I recently made an effort to increase my viewership by posting a video of mine as a video response to a more popular video of the same subject. The basic premise is simple. I made posted a video review on my channel of the television program Downton Abbey. In the video (see it here) I discussed various things related to the show's popularity and did all of my taggings as usual. I then did a standard YouTube search for other videos related to Downton Abbey. I clicked on one I deemed was sufficiently popular, and scrolled down to the comments section. They give you the option between writing a text comment or recording/linking a video response. In theory, it would be more visible anyone watching the more popular video, and would hopefully increase my viewership as result.
The practice of creating video responses idealistically was meant to increased interaction among users. Video watchers could take issue with the content of one video, and post their own video to stir debate more easily than with just words. However, this is not always how this is used. An easy way to think of it would be like a parasitic infection. A weaker, but sneakier organism feeds of the strength of a greater organism. This much more negative connotation to video responses has come to the forefront very recently with the recent uprising of "Reply Girls." These are female YouTube users who post video responses to popular trending videos, and through the use of prominent displays of cleavage, ensnare others into watching their channels. Often the responses posted by Reply Girls have little to nothing to do with the parent video, and are seen as an annoying pest by many.
It seems as though YouTube users have become more selective with whom they allow to post video responses as a result of the Reply Girl fad. Many prominent channel don't allow video response at all anymore, and others simply have their settings so that they have to approve any responses before they are seen by everyone. This has had a negative impact on my attempts. I was thrice denied in my attempts at having my video show up as a response. Even though my video was actually about Downton Abbey, and I'm not a busty seductress, in the post-Reply Girl YouTube, that still is not good enough.
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