web What's happened to YouTube?

[Mort 73]

My friend (a pretty silly brony youtuber) recently posted this video on his channel talking about how YouTube had changed over the years, especially about how it's become so complicated as corporations have begin to use it for commercial applications.

Watch here...

https://youtu.be/3JfnMZsCb0II

 

What sayest thou? Has YouTube become, for lack of a sillier phrase, too mainstream? Is it still enjoyable, or has it become just a smorgasbord of Let's Play/Let's Watch/Let's Review videos (or perhaps that's what is in fact enjoyable)? Rant below.

[galaxysquid 2,121]

I believe that YouTube has gone through so many rough patches because of the whole Google+ situation and copyright issues.

 

I mostly use YouTube to listen to music, watch new music videos or watch videos from some of my favourite vloggers and comedians, but that's about it, really. And sometimes I'll bored-ly run through random videos I find for hours just cause I have nothing to do. 

 

YouTube has changed but it's still the same old video sharing community it's always been.

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 40,236]

I think it has gotten worse, mainly because for many, it has become a very lucrative business by not doing much at all (Huge Let's Players are a great example of this) and because of that, quite a few Youtubers are becoming exploitative rather than genuine and that is problematic. Youtube is still nice, I still really enjoy it, but it is a lot worse than what it was before. 

[Moony the Cat 3,695]

The only thing i really saw changed, was the interface.

 

I remember when you could customize your entire channel, with a lot of different colors for very different things.

After that, it was going to this white style, where you only could edit your banner and icon.

 

I here people saying that Google Plus changed the site much...but i never really saw anything.

All that Google Plus did for me was, giving me a better notifications system for new answers.

 

I think Google Plus is a good thing. Dont know why almost everyone got so upset about it 

Or why almost everyone now, is talking how Google Plus leaved and the site got better...well, i still have Google Plus and nothing changed for me...i have zero idea what everyone is talking about.  :scoots:

[kaleidoscope234 30]

Well it certainly has become much more "commercial", think of YouTube Red (in response to adblockers) and copyright takedowns. It has also become more minimalistic over the years as they stripped a lot of functionality.

[Guest]

Youtube was purchased by Google almost a year or so after its inception, ever since then people have been acting like there was this golden age where everything was amazing. Youtube is a business, so ad revenue and such are there to make their business successful. I absolutely love how many people criticize Google's attempts at making their business generate revenue. The guy is getting pissed off that Youtube is trying to give suggestions on how to be successful.

 

If you don't care about being successful or making money, then stop complaining and just make videos. If you are a partner though, don't get annoyed that Youtube is encouraging you to follow strategies that are successful because they are trying to get their money's worth by allowing you to be a partner. If you generate subs from just doing what you do, good for you, but don't get mad that people are following a strategy that is successful.

 

Sorry, but I don't waste hours working on videos to have them ignored. So if you're mad that I go for strategies to get my videos viewed, then you can go piss off. It's not about money for me, it's about the fact that I am making something to be shared which is completely pointless if no one watches it. I'm sorry that I would like my work viewed rather than not be viewed after I worked on it.

Edited November 2, 2015 by Guest

[Draxon 214]

I disagree with the notion that there's nothing on Youtube anymore except for Let's Plays, reaction videos, and reviews.  There's still plenty of good content out there that's worth watching.  I use it for the aforementioned varieties of videos, but also for music videos, fan made productions, creepy pastas, documentaries, social commentary, etc.  Certain things like top ten lists get old pretty quickly (I can't stand WatchMojo), but as long as they're still popular, people will continue to make them.  Channels earn income based on views or based on how much time their viewers spend watching their videos, so of course people will post this sort of content.

 

Ads were frankly inevitable as a source of income, and with the prevalence of users employing ad blocking software, Youtube had no choice but to create Youtube Red.  Personally, I've disabled Adblock on Youtube, as well as on this site and Equestria Daily, because I want to support them but can't really afford to pay anything.

 

In a nutshell, the viewers are the ones who dictate what happens to any form of social media.  Unless a site is publicly funded, ad revenue or subscription services are certain to manifest.  If the viewers don't buy into either one, or find a way to circumvent them, the site has to come up with another way to make money.  And the people who create videos, unless making money from the site isn't a big concern for them, will post a lot of content which is more likely to get a greater amount of views.  That doesn't mean there is no good content out there.  It does mean that if you want to see more good content, you have to pay more attention to it than to all of the fluff.

Edited November 2, 2015 by Draxon

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,809]

I think the copyright system on YouTube has definitely contributed to the large amounts of hate towards it. People really don't want to spend money just to watch a single episode of MLP, and there is a channel out there that does it. They'd rather be freeloaders and/or watch it on Netflix while paying a small monthly fee. Think about it, having to buy episodes every week. Compare that to the cost of a monthly or yearly subscription to Netflix. 

[SquipyCheetah 448]

YouTube's a mess to begin with and has seemingly gotten worse over time. I put up with it though since there's nothing else I can really do. Despite it's many growing problems, it's not like I can just abandon it.

[Codelyy 1,281]

@@Mort. Hey there Mort . Since the subject of your topic relates to youtube, I'm going to move it to the media Discussion forums.

[Grtxkkyz 387]

It's changed, and for the worse. Dear God, not only is the current interface awful, there are lots of pathetic videos out there that were made pretty much for the sole purpose of testing your sanity. And a lot of Youtubers are strongly unbearable. It's a shame most kids nowadays associate the name Vegeta with that Vegeta777 shithead instead of the Saiyan prince we all know and love.

