Monday, August 12, 2019

“Twins play into something the YouTube algorithm is favoring at the moment”

Taylor Lorenz at the Atlantic:
“Much of twin content plays on this idea of challenges,” Weinstein says, “which frankly have been on YouTube for a long time as a general trend, but it’s very, very easy to play into that subgenre as a twin.”

Twins also have built-in chemistry. “It’s the same reason why couples channels do well,” Alan Stokes, a 22-year-old influencer with 4.3 million followers on Instagram, told me. “Twins are the closest you can get to someone without it being a couple thing.” Alan’s twin, Alex (3.4 million followers), chimed in: “I’ve noticed on YouTube especially, pairs just work better. It makes the video more interesting.”

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Having a twin also lowers the barrier to entry to becoming a creator. For influencers to grow online, collaboration is key. Being a twinfluencer means having someone around you to act as a sounding board, brainstorm with, or simply hold the camera. It also means splitting editing and promotion time between two people: While one twin responds to fans via Instagram DM, the other can cut together the day’s YouTube video. This allows each twin to play to their strengths, together acting as one super-influencer.

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Last month, at the annual online-video convention Vidcon, an entire panel was devoted to teaching attendees how create twin-related content; in the audience
*Previously: Michael Knight's evil twin brother Garthe Knight