Fans React to Boston Tom: How One YouTuber Uses the Feedback Loop

Tom Phelan, known on the Internet as “BostonTom,” has been active on YouTube for over five years. He gained much of his following through the React show on YouTube and Facebook, where kids, teens, college students, and adults react to different pop culture moments. Tom has 478,000 followers on his personal YouTube channel, where he does challenges and games with friends. I would argue that Tom’s success on YouTube comes from the level of interaction he has with his users. His videos, livestreams, and social media content show that he is always willing to engage with his fans and treat them more like friends. He utilizes the feedback loop extremely well as he encourages audience participation and incorporates it in his videos, therefore driving more participation in the future.
One of the most prominent ways Tom involves his audience is through his question & answer videos, which he films several times a year. He will reach out on a social media platform like Twitter and encourage his followers to ask him (and occasionally his friends) questions:

This tweet garnered 146 replies, so fans are clearly eager to have their questions answered. Tom then filmed a video, “Juicy Questions Ft. React Cast,” answering those burning questions. He includes screenshots of the tweets so fans can see their Twitter usernames in the videos. This small moment allows users to feel acknowledged by Tom. It encourages them to tweet at him again in the future since they know he will read and respond. These question and answer videos are extremely popular, with the Juicy Questions video currently at over 100,000 views.

Another technique Tom uses as part of the feedback loop is being active in the comments section on YouTube. After he posts a video, he spends the first 30 minutes responding to YouTube comments on the new video. This encourages viewers to watch videos as early as possible and to share their comments in the hopes that Tom will reply. While 30 minutes is not a huge amount of time, it bolsters both views and engagement for Tom, so it is a worthy time investment. Per Hubspot, engagement is one of the key performance indicators that matters most on YouTube. Comments, especially positive ones, improve the channel’s overall performance.
In addition to YouTube, Tom also livestreams on the platform Twitch. He uses this platform primarily to stream himself playing video games, though as Twitch continues to diversify its content offerings, we may see more types of livestreams from Tom. While gaming, Tom keeps the chat open and will call people out by username to say hi and answer questions. This motivates users to tune in and participate. As SocialReport says in its article about podcasting, “Live adds excitement, and interaction makes your audience feel like they’re a part of the show.” Tom makes users feel like they are in the room with him when he engages with them during a livestream.

This past week, Tom did a charity stream to raise money for Boston Children’s Hospital. Users were able to type “!support” in the chat to get a link to donate, and Tom would thank the specific users who donated. In this way, Tom was able to raise over $700 for a worthy cause thanks to his relationship with fans.
Tom’s fanbase continues to grow, and I predict he will continue to be successful due to the ways he allows his fans to participate in the content he creates.
