

  64. Young Chuck, moved to Texas and bought a Donkey from a farmer for $100.00. The farmer agreed to deliver the Donkey. The next day he drove up and said, sorry son, but I have some bad news, the donkey died.
    Chuck replied,
    ‘Well, then just give me my money back.’
    The farmer said,
    ‘Can’t do that. I went and spent it already.’
    Chuck said,
    ‘Ok, then, just bring me the dead donkey.’
    The farmer asked,
    ‘What ya gonna do with him?
    Chuck said,
    ‘I’m going to raffle him off.’
    The farmer said,
    You can’t raffle off a dead donkey!’
    Chuck said,
    ‘Sure I can Watch me… I just won’t tell anybody he’s dead.’

    A month later, the farmer met up with Chuck and asked, ‘What happened with that dead donkey?’
    Chuck said,
    ‘I raffled him off. I sold 500 tickets at two dollars a piece and made a profit of $898.00.’
    The farmer said,
    ‘Didn’t anyone complain?’
    Chuck said,
    ‘Just the guy who won. So I gave him his two dollars back.’

  65. A married couple got into an argument and stopped talking to each other. Instead, they gave each other written notes.

    One evening the husband gave his wife a slip of paper that read:

    “Wake me up tomorrow morning at 6 am.”

    The next morning he woke up and saw that it was 9 o’clock. He was very angry.

    He turned around and found a note on his pillow that read:

    “Wake up! It’s 6 am!”

  66. Waiting with baited breath for your sister’s book, Kevin. This afternoon, I saw the UPS guy deliver something to the hillbillies next door. I hope it’s not the book. Those yahoos are illiterate. I picture them in my mind’s eye, sitting out in the overstuffed lounge chair on the grass in their front yard, turning the book over and over, wondering who sent them such a fancy and colorful doorstop.

    (click)

  67. How many Guitar players does it take to screw in a light bulb

    47

    1 to do it and 46 to stand around as say ‘I could have done it better’

  68. Ride, I used to jump my horse and ride
    I had a six gun at my side
    I was so handsome, women cried
    And I got shot but I never died

    I could play, if I do every thing he’d say
    Girls seem to just get in his way
    Those days we weren’t considered fun
    A cowboy’s work is never done

    He’d fight crime all the time
    He’d always win,
    Till his mom would break it up
    And call him in
    He was tough he was hard
    But he was kind
    and he was love, cause guys like him
    Were hard to find

    Ride, I like to ride again some day
    I think I still know how to play
    I’d play games now but it’s not fun
    A cowboy’s work is never done

  69. ^ “Now some other early pioneers on the site are looking for greener pastures. This is a natural part of the cycle. New things become old. Cool places to hang out become corporate institutions. Successful people become outdated and unneeded.”

    Just a reminder I guess…

    Makes ya sorta wanna start singing the Lion King don’t it?

  70. Doctor, lawyer, beggar man thief,
    Philly Joe remarkable looks on in disbelief,
    if you want a taste of madness,
    you’ll have to wait in line,
    probably see someone you know
    on Vloggerheads and Da kine.

  71. you’re obsessed mdj!

    I’m actually torn between the two factions – I understand the personal info POV, like risking your cc and phone number – I’d never give those up to any couple of individuals especially, when people all over the place have the habit of dropping docs.

    On the other hand if they want to go off and have their own little playground, well why not? The internets is big – each to their own tribe I say.

    I am surprised at all the hurt feelings though, those who can’t get in and those who ran away. Seems to me that the one’s who are lashing out and the one’s who ran away are only looking for the same thing, acceptance and hugs, even though few of them are really all that huggable ๐Ÿ˜‰

    Again, I feel bad that I’m enjoying someone else’s misery, not in a perverted way, but just the interchange between the two groups, I’m watching life’s lessons as they unfold; the sense of what is fair play and what is retaliation. The fact that I know none of these people makes it even more surreal, like reality TV without the writers. Perhaps all the world is a stage…

  72. You can’t get all the world into a new site that at its present stage may have more bugs than users ๐Ÿ™‚
    Ning is a great place but I doubt it will th final place for VH.
    before you accept the masses you need a verification system and a relatively bug free site (as much as humanly possible).
    if people would just get over the fact they weren’t invited for one minute they will see that VH is like youtube but nicer and almost troll free.
    in 3 months VH will either die off or be a huge success with thousands of users and I think the latter has more chance of happening than the former.

  73. Trivialize the red flags. Marginalize the heralds. No rush. I’ll say I told you so later. Those who ignore the past are apt to eefoof the future.

  74. I’m a fairly late-comer to Youtube, first posting about a year and a half ago.

    When I left Grand Rapids Michigan to relocate to beautiful Western Maryland, the main thing I missed about G’rapids was GRTV – Grand Rapids Public Access Television. I was bummed to have lost my outlet and access to an audience for my videos.

    Then I got hip to youtube. I really enjoy the come-one-come-all democracy of the youtube community. This Vloggerhead idea smacks of elitism or certainly exclusiveness.

    Keep on editing!

    Best wishes

    Mannie1952

  75. @marquisdejolie – VH is doing great man – we’re all having a really fun time over there. No kidding. If what you’re doing on YouTube about us is an act, then that’s cool. If it isn’t, and it is really how you feel, then all I have to say is:

    GLAD YOU’RE NOT WITH US

    Take a luude, dood – hahaha ๐Ÿ™‚

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