Alt text
Barges into Youtube
Uploads interesting videos weekly for a decade
Refuses to elaborate further
Heads off into the sunset
Image of Tom Scott flying under a helicopter in a harness
I might have teared up during the montage.
It's like the end of an age. But as he literally said it's not.
I've almost never been this conflicted in my life.
For the past decade I've been waking up to a new Tom Scott video every Monday. The positivity and curiosity helped me start my week. I'm really going to miss it.
I remember someone telling a suuuuper dumb joke and then linking "two drums and a cymbal" several years after he made the video, and I'd see vids occasionally.
It wasn't until "Danger: Humans" that I went through all his "things you might not know" he had at the time, and subscribed.
I'll just have to binge the channel some more.
It feels like a bit of 'old internet' died with him, where he's always been an internet optimist and someone who has lived through basically all of it. He stuck to his principles through all of it. And I guess that has become a rarified breed.
Him taking a step back feels like a bit of that old internet of the curiosity, community and creativity of the early days of the internet go with him. Mind you he's not going anywhere except the people he cares about and I completely understand the choice he made, and I only wish the best for him, so this is just me attempting to explain why it feels so confronting and kind of sad. For me it goes beyond 'oh there just won't be anymore of those videos then', which I can live with although it would be sad to see those go. It's his personality that has, through the entire history of youtube and the many, many changes it went through, stuck to the principles of its first ever users. Be curious, be authentic, and generally just try shit out and see if it works.
I'm sure that core of the personality he showed on screen will never really go away, other people will carry that torch. But it's ok to be a little sad to see someone wave off like this. It shows us all how much we enjoyed it all these years.
Also as a MINOR sidenote on the meme, he never refused to explain, you couldn't stop this man from explaining if you tried lol
He's never been the same since the xnopyt incident...
Which is..?
An absolute national treasure. People have been given MBEs or even OBEs for far lesser achievements.
I was thinking about this earlier. I'm not sure the OBE would consider his achievements to be noteworthy. If you look at other notable recipients, they all had careers spanning many decades, and the ones in entertainment all have backgrounds in more "classy" vocations (theater, film, music). I'm not sure they'd consider "some guy posting videos on the Internet" (from their perspective) to be of sufficient pedigree. That, and occasionally poking fun at the government and royalty probably hasn't put him very high on the list.
However, i think that even if he was offered knighthood, he'd probably decline it, either because he thinks he doesn't deserve it or because he would be too nervous or embarrassed to accept it.
When I saw this come up on my feed, I thought to myself that it's probably one of those "this is my last video.... Of 2023." Kind of things. Some kind of rugpull. But no, he was just saying goodbye to his posting schedule and taking a break.
I wish you the best, Tom. I've always appreciated the critical and factual analysis you've provided on a variety of topics. You've provided everyone with great content and valuable, factual information over the past decade. I'm sad that you're leaving, but I wish you all the best, all the same.
Thank you.
Genuinely heartbroken but happy for him at the same time.
What's he doing?
Literally flying off into the sunset. He will no longer make YouTube videos. He said he might make the occasional one from time to time, but he might not.
He's taking a break for a while, and won't do something as regimented as weekly researched videos again. He's still doing Lateral, his podcast, and a few smaller projects like the newsletter.
I'm hoping after he takes his break, he's able to find a healthy balance where he can create several videos a year when he really wants to, and finds it creatively fulfilling. It really seems like he loves exploring the topics he tends to cover, so it seems unlikely he won't return at some point. How long the break will be seems to be the biggest unknown.
There isn't a single downvote in this post, yet. And it has already 1K up vote. It says something about Tom.
I absolutely love this man, I will miss the regular content but he will still pop up in other peoples videos im sure. Cheers, Tom!
My wife started to tear up during the final montage. Unrelated, I happened to be sitting under a sprinkler.
I was very sad to see Tom's video. He has always delivered content as it should be. No bullshit at all, but rather informative, well-researched assessments. I have the utmost respect for people like Tom and can well understand that he simply can't carry on like this under the current conditions.
Legendary exit for a legendary creator
Godspeed, you magnificent bastard
Tom Scott is a mother fucking international treasure
He's like the lawful good version of Colin furze
Definitely going to miss Tom.
Legend.
Absolutely zero disrespect intended here, but what does he do? Like, what’s sort of vibe/stuff does he do? Only curious as I’m looking for a channel to peruse…
Mostly short form explainers about interesting subjects, presented in a sort of breathless British TV presenter style. Like a young Attenborough but less posh. Pretty good channel.
Hard to pin Down. Most of his stuff is going to unique and unusual places and customs and why they end up like that. But he also does some pretty great videos on linguistics and computer science.
I would say the best to describe his content is that he is a journalist doing those old school "general interest" style news stories.
My best answer would be for you to go to his YouTube channel, find a video that even mildly piques your interest, and watch him. Like the other person said, he's hard to pin down because he doesn't cover one specific field of interest, but he does make sure to research everything he's talking about. He can even make talking about poorly designed road intersections interesting.
Man, i gonna miss him, i 'm surprised no tv channel attempt to grab him.
He will be back. Nobody with that kind of viewership stays gone forever.
Hell, he even said as much. That he'll most likely make some more videos. It's basically just a departure from the feeling of obligation to keep up a weekly schedule.
Though, he's not even leaving content creation. He's still got plenty of other projects running. That makes him less likely to hop back on than most, since he's actually got real other plans
It's not about viewership at all imo. It's extremely hard to completely change your lifestyle after 10 years of exact same work. I bet he'll be back very soon, perhaps on random schedule, but still doing the same stuff
just like lord buckethead is the only heredity peer i recognise
The sprint is over but the race is not yet won. Tom Scott isn't gone. He is just doing basic self preservation
I hope he enjoys his break. He's earned it.
In case you have missed, there's a second channel where he tried stuff, like stage fighting, with guests.
https://www.youtube.com/c/tomscottplus
Tom Scott has also done a lot of hilarious stuff with his mates.
https://www.youtube.com/@mattandtom
https://www.youtube.com/@techdif
Also Matt Gray (that face from that image from that video) has started doing a new series of trying cool stuff, like road painting.
https://www.youtube.com/@MattGrayYES
Also previously he bought a soft-serve ice cream machine for a while and tried what ingredients would work in it.
Pour one out
Him and meat canyon it's so sad to see but if that's what they need then I'm happy for them.
Be sure to follow the rule before you head out.
Rule: You must post before you leave.
