FA+
Shop
You-Tubed, You-Screwed (rant)
8 years ago
General
Ok, it's been an exhausting and debilitating couple of weeks/months/I-don't-know, so updates will probably be bleak. I don't want to rant too much, because I got a migraine, but when stupid stuff happens, it's natural to complain. Sometimes it's nice to rise above it, take your lumps and move on....
...right now, I don't feel to care about doing that, so let me get into it.
As said, it's been difficult, and one of the few things that give me some laughs or fill in some blank time to try and get me motivated, is watching some content on Youtube.
There's tons of stuff on there. But of course, gotta be responsible. You got stuff to do, and cat videos for hours on end isn't going to get you anywhere in life. But on occasion, you can watch a favorite player doing Drawful with fans and have a nice laugh at it. Or, see games being played that you don't have access to but want to see. Or see them do one YOU'VE done and join in their experience (or constantly resist the urge to yell at the screen saying "THE COLLECTIBLE IS OVER THERE! YOU WERE LOOKING AT IT!")
But recently, something's cropped up that may endanger some of the lesser known channels on Youtube. It's not so much that it happened that's the tragedy...it's because it's born out of something just so...stupid and petty. That it results in more people paying for mistakes of a few that's just...wrong.
Demonetization.
For those "Not in the Know", after gaining some decent ground as a channel on Youtube, you can partner with them for an ad service for your vids. Personally, I dislike ads mid-way in a video, but lets focus here. The purpose of the ad service, and viewers interacting with them, leads to the channel owner getting a little money here and there. It's not much (depending on how many click), but for the smaller channels it's enough to support some modest costs or (in some cases), purchase a new game to play for the viewers/fans in a sort of cycle.
Now while it seems to have gone on for the past year or so, it's become drastically more apparent recently. Youtube raised the bar. And not in that fun James Cameron "raising the bar and fighting Randy Newman" way that South Park did it.
Now, many vids from these channels are not getting their ads for monitization, being given vague or no reasons for it. And that's not all, even their PAST vids have been demonetized for the same vagueness, vids which have been up for YEARS.
This may not sound too big at first. Ok, so the vids aren't getting money, but they're still there right? Yes, and that's good for US. But what about the makers? Some of them are small time, but decent suppliers of entertainment. What they make off this service for their hard work may not be much, but it's something many have relied on for years. To have it stripped away in an instant is rather a swift kick between the legs...by a bigger leg....coated in daggers and salt.
Some have even made their work on making vids and putting them on a site as either a sort of career or pastime, with the justification that they are making a little money doing so. Not now though.
So why is Youtube doing this? Well I'm not in the mood to be as information heavy as Game Theory (did they get demonetized?....no video about it? Ok, good. Not yet anyway), but from what I can tell, it started like most things started....
...with the most SINGLE RECOGNIZABLE PERSON IN THE MEDIUM.
I'm talking PewDiePie.
Personally, I haven't watched any of this guy's vids aside from some of his early stuff (just to see what the heck the popularity was about), but I just know he's just "the guy" when Lets Plays come up. See, PewDiePie was originally a Lets Player on Youtube...then started moving toward more personal stuff....and as the world changed, so did he. He seemed to get into more risky material that, unfortunately, flagged with....various things (such as ads) that PewDiePie associated with.
So, essentially, the "big dog" on YouTube did some risky stuff, it was interpreted (rightfully or wrongly so) as being uhh...what's the human thing called? Racist? Yeah, there we go. Anyway, BECAUSE of that, as far as the situation on Youtube goes, foreign and domestic third-party relations with PewDiePie started "pulling back" so as not to be "associated" with him.
You know, fine. Ok, PewDiePie is doing just fine with all his other support structures. The guy's got over 50 million subscribers. Even limited, he'll probably do fine. I get it, some ads don't want to associate with some material...
....but then, like a snowball thrown down Everest...the inevitable happened, again. EVERYONE ELSE GETS SHOVED IN THE CROSSFIRE.
So, these ads that pulled from PewDiePie "suddenly" come to the realization that "Oh wait, there's SO many people LIKE this guy that our ads are associated with! Oh dear me, they could be doing the same things! We must oust ourselves from this depravity! No matter the cost!"
....really? Ok, so because "big dog" makes a mistake, EVERYONE has to pay for it? Well, seems so. Because ads are necessary for Youtube to function (if I recall), they had to bow to the owners of the clips and do something....
Ok fine, I get it. Sorry Youtube, that these ad makers are being total idiots in letting their association with someone hit everyone else, you included....
