Thanks for sharing your knowledge even when you're under the weather. I know what you mean about how getting on a call with people can recharge your batteries; been there, done that, got the t-shirt. I hope you feel better soon, and Happy Friends Day to you and yours!

Feel better soon!

This is very encouraging to read. Truth be told, as soon as I started getting those spam DMs, it kinda made me slink right back into lurk mode (although I think I did report a couple of them first). Anyway, good on ya! Looking forward to more signal and less noise in 2026!

Hi, @Joann Salas. I'm' new here, and I'm about to relaunch my channel after letting mine collect dust for a year or two. I'm going back to it because, well, I just kinda need to. Do I want to monetize it? Oh, yes. But, that's not *why* I'm doing it. It informs some of *how* I'll be doing it, but the why has more to do with two things: 1) I'm a storyteller, and storytellers gotta tell stories. I write them into fiction (which I've sold to major markets after years of not being able to break through). I sing them into songs (which my band I and release to thunderous... crickets.) And when I was in radio, I used to broacast 'em. Now, I'm going to vlog them, instead. It's not out of some sense of duty, and although I do intend to monetize, it's not because I'm under any illusions that this way lies my dream job. It's because it's an itch I have to scratch. If *you* feel that tug, that little compulsion that says, "c'mon. Make that video. You know you want to," well then, you're a YouTuber. So, do it for its own sake. If you don't feel that nudge, then there is no shame at all in moving onto other things. But as I said above with regard to my own itchy brain, YouTubers gotta YouTube. 2) My videos are not just trying to reach any old audience. I am also recording a legacy that my children may someday choose to see. I keep getting older, it turns out. I wish I'd made video recordings when I was younger so that my kids could someday have a chance to meet the 30s me or the 40s me. When they were little, well, they probably won't remember me that well from that time of their lives. And now that they are late-teens and early-20s, they have other interests to pursue. But someday, when they're curious, they can watch the videos I record now and see at least a small facet of who I am in my 50s. Who knows? Maybe I'll have grandchildren someday. And when they grow older and are at all curious, they would also have an opportunity to get to know their grandfather while he was still... well, me.

@Stew Holland -- Happiest of Birthdays, good sir! @Anthony Carr -- Pretty sure that Timofey Merzliakov is a bot created from the same source as @John Lynn. Look at their profiles, and it's pretty apparent. @Alexa Saarenoja -- Hi, there! Thank you for providing this community for us! That said... I think a few bots have entered into your community, but when I go to "report to admin," the only "rules" listed that you can report an account for don't include spam/scam/bot posts. May I kindly suggest that you add a fourth rule to your community here that says "No spamming / scamming / bot posting?" Cheers!

@Stew Holland Dude, I have three sons at home, and I read your first comment and about died. 🤣