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We recently had a chat with Tech Burner about his life as a tech influencer in India and his motivation behind content creation.
Content creation is at its peak today but years ago, a lot of creators started off small and it is their dedication that makes them so loved today. We admire creators who make content around everyday topics that we can all relate to. Talking about technology and its latest advancements is a genre that holds the attention of most people. Thankfully, there are creators who turn their passion for technology into interesting content for their audience. Making content interesting while not moving away from its core idea of providing the information is what really matters to Indian YouTuber Tech Burner aka Shlok Srivastava.
Shlok started his YT channel in 2011 with the aim of reaching a niche audience who loves technology. And he is one of the fastest-growing tech influencers today. His content explores the evolving space of Tech content creation and influencers. He started his Youtube channel, Tech Burner in 2014 intending to make dedicated tech videos with a mission to reach the masses and answer all their queries related to all things technology and beyond. His quirky and entertaining style of storytelling is one of the main USPs of his channel and his audience resonates with him.
With his content, he aims at making tech entertaining, wholesome, and inclusive for all. His Youtube channel is one of the most-viewed channels in the technology influencer space on Youtube. For him, it is all about creating content as an individual entity for the audience and building human connections on a level that brands are unable to achieve through conventional forms of advertising.
In our recent chat with the creator, Tech Burner talked about his life as a tech influencer in India and his motivation behind continuing with his content creation.
Here's what he had to share with us:
How did your content creation journey begin?
"So to put it straight, it's just like people post on Instagram, they just do it for their friends and family. I just posted like that but the intention was not that my family sees it or that all my friends see it. It was to help a very niche or a very small part of the tech audience that was interested in it. If I was to name it specifically, routing and installing a custom launcher on a Moto G and also very minute details of that specific phone. I started off very niche and also since I was the only one who was doing it in that segment, I was able to capture my audience even though I was bad at creating videos. The reaction was positive and people were able to relate. That’s how I just kept on expanding. From Moto from the launcher, we went to the software part of the phone. Then from the phone, we changed it to other phones and kept expanding. So the intention was always to help people and to create a change that creates positivity in their lives if that makes sense."
How you do try to make your content more entertaining for your audience?
"Just like you said in the question, technology is a very niche segment. But that is a conclusion that we have come to over the years. Because it is a little bit complex and people are not able to understand how it works. But if you step back and look at it, we are all consumed by technology. Everyone has a mobile phone, a laptop, and a TV. Almost everything around us is technology. I believe that our brand believes that technology will become a part of this human space. And all we are trying to do is humanize technology. It can be a complex technology in the market, we are trying to break it down to, maybe our mother or a 10-year-old who has no idea about how it works. We are in this fine line between humanity and arts and technology. We are trying to bridge the gap between them."
Lockdown introduced a lot of creators to the audience. How has the lockdown impacted your content?
"Because we are directly in touch with the audience, our content also revolves around them. If they are in a different state, the content also has to evolve and adapt to the state that the audience is in. So yes, there have been very big changes. It is geared more towards the previous week of COVID-19. We were creating content on how to work from home, how to use applications so that you can organize a phone, how to put your mental health state in check, how to use applications that can benefit you and stuff like that which was in the realm of technology but we are also trying to humanize and provide value to the people at that point of time. But currently what we are seeing is, it’s very polarizing when it comes to the audience. Most people are just over it and they know what to do, what precautions to take. So they don’t want more stress by watching videos. What they want is a distraction from all the stress so we are trying to provide information and facts, maybe something useful or something fun for them. So that’s how it has changed. But yes, we just revolve around the audience and see how they consume content."
What is that one motto that you try to live by?
"There are a lot of things but if I were to break it down into one simple thing, there is this thing called the butterfly effect. If a butterfly flaps its wings in one part of the world, it can cause maybe like a tornado in other parts of the world. I feel like I have seen that happen. The very very minute changes that you create in your daily life, go on to be such big things in one, two or five years in ways you can't imagine. I was reading an article and was calculating how much difference one person can make in one year and it was 3700%. That means that you become 37 times better in a year like if you are eating 10 burgers a day, you just remove the cheese from one burger. I see it, I believe it and I have seen it happen with all the teams that we are working with."
Out of all the gadgets that you have reviewed so far, are there any crazy ones that made you appreciate technology?
"There is so much technology and it can do so many things that it is hard to imagine sometimes. Like there is this laser point, then there is this keyboard where you can literally type on the surface of the table and also retina scanning. We have watches that can scan your heartbeat or your temperature and everything. There is a lot of technology around us but the one that changed my perspective would definitely be AR and VR. I was trying out this headset by HTC Vive and Facebook also makes their own Oculus Quest and Oculus 11. These sound simple, you just put them on like a headset or goggles and you can see the world from their eyes. So your world is consumed by that reality. It has a screen of its own inside, you can play whatever you want in 360. So you can go to the Himalayas, you can be in the middle of the sea, or on Mars. It's so realistic that I can't even explain it. I can tell you how I felt, you know when you are standing on top of a mountain and you look down, you can see death, your heart starts beating faster. There is sweat on your forehead because it you're actually scared and you can feel everything. It's that surreal. And it has happened because technology was able to incorporate these kinds of visuals and graphics into just a small headset. I think that is the future of technology, where we will be embracing these gadgets."
What is that one thing that your 2014 self would be surprised to know about the 2021 you?
"I don't want to bother that guy. He is just living his life and having fun. Why would I create this weird emotion by telling him about the future? So I won't do that. If it was a possibility, I would write down all the mistakes in a paper and tell him this is how you are going to mess up. But, I don't think that the things I could have done then, I can do now. I believe that we have a lot of time so I would do them today rather than try and fix that guy in the past."
Which Indian and International creators do you follow, who inspire you and your content?
"I would say that I learn from pretty much everyone. I see and I observe very carefully. I don’t watch as a viewer but as a content creator. How the person who is creating the content thinks. That is just how we work. It is very tough for a content creator to consume the content just as a viewer because when we are consuming content all we are thinking about is how have they taken that shot? How has he scripted this video? How has he done all these things? So I am not a very regular consumer of content but I know of Indian YouTubers like Bhuvan Bam, CarryMinati, Ashish Chachlani, Mythpat and Slaypointt. I like to follow people who are creating change. Like not just Youtubers but others too. If I have to name some, it would be Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Bill Gates. I like to read about them a lot."
What would your advice to young and aspiring YouTubers be who are starting out in content creation?
"There are so many things that you can say but if there was one thing that I would say it's this - Try to figure out why you are creating content. Because at the end of the day you have to break it down. If you’re doing it to please yourself, if you’re doing it as a hobby or if you’re doing it to make yourself look good in front of people. I think all of these are fine but it won’t work in the long run if you want to actually adopt this as a career, not just on YouTube but like creating videos on social media. You have to at the end of the day find out something that can create value for the people and you also have to make sure that people are ready to pay money for it, to keep it simple."
What is your favourite part about Tech Burner and his content? Let us know in the comments below.