Gay&Night November 2016

Interview / Davey Wavey
The videos of famous gay YouTube personality Davey Wavey (33)
have nearly 300 million video views in more than 160 countries around
the world. But Davey is still no YouTube expert, he feels. “Sometimes I
just say stupid shit.”
“During my
video, my
fucking hot
neighbor was
jerking off”
How did you start your YouTube channel?
How did you deal with reactions? YouTube
commenters aren’t known for their friendliness.
“I don’t pretend that I do everything the best,
so sometimes the feedback I get is useful. And
then of course there’s just comments with nasty
bitchiness. Early on I realized that with a truly nasty
or unfounded comment, it’s good to not get upset,
but to look at what that person’s experience in life
must be. Something I did or said probably touched
a nerve. Maybe they’re calling me old because that’s
something they’re struggling with themselves. There
has to be some personal investment for them to be
that irritated. So I start to feel a sense of compassion
for people who leave comments like that. They
must be going through some shit. The style of the
reactions also depends on where the video is posted.
On my channel, the comments are generally very
constructive. However, if my video is embedded on a
site like Queerty, those are very different comments.”
“YouTube has been around for ten years, and I
started nine years ago. I guess you could say I was on
YouTube before YouTube became ‘YouTube’. I now
compare my channel to Grindr – it was shitty, but it
was the rst, and that’s why it has been so successful.
At the time I used the videos like a visual diary.
Something I could look at in twenty years to see what
I was doing at the time. It never occurred to me that
other people would want to watch it.
When i made my seventh video, I saw that my
neighbor was jerking off. And he was fucking hot.
So I made a video about my masturbating neighbor.
Lo and behold: that’s something people apparently
search for on YouTube! Millions of people watched
the video and started subscribing to my channel.”
How did you feel about gaining an audience?
“Initially it turned me off a bit, because I was doing
the videos for me. But I soon realized that if you reach
a large group of gay men, you have an opportunity, or
perhaps even a responsibility, to do something. The
way I look at that responsibility has changed over the
years. I’m a human being, and sometimes I say stupid
shit. The fact that I have an audience doesn’t mean
I’m the best spokesperson for the topics I discuss. But
that’s a good opportunity to bring other people in, so
they can talk about their experiences and expertise. I
feel like that’s part of my responsibility now. And I’ve
learned that the hard way, by making mistakes and
learning from them. It’s been nine years, and over
700 videos. That’s a lot of shit to say.”
What has been your biggest ‘aha’ moment so far?
“I’d say the most important lesson I’ve learned is
something I call ‘dipping the broccoli in chocolate’.
How to take a substantive message, something
good, and package it in a way so that people actually
want to hear it. No one wants to be preached at. So
whatever important message you want to talk about,
wrap it in humor, sexuality or something that will
make people click on the video and watch it.”
You mean clickbait?
“Well, I’d say sometimes the end justies the means.
You’re competing with a lot of content on YouTube, so
it’s almost a contest to get someone to click on your
video. But if they watch it and enjoy it, ánd even learn
something, that’s like the YouTube g-spot.”
How has being a ‘YouTube Sensation’ changed your
sex life?
“People recognize me, but actually a lot of the times
don’t believe it’s me. Twitter has that blue ‘veried’
checkmark for your prole, but of course the dating
apps don’t have something like that. So I spend a lot
of my time taking pictures holding up two ngers or
sticking my tongue out or something, so the guys I’m
chatting with know it’s actually me. There’s probably
a certain number of people who have hooked up
with me because they recognized me from YouTube.
Maybe that is fame fucking? I’m also only hooking
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