Channels gone downhill

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This isn’t a rip or a boycott of Tom (or the channel) — I’ve probably watched every video he’s ever put out and will keep watching. But lately, I don’t find myself tuning in to the vlogs or new uploads as quickly as I used to.

Some of that might just be me — maybe I’ve learned what I needed to learn and moved on. But honestly, I think the content has shifted too. A few years back I’d watch a video, get inspired, and immediately fire up a PC to try a benchmark, a neat script, or troubleshoot a UniFi quirk Tom just solved (and yes, it still cracks me up that people in the comments think his actual name is Lawrence).

These days, not so much. Life’s definitely busier, but even when I’m in the car between clients or have some downtime, I don’t automatically throw on the channel anymore. Instead, I’ll binge three weeks’ worth of uploads in half an hour — which says something.

Part of it is the videos feel shorter and less information. Totally fair nobody wants a two-hour deep dive on a white paper (that would be “serial killer” status) but I do miss the meatier, “hands-on right away” style that used to hook me.

Anyway, I tossed these thoughts into ChatGPT just to see what it would say, and now I’m curious: anyone else notice the same thing?

Content Evolution Pattern

Early Years (2014-2018): Lawrence Systems started in February 2014 and built their reputation with in-depth technical tutorials, particularly around FreeNAS (now TrueNAS), pfSense, and open source projects TrueNAS CommunitySmbcommunitypodcast. They were recognized as having some of the best FreeNAS tutorial content on YouTube, with thorough explanations and current, regular updates JGreco referenced by Lawrence Systems on YouTube | TrueNAS Community.

Channel Growth Period (2018-2021): By 2021, the channel had grown significantly - going from smaller numbers to 185,000+ subscribers with about 1.8 million unique viewers in 90 days, with most joining in the previous two years Tom Lawrence – Using YouTube to Get New Clients – SMB Community Podcast. The channel’s success was built on Tom’s philosophy of creating videos about “whatever is on his mind” - sometimes technology, sometimes business - but always ending with a pitch for potential clients Tom Lawrence – Using YouTube to Get New Clients – SMB Community Podcast.

Current State (2024-2025): The channel now has around 335K-370K subscribers with over 1,530 videos uploaded and 52M+ total views Lawrence Systems YouTube Channel Statistics / Analytics - SPEAKRJ Stats. Current content averages 16 minutes per video with two uploads per week Lawrence Systems YouTube stats, analytics, and sponsorship insights.

Signs of Content Changes

Monetization Focus: From the search results, I can see evidence of increased commercial focus:

Business Model Shift: Tom Lawrence has shifted to focus more on content creation while still maintaining client services through CNWR Lawrence Systems, suggesting a move toward YouTube being a primary revenue driver rather than just client acquisition.

While I couldn’t access the specific video titles and timestamps to analyze the exact transition you’re describing (shorter videos, more ads, boilerplate content), the pattern you’ve noticed aligns with what often happens as YouTube channels scale and become more commercially focused. The channel has grown from a small MSP owner sharing knowledge to a significant content operation with formal ethics policies and extensive affiliate partnerships.

Your observation about the shift from deep technical tutorials to shorter, more commercial content is a common trajectory for successful tech YouTube channels as they optimize for algorithm performance and revenue generation.

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You’re not the only one talking about this. I can’t speak for tom but, what more do you want from him in content? He has basically given every single tutorial for pfsense and truenas. When he runs across new open source projects he shares them and to fill the gap he does vlogs so he can connect more of his fan base.

I think as time goes on things change and you might not like the change. I am like you that his content was fun to watch back in the day. For me, I just grew in knowledge from watching his videos and in my own career. It’s not really fun for me now to spin up a VM or docker container anymore. I do that enough in my own career to poke around and see how things work.

Time marches on and it’s like a nostalgic thing now for me. Probably for you too.

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I really appreciate how you framed this. It’s not an angry “things are bad now,” it’s an honest reflection of how your experience has changed (and I will fully admit my channel has changed) and that means a lot to me.

I have been thinking a lot about this. The big change is CNWR is not doing the same projects that I used to do, especially around the structured cabling and on site projects. (I am working on making some changes to cover that again.) Which are videos I loved making and I know even though they did not get a ton of views, they connected with a lot of people which means more to me.

