Why I don't make a vlog in Italian

Hi there, I'm Luca and in this video I'd like to answer a question I get asked a lot.

The question is the following: "Why don't you record a video while you're having breakfast?"

Or: "Why don't you shoot a video while you're hanging out with your friends?"

Or: "Why don't you make a video where you show us what you typically eat?"

Or: "Why don't you record a video while driving?".

"Why don't you make a video while you accompany your girlfriend to the hairdresser?".

"Why don't you shoot a video while you're at the bus stop, need to wait for 30 minutes and have nothing to do?".

Well, my answer to these questions is simple. Because this is not a vlog.

Let me say right away that I don't have anything against vlogs. I don't have anything against vloggers and I don't have have anything against people who watch vlogs.

Vlogs are a type of content. Some people like vlogs, other people don't like them, but tastes are subjective.

I would never say that vlogs are stupid, because it would be like saying "Horror movies are stupid". Or: "Science-fiction movies are stupid". Such sentence wouldn't make any sense, because, if we talk about movies, there exist different genres, and if we talk about videos, there are different genres.

What I want to say in this video, to put it simply, is not that vlogs are stupid. I'm not criticizing vlogs as a whole. I just want to point out that this channel is not a vlog.

This is a channel with a very specific goal, which is to help people improve their Italian. Therefore, this channel is meant to be educational, instructional, that is, a channel based on actual contents.

Vlogs too are built around contents, but their contents aim at amusing and entertaining people. Right?

The goal of this channel is not to entertain you, but to tell you something that could help you improve your Italian.

Specifically, on my channel I publish videos that could be understood as lessons, if you will. In what sense? In the sense that I just discuss a specific topic, without digressing about my personal life.

In other words, my goal is not to talk about myself, for example, telling you what I do in the morning, in the afternoon, and what I do in the evening. My goal is to talk about the Italian language and specific topics related to the Italian language.

I could easily make thirty, forty, fifty-minute videos, in which I start talking about a random topic and then start digressing, talking about this, about that, about something else, and so on. I don't know, I may start telling you unrelated, random things.

As you know, this is exactly what many channels do: they digress. They start talking about something, then talk about something else, you keep watching and after 20 minutes you didn't get the answer you were looking for. Because you may have read the video title, you watch the video, you keep watching it for five, ten, twenty minutes. The person talks, talks, talks, without providing the answer you are waiting for.

Such videos have always existed and will always exist. I have nothing against such videos, it's just that my channel has a different goal.

Quite frankly, my priorities are two: consistency and conciseness.

What do I mean by "consistency"? I mean that each video I publish should be useful and in accordance with the mission of my channel, which is to provide educational contents. Let me repeat: my goal is not to entertain people or make them feel better. My goal is to talk about the Italian language. This is my goal.

Given that my priority is consistency, I try to meet this goal. I mean, whenever I publish a piece of content, such piece should be in accordance with the main mission of my channel.

Like I said, my second priority is conciseness. That is, I try to say everything I need to say in the shortest amount of time. That is, I try to be concise. This applies to both when I shoot a video and when I edit the video.

In what sense? In the sense that, in speaking, I try not to digress. I try not to stray away from the topic. That is, to talk about something else. I try to keep to the topic.

If I make a video titled "The idiom Essere in alto mare", in that video I will only talk about such idiom. I won't digress about what I did yesterday, what I did earlier in the afternoon, or what I will do tomorrow. I will just explain this idiom.

The same applies to editing. If I realize that a part is redundant or superfluous, because I have already discussed what is being said in that part... - well, if I say twice the same thing, I try to trim off the part in question.

Why? So that the video will be shorter. Why do I do that? So that you don't waste your time. If I can say something in 2 minutes, why would I make a five-minute video where I say things that could be said in 2 minutes? (Question mark)

Needless to say, I could easily use a vlog-like approach and say "Whatever, it goes as it goes. It is thirty-minut-long instead of five-minute-long. Who cares?". Like I said, though, my priority is conciseness and I always try to be as concise as possible.

I get remarks such as: "The background of all your videos is a white wall. It looks as though you are in prison. You should set up a nicer background".

Or: "Come on, this white background is depressing! I think you need a more dynamic background. You could show us your kitchen in the background. You could shoot your videos while you are walking in your flat so that you can show us your flat. You could tell use what you did in the morning, in the afternoon and in the evening".

