This article originally appeared on Business Insider.
It seems that MrBeast is ushering in a new, more mature era of YouTube.
In his latest post on X, the YouTube megastar said he wanted to leave behind the frenetic and energetic characters in his videos.
“Last year I slowed down our videos, focused on storytelling, let scenes breathe, yelled less, had more personality, longer videos, etc. And our views skyrocketed!” YouTube’s biggest star said in a post on X on March 3.
He urged his fellow YouTubers to “get rid of the ultra-fast-paced” and overly stimulating era of content. “It doesn’t even work,” she said.
It’s a wise move, experts say, that could help him quickly grow his roughly $700 million-a-year empire.
The formula for success on YouTube
MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, has 242 million subscribers on YouTube and his numbers are still growing rapidly.
In 2024 alone, it has gained 17 million subscribers, far more than most creators will ever achieve in their careers.
In his videos, Donaldson tears apart Lamborghinis, gives away huge amounts of cash and performs ambitious, over-the-top stunts like recreating the Netflix phenomenon “Squid Game.” He has also become famous for his charity work, planting millions of trees, building wells and paying people to have cataract surgery.
But while Donaldson has built much of his brand by riding the wave of colorful videos full of lively, dynamic characters that served YouTubers so well in the early days, in recent videos he’s experimented with a little more composure.
Last year I slowed down our videos, focused on telling stories, let scenes breathe, yelled less, had more personality, longer videos, etc. And our views have skyrocketed!
My fellow YouTubers make it possible to get rid of the era of ultra-fast/excessive paced content. Doesn’t even work? pic.twitter.com/J7IBwHF6Jj
— MrBeast (@MrBeast) March 3, 2024
In September 2023, for example, he tried to adapt his thumbnails in which he had an euphoric expression and an open-mouthed smile, and said that “the watch time of each video increased.”
Whatever Donaldson is doing is clearly working, having amassed 13 billion views on his channel since then. However, some viewers criticized him for backtracking on what made him popular.
One critic said Donaldson has realized he is “the Oppenheimer of YouTube and is trying to undo the damage he has caused.”
Others, however, said they enjoyed Donaldson’s new content. “I agree with this type of content,” said one viewer. “It’s the era of quality over quantity again.”
MrBeast has grown, as has its content
In his latest stunt, “I Survived 7 Days in an Abandoned City,” Donaldson and his crew flew to Kupari, southeast of Dubrovnik, Croatia. After being heavily bombed during the Balkan War in the 1990s, the buildings in the area have been abandoned for decades.
In 17 minutes, the group explored abandoned buildings, set up camp, and documented some funny and disturbing moments, such as discovering stray cats, starting fires, and the sound of breaking glass as they tried to sleep at night.
The video is still full of multiple angles and quick cuts but, aside from the intro, it has none of the over-the-top shouting that many associate with the early days of YouTube.
Katya Varbanova, a viral marketing expert, told Business Insider that this change makes sense because Donaldson is no longer the 13 years old she was when she started on YouTube.
“Now he’s about to turn 26 and he’s a fully grown businessman,” he said. “So obviously he has evolved as a person and, obviously, the contents of him will evolve as well.”
She said she thinks it’s Donaldson who wants this shift toward more storytelling and a slower pace, rather than it necessarily being what most of his audience wants.
“I think we have to ask ourselves if young Jimmy, who was exploding with frenetic content, was reading that tweet, would he agree with it and change his strategy at this time? I’m not sure,” Varbanova said.
“In fact, I’m willing to bet he’d say ‘Who cares about the rules, I’m blazing my own trail.’”
Donaldson’s decision to slow down his videos appears to be his and his viewers’ choice rather than attempting to game YouTube’s indeterminable and unpredictable algorithm.
In October 2020, Donaldson said he doesn’t care about the length of his videos only to try to appease a metric he can’t see. He showed thumbnails of videos of different lengths, demonstrating that they were all doing well, and urged creators to upload the “best video” possible. “Whatever its length, load it,” he said.
“If a video is a hit, the algorithm will find a suitable audience,” he said, adding that YouTube wouldn’t suddenly publish a video because it was “a minute shorter than what you usually publish.”
The right content at the right time
Ben Steele, a social media marketer at The Big Phone Store who manages the company’s TikTok account, told BI that when Donaldson was starting out, this “toned down content would have worked against him.”
But now Donaldson has the advantage of having a strong parasocial relationship with his followers and a proven track record of getting clicks and engagement. This means that whatever he chooses to do, his followers will likely respond positively.
Donaldson’s new content makes him appear more authentic, which will help him further increase his influence, Steele said. He has already dominated the younger demographic and his more mature content will likely be more appealing to millennials and older generations.
“To grow further, it needs to appeal to a broader audience, including older viewers who would be put off by the kind of loud, obnoxious video that easily goes viral,” Steele said.
Varbanova said the best way to thrive as a creator is to be a good storyteller, educator or entertainer and find what works, rather than trying to emulate what made someone else successful. This is a “recipe for failure,” she said.
“The easiest way to struggle as a creator is to try what everyone else is doing without wondering if it’s right for you or not,” he said. “I would caution any content creator not to blindly listen to advice from someone who is 1,000 steps ahead of them.”
The best creators think long term, Varbanova said, and create content that is “sustainable, not trendy.”
“Or be the one setting the trends,” he said. “Then you can do whatever you want.”
BI has reached out to Donaldson’s representatives for comment.