YouTube Subscriber Purge — Or Not?

Have you checked your subscriber count lately?

If you’ve noticed that it’s fluctuated a bit in the past couple days, you’re not alone. Many YouTubers are reporting that their subscriber counts have plunged, which was thought to be due to a regular purge done by Google.

Turns out, the official source (YouTube Help, of course) says it was just a glitch. Either way, here’s why you shouldn’t panic.

YouTube regularly performs purges of old and inactive accounts. This is pretty well-known among YouTube creators, and while losing a few vanity numbers can be tough, if they’re old and inactive… they’re nothing more than that. Vanity numbers. In other words, they’re sitting around and collecting dust, not contributing to your view count, engagement rates, or connecting with you offline.

…Which brings us to the next point. If your goal is to make a successful career out of YouTube, subscribers alone won’t do it. It’s an undisputed fact that view count is more important than subscribers, so getting the people who are connected with you to watch is key. Keeping people who haven’t logged on in months (or years!) isn’t doing you any favors.

Making authentic connections with your viewers does things that vanity metrics or bot accounts just can’t do. And brands are catching on, too. In the early days of YouTube, subscriber count was king, but now companies are paying closer attention to audience connections, engagement, and views.

So have no fear! 1. The Great Subscriber Purge of 2016 (SHOULD) be fixed now, and 2. You didn’t lose much, anyway. It can be tough kissing those numbers goodbye, but instead of being upset about it, channel that energy into fostering relationships with your real subscribers.

Let us know if you were affected by the glitch, and how you kept yourself calm through the madness!