On Jan. 9, 2024, Matthew Patrick, also known as MatPat, a versatile content creator that focused on creating in-depth video essays on a variety of topics, published a video, titled “Goodbye Internet,” essentially announcing his retirement from content creation. His rise in popularity, attributed to the success of his videos analyzing the lore of popular horror game franchise, “Five Nights At Freddies” grew a dedicated fanbase that stuck around for the high production quality and unique charm to his videos. After a 13-year long career, many dedicated fans are upset in response to this loss in the Youtube community. 

     Eli Mendonca (’24), a subscriber to his channel since 2020, grieves the loss, but says,  “at the same time, I’m happy for him because he’s doing it to spend time with his family,” Mendonca said. Although Matpat is departing from the Youtube community, Eli argues that it’s not necessarily a loss. Eli continues; “with many people having Youtubers from their childhood retire, the community will have openings for new Youtubers to step into the spotlight.”

    Youtube is competitive at heart, as is any social media platform. It is a constant battle to maintain relevance amongst other aspiring content creators. Although Matpat has held his ground for 13 years, this doesn’t mean it was always sunshine and rainbows. “As much as I love overthinking things and I love theorizing, I don’t love late nights.” Matpat expressed a strong desire to return to his old life without the burden of creating content, but most importantly, he wants to spend time with his son. “He’s getting older by the minute.” he said. “Honestly, I want to be able to spend more time with [Oliver}.” Overall, Matpat renounced the head position in his channels he held in order to prioritize a healthier life for himself and his family. 

   Another viewer of his channel, Frankie Rice (’26), who had been watching since 2018, has a different perspective on his retirement. Although they’ve been viewers of his channel for a while, they’re not upset by his departure. “I’ve watched a lot of his videos, but I don’t think he belongs on the platform.” Rice said. Frankie thinks some of his content can be controversial, and therefore takes it as a good omen that he is leaving the channel for new creators to take over. However, Frankie has another concern that people may act adversely to the new people in charge of the channels.

   Logan Henley (’25) agrees with this point, saying that “The theory channels overall are probably going to lose some popularity,” Henley said. Considering that a big part of Matpat’s online image was his character, it’s reasonable to assume that the channels will operate differently and potentially with less success due to Matpat’s departure. 

   Overall, people seem to be coming to terms with Matpat’s departure from the Youtube community. Although he was an influential figure amongst many online platforms, it seems that people are ready to let go and are excited to see how the platform will fill his absence after he officially stops posting. Matpat’s retirement may spark a movement amongst other Youtubers that have been creating content for a large portion of their lives. Some Youtubers have actually referenced this, and have responded directly to Matpat’s retirement, such as penguinz0 and Jacksepticeye, who are also both big figures in the Youtube community. It opens up the conversation of how and when other Youtubers will retire. Although it will be a mourned loss once his channel is officially passed on to new owners, it is the continuation of a legacy that will hopefully warm the hearts of its new and old viewers.