...but my sympathy stops when you take your "so-called" actions. Sure, I get it. There are literally thousands of videos posted every hour, and a lot of it is total crap made by morons. You have to expect that. So instead of the impossible task of combing through with a large staff, you have filters do the task for you.
Problem? Yes. Filters aren't always a good judge of character. And this is what's affecting Let's Players and other channels on Youtube. Vids that were fine even before all this mess are now just as affected as those posted today or tomorrow.
So to break it down.
Big Dog PewDiePie makes a mistake, ads and such pull from him, they get in their heads to demand that their stuff in other places (like Youtube) get censored for inappropriate material by association, Youtube bends to their will like Vader to Palpatine and (because they can't comb through all the stuff that comes in by hand) uses filters to decide what does and doesn't get their ads, the result being decent (but not mega-hitting) channels losing their means and ends support.
See how messed up this is? Inappropriate material? COME ON. Companies place their ads around the stuff ALL THE TIME. Just turn on to REGULAR television and look at all that "violent" material their ads are placed between. Get off the high horse already. And why get antsy about OTHER channels? That's petty, they've run your ads for YEARS, if there's been "damage" from stuff, it's already BEEN done, so stop going all mountain (out of a molehill) on things.
I get why Youtube is doing what they're doing. They get a lot of their support from ad revenue, and losing it would be a huge hit. I get it, that's company survival. They can't go through the sheer onslaught of videos by hand for these "issues" that their ad lords "suddenly" got a problem with. But leaving it to filters, which give no good reasons for their actions, is going to hit people that don't deserve it.
The ad companies are being extremely petty. Youtube is being a dog on a leash, following it's masters' whim.
PewDiePie made the mistake Ad Lords, and sure, he apologized. But if you want to have an issue, just have it with him, a guy who's doing well enough on his own...don't bring it to modest people doing the best they can for a pittance YOU CAN SPARE.
...right now, I don't feel to care about doing that, so let me get into it.
As said, it's been difficult, and one of the few things that give me some laughs or fill in some blank time to try and get me motivated, is watching some content on Youtube.
There's tons of stuff on there. But of course, gotta be responsible. You got stuff to do, and cat videos for hours on end isn't going to get you anywhere in life. But on occasion, you can watch a favorite player doing Drawful with fans and have a nice laugh at it. Or, see games being played that you don't have access to but want to see. Or see them do one YOU'VE done and join in their experience (or constantly resist the urge to yell at the screen saying "THE COLLECTIBLE IS OVER THERE! YOU WERE LOOKING AT IT!")
But recently, something's cropped up that may endanger some of the lesser known channels on Youtube. It's not so much that it happened that's the tragedy...it's because it's born out of something just so...stupid and petty. That it results in more people paying for mistakes of a few that's just...wrong.
Demonetization.
For those "Not in the Know", after gaining some decent ground as a channel on Youtube, you can partner with them for an ad service for your vids. Personally, I dislike ads mid-way in a video, but lets focus here. The purpose of the ad service, and viewers interacting with them, leads to the channel owner getting a little money here and there. It's not much (depending on how many click), but for the smaller channels it's enough to support some modest costs or (in some cases), purchase a new game to play for the viewers/fans in a sort of cycle.
Now while it seems to have gone on for the past year or so, it's become drastically more apparent recently. Youtube raised the bar. And not in that fun James Cameron "raising the bar and fighting Randy Newman" way that South Park did it.
Now, many vids from these channels are not getting their ads for monitization, being given vague or no reasons for it. And that's not all, even their PAST vids have been demonetized for the same vagueness, vids which have been up for YEARS.
This may not sound too big at first. Ok, so the vids aren't getting money, but they're still there right? Yes, and that's good for US. But what about the makers? Some of them are small time, but decent suppliers of entertainment. What they make off this service for their hard work may not be much, but it's something many have relied on for years. To have it stripped away in an instant is rather a swift kick between the legs...by a bigger leg....coated in daggers and salt.
Some have even made their work on making vids and putting them on a site as either a sort of career or pastime, with the justification that they are making a little money doing so. Not now though.
So why is Youtube doing this? Well I'm not in the mood to be as information heavy as Game Theory (did they get demonetized?....no video about it? Ok, good. Not yet anyway), but from what I can tell, it started like most things started....
...with the most SINGLE RECOGNIZABLE PERSON IN THE MEDIUM.
I'm talking PewDiePie.
