YouTube vs. Rumble: Why Firearms Creators Keep Looking for Alternatives

For years, if you wanted to build an audience with video, the answer was pretty simple:

YouTube.

And honestly, YouTube is still an incredible platform.

The audience is massive. Search is powerful. People already know how to use it. If someone wants a review of a new pistol, optic, holster, or piece of gear, there’s a pretty good chance YouTube is one of the first places they’re going to look.

But if you create firearms content, the relationship can feel a little more complicated.

That’s one of the reasons The MacBroz Show eventually moved our live podcast to Rumble.

This isn’t about declaring one platform the winner. We still create video content for YouTube, and there are things YouTube does extremely well.

It’s about having options.

And for firearms creators, options are becoming increasingly important.

The Problem Isn't Always the Content

One of the frustrations with firearms content is that you can spend hours filming, editing, creating thumbnails, writing descriptions, and publishing something that is completely normal within the firearms community—only to still wonder how the platform is going to treat it.

Maybe the video stays up.

Maybe certain features are limited.

Maybe monetization becomes an issue.

Maybe something that was acceptable before is suddenly interpreted differently.

For creators, that uncertainty matters.

MacBroz has never been built around maximizing YouTube ad revenue. We're much more interested in creating content, talking about the products we actually use, working with companies we genuinely like, and building a community around the show.

But even when monetization isn't your primary concern, platform rules can still affect how you create.

You start thinking about titles differently.

Descriptions differently.

Links differently.

What products are shown.

How they're shown.

What you say.

And eventually you have to ask:

Is the platform helping us create—or are we constantly creating around the platform?

The Brand Side of the Equation

This is also where things get interesting for creators who work with companies in the firearms industry.

Brands understandably want creators on YouTube because the platform still has enormous reach, strong search behavior, and long-term value for product discovery.

Brownells, for example, has been encouraging its ambassadors to create more YouTube content, and from a marketing perspective, that makes complete sense.

If someone is researching a product, looking for a review, or trying to decide what to buy, YouTube is still one of the most powerful places to be discovered.

The challenge is that firearms creators are being encouraged to invest more heavily in a platform that can also be difficult to navigate depending on the content, products being discussed, and how policies are interpreted.

That creates a strange balancing act.

Creators want to support the brands they work with.

Brands want visibility on the biggest platforms.

But creators also have to think about whether the content they produce will reach the audience, be limited, or create unnecessary headaches after hours of work.

That doesn’t mean YouTube isn’t worth using.

It just means the decision isn’t as simple as “post more videos.”

That's Where Rumble Became Interesting

When we brought The MacBroz Show back, we ultimately decided to make Rumble the home for the live podcast.

One of the biggest reasons was simply the workflow.

For what we were trying to do with a weekly live show, Rumble made the process easier for us.

Go live.

Have the conversation.

Publish the show.

Move on to creating the next piece of content.

That simplicity matters when MacBroz isn't our full-time job.

We don't have a giant production team behind the scenes. It's Josh and Darius trying to produce a weekly podcast while also creating reviews, reels, articles, range content, and everything else that goes into running MacBroz.

Anything that removes friction from that process gets our attention.

Firearms Creators Need More Than One Platform

This might be the bigger lesson.

Creators spent years being told to build an audience on social media.

The problem is that you don't actually own those platforms.

An algorithm changes.

A policy changes.

A feature disappears.

Your reach drops.

Something gets flagged.

And suddenly the audience you spent years building becomes much harder to reach.

That isn't unique to firearms content, but the nature of the firearms industry can make creators particularly sensitive to those changes.

That's why I don't think the answer is simply:

Leave YouTube.

I think the better answer is:

Stop depending entirely on one platform.

For MacBroz, that means our website matters.

Rumble matters.

Instagram matters.

YouTube still matters.

The podcast matters.

And the people who visit TheMacBroz.com directly matter even more because that gives us a place where our content isn't entirely dependent on someone else's algorithm.

YouTube Still Has a Huge Advantage

I'm also not going to pretend Rumble suddenly replaces everything YouTube does.

It doesn't.

YouTube's search ecosystem is incredibly valuable for product reviews and evergreen content.

