For better or worse, I probably consume 12 to 15 hours of YouTube a week. Whether this shocks you or not, YouTube is nothing new. My youth consisted of videos like “How Animals Eat Their Food” by MisterEpicMann, “How Girls Get Ready For the First Day of School!” by Rclbeauty101, and “Giant 6ft Water Balloon” by The Slow Mo Guys. Do these sound familiar to you? No worries if not. YouTube has an estimated 14 billion videos to watch (if you have the time), with about 20 million videos uploaded per day. So if you haven’t heard of the two I’ve listed, I’m certain you’ve stumbled across a YouTube video before. For all I know, you might even have YouTube Premium, the ad-free version for $12.99/month.
For the past couple years, I’ve noticed my satisfaction with the platform rapidly declining. Only time will tell when YouTube will implode on itself. The worldwide hub for free, fun, and creative videos has been tarnished with censorship, ads, demonetization, and corporate greed. Where did this all begin? And more importantly, where’d all the fun go? Without further ado, let’s get into the video! (I mean, article).
More Than Just Cat Videos
Picture this: It’s 2019, and YouTube has never been more popular. Content houses are emerging. The Paul Brothers are dissing each other through cringy yet catchy songs that stay in your head for days. T-Series and PewDiePie are having a showdown for who can hit 100 million subscribers first (T-Series won). And during all this, the tenth annual YouTube Rewind drops on Dec. 5. YouTube Rewinds were highly anticipated end-of-the-year recaps produced and posted on YouTube’s official channel, often featuring many famous YouTubers together and showing the year’s most viral moments in a quick, 5-6 minute video. “YouTube Rewind 2019: For the Record” became YouTube’s most hated video overnight, with longtime fans saying it was sterile and soulless. The immediate backlash caused YouTube to not only remove the video from the site, but also to archive all YouTube Rewinds from 2010-2018…not only was that reaction representative of a toddler throwing a tantrum, but it was also the erasure of important pop culture history.
After YouTube Rewind ground to an abrupt and premature halt, YouTube’s villain arc only worsened.
The Rise of Censorship and Demonization
My distaste for YouTube’s strange, convoluted morals had only grown when they removed the dislike count from the public in 2021. Yet, they were still visible to the YouTubers whose videos you disliked, thus making the “dislike” feature meaningless (for those in shambles from this news, there is a browser extension that makes them visible again). For argument’s sake, wouldn’t it have made more sense to eliminate the dislike button entirely?
YouTube has also been criticized for its strict and unforgiving demonetization enforcement, which is infamous for misflagging content. Many creators make these videos as their livelihood. When their videos get demonetized, it means they can’t make revenue off them, yet YouTube doesn’t lose any money. On top of that, the platform’s copyright claims have also gotten tighter. YouTubers can’t even hum a tune without the risk of getting their video taken down for copyright, and they must go through a long, tedious copyright dispute process to get the video back up.
It’s (Always) About the Money
YouTube is not the small, humble video platform we once knew and loved. It’s now a faceless multi-billion-dollar company, and its hypocrisy is only growing. Take “Sydney Sweeney’s Shameless and Ed Sheeran’s Spineless (reupload),” for example. In the video, YouTuber Mark Insco dived into the newest and arguably most controversial sports-betting ad. The video initially got demonetized for nudity, giving him a Terms of Service violation, even though YouTube literally profits off of Sweeney’s ad.
Speaking of ads, YouTube has also introduced “pause ads,” as if there weren’t already enough before, after, and throughout every YouTube video. If you’re fortunate enough not to know what that means, pause ads are advertisements that appear on your screen after you pause a video. It’s as though the platform can’t let you breathe without putting an ad in your face.
So, What Now?
It’s with great sadness that I watch such an important part of my childhood become a money-hungry powerhouse, especially seeing the creative minds who started their careers on YouTube. Backrooms director Kane Parsons is one of the most famous case studies of someone achieving fame through their videos. While YouTube gets greedier, we must combat it by being more creative.
Many of my favourite YouTubers also promote their Patreon, a platform that allows creators to have more freedom with their work while also receiving revenue (Patreon subscriptions typically cost no more than $8/month). Self-expression is the foundation of YouTube, and though it may be difficult, we can’t forget those roots. Keep creating, and keep supporting your creators.