Quote:
Originally Posted by ElDiabloJoe
I really appreciate the time and effort everyone makes to provide their videos. Some I prefer more than others. I offer my opinions, and that's all they are, simply as honest feedback from one person who has never made any videos. I am not trying to bash, but hoping to be objectively constructive.
I disagree with you about TVE. I do like Tiffany and Michael. The goody-two-shoes bit is getting a bit old as is the primary use of FaceBook instead of YouTube, but the golf cart rides and area updates are pretty good and they seem like very nice people. Their enthusiasm is infectious. They'd make great neighbors. However, I'm thinking I'm gonna start taking a shot of whiskey every time I hear "Awesome-awesome." Oughta be drunk about 5 minutes into the video.
The Ladies are nice enough, but they are both kinda long-winded cue-card reliant and the NY accent is a bit grating to my ears. No offense to NY'ers. They provide interviews with some great people, but none have really piqued my interest. Now if they got some Morse members to interview with growth insights, I'd be ALL over that. Maybe any older war veterans, or retired pro athletes or olympians. Interesting people besides the guy who makes NY style pizza. Maybe it is because I like videos about the newer southern areas and they are in a more well established area so southern topics don't make it into their videos often.
I agree with you wholeheartedly about GoldWing Nut but his timeliness is starting to slip. In all fairness, he has a lot of balls in the air and I am appreciative of his videos regardless of when he can get them posted. No one else provides the depth of insight, experience, knowledge, and research that he does. He is the definitive source for most everything.
Mario is more about fishing and bicycle rides, things I'm not particularly interested in.
Rusty has some real informative detailed videos about how and what to do about nearly everything Villages related, but he is starting to drift away from the YouTube videos I think. His new content is getting further and further apart as his interest and excitement wanes.
I like the new guy on the scene, Frank Rodriguez and his "Retiring To The Villages" channel. Similar to why I like TVE, the golf cart rides and frequent viewing of new areas are the draw. He is a bit less informed than other content creators because he guesses a lot about things that others have definitively identified like, "I think these are going to be XXX type homes" when someone else pointed out that they are definitely YYY type of homes. That, and he doesn't seem as aware as others about differences in home series. Like the types of curbs and drains that are in different types of neighborhoods. Still, great new content and enjoyable to watch.
Jerry and Linda are doing incredible things - and their activity level at their age is impressive! I enjoy how well they get along, especially after so many years of marriage. The Q&As they do are my favorite part, but I'm seeing many questions I've seen before or that people could easily find out with a modicum of research on their own, so I fast-forward through a lot of their banter. I do enjoy the Bubble Wrap and Pittman Law sections, but could care less about the pets and the eating out segments.
All the more popular video content creators have very different areas of focus. I appreciate them all and respect all the time and effort they put into the videos, but I can't watch all of everyone so the above are my impressions and opinions.
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Wow, no mention of the godfather, Skip Smith?
Regarding Michael and Tiffany, I took an informal poll of a number of people who have watched at least a few of their videos, and their comments ranged from, and I quote, "I can't stand that mouth open, phony 'YouTube algorithm' face he's making on every thumbnail", to "Her constant 'wax on/wax off' hand movements while talking are extremely distracting", to "Why does he constantly look at the camera, then off to our right, then at Tiffany, then repeat ad nauseam?". All of them mentioned the insufferable "Awesome, awesome" (M & T even had t-shirts made with that text on them). They thought the golf cart rides were o.k., but most Villages YouTubers do those. They do seem like good people, but the sickly sweet presentation gives me the diabeetus, and just like Jerry and Linda, they rarely criticize any aspect of life in The Villages, which I feel is a disservice to their respective viewers, as they're not getting the complete picture. Is it a great place to live? Absolutely. Are there problems? Absolutely. That's why I watch Skip's videos - he gives you the good, the bad, and the ugly, with zero sugarcoating. Not surprisingly, many of the TVE/J&L groupies can't handle even the slightest negativity intruding into their puppy and rainbow fantasy world, so they refuse to watch Skip.
Jana Raber is pleasant, and she always includes a number of different segments in her videos, though her main goal is to sell homes.
The Villages Natives are a retired military couple, relatively new to The Villages. Most videos cover home improvements/upgrades. They seem very nice.
Ira Miller sold homes for The Villages, then went to the MLS side, and has been at it for over 20 years. He is a licensed contractor/home inspector as well. Selling homes is his ultimate goal, but he has produced helpful videos on numerous related subjects.