Personally, I haven't watched any of this guy's vids aside from some of his early stuff (just to see what the heck the popularity was about), but I just know he's just "the guy" when Lets Plays come up. See, PewDiePie was originally a Lets Player on Youtube...then started moving toward more personal stuff....and as the world changed, so did he. He seemed to get into more risky material that, unfortunately, flagged with....various things (such as ads) that PewDiePie associated with.
So, essentially, the "big dog" on YouTube did some risky stuff, it was interpreted (rightfully or wrongly so) as being uhh...what's the human thing called? Racist? Yeah, there we go. Anyway, BECAUSE of that, as far as the situation on Youtube goes, foreign and domestic third-party relations with PewDiePie started "pulling back" so as not to be "associated" with him.
You know, fine. Ok, PewDiePie is doing just fine with all his other support structures. The guy's got over 50 million subscribers. Even limited, he'll probably do fine. I get it, some ads don't want to associate with some material...
....but then, like a snowball thrown down Everest...the inevitable happened, again. EVERYONE ELSE GETS SHOVED IN THE CROSSFIRE.
So, these ads that pulled from PewDiePie "suddenly" come to the realization that "Oh wait, there's SO many people LIKE this guy that our ads are associated with! Oh dear me, they could be doing the same things! We must oust ourselves from this depravity! No matter the cost!"
....really? Ok, so because "big dog" makes a mistake, EVERYONE has to pay for it? Well, seems so. Because ads are necessary for Youtube to function (if I recall), they had to bow to the owners of the clips and do something....
Ok fine, I get it. Sorry Youtube, that these ad makers are being total idiots in letting their association with someone hit everyone else, you included....
...but my sympathy stops when you take your "so-called" actions. Sure, I get it. There are literally thousands of videos posted every hour, and a lot of it is total crap made by morons. You have to expect that. So instead of the impossible task of combing through with a large staff, you have filters do the task for you.
Problem? Yes. Filters aren't always a good judge of character. And this is what's affecting Let's Players and other channels on Youtube. Vids that were fine even before all this mess are now just as affected as those posted today or tomorrow.
So to break it down.
Big Dog PewDiePie makes a mistake, ads and such pull from him, they get in their heads to demand that their stuff in other places (like Youtube) get censored for inappropriate material by association, Youtube bends to their will like Vader to Palpatine and (because they can't comb through all the stuff that comes in by hand) uses filters to decide what does and doesn't get their ads, the result being decent (but not mega-hitting) channels losing their means and ends support.
See how messed up this is? Inappropriate material? COME ON. Companies place their ads around the stuff ALL THE TIME. Just turn on to REGULAR television and look at all that "violent" material their ads are placed between. Get off the high horse already. And why get antsy about OTHER channels? That's petty, they've run your ads for YEARS, if there's been "damage" from stuff, it's already BEEN done, so stop going all mountain (out of a molehill) on things.
I get why Youtube is doing what they're doing. They get a lot of their support from ad revenue, and losing it would be a huge hit. I get it, that's company survival. They can't go through the sheer onslaught of videos by hand for these "issues" that their ad lords "suddenly" got a problem with. But leaving it to filters, which give no good reasons for their actions, is going to hit people that don't deserve it.
The ad companies are being extremely petty. Youtube is being a dog on a leash, following it's masters' whim.
PewDiePie made the mistake Ad Lords, and sure, he apologized. But if you want to have an issue, just have it with him, a guy who's doing well enough on his own...don't bring it to modest people doing the best they can for a pittance YOU CAN SPARE.
With any luck, enough pissed off users may be able to get this bad decision reversed. I mean, look at what happened when the Twinkie was about to get discontinued.
1. If we complain about one thing of something, we must complain about EVERYTHING of something.
2. Never give a sincere apologize.
3. Use fears and uncertainty as tools to manipulate the masses.
4. (Classified) (it's really there just to look cool)
You can't please everyone, it's impossible. So when something makes a promise like that, it's a lie. People in the Pokemon Go community know it's true (ooooh man that event....).
I'm not a Call of Duty fan, or historical-esque war games, but that's a rather petty issue with similar origins. Aren't you playing the "good guys" in Call of Duty? Aren't you FIGHTING the racism in that case? Isn't that a GOOD thing? Ok, so WW2 is mostly looked on as a bad time in history for Germany, but it's a GAME. So much material has been done about WW2 and such already, so NOW complaining? Dragging up this stuff to enrich some other valid point is just....oui...headache again.
The requirement for a video to be manually reviewed is 1k views in the last week. The smaller guys I watch are lucky to get that on a video in a year. YouTube, fix your shit.