So while I never wanted to have any sponsors, since splitting off the company I have had to take them on to cover costs. What is really crazy is that I used to bring in more money from Amazon Affiliate & YouTube ad sense which have been part of my channel since 2016ish. Amazon cut back what they paid and so did YouTube combined with the sell off of the MSP/IT part of my company to CNWR has led me to getting sponsors to pay the bills.

That said, I haven’t lost the itch to experiment and comments like yours are a good reminder that people still love the hands-on, “let’s break this thing and see what happens” style that I did more of in the past. Feel free keep posting or DM me if you want to chat more. I wish more people would give me honest feedback.

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Honestly, I liked those old videos that I rewatched multiple times. (pfSense tutorials, TrueNAS, etc). The short-form videos are speaking less for me, however I think the live streams improved.
I don’t think the affiliate links or sponsors (full video or newsletter) are distracting. Cost of the free content. Tom showed good ethics and clear communication about (possible) “influence” or sponsorships.

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However, most of this content is still valid. This is because, in particular, pfSense has not really changed that much. You can watch a five-year-old pfSense video and find that 99% of it still applies.

Eight years ago when I stared with pfSense, I watched videos from Netgate that were already a few years old at the time and still featured the old red/black logo. They helped me a lot to understand how everything works. In addition to that, Tom’s videos gave me actuial real-world examples.

However, the most important thing is to understand the basic concepts. Simply following tutorials without understanding the fundamentals won’t help you in the long run — or even the short term — because the exact config you need might be different to what the creator of the video is showing. So, once you understand the fundamentals, you no longer need long-form videos; just short ones that explain best practices and changes that happend in the meantime.

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And I still do sometimes :slight_smile: I agree about understanding the concepts. Usually I like to do things a few times, destroy it and redo it. I am not comfortable supporting or pushing system to production, unless I can answer most of the questions.

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Could it be that when you have been following YT channels for more than 6-8 years with similar content “you have seen it all already”? Like watching 8 seasons of a TV show?

With more knowledge gained about certain topics I do not watch some content/topics anymore. Example: Portainer clone no. XX is really not interesting for me anymore since I am only using docker compose files myself now.

A trend on YT is more focus on pleasing “the algorithm” by some channels. A attempt to stay relevant on YT I guess.

That said I still respect and appreciate the time and effort taken by creators to inform, educate and/or entertain us and sometimes also share an inside in there private life.
Also do not forget that some creators create a more extensive written article to accompany the YT content and//or provide a kind of forum for specific questions, more interaction and some deep dives.

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I would not say that in the case since I am not recycling content by making things like a new VLAN video each year.

If I was doing that you would see a flood of “AI IS AMAZING” or “YOU NEED THIS NOW” type of videos. :rofl:

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I don’t agree that the channel has gone down hill. But I do find more and more that I am not finding videos of particular interest to me, more in line with the “you’ve seen it all, already” phenomenon.

One thought for some interesting video content my be to have homelab enthusiasts submit information about their current set up and have Tom and/or Tom and Jay offer constructive criticisms and corrective advice. Keep the submitter anonymous and discuss the top 10 things you would fix that don’t cost anything, and the top 10 things that you would fix within a certain budget. It would be entertaining and I think many of us would learn a lot.

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Curious what videos you (or anyone else posting here) are interested in or watching on other channels, blogs, site, etc..

I don’t really try to appeal as much as I am covering what I am doing, but I will admit I have not done as many longer form videos. There area a few reasons for that, the obvious one is that they take much longer to record and edit, two having shorter tutorials seem to land better for people who just want to do some simple thing such as my “UniFi DNS” video.

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Lately I have been watching lots of stuff about n8n and creating my own AI agents. I also seem to gravitate towards things like kubernetes videos, DevOps videos, learning bash scripting, terraform and ansible stuff, and gitops. What I might classify as the next steps for me in home labbing. I have a basic setup, I host some sites and services, I have my data storage and backup all sorted, so what are the next fun things I can try and conquer

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I really appreciate Tom’s response and approach as a content creator and in engaging with his audience. It is so refreshing to see and hear someone authentically seek feedback and recommendations, convey personal interests and pursuits, and understand and convey personal limitations or constraints. I realize there are many other similarly minded people in the on-line world, but my experience has been such a group is rare. I learned much of what I have done in my homelab from Tom’s videos and the exchanges in this and other forums. In that spirit, Tom well-done!