If someone buys a pistol two years from now and searches for a review, a well-made YouTube video can continue helping that person long after it was originally published.

That's powerful.

It’s also exactly why companies like Brownells continue to see value in creators being active there.

For a brand, searchable content can have a much longer life than a social media post that disappears from a feed in a day or two.

It's one of the reasons you'll continue seeing MacBroz product videos on YouTube.

Our move to Rumble for the podcast wasn't us deleting YouTube and walking away.

It was recognizing that different platforms can serve different purposes.

For us, Rumble currently makes sense for the live MacBroz Show.

YouTube can still make sense for searchable, edited video content.

Instagram can introduce someone to MacBroz through a 30-second clip.

And our website can bring all of it together.

Moving Platforms Isn't Easy

There's another part of this conversation that doesn't get talked about enough.

Audiences don't automatically follow you.

You can spend years telling people, "Watch us here," and then suddenly ask them to download another app, create another account, or remember another website.

Some people will.

Some won't.

We've experienced that firsthand.

Most of the MacBroz audience originally found us through platforms like Instagram and YouTube. Moving the live show to Rumble means rebuilding some habits.

We're realistic about that.

It may take time.

But we're willing to accept some short-term friction if it gives us a better long-term home for the show.

Creators Also Need Better Ways to Work With Brands

Partnerships are a big part of what we do.

Companies like Brownells and the other brands we've developed relationships with aren't just random advertisements thrown into our content. They're companies and products that naturally overlap with what we're already talking about.

And this is another reason the YouTube conversation gets complicated.

We want to support partners like Brownells when they encourage more video content. We understand why they want creators producing searchable, long-form reviews and product-focused videos.

But at the same time, firearms creators have to be realistic about how much time and effort goes into producing that content when there is always some uncertainty around reach, monetization, links, and platform treatment.

That tension is real.

It doesn’t mean brands are wrong for wanting YouTube content, and it doesn’t mean creators should avoid the platform.

It just means both sides have to understand the environment creators are working in.

For MacBroz, that means being intentional.

We can use YouTube for reviews and searchable product content where it makes sense.

We can use Rumble for the live show.

We can use Instagram for discovery.

And we can use the website to tie all of that content together.

That gives us more flexibility while still supporting the companies we work with.

The Website Might Actually Be the Most Important Piece

The more MacBroz grows, the more I think our website becomes one of the most important things we're building.

Social media is great for discovery.

Video platforms are great for long-form content.

But TheMacBroz.com is ours.

That's where an article like this lives.

It's where we can connect written reviews to videos.

It's where someone reading about a Tisas DS9 can eventually jump to another article about compact 2011s, watch a related video, or find another piece of content from the show.

Instead of thinking about MacBroz as an Instagram page or a YouTube channel, I want those platforms feeding into something bigger.

MacBroz is the brand.

YouTube, Rumble, Instagram, and everything else are just different ways to experience it.

Why We Chose Rumble for the Podcast

For us, moving The MacBroz Show to Rumble came down to a few simple things:

The live workflow works well for what we're doing.

The platform is comfortable hosting firearms-related conversations.

It gives us another place to build an audience.

And most importantly, it reduces our dependence on one company deciding how our content should be distributed.

We're still figuring it out.

We're still rebuilding the live audience.

And I'm sure our platform strategy will continue changing as MacBroz grows.

That's okay.

The firearms media landscape is changing quickly, and creators have more choices than they did a few years ago.

We should use them.

Final Thoughts

I don't think firearms creators need to abandon YouTube.

I think they need to stop assuming YouTube—or any other social platform—is guaranteed to be their permanent home.

Build on YouTube.

Build on Rumble.

Use Instagram.

Start a website.

Create a podcast.

Build an email list.

Whatever makes sense for your audience.

Just don't put your entire brand in one basket.

For MacBroz, Rumble has become the home of our live Friday night show, while YouTube remains another important part of the content we create—especially when it comes to product reviews, long-form videos, and supporting partners like Brownells who see real value in that platform.

The trick is finding a balance where we can support those partners without building the entire MacBroz brand around a platform we don't control.

Because ultimately, we want people following MacBroz—not just following us on one platform.