Post by laobi on Aug 13, 2019 20:14:02 GMT
Hello everyone,
I am a very small Youtuber (I refer to channel size only, I am not a dwarf) who makes videos on what could best be described as dad games (military flight sims and some other gaming content). I have no allusions of being or ambitions to become a professional Youtuber, however, the waves of demonetisations over the last 3 years does concern me. I make content as a hobby and because I enjoy it.
I am not interested in Patreon or other funding platforms as I believe it changes the relationship between the content creator and the viewer, I want to keep my relationship with my viewers simple and dislike the idea of viewers paying money to support me. So, my only source of channel revenue is advertisements, it pays a microscopic fraction of what I earn professionally when I consider the time and effort that goes into video making, but I see it as an extremely small token reward from Youtube for attracting users to their platform and keeping them engaged for longer. If the ad revenue were cut off I would take my content to a free video site as I would be loath to feed Youtube content in exchange for nothing.
The clustering and frequency of attacks on Youtube content by increasingly irrelevant print and 20th century broadcast media, irregardless of political stance (both left and right wing 'old' media groups engaged), led me to believe there was purpose beyond the usual attention grabbing click bait. It seemed like a coordinated attempt to undermine digital competition using 'yellow journalism' tactics that William Randolph Hearst would be proud of. Advertising and marketing agencies are still very much in the old world (to validate this point try watching a couple of ad breaks on TV when next you visit a friend or relative who still lives in the dark ages of media), and of course they see a moral panic ensuing among the tabloids and immediately fear for their bottom line. Youtube allowed themselves to be co-opted into taking part in the various witch hunts and moral panics enacted by those trying to delay the inevitable within a cynical, dying form of media.
Youtube needs to be diverse in every way to make it viable for survival, that includes diversity of interests, religious views, political stances, races etc., Both left and right wing people drink Coke, play games, watch movies and drive cars, the same goes for all people whether they be from Germany or Gambia, so it only hurts advertisers if their ads are withdrawn from certain content. Advertising does not equal endorsement, only an idiot would think so. Does anyone actually think that advertisements shown during a news broadcast are endorsements for an ethnic genocide in Asia, a war in the middle east, worker exploitation in Africa or political incompetence in the developed world??
At first I saw weapon and firearm channels have their content demonetised. Then the history channels, biography channels, legal channels, political channels and if the snowball keeps rolling Youtube will soon become a sanitised version of Nickelodeon that would make Jack Thompson and the 'family values' mob proud. I am reminded of the words of Martin Niemöller.
To avoid a digital media version of the outcome described by Rev. Niemöller we need to gather together and lobby Youtube like pressure groups lobby corporations and governments all over the world.
If you made it this far, well done! I am Laobi, I make crappy (not very family friendly) videos about flight sims and my channel address is www.youtube.com/channel/UCqH078Ef0HENo01LF3xwIvA
Cheers,
Laobi