The Problem with Linus Tech Tips: Accuracy, Ethics, & Responsibility

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I know saying "how many people still watch LTT" is kinda dumb with the views they pull in, but fuck haven't most people outgrown them? LTT helped me learn a lot of stuff when I started really getting into PC gaming decade ago, but after a few years I felt like it was just tech fluff videos. Most of their videos seemed like an ad for some fotm tech or just very basic concepts. I just don't see how people can still watch it after a few years just because it seems they make their videos to attract the lowest common denominator.
- I agree that a large chunk of LMG content is vapid and surface level, and I was put off by them years ago because of it. Ironically though, I've found much of their newer output more appealing, not because of it's informational value, but because where else am I gonna see someone build a hacked together water loop with a car radiator?
- I enjoy their content involving jank or overengineered solutions, their merch feels good (I would buy it even if it was just another brand like nike or adidas) and they arent as bone dry as GN, MKBHD is too mobile focused, Dave2D too regular consumer tech (like Laptops) focused, LTT has a bit of all.
  The controversy he creates himself is surely valid but I enjoy the content more and the integrity he wants to stand for.
  If you disagree or want to discuss my opinion, feel free to ask why I enjoy it.
  
  Mkbhd is barely a prosumer. Dude knows his way around photography and can shoot videos well but regarding the tech itself he has little to no knowledge compared to an average "techie".
  
  Oh for sure. He knows what he does.
  https://youtu.be/m9WbQMhkYvw
  
  Integrity he wants to stand for means absolutely bunk if, when given the opportunity to actually behave with integrity, he instead doubles down and lashes out like a child, blaming everyone and everything but himself.
  Integrity starts with accountability, and while he has always talked a big game about both, He's sadly found wanting for either.
  
  Wanting to improve is the first step. He has written a statement and we will se how he behaves in the next WAN show.
  
  And even in that written statement he doubles down, and continues to insist the bad data they generated by using the wrong GPU on the Billet was valid, and that its a bad product as a result.
  So there is no wanting to improve.
  Theres just lots of empty wind meaning nothing, from a guy thats in all likelihood probably required someone standing next to him to restrain him from typing out what he REALLY wants to say.
- For me they're basically just a bunch of guys fucking around with high end hardware. I dont care about any of the data they put out or their opinions on what tech I should buy.
- The funniest thing to me, is that LTT would be massively improved if Linus would just fuck off and go away. He runs around like a ADHD Chicken on stimulants, constantly dropping and breaking shit, fumbling shit, and just being an overall annoying twat.
  and hes been that way since the beginning, the only thing thats changed in time is that its gotten worse, to the point that I, personally, only ever stuck around to watch (Name Removed due threats from moderator to delete all my posts.) videos.. and after the whole backpack "just trust me bro" bullshit, even that wasnt enough to keep me around and I just bailed.
  Much prefer people who know what they're talking about, and actually give a shit, and don't have a massive entitled stick up their ass. Like Hardware Unboxed, and GN.
  
  Also it's Emily now she came out on her personal channel and did actually show up in 1 video after coming out
  
  Huh? Whos emily?
  
  https://linustechtips.com/topic/1509706-goodbye-anthony-welcome-emily/
  
  The writer previously known as Anthony
  
  expired
  
  You know that he actually has ADHD? In other words: Water is wet?
  
  Only solids which are covered in water can be called wet. Water itself is not wet.
  
  You may not like Linus but he is undoubtedly a successful business person and a great entertainer for a large public. An opinion is no problem but these things are just hard facts. LMG is a big success and Linus has played a major role in it.
  The numbers don't lie, content from LMG is just much more populair than content drom GN for example. It is way more accessible in my opinion. I feel like GN and LMG should not be compared as they have an entirely different audience. You seem to be a great example of that. If I want to have excellent reporting I go to GN if I just want a quick dopamine hit by seeing a few idiots cool a pc with an oversized turbine I go to LMG. I believe both are great but opinions differ.
  
  Well thats quite a "Fox News isnt news, its entertainment" argument you've chosen to make there.
  
  If that is what you read from my comment then you're just trying to form a narrative. I did not call LMG news. I was also not covering the incidents on which GN is reporting (I definitely agree that this is gross). I was just balancing your comment which is overly negative of a company (and more specifically Linus) which has grown enormously over the past years. Reality is just not as black and white. LMG has problems and should take responsibility but LMG still provides a benefit to many people and they seem to have great and fun employees who genuinely want to do good.
  I agree with GN that if you're presenting yourself as a data channel you need to take more responsibility. I just never treated LMG as such a channel. For me again it's about the stupid entertainment and not their data driven content. I don't respect their data. I would never recommend a friend to watch LMG content to form an opinion. Your "fox" example would better apply if I had said that I knew LMG was presenting bad data but that it's not that bad because it's just fun and all.
  
  That is the issue. It wouldn't be the issue if their videos were limited to being funny and goofy and for entertainment only. But their whole brand now is LLT Labs. Which is hard data focused (like GN is). So having incorrect data used to draw a conclusion for a product is journalistic malpractice.
  
  I agree completely. I do believe good journalism is getting rarer. If it's not bad data it's people calling themselves journalists while they just amend chat GPT articles.
  
  That's cause LMG mass produces Technotainment videos for the mass market Whereas GN is much more technical and takes their time to get the info/testing right Like investing a quarter million into a demi-Anechoic chamber Different markets and different size potential audience
- Stopped watching them very shortly after they moved out the house, the videos became very click bait and felt disingenuous compared to their old kitchen content.
  Luckily GN is top quality, exactly how every reviewer/channel should be. TechLinked is good tho, Riley is awesome, but that's the only LTT content I'll ever consume.
- 98% of my LTT viewing is done as background noise for whatever else I'm doing. The other 2% are me rewatching Scrapyard Wars.
- I blocked their YouTube channel a few days after the algorithm recommended it to me sometime mid-last decade. All I saw was stupid clickbait titles and that guy’s face in punchworthy poses. Not for me.
- I've only really found them entertaining in a "junk food diet" kind of way that most other channels don't really hit for me, and now that labs has come along I've been interested in seeing how that goes.
  I can only think of a few channels that scratch the same "flaming train wreck you can't look away from" itch for me

299 comments