Or: "Come on! You are always alone. You could at least introduce to us your relatives, your family. You could say: This is my mother, this is my grandmother. This way your channel would be more funny and varied".

Or: "Yo Luca, why don't you introduce to us your wife, your girlfriend, your ex, your ex's sister, etc."

Again, in principle I'm not against introducing one's relatives, against doing something funny, against entertaining videos, it's just that with this video I tried to point out that this channel has a different goal. It goes in another direction.

I understand that many people are used to such channels, and when they watch my videos they think: "Bleah, these videos are too boring. There's always this guy talking on a white background".

I understand that most people who start watching my videos probably come from different types of videos. They are used to different types of videos.

Because this platform is mostly made up of videos which are similar to vlogs, with respect to both content and format.

There's nothing wrong with that, because YouTube is for the most part an entertainment platform, that is, a platform for your leisure time. You can find funny, cute, nice videos, etc. And I have nothing against any of that, I myself sometimes watch this type of videos.

Let me repeat: my priority is providing educational content, not being funny. I may crack a joke here and there. Jokes are fine, there's nothing wrong with jokes.

In my opinion, though, and this is just my humble opinion, it's important to make videos that allow people to focus on what is being said.

I mean, if I made videos where I try to explain certain things, say, specific Italian idioms or grammatical rules, and behind me you can see some baboons dancing Macarena. (music) - well, you understand that such background could drive to distraction.

So I hope that my answer to the question is clear.

With this video I don't want to offend anybody, to be honest. Let me repeat: people making vlogs should continue to do that. I mean, I have nothing against them, I for one have nothing against vlogs, I myself sometimes watch some vlogs. If I want to have a laugh, if I want to relax, I may watch a vlog.

I can clearly see that, if we talk about learning Italian, if we consider YouTube, 95% of channels are in fact vlogs in which people say a few things about the Italian language. They are not channels based on teaching, or Italian language learning.

So you often have these young men or women, who are very funny, cute, and/or amusing, who make vlogs, talk about their life, their relatives, their girlfriend, their boyfriend, their trips, what they want to do in their life, etc. And sometimes they also talk about the Italian language.

And most such channels have names such as "fun Italian", "easy Italian", "hilarious Italian", - well, names like that. Which rightly hint at the style and feel of the channel and its videos.

Educational channels in the strict sense are very few in number. But this is normal, because on YouTube the vast majority of channels is similar to vlogs. So I would say that 95% of channels can be classified as vlogs. Not just channels related to the Italian language, but channels in general.

So the starting point of these channels is in many cases a vlog. Then this person decides to teach Italian, to tell something about the Italian language. But chances are their channel wasn't created as an Italian teaching channel. But was more like a vlog channel.

And these creators may use words such as "easy Italian", "italiano easy", "italiano divertente", fun, words like that.

By contrast, on this channel, on my channel, there's nothing fun or easy. What I explain is anything but easy!

Well, I hope you see the point I'm trying to make.

One day, in the future, I may start making vlog-like videos. In that case, I think I will create another secondary channel. I for one have always preferred such approach.

That is, I have used YouTube for quite a while now, and I've always preferred those channels, those people, who had a main channel and a secondary channel. The main channel being about certain things, while the secondary channel about other things. And many people had a channel for educational contents and another channel for a vlog or other stuff.

Who knows! One day I may also create a second channel. Right now I don't plan to do that, I have other projects in mind. But I definitely prefer the two-channels approach than mixing up different stuff. That is, first a piece of educational content, then a vlog episode, then a piece of educational content, next a vlog.

I for one, when I was subscribed to channels which did that, I found that to be quite irritating. Because maybe I subscribed for educational contents. And then I got notifications about vlogs about which I dind't care, to be honest.

Let me repeat: this video is not meant against someone, far be it from me. If people want to make vlogs, they are free to do that, I also watch them with pleasure. I have nothing against vlogs.

This channel is not a vlog, it doesn't present itself as such, it is not meant as a vlog nor wants to be considered as a vlog.

Well, I hope everything is clear. I wanted to stress this, because I get asked these questions a lot. Not too often, but sometimes someone suggests that I should change direction and start a vlog, so that I will get more subscribers, views, ok.

My priority, though, are neither subscribers or views. My priority is to provide useful contents. I mean, I focus on quality, not quantity. If I get many subscribers, that's great! By the way, please consider subscribing! But my goal is to make videos in accordance with the mission of my channel.

I hope everything is clear! That said, have a nice day!