Youtube's Greatest Failing - The Career Killer

Youtube is arguably one of the single most important websites on the internet. Short of Google itself - owned by the same company, of course - and the likes of Hotmail, there are few people who are not tied to it in some way. Its existence spurred on creativity from areas we would have never seen before, allowed shows which would have never been possible without it to reach audiences of millions, and yet it is a flawed system. In fact, the days are likely numbered system's current structure and nature.

This sort of doomsaying is something I have personally always tried to resist unless things look dire. Unless there have been multiple warnings, a vast number of problems which have gone ignored or almost a full scale cataclysm, then I would remain silent. Yet, for a very long time the cracks have been showing and Adpocalypse seems to have been the result of all of this. 

If you have somehow missed this, the Adpocalypse was part of an ongoing series of problems relating to advertising revenue offered to its creators. This first started when several major corporations abruptly withdrew their advertisement campaigns from the system, likely in response to a few unsavory acts by high profile members. Pewdiepie dressing up in full Nazi regalia (among other things) stands up as the prominent example, but there were more than a few others, such as the Counter-Strike: Go gambling fiasco and worse things still. Understandably, they were likely unwilling to be associated with such acts but opted instead to remove themselves from everything as a result. 

Unfortunately, such a decision hit the advertising revenue of many creators quite hard, and it heralded the start of a major downward spiral for more than a few creators. Several efforts were made to try and remedy this issue, which ranged from effectively outsourcing moderation of videos to very stringent standards which they would opt to implement against creators. You can find a full documentation and links outlining much of this here, and parody videos by someone much funnier than I outlining just how bad this is here and here. Such efforts to try and draw advertisers back to the platform displayed a sheer bloody-minded stubbornness when it came to actually working with their creators or even offering them any direct information. So, even as these procedures threatened the jobs of several hundred thousand people, perhaps even more, they were granted nothing.

While Youtube's response to the aforementioned actions and issues by its members was undeniably a major problem, many suspect that it is actively trying to drive others away from the platform. Not just those who might repeat the errors outlined above, but also those who opposed Google's well known ideological leanings. While this would normally be the sort of thing I would put down to conspiracy theories, it does indeed look as if the changes to the current algorithms are focusing almost entirely upon certain types of content creators. Feel free to look it up yourself, but you might find that political coverage channels, more profanity laden commentary videos and odder things still (professional wrestling being one, apparently) have either been demonetized or reduced to a fraction of their previous income. 

Anything which might draw the ire of a rival power or those they might garner cash from seems to be being hit hard, to the point where some have completely lost what was once a reliable livelihood for themselves. That or move to Twitch, but given that is owned by the same company, I would unfortunately say that the days of using that platform to escape this are numbered. It might take months for it to catch up, but it slowly but surely will. The Wild West era of the internet has slowly been dying out for quite some time now and this might be another step towards that end.

However, there is one other alternative I would like to offer in regards to just what might be causing this erratic change in income for many people. One which is somewhat less conspiratorial when it comes to the business' decisions and instead focuses upon one fact above all else: There are more people trying to make money via Youtube than ever. Youtube's processors and main servers need to desperately keep up with a truly staggering amount of information thanks to this, and this is a costly venture no matter how you cut it. Between this factor and the loss of interest from major backers, there might simply not be enough cash to go around anymore. 

Yes, anyone can stop to watch almost any video no matter how major or small they might be, but there will always be only so much money which can be granted to any creator. That amount has likely been stretching thin for quite some time now - something alluded to by the abrupt dip creators see late every year in terms of their income - so with this latest disruption, they cannot offer the level of support as they once did. This could even tie into the previous point to some degree, where they are using it as an opportunity to trim their membership and limit costs to themselves. Specifically with them focusing upon creators who are typically safer, and less risky, bets to draw in viewers.

I certainly do not think that Youtube's days are numbered. It's not going to die out overnight, or fall apart in any way. It's simply too big to fail. However, as I have said before, things which are too big to fail are hardly immune to decay, and we have seen negative change after negative change for years now. After a while, without steps made towards actually improving the system, it will keep rotting away from within until it reaches breaking point. I simply hope that things are resolved long before it becomes irreversible.

As ever though, I would like to end stressing that these are ultimately personal thoughts over all else. I am not a Youtuber outside of a few occasional uploads, nor do I have enough insight into the company itself to offer a definitive answer to what is taking place, or highlight the Adpocalypse problem in full. While much of this is based upon recent news, please take this as a few independent theories and concepts over definitive truth.