Poulami Nag who goes by the moniker Hothat Jodi Uthlo Kotha on YouTube talks to Storyboard18 on the occassion of
International Mother Language Day, celebrated on February 21. It is a global movement honoring linguistic and cultural diversity and promoting multilingualism. It’s a springboard for year-round action to celebrate and empower languages, building a more vibrant and inclusive world for all. Let’s dig in deeper to understand how YouTube helps bridge the linguistic and regional barriers to further connect with audience across geographies.
Anecdotes about how your mother tongue-shaped your identity
To have young girls in school and first year of college, come up to me and say that they want to be like me, or that they have chosen to be more informed by contemporary social topics because they found a friendly voice in me. I have actually had more than a few toddlers mimic the way I talk. I know they do not understand the gravity of the topics I speak about, but it’s so endearing to see them try to be all serious.
Journey on YouTube
My journey started back home from Delhi, where I saw my parents and their friends finding difficulty in understanding topics as there were no Bengali counterparts of YouTubers that already have had their presence in English or Hindi Language to now, getting stopped by cab drivers, hospital stuff, receptionists who tell me that I have made an impact in their life, that I have been a friend to them who speaks in their own tongue.
How creating content in regional language helped strengthen your audience connections
A regional language, is not only a bright thread of the multicover cultural quilt, it is the language of your parents, your friends, and your generation who although may have branched out, want and deserve quality content wherever they are. It is the comfort food; it is the inherent soul spot of your audience. To reach and provide is creating a bond that has a good brand recall.
How YouTube helped bridge the linguistic and regional barriers to further connect with audience across geographies
While the map on the wall may say that a language is native to certain boundaries in the traditionalist sense, the scope is much wider as people who leave the nest, carry their language, their core values with them, and so you may have a listener quite eager to hear from you sitting in Wisconsin or Georgia, or Ontario, even Lithuania of all places. This has been made possible because of the platform provided by YouTube. The idea of reaching out to a wider audience, and having a robust system that aids in your work, is the bedrock of the journey I have been so far.
Message to aspiring regional content creators
Be honest, do not kid yourself into thinking that it is an easy job. Take your time, have your fall net and then proceed. It’s a career, not a hop about. As for future plans, to hire young talents in the near future, I would love to see more regional creators of my mother tongue flourishing on YouTube.
Challenges as a regional creator
Often there’s a set mentality that being a regional content creator prevents one from having a worldview, or endorses a creator to be narrowed down to a certain beat. Our research and our efforts need to be more focussed on. Regional stubbornness would kill growth.
What percent of share do you get from videos
While many may think that the only way to attain revenue through the YouTube ad revenue; however, in truth the spectrum is bigger. Over the time, YouTube has opened up possibilities for creators to earn money through different avenues, for example, YouTube Shorts, channel membership and ‘Thanks’ option. It may surprise a lot of readers that ‘Thanks’ and ‘Membership’ have actually helped a lot and became a steady source of revenue for creators, while the ad revenue fluctuates.