Nephew wants to enroll in a potentially scammy online program
June 15, 2018 8:51 AM Subscribe
My nephew is wanting to learn about producing content for Youtube, and is interested in an expensive online program called Jumpcut. Based on a cursory web search, this doesn't seem like a great idea. Thoughts?
Public libraries also provide a number of programs these days focused on online content, video editing, etc. At a minimum, it's a lot cheaper of a barrier to entry.
posted by notorious medium at 9:05 AM on June 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by notorious medium at 9:05 AM on June 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
You may not be able to dissuade him from taking the course. If I were in your spot, I'd allow him to earn the money from you by doing chores. He may find the course helpful; he may not, but either way, he'll have earned it and paid for it himself.
(and if it goes according to your hopes, maybe he'll find that the cost of the course isn't quite worth it.)
posted by hydra77 at 9:06 AM on June 15, 2018
(and if it goes according to your hopes, maybe he'll find that the cost of the course isn't quite worth it.)
posted by hydra77 at 9:06 AM on June 15, 2018
Is your nephew in Portland? Multnomah County Library allows you to log in to Lynda.com with your library ID and access all courses for free! A quick search found over 19,000 videos related to video editing. Has he exhausted the Lynda library yet? A membership is not too expensive either.
posted by amanda at 9:30 AM on June 15, 2018 [9 favorites]
posted by amanda at 9:30 AM on June 15, 2018 [9 favorites]
You don't need a course to put things on Youtube. I've put videos there without any effort whatsoever. Tell him to save his money for some video editing software, and just watch things with a careful eye and he will be in a better position to put things that will get watched by other people. My video has had a whole 624 views over a few years, but then again it was a video of a friends band playing in a pub so not too bad.
posted by koolkat at 9:30 AM on June 15, 2018
posted by koolkat at 9:30 AM on June 15, 2018
What is your goal, here? What is your nephew's goal?
I agree that it sounds dumb to take an expensive course in Youtube when there is more free information out there about Youtubing than anyone could possibly digest in one lifetime, especially when whatever information the course contains will likely be out of date by the time the course is over.
But what is the outcome you want to see, here? Do you want to dissuade him from doing this, or do you just want more information about Jumpcut? What does your nephew want to do with the information in this course? Does he desire to take this course part of some larger get-rich-quick scheme?
If you want to dissuade him, that may be impossible. He's an adult, he can make his own dumb decisions if he wants. What kind of relationship do you have with him, though? If it's not particularly close, it may not even be appropriate for you to lock horns with him on this. If you're someone who he regularly turns to for advice then you may have more luck, but you'll need to know why he thinks this specific course is better than the alternatives in terms of teaching him what he wants to know. What does it purport to teach, specifically? You may want to come armed with free or low-cost resources for learning whatever Youtube-related skills he's trying to acquire.
More information about this situstion would be helpful, though.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 10:51 AM on June 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
I agree that it sounds dumb to take an expensive course in Youtube when there is more free information out there about Youtubing than anyone could possibly digest in one lifetime, especially when whatever information the course contains will likely be out of date by the time the course is over.
But what is the outcome you want to see, here? Do you want to dissuade him from doing this, or do you just want more information about Jumpcut? What does your nephew want to do with the information in this course? Does he desire to take this course part of some larger get-rich-quick scheme?
If you want to dissuade him, that may be impossible. He's an adult, he can make his own dumb decisions if he wants. What kind of relationship do you have with him, though? If it's not particularly close, it may not even be appropriate for you to lock horns with him on this. If you're someone who he regularly turns to for advice then you may have more luck, but you'll need to know why he thinks this specific course is better than the alternatives in terms of teaching him what he wants to know. What does it purport to teach, specifically? You may want to come armed with free or low-cost resources for learning whatever Youtube-related skills he's trying to acquire.
More information about this situstion would be helpful, though.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 10:51 AM on June 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
I agree that you need to consider carefully whether it's your role and your right to intervene here. But if you've considered that and you think it is...
Suggest that he postpone taking the course until he's worked through free content that's available (e.g. Lynda.com, yes they're great). He'll get much more out of the course if he has a solid foundation first, right? Second, help him to find a community of people doing this sort of thing to get involved with. Seeing them do it without the course (and likely disdaining the course) is the best antidote you'll find to impulsive matriculation.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 10:56 AM on June 15, 2018 [4 favorites]
Suggest that he postpone taking the course until he's worked through free content that's available (e.g. Lynda.com, yes they're great). He'll get much more out of the course if he has a solid foundation first, right? Second, help him to find a community of people doing this sort of thing to get involved with. Seeing them do it without the course (and likely disdaining the course) is the best antidote you'll find to impulsive matriculation.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 10:56 AM on June 15, 2018 [4 favorites]
If he wants classes, i found valuable content on the free (or 1$) month trial of Skillshare. Lots of topics including videos, editing, marketing etc...
posted by PardonMyFrench at 11:05 AM on June 15, 2018
posted by PardonMyFrench at 11:05 AM on June 15, 2018
If he's twenty, all you can do is tell him how you feel, show him the info you have on the matter, maybe offer some alternatives for him to consider & let him know you'll support whatever decision he makes. My niece is 18 & is blowing $10K (basically her wages from her part time job for the year) on a stupid "Leadership Course" through her scammy as hell church. You can show them all the information, tell them what you think & sometimes they're going to do the dumb thing anyway. Whatever you do don't pay out of your own pocket or bail the out financially unless you really really have to or they won't learn.
posted by wwax at 11:09 AM on June 15, 2018
posted by wwax at 11:09 AM on June 15, 2018
Response by poster: I should have added more background to my question. I am not particularly close to my nephew, but he and my sister (his mother), called me yesterday to ask my advice about what I thought of the program. I am in a very tangentially-related field and they thought I would have some insight (I don't, which I why I turned to the hive mind).
