We’re still in the very early stages of 2026, and if you’ve decided to start a YouTube channel this year and have actually taken action on posting your first video, then huge congrats 🎉
You’ve done something that’s genuinely hard and that a lot of people never actually do.
But something I’ve noticed, especially amongst beginner YouTubers (though it applies to creators at every level), is that loads of people start the whole creator thing and want to “go viral.” In fact, this might even be one of your goals with YouTube for 2026.
And I totally get it. There’s something pretty cool about the idea of waking up to a 1/10 video in YouTube Studio, seeing thousands of views rolling in, and having your phone blow up with notifications. It’s almost like proof that you’re doing something right.
But having gone viral a bunch of times over the years (both intentionally and very much unintentionally), I wanted to share a few things I’ve learned that might save you some stress and redirect your energy toward things that’ll actually help you build a sustainable channel.
Firstly, it’s almost impossible to predict what’ll actually go viral.
Some of my most viral videos of all time – the ones with 10+ million views – were videos that took me maybe 5-10 minutes to throw together. I genuinely wasn’t trying to make them go viral and I’d just think “you know what, this might be vaguely interesting to someone” so I’d bash out a video in one take.
Meanwhile, I’ve spent weeks working with the team to perfect videos we were certain would blow up, carefully crafting the title and the thumbnail and the hook to make sure it all came together nicely… and they’d get like 50k views. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a decent number but it’s nowhere near “viral.”
Whether you like it or not, luck is a big part of success on YouTube so you can’t always predict what’s going to happen after you hit publish.
Second, chasing virality is a recipe for creative burnout.
Leading on from my first point, when you set “go viral” as your goal, you’re essentially setting a goal that’s almost entirely outside of your control.
You can do everything “right” and still not land on a viral hit, which creates this weird, anxiety-inducing dynamic where you’re constantly second-guessing yourself.
Should you make your videos longer because everyone’s making 40-minute videos these days? Should you copy a particular format that’s worked for someone else? Or should you just make a super short video and call it something like “give me 42 seconds and I’ll change your life” because everyone’s now jumping on that trend? 😅
Optimising for views turns content creation into this exhausting game of trying to crack an algorithm that’s constantly changing and it just sucks the joy out of the whole thing. Not ideal.
Third and finally, going viral usually isn’t actually the goal anyway.
When most people say they want to go viral, what they usually want is something else. They want to make a living doing creative work they love or build an audience that genuinely cares about their content or have the freedom and flexibility that comes with being their own boss.
None of those things require millions of views. In fact, going viral can sometimes actively work against these goals.
I’ve seen it happen a bunch of times within Part-Time YouTuber Academy (PTYA) where someone makes a video that goes mega viral but it’s about something slightly off-brand or attracts an audience that’s not really interested in their other content.
So they basically get this massive spike in subscribers and then their next video gets way fewer views because all these new people are only there for that one viral moment.
Or worse, they feel pressure to keep making content similar to that viral hit, even though it’s not what they’re actually passionate about.
I know it’s sounds somewhat counterintuitive, but the reality is that you don’t need millions of views to build a sustainable creative business – I know creators with 10k subscribers making way more money and having way more creative freedom than creators with 500k subscribers, simply because they’ve built an audience that genuinely finds their content valuable.
So these days, I like to think about every video as a lottery ticket. Sure, there’s a chance it hits the jackpot and goes viral, but before I hit publish, I always ask myself: “if this video did go viral, would I actually be happy about that? And would it bring in people who’d genuinely enjoy my other content?”
If the answer’s yes, then great – go ahead and make the video. But if the answer’s no, then maybe it’s not worth making that one in the first place, even if you think it might pop off.
Let’s say, for example, you’re deeply passionate about making videos about sustainable gardening, but you notice that videos about dramatic celebrity gossip tend to go viral. You could make a celebrity gossip video and maybe it would get millions of views… but those viewers probably wouldn’t stick around for your gardening content (let’s be real 😅).
Now there’s a bit of nuance here in that if you’re early in your creative journey and still figuring out your niche, some experimentation is totally fine and necessary.
The key is being intentional about it and experimenting with different topics that you’re genuinely interested in to see what resonates – which is completely different to randomly chasing trends you don’t care about just because they’re popping off.
Anyway, hopefully this email was helpful if you’ve had your heart set on going viral in 2026.
I’d encourage you to zoom out a bit and ask yourself what you’re genuinely trying to achieve with YouTube before you go any further because if I had to bet on it, there’s almost always a more reliable (and more enjoyable) path to those goals that doesn’t require gambling on virality.
And if you’re looking for a more structured approach to growing your channel in a way that’s sustainable (and won’t lead to burnout), you might want to check out PTYA.
It covers everything I’ve learned building my channel to 6 million subscribers – how to stay consistent, find your niche, overcome imposter syndrome, and make great videos without chasing trends. Plus loads on building systems, outsourcing, and turning your channel into a business if you’re keen on that. Check it out here if that sounds useful.
Talk soon,
Ali xx