What Happened to My YouTube Channel?

So...about that YouTube channel that I started...

We need to talk. That sounded ten times more serious than it needed to be. In reality, it's not that deep. It's something that I should have predicted happening right from the inception of my channel, my teenage dream finally coming true just at the wrong time. 

I started watching YouTube videos regularly early in my high school years because I didn't know how to do my hair or makeup and the internet is an amazing place where girls my age were putting up videos of themselves putting on makeup that seemed both age appropriate and achievable. Cue the influx of beauty products in my collection and a new obsession with both beauty and another outlet on the interwebs.

I graduated from watching just beauty videos to more fashion and lifestyle then humor and comedy channels. I consumed as much content as I could and to this day, I probably watch more YouTube than I do TV because I just find it more suited to what I enjoy. 

To me, it only made sense that I created my own channel. I tried to do it multiple times before but I just wasn't ready. I assumed that I was this time around when I started it back at the end of November.  I kept a schedule for a while and then life happened and here we are a month later with no updates in sight. 

Listen, I can explain...

Things were going strong for quite a few months. I uploaded weekly, I felt like I wasn't rushing to get things done, all was well. And then life happened and I got the email about a job offer and packed up my life and moved to New York City in the matter of two weeks and a few days. In the midst of that, I had a sliver of time to prefilm a few videos, but other than that, I was working with just about nothing. I didn't bring my camera during my initial move as I didn't have an apartment of my own and figured I wouldn't even have time to shoot anything (which I didn't). 

And then when I moved into my actual apartment, the time didn't magically appear back. Shocker, right? Don't underestimate the amount of time and energy it takes to move into your apartment, kids. It's stressful and time-consuming and I think I spent a month straight just trying to clean, assemble furniture, and have my space look like an actual human lived there instead of just two squatters that were paying way too much for a place to live (welcome to New York City baby). 

I filmed a few one-off videos here and there since I've moved, but let's be real, there is no schedule anymore. That went to shit the second I stepped foot into Brooklyn with my two suitcases and a garment bag full of coats. I've talked about my struggle with content creation while working in influencer marketing and it goes the same for YouTube. The only time, in theory, that I have to shoot is the weekends and the last thing I want to do on the weekends is sit down and film and edit a video right now. My free time seems to be becoming more and more nonexistent and unfortunately videos amongst outfit photos for my blog and blog posts and managing the rest of my social media...they're just not ranking very high on my priority list right now. Which like, isn't fair to my channel but I also don't want to put out content that's shitty because what's the point in that, right?

Shirt: J. Crew

Shorts: Awoke Vintage

Shoes: Zara

Sunglasses: Dior

Photos by Austen Tosone

I'm sure I'll find a schedule for filming again soon. I like YouTube and I'll always consume video content. It's just in terms of ranking the importance and my connection to the existence of Life According to Francesca, my blog will always come out at number one because it is MY CHILD. Kidding. Kind of. This blog is like my small child that I love dearly and I'll always put it first because it makes me smile and happy.

I just need a resurgence of inspiration for my channel, so while it's not fun leaving it stagnant, I'm also not the type of person who is going to churn out content that is so subpar that it seems like there was no effort put in. I'm not an effortless person nor will I ever pretend to be. This shit takes work and I'm not going to be the person who flips their hair and makes it seem like no sweat. That's super off-brand for me.

That's all, folks! Now you know more about where my YouTube channel went. I don't have any specific plans for new content on there, but who knows, maybe a brainstorming session will go down in the coming weeks that will change my mind entirely and fix this whole situation. But for now, let's just enjoy three blog posts a week and whatever I decide goes on my social channels. YouTube, I love you, but I sadly don't have time for you!