Subscribing to Salvation: A Rank of the Q15's YouTube Channels

[Everybody Wang Chung]

The church recently implemented a new initiative, providing each member of the Q15 with their own YouTube channel. This allows followers to literally unfollow/follow the prophet and other church leaders, with the click of the mouse. Despite this innovative approach to digital evangelism, the public's interest in subscribing to the Q15 has been underwhelming, to say the least.

Here is a list of their channels, ranked by subscriber count from most to least popular. It offers a fascinating look at which members of the Q15 are currently resonating with the Mormon digital audience.


1. Holland: https://youtube.com/@JeffreyR.Holland 6.07K subscribers

2. Nelson: https://youtube.com/@Russell_M_Nelson 3.96K subscribers

3. Kearon: https://youtube.com/@Patrick.Kearon 2.83K subscribers

4. Christofferson: https://youtube.com/@D.ToddChristofferson 2.56K subscribers

5. Uchtdorf: https://youtube.com/@DieterF.Uchtdorf 2.33K subscriber

6. Bednar: https://youtube.com/@DavidA.Bednar 2.26K subscribers

7. Andersen: https://youtube.com/@NeilL.Andersen 2.04K subscribers

8. Oaks: https://youtube.com/@Dallin_H_Oaks 1.75K subscribers

9. Gong: https://youtube.com/@Gerrit_W_Gong 1.48K subscribers

10. Eyring: https://youtube.com/@henryb.eyring 1.26K subscribers

11. Cook: https://youtube.com/@Quentin_L_Cook 776 subscribers

12. Stevenson: https://youtube.com/@GaryE.Stevenson 656 subscribers

13. Rasband: https://youtube.com/@RonaldA.Rasband 650 subscribers

14. Soares: https://youtube.com/@Ulisses.Soares 556 subscribers

15. Renlund: https://youtube.com/@DaleG.Renlund 413 subscribers

[Gadianton]

I know one person on the board who isn't subscribed to any of those channels. Moniker starts with an "m" and ends with a "g". Care to guess?

[drumdude]

Smash that like button if you want to keep your genitalia in the afterlife!

[I Have Questions]

There are two things I find interesting about this. Firstly, it is highly ironic given the amount of times these same people have warned people to stay away from social media and to get off their mobile devices. Secondly, their videos come with advertisements. So they are monetising this content. Which isn’t a great look for so-called men of God. Are they now just televangelists?

[Everybody Wang Chung]

There are two things I find interesting about this. Firstly, it is highly ironic given the amount of times these same people have warned people to stay away from social media and to get off their mobile devices. Secondly, their videos come with advertisements. So they are monetising this content. Which isn’t a great look for so-called men of God. Are they now just televangelists?

That's a fascinating observation. The optics of the Q15 monetizing their sermons with advertisements does not look good. The idea that a message of divine importance might be interrupted by a commercial for car insurance or a streaming service does, indeed, raise an eyebrow. It suggests a a rather transactional approach to spiritual enlightenment, one where eternal truths come with a brief pause for a word from our sponsors. While some organizations may find this model acceptable, for a faith-based institution, it could be seen as a less-than-ideal merging of the sacred and the commercial. But, hey, the Q15 have to make a living somehow.

[I Have Questions]

There are two things I find interesting about this. Firstly, it is highly ironic given the amount of times these same people have warned people to stay away from social media and to get off their mobile devices. Secondly, their videos come with advertisements. So they are monetising this content. Which isn’t a great look for so-called men of God. Are they now just televangelists?

That's a fascinating observation. The optics of the Q15 monetizing their sermons with advertisements does not look good. The idea that a message of divine importance might be interrupted by a commercial for car insurance or a streaming service does, indeed, raise an eyebrow. It suggests a a rather transactional approach to spiritual enlightenment, one where eternal truths come with a brief pause for a word from our sponsors. While some organizations may find this model acceptable, for a faith-based institution, it could be seen as a less-than-ideal merging of the sacred and the commercial. But, hey, the Q15 have to make a living somehow.

I confess to not knowing all the ins and outs of operating a YouTube channel, but I do know that you have a choice between monetising your channel via adverts, or having it advert free and receiving no remuneration for it. The Church has actively chosen to monetise these Apostle YouTube channels.

[Everybody Wang Chung]

Yes, I also foresee many problematic issues from the monetization of the Q15's YouTube channels:

[Tom]

The church recently implemented a new initiative, providing each member of the Q15 with their own YouTube channel. This allows followers to literally unfollow/follow the prophet and other church leaders, with the click of the mouse. Despite this innovative approach to digital evangelism, the public's interest in subscribing to the Q15 has been underwhelming, to say the least.

Here is a list of their channels, ranked by subscriber count from most to least popular. It offers a fascinating look at which members of the Q15 are currently resonating with the Mormon digital audience.


