Audience research

Audience research is the work of asking before guessing. Comments, community polls and the questions you get asked in person all count. So does the Audience tab in Studio, which shows what else the people who watch you are watching, and which of your videos are actually growing the audience.

It matters because the recommendation system follows what your audience already watches rather than acting as an editor with its own taste. Understanding those people is the same job as understanding the algorithm, which is a far less mystical framing than the one most creators are handed.