Shameless Self-Promotion

Shameless Self-Promotion

By Bobby Neal Winters

I have a channel on YouTube.  I have had it for at least 14 years, and it kind of surprises me that I’ve had it so long.  During the time I’ve had it, I’ve worked at it more intensely at some times than at others.  I’ve used it mainly for mathematics, though I have put some videos on it to share it with my extended family.

Over the past year, I’ve used it a lot more as I have put some content for my classes online.  I’ve also put up a few videos in an attempt to help my colleagues learn about Zoom and Microsoft Teams.  I don’t know if I was successful, but some of them were kind enough to thank me.  (You are welcome, by the way.) 

A week or so ago, I decided to get back into my channel and to try to do it in a semi professional way.  By semi professional, I don’t mean to semi make money on it, rather I mean to try to copy what my favorite channels do.  I have an “intro” and an “outro.” I show my face and talk to the camera to introduce the topic.  I break it up into segments.

Before anybody rushes out to look up the channel, let me warn you that it is all math and is likely to stay that way.  There are a few math channels: StandUp Maths, Mathologer, 3Blue1Brown, and UpAndAtom.  They all do math and they are all much, much better than mine.  They are slick, and I suspect they have professionals to do their writing and editing.  They are all smarter than me.  They are all much better looking...

I’d better stop going down this road because it might make me sad.

It does raise the question: Why bother?

To be up front about it: It is something I enjoy doing.  I like the act of thinking about a nice bit of math.  I like the act of making it into something someone else can understand.  I like making the pieces of the video and then putting them together.  It is my hope to put out a new video every week and to get a little better at it over time.

If I ever make a dime on it, I might just fall over dead.  That having been said, I am willing to take the risk. 

But my thinking is this.  We are going into a new future.  This year of living remotely has had an effect on us.  We’ve discovered new things. We’ve not been able to reach out in the normal ways, so, like water when one path is cut off, we’ve found new ways.  We need help on a homework problem, we don’t go to Poindexter down the block.  We go to YouTube and search. (If you want to find my channel, search my name. There are only two people by that name on YouTube so far.)

If I can help a kid with his homework at sometime in the future by doing what I like to do now, why wouldn’t I?  I am--at the very core of my being--a math teacher.

I am still finding my feet.  I’ve improved the graphics in my videos. (Improved is a relative term.) I’ve added some sound effects to my intro and I might improve my outro as well.  At this point with my most popular video having received 16 views, I don’t have to please anyone but myself.  If more people watch, I will probably become more self-conscious.

Bobby Winters, a native of Harden City, Oklahoma, blogs at redneckmath.blogspot.com and okieinexile.blogspot.com. He invites you to “like'' the National Association of Lawn Mowers on Facebook. Search for him on YouTube. )