GTL: VidCon & TanaCon Are More Trouble Than They're Worth
By Twin Galaxies Editorial Staff ·
VidCon 2018 finally wrapped, closing with big platform updates from Instagram and YouTube. Meanwhile, the future of content creator conventions is threatened by uproar following Tana Mongeau's failed rival conference "TanaCon" and Logan Paul's mobbing incident last year. With so much turmoil we are left wondering: What is the true nature of streamer-worship culture?
With VidCon 2018 having wrapped up recently, the platform updates for Instagram and Youtube, the disasterous Tana Con and the positives and negatives of VidCon and other conventions have been the talk of the content creation community. Mandi Roman discusses this and other issues on Game Talk Live with an expert panel of guests including Twitch streamer and YouTuber Nati "Zombi Unicorn" and YouTuber Joshua Ovenshire.
VidCon is one of the largest content creation conventions in the world, as some the biggest stars on the YouTube platform gather together to give back to their fans by interacting and connecting with them. However, the Game Talk Live panel discusses some past and current issues with the convention and how there are beginning to be other opportunities for creators on YouTube to connect with fans at other conventions.
The panelists also discuss how VidCon is much more for the fans than the creators and how the event could benefit itself and its creators by incorporating some form of industry only day or time period where networking and other business related activity could take place. Also discussed is whether or not VidCon could benefit from having YouTube itself control the event in the same manner that Twitch does for TwitchCon, which has seen a great deal of success in providing a safe and organized environment, but how it might not be a guarantee with the younger demographic many popular YouTubers attract to VidCon that can lead to situations of hysteria that are hard to control and monitor.
"Every year there’s more and more #YouTubers becoming more popular with a younger demographic. [They] show up and that's when all the screaming a running around happens." -@TheJovenshire, on streamer cons like @VidCon
— GameTalkLive (@GameTalkLive) June 25, 2018
Watch Live: https://t.co/3M6turagXf#vidcon #tanacon pic.twitter.com/NHnss73MqN
Game Talk Live then moves onto the topic of Tana Con that was created by YouTuber Tana Mongeau in response to her not being granted a featured creator's status at VidCon 2018. With the overall conclusion by the community that the event was a massive blunder, each of the panelists give their thoughts and opinions the possible underlying motivations Tana Mongeau had for creating the event, the massive work required to plan and execute a safe and successful convention that was clearly not done for Tana Con, and how these kinds of events should above all have the best interest of the fans at heart.
Finally, the panel discuss the new addition to Instagram in the form of IGTV and if the new feature of the popular platform can rival the likes of YouTube and the possible future of content creation in the form of increased interactivity between fans and creators and new platforms altogether springing up and looking to take the throne from YouTube.
"Even if you have an older audience- and I have an 18+ audience and I’m pretty vulgar- I wouldn’t put a condom in my gift bag. That is just so inappropriate and unprofessional." -@TheZombiUnicorn on #TanaCon
— GameTalkLive (@GameTalkLive) June 25, 2018
Watch Live: https://t.co/3M6turagXf#tanaconartist @tanamongeau pic.twitter.com/ZWOkXgMZup
This episode of Game Talk Live has ended, but you can catch the full episode in the embedded video above. Be sure to check out the previous episode as well in which guests discuss the effect that streaming culture has had on the development of single player games.