Posted by: mrbrett
I think LR overreacted just a bit to that.
The original comment in the PB Pod wasn't about beginner riders - was about beginner YouTubers. Kind of agree. Is a Participation Award still an award? Marty's post for example - a well made Chromag hardtail video is great to watch. Still well above my riding skill, but very relatable to view and subjectively much better than some of the hacky YTers you see adjusting cams on the side of the trail.
I think he over reacted on purpose in an effort to spark outrage amongst his viewership to drive engagement in the comments section, which feeds the YouTube algorithm, which drives clicks & views and therefore the profitability of the video. This is his career so it's in his own interest to act outraged even if he's not.
Pinkbike wins out of this as well. I bet they've tripled their podcast traffic from like 6 downloads a week to 18.
I consume a metric tonne of youtube MTB content and 95% of it is from really small channels with fewer than 100 subscribers. It's mostly because I'm so spoiled for choice with where to ride and have such limited time to actually get out and ride that I like to check out what's going on at Burke/Eagle/Fromme/Seymour/Thornhill/Galbraith/Sumas/Vedder/Ledgeview/Woodlot/Bear and then see if anything catches my eye to go ride at any of these locations.