1. Holland: https://youtube.com/@JeffreyR.Holland 6.07K subscribers

2. Nelson: https://youtube.com/@Russell_M_Nelson 3.96K subscribers

3. Kearon: https://youtube.com/@Patrick.Kearon 2.83K subscribers

4. Christofferson: https://youtube.com/@D.ToddChristofferson 2.56K subscribers

5. Uchtdorf: https://youtube.com/@DieterF.Uchtdorf 2.33K subscriber

6. Bednar: https://youtube.com/@DavidA.Bednar 2.26K subscribers

7. Andersen: https://youtube.com/@NeilL.Andersen 2.04K subscribers

8. Oaks: https://youtube.com/@Dallin_H_Oaks 1.75K subscribers

9. Gong: https://youtube.com/@Gerrit_W_Gong 1.48K subscribers

10. Eyring: https://youtube.com/@henryb.eyring 1.26K subscribers

11. Cook: https://youtube.com/@Quentin_L_Cook 776 subscribers

12. Stevenson: https://youtube.com/@GaryE.Stevenson 656 subscribers

13. Rasband: https://youtube.com/@RonaldA.Rasband 650 subscribers

14. Soares: https://youtube.com/@Ulisses.Soares 556 subscribers

15. Renlund: https://youtube.com/@DaleG.Renlund 413 subscribers

Unfortunately, subscriber numbers for most of the apostles have dropped (see below).

Incidentally, Dan Peterson recently attacked Alyssa Grenfell in these words:

[W]hile I know little about [Grenfell] and, although I’ve been aware of her for one or two years now, haven’t really paid much attention to her prolific online posts, the young woman in the temple dress has always seemed to me (at a glance) to be a distinctly unhappy-looking person, rather grim if not actually angry. Take that for whatever very little it may be worth. Perhaps she’s actually the cheerful life of the party and a person of deep kindness and charity. I wouldn’t know.

Sadly, I am not making this up. I note, by the way, that Grenfell has 507K YouTube subscribers.

1. Holland: 6.29K (up from 6.07K)

2. Nelson: 4.23K (up from 3.96K)

3. Kearon: 2.82K (down from 2.83K)

4. Christofferson: 2.57K (up from 2.56K)

5. Uchtdorf: 2.34K (up from 2.33K)

6. Bednar: 2.24K (down from 2.26K)

7. Andersen: 2.06K (up from 2.04K)

8. Oaks: 1.77K (up from 1.75K)

9. Gong: 1.46K (down from 1.48K)

10. Eyring: 1.25K (down from 1.26K)

11. Cook: 743 (down from 776)

12. Stevenson: 640 (down from 656)

13. Rasband: 623 (down from 650)

14. Soares: 536 (down from 556)

15. Renlund: 412 (down from 413)

[Doctor Scratch]

Incidentally, Dan Peterson recently attacked Alyssa Grenfell in these words:

[W]hile I know little about [Grenfell] and, although I’ve been aware of her for one or two years now, haven’t really paid much attention to her prolific online posts, the young woman in the temple dress has always seemed to me (at a glance) to be a distinctly unhappy-looking person, rather grim if not actually angry. Take that for whatever very little it may be worth. Perhaps she’s actually the cheerful life of the party and a person of deep kindness and charity. I wouldn’t know.

Sadly, I am not making this up. I note, by the way, that Grenfell has 507K YouTube subscribers.

I saw that comment as well, Tom. And I believe that I noted elsewhere that the whole incident—I.e., the article in which Grendel was featured and the subsequent reaction—reminded me of the infamous TIME Lightbox fiasco, where the Afore also criticized the article for featuring people who seemed “unhappy,” presumably due to their failure to submit to LDS orthodoxy.

Meanwhile, did you happen to catch the Proprietor’s strangely passive-aggressive and lengthy rant about his dining experiences? The main takeaway seemed to be that he was putting away an alarming quantity of fist-sized portions of cheese at every meal. “You are what you eat,” I suppose?

[Tom]

Incidentally, Dan Peterson recently attacked Alyssa Grenfell in these words:Sadly, I am not making this up. I note, by the way, that Grenfell has 507K YouTube subscribers.

I saw that comment as well, Tom. And I believe that I noted elsewhere that the whole incident—I.e., the article in which Grendel was featured and the subsequent reaction—reminded me of the infamous TIME Lightbox fiasco, where the Afore also criticized the article for featuring people who seemed “unhappy,” presumably due to their failure to submit to LDS orthodoxy.

Meanwhile, did you happen to catch the Proprietor’s strangely passive-aggressive and lengthy rant about his dining experiences? The main takeaway seemed to be that he was putting away an alarming quantity of fist-sized portions of cheese at every meal. “You are what you eat,” I suppose?

No, I must’ve missed it. I recall reading a recent post reveling in describing meals involving Scandinavian food, but that’s it.