As to some feedback, keep introducing everyone to new ideas, capabilities, and opportunities. On occasion, maybe revisit old playlists with the idea of introducing new integrations. Perhaps one such thought would be experience integrating NetBird into pfSense. They have a new manual package awaiting Netgate formal adoption, and it would be nice to see or hear of other’s experiences installing it. But that is only one small example of an integration–it need not be that exact example or suggestion.

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I agree with most of the comments here. Still watch the videos, but I got hooked on the channel initially because of the xcp-ng and pfSense content, probably like most people. Also running an MSP myself, very much enjoy the videos on security incidents.

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+1 for the content and the effort put in by Tom…

its just a sad reality of the system that if “content provider” becomes your primary source of putting food on the table and a shelter over your head you’ll always end up as a “bitch of the system” … never trust them, full stop :slight_smile:

the way toms going about it with keeping CNWR, is the ONLY way to go

for me the fav bit after all this time is still the loosely structured live chat streams, always entertaining, but like most peoples prob listen to them never live!

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I try to catch them live but seems like I’m always either just coming in when they end or just leaving when they start! lol

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Channel Update: Your Feedback Matters [YouTube Release]
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For me the problem isn’t your content. I love the community you built here… people are actually friendly and helpful. But that dam Youtube algorithm… isn’t surfacing your videos for me and I’m subscribed. I have a small home lab and try to pickup decommissioned ENT hardware to play with… or build scrappy hardware with opensource SW. I watch at lunch or dinner to learn or be entertained by youtube in general. Maybe remind people to receive all notifications so you will get the traffic of loyal followers.

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I am a bit confused about the topic title: “Channels gone downhill“.

I have interpreted this more like a general remark about “all” YT channels. I have seen the changes in format of the videos of some creators.
Like the changes in the thumbnails (“funny” looking faces), moving end credits to the start of the video, catchy titles and shorter videos. All to adjust to that always changing YT algorithm.

Anyway, I hope you keep doing what you are doing. :+1: Not every topic is as interesting to me but it will be interesting for someone else.
Your enthusiasm and knowledge “have made” me watch several XCP-ng videos which I am not using at work or at home. :laughing:

Some more security related videos would be great. Some kind of lessons learned could possibly prevent yet another security incident.

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I am a silent viewer. I don’t like/dislike, comment, share, …. i just watch & enjoy.

I do like the vlogs & Q&A. I like to have some chatter in the background while working and occasionally get hooked on the stream and not doing anything. I do feel that Tom has more time for youtube and puts in ALLOT of effort. Hes got his workflow pretty figured out.

However i do despise on “sponsored content“. I know, i get it, money has to be made. But if i see any device in the thumbnail with a review or whatever i don’t watch it at all (i hide it). I do not want to watch a 30min ad about some machine that is WAY of my budget. This goes for all content creators that i follow. Jef, Tim, Craft, HH, Crosstalk, Rex, apalrd, …

Yes the content has changed. I do prefer the “off your butt content”. Videos like:

  • Day in the Life IT Business / Behind The Scenes at Lawrence Systems & Looking for Feedback
  • We Won The Structured Cabling Bid What’s Next?
  • Structured Cabling Work: A Comprehensive Guide to Accurate Pricing & Successful Bidding
  • Wall Fishing Tools & How To Use Them When Dealing With Fire Stops and Insulation
  • Client Cabling Project Update January 2017

Tom has feed the beast, there is nothing to blame for “bad content“ or going downhill.

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Use an RSS reader and put YouTube channels in there.

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i think its not linked here so ill do it :smiley:

spiffing brit who occasional does also exploit youtube (not in a security way) did a video about 10 days ago why there is a decline this time around every year and while it often sounded a bit harsh i think there are fair points to it (:

so in regard to your content maybe with the changed times youtube will allow education about threat actors again. How they got hacked was a thing i really liked. Maybe not as weekly format since most “hacks” are always the same but if there is some thing big or new i would love such a video to learn from mistakes (:

Otherwise to spoiler a part of the linked video:
Look at the times the channel made the most fun and/or got views and maybe do content in that direction. (i really recommend spiffing brits videos about youtube:)

adding to Toms reply if you are not on Apple use foss apps like NewPipe they just have a chronological order of your feed.
and even if they break you can share the video with another player or open it in web (:

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