So I suppose my goal is as in my question, to find out if the particular program he is interested has any merit, and then also maybe find some alternatives that could be better.
My nephew is really struggling to find his way in the world. He has some learning challenges, was homeschooled, and like wwax, has been sent to some $$$ iffy post k-12 evangelical programs, and that is about it for his education.
I stepped away from providing any unsolicited input into my sister's decision-making on my niece and nephew's education throughout the years as it was not met with any receptivity and just led to a lot of disharmony. But if they ask, as they are doing now, I will do my best to give them useful advice. And whether they take it or not, I am not attached to that outcome.
posted by nanook at 11:23 AM on June 15, 2018
So I suppose my goal is as in my question, to find out if the particular program he is interested has any merit, and then also maybe find some alternatives that could be better.
My nephew is really struggling to find his way in the world. He has some learning challenges, was homeschooled, and like wwax, has been sent to some $$$ iffy post k-12 evangelical programs, and that is about it for his education.
I stepped away from providing any unsolicited input into my sister's decision-making on my niece and nephew's education throughout the years as it was not met with any receptivity and just led to a lot of disharmony. But if they ask, as they are doing now, I will do my best to give them useful advice. And whether they take it or not, I am not attached to that outcome.
posted by nanook at 11:23 AM on June 15, 2018
Maybe he’s looking for a community of practice. Courses can be really appealing because they provide a scaffold with rules of engagement that freeform or self-directed activity doesn’t. Maybe he sees this course as a gateway to something that might otherwise be too socially intimidating to see himself doing. If so maybe just guide him to look into the teaching methods, follow-up or social aspects of the programme rather than the skills development bit which - as others have said - can be picked up easily elsewhere.
posted by freya_lamb at 11:57 AM on June 15, 2018
posted by freya_lamb at 11:57 AM on June 15, 2018
If he's in Portland, Portland Community College has a program in Multimedia, including Digital Video Editing.
It may take longer to get through, but it'll be a much more comprehensive program, with many more useful skills built into it.
posted by spinifex23 at 2:33 PM on June 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
It may take longer to get through, but it'll be a much more comprehensive program, with many more useful skills built into it.
posted by spinifex23 at 2:33 PM on June 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
To address the question of whether Jumpcut is scammy, I don’t know about the actual return on investment and whether taking the course pays off financially vs. more affordable alternatives but I do think it’s a legitimate program from what I’ve heard about the people working there and who the founders are. My understanding is that the program is thoughtfully designed and has been venture funded. My guess is that if he is serious about being let’s say a YouTube influencer, then the investment might pay off if he’s the kind of person who already has a bit of an online following and can be scrappy despite challenges. Given the context you’ve provided about your nephew (e.g., learning challenges, struggling to find his place in the world), I think the program may not be the best fit right now. It’s easy to think that something might be a magic solution when you’re confused and lost. Maybe he would benefit from a longer-term environment like community college with more structure and support.
posted by hotchocolate at 6:23 PM on June 15, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by hotchocolate at 6:23 PM on June 15, 2018 [3 favorites]
Looking at the program, it feels like the type of thing that might have good advice if you already have a general idea what you want to do, but dion't know how to pull it all together. Its not going to magically make someone a star, and you probably need to bring a lot to the table at the start to get the most out of it. A few of the things I'd ask him:
It looks like they have a free introductory set of videos. Has he done them yet? Did he find them valuable?
Does he have any practice in video editing, animation, or related skill that he would need to take advantage of a course like this? If not, getting some background skills first (though many of the sources mentioned above) might be a good first step.
Does he have any ideas on what he wants to make? I don't think its necessary to have the One Great Idea, but he should have some general ideas of what he wants to produce and how he can do it.
Before paying for a class on how to make good content, he should already be making his own attempt at bad content, just to see if he likes doing it, and if he has the rights skills and equipment.
posted by nalyd at 6:44 PM on June 15, 2018 [3 favorites]
It looks like they have a free introductory set of videos. Has he done them yet? Did he find them valuable?
Does he have any practice in video editing, animation, or related skill that he would need to take advantage of a course like this? If not, getting some background skills first (though many of the sources mentioned above) might be a good first step.
Does he have any ideas on what he wants to make? I don't think its necessary to have the One Great Idea, but he should have some general ideas of what he wants to produce and how he can do it.
Before paying for a class on how to make good content, he should already be making his own attempt at bad content, just to see if he likes doing it, and if he has the rights skills and equipment.
posted by nalyd at 6:44 PM on June 15, 2018 [3 favorites]
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posted by If only I had a penguin... at 9:03 AM on June 15, 2018 [1 favorite]