Growth as a LewdTuber is EASY! FAR Easier Compared to a VTuber…
As I interact with more lewdTubers, there are some preconceptions that I continue to run into. One of those is that being a lewdTuber is a more accessible mode of growth than for the general vTuber.
When entering social media with the desire to turn it into something that could provide financial support, a thought that many have is the frustration related to growth and developing a community. One of the most critical parts of reaching success — where artists/vTubers could generate money for their efforts — is having a fanbase willing to help you on your journey.
Benefits to a community:
- Having people that validate your art
- They’ll be the artist’s most prominent advocate
- Celebrate your achievements and empathize with your insecurities
- Interaction when the artist is feeling lonely
- And often — they’ll be the ones that financially support the artist
But this is where many think things are unbalanced in favor of lewdTubers by those outside the community.
Though it’s easy to label people who spread such information as “salty” and envious, I think it’s better to tackle the issue from a reasonable angle without accusing anyone of disliking lewdTubers.
It’s essential to acknowledge something about being a content creator on social media with the expectations of fame, clout, and/or financial freedom:
Growing on social media isn’t easy, and everyone is struggling — regardless of their follower/subscriber count.
The idea that being a vTuber is difficult — not just regarding growth — is frequently repeated by established individuals. In addition, those vTubers worked on their craft for years before gaining material success.
What can you do?
If growth on social media is challenging, should people give up on their desire to become a vTuber or social media content creator?
The TL;DR (Too Long; Didn’t Read) answer is no.
There are plenty of fields that are difficult to find success in, like being a surgeon, lawyer, engineer, and more. But just because an area is challenging to enter doesn’t mean that there’s no hope.
Something important to remember is that EVERYONE feels that life is hard.
It’s why determination in the face of repeated failure is necessary when trying to reach any goal of worth.
After doing some research on top of my own experiences, I’ve learned some general tips that may be useful:
- Try to figure out what makes you unique
The number of individuals aiming to become full-time content creators, let alone vTubers, is astronomical.
Those that have gained success have often been people who figured out something that allows them to stand out from the crowd. They think of their interests and what they enjoy frequently doing and learn how to make it unique. Finding a unique angle is a good example.
Imagine if in front of you are two categories of a vTuber: Extroverts and introverts. There are likely going to be many who fall into these two categories. So you must figure out how to distinguish yourself from the crowd of vTubers. What if you’re a talented singer and an extrovert? You look at the market of vTubers and notice that no one else is a singer.
By being a singer that’s an extrovert within the vTuber community, a subset of people who enjoy interacting with vTubers that are extroverts has a reason to check you out.
But just because you’re doing something different that others aren’t doing doesn’t mean that you’ll find success.
A great example is how I’ve produced the longest original narrated web novel series on YouTube since Feb 2018, with over 1,000 videos uploaded to the channel. Since the writing of this article, I haven’t crossed 500 subscribers.
2. Create something that you AND OTHER PEOPLE enjoy
This leads to my next point that being unique isn’t the silver bullet to the problem of growth. You need to create content that’s going to resonate with your audience.
Using the previous example, you’re a vTuber that’s an extrovert, and you sing. But the only music you sing is a hyper niche genre that only ten people in the world enjoy — none of them are interested in vTubers.
Does that mean you can no longer sing the songs you enjoy?
Short answer: No.
But, if you’re hoping to attract people, you’ll need to sing more popular songs in your niche than what you enjoy. So, you could do 20 songs that many people want and one you enjoy. In the best-case scenario, more people in the world grow to appreciate the genre you like.
3. Share content
To give yourself the best chance to grow, you must promote yourself on numerous social media platforms.
But sharing the same thing on every platform isn’t the way to succeed. Each website has a different culture, so it’s essential to learn what makes them unique and the type of people that frequent them.
Maybe take a moment that your community enjoyed or you believe is fantastic quality, turn it into a bite-sized video, and upload it to TikTok, YouTube shorts, and Instagram. Using the right hashtags, the moment you believe would interest people could reach those who are either into vTubers or those unaware of the community.
Then you can make content leveraging skills that you have not connected to your main content.
An example of this is that even though I have a YouTube channel, I mainly share the artwork I create using Blender. Even this publication, Virtual Invitation Only, is a way for me to interact with people I usually wouldn’t have.
4. Bring value to the community
People dislike being constantly sold stuff.
Knowing this, it’s not a good idea to spam your content to other people, especially when people don’t ask for it.
Remember when you were a kid and wanted to make friends for the first time? You likely heard something exciting and hung out with the kids talking about it. Try not to be the center of attention and vibe with the community. Instead of trying to sell yourself, try interacting with others like they’re people, not tools to be used for your end goals.
Making friends isn’t easy and often requires making yourself emotionally vulnerable since they might not reciprocate your feelings.
That’s okay.
Keep on focusing on vibing with people, and don’t think about what you can gain from the interaction. People are good at detecting whether you interact with them to get something for yourself. It’ll make things harder if you gain a reputation for just trying to use people.
Is it possible that you will get taken advantage of? Of course. People sometimes will use someone’s goodwill as leverage for their growth. Try to brush the negative emotions off and keep moving forward.
5. Mitigate Your Risks
As time passes, it’s important to keep trying to get better and what you’re doing. Study up on the industry and see where things are going. If you’re uncomfortable with a trend, don't do it. But seeing what hashtags are popular and what people are talking about is an excellent way to produce better quality content.
Even those with tens of thousands of followers keep their eyes and ears open to see if their audience’s interests are changing.
I would even suggest it’s the reason why you should also try to attract people from outside your community. Think of it like the risk-management theory on the importance of diversification. If you’re frequently bringing in viewers who aren’t strongly connected to the industry, you'll mitigate your risks if something were to happen.
6. Patience
It takes time to grow on social media, and there may be factors outside your control.
Sometimes decisions take a while before any signs can be seen. You don’t want to start correcting things before enough time has passed. Think of being on a boat, and you try to change directions. Momentum is a thing even on social media. Give stuff at least a week — probably more — before you deem them failures.
The advice I’ve given is just advice — not an absolute. You may do all these things, and nothing comes to fruition. Things may even change and new strategies are found to be more effective. Remember, I’m still confident that my channel will grow into something significant despite what many — much smarter and experienced — people have told me.
I just wanted to write this article to say that feeling frustrated is okay. But it’s not constructive to lash out at others who are also having a difficult time. Please be empathetic to what lewdTubers and vTubers deal with on social media.
Even if just a little bit of understanding were realized, I’d consider this article a win.
All of us are trying our best in a constantly changing world.
Veritasium created a great video explaining how difficult it is to become an expert in your field.
Social media is an industry that’s still in its infancy, with nobody having a solid idea of how to grow. If you look hard enough, you’ll find many lewdTubers with extremely seductive models and remarkable voices still struggling to attract viewers. All we have are educated guesses on what’ll succeed.
There was even a point when all the top vTubers started with zero viewers, and nobody knew or cared who they were.
If you’re interested, I’d appreciate it if you check out my web novel series, the longest original narrated web novel series on YouTube. Maybe even leave a like, comment, and — possibly — subscribe if you enjoy it.
Check out the other articles on Virtual Invitation Only. This publication was created to offer a place for those who enjoy the sexual side of the internet and social media — presented in a classy manner.
Look forward to the future, where I hope to have interviews with those in the more adult industries on social media — usually connected to the vTuber community in some manner. I’ll be continuing to release more quality articles.