[GenderIsAnIllusion 2,177]

As long as youtube Red is not mandatory for viewing content (or doesn't have exclusive channels.) I will still happily use the service.

[-Nobody- 514]

YouTube does seem to be filled with more "bad" content than it used to be, but it still has a lot of good channels and videos.

 

I really don't like how they've gotten about copyright, but I understand why they did it. Still, I miss being able to watch movies and episodes on there without having to pay.

[Guest]

Okay, I'm going to break the nostalgia glasses for a minute and take us back in time for a moment to show you that Youtube did not used to be this wonderful magical place and now suddenly it's gone all to hell. Youtube has always had a bad part, and Youtube has always had a good part. On top of this, let's not forget Youtube's history:

 

• Youtube was founded in 2005 by 3 guys who worked for Paypal as a pet project. They sold the site in 2006 for $1.65 billion. So people acting nostalgic about how Google "ruined" Youtube; Google has been running Youtube for a MAJORITY of its existence. After buying a site for $1.65 billion, you also would want to make sure you got a return on your investment. So bringing in ads and such is hardly a terrible thing.
• Back then, you could only make videos 10 minutes long and they had to be under 100MB, so the quality was trash.
• Youtube has been removing illegally uploaded TV episodes since before Google bought it. It's just more rampant now because now Youtube is more popular, so companies flag stuff more often.
• People acting like the current content is a shitty trend clearly have not been on Youtube very long. Does anyone remember Fred? He got to millions of views before anyone else back in the day as well. Then there was everyone and their grandmother making Abridged series, Youtube has basically always gone through phases of what is popular. There has ALWAYS been a slew of shit content and people who are just pumping out what is popular to make revenue since the ability to profit off of Youtube has been there since 2007.
• People raging over crappy content is what makes said content more popular. More people are going to watch PewDiePie the more you complain about him because people who didn't know who he was are now going to look him up.
• A lot of people mad at people who are successful on Youtube are only that way out of jealousy. People think it's not fair that PewDiePie makes $8 million a year because they think he "doesn't do anything". Well he work on his videos, which as a content creator I can say honestly is a lot of work, especially with the consistency in which he makes videos. He more than likely works more than a 40 hour week. I don't even like the guy's content, but I can respect him doing what it takes to be successful.
• Complaining about people using Youtube to do what is going to make them money is basically complaining about using the site for what it's intended for. Youtube is all about ad revenue generation for partners. If you don't like that, then don't watch partners' videos. It's really that simple.
• You get pretty much 99% of Youtube for free, on so many platforms and yet all people do is complain that "this layout sucks" and "I don't like ads" but none of you would be willing to pay the monthly subscription necessary to cover the costs of no ads on any videos, development of the site, development of the mobile apps and paying the employees would you?
• No one seems to mention the IMPROVEMENTS, only "I don't like x" or "I don't like y". No one mentions how you can stream now, support videos in 4k, 60FPS, view it on any smartphone, the improvements to the mobile app, etc. Honestly has anyone used Youtube back in 2005? The layout and design was ugly and horrible.
• People ignore quality content that has been available for years to bitch about content that they hate. Look at Ashens:

 

Almost 10 years of content that he has not changed the style of because he cares about his fans. Ashens content has remained true to what he started doing back in 2006, and he has not only stayed loyal to his fans, but produced an entire film based on his series that he gave away for free on Youtube, and now is making a sequel that he is filming out of pocket for his fans.

 

Quality content is there, it's always been there, you just have to do as you ALWAYS did: ignore the crap. Also if you are going to complain about stuff like episodes of shows being taken down, then really you're kind of being unrealistic to expect Google to risk a lawsuit to keep illegally uploaded episodes up for your sake.

[cider float 2,535]

Making things mainstream is just a step someone is trying to take control over 

[1111 1,284]

I don't see what the fuss is about even, with all this stuff going on other then using copyrighted material in certain ways you can make and watch stuff just before. So what if the main audience and creators are different its still for every body, if you think less of it for that you have problems.  

[Rawzy 1,302]

Did you know that just recently YouTube have decided to go forth with "YouTube Red"?  It's basicaly where you can pay to remove ads on any video for a certain period of time. This however could affect all of the YouTubers that use YouTube as their main source for making an income :/

[1111 1,284]

Did you know that just recently YouTube have decided to go forth with "YouTube Red"?  It's basicaly where you can pay to remove ads on any video for a certain period of time. This however could affect all of the YouTubers that use YouTube as their main source for making an income :/

I don't see why when you can just use a ad blocker. 

[ARagY 1,152]

It's a prank! It's a praaaaaaaank! Shooting people gone sexual! Cat videos! Religious wars. The commies are going to kill m'internet! The commies invaded that poor Yuck-crane ;_;7 Hi gais I'm a new Minecraft YouTuber and I'm going to do something totally original and showcase this mod that has over 3 million followers already. Watch me react to something you're too poor to buy with my YT money! Watch me play games with friends while you sit lonely at your desk watching us have the fun that YOU should be having! Gamergate! Feminism! Disingenuous Steam Greenlight and the death of journalism! That's what happened to YouTube.

 

Oh yeah, and outdated copyright laws that will shut your channel down for someone in your cs go game mic spamming a song by a popular artist. God, obviously you're some filthy freeloader trying to claim the content as your own because SOMEONE ELSE played it. And even then they CLEARLY are saying they own it by playing it! We must stop this!

Edited November 3, 2015 by ARagY

[Spikey-Wikey 378]

Aside from rude people, and videos being removed/accounts being terminated for copyright reasons (although if there's no coypright notice put in the description I somewhat understand), I like YouTube.

 

Also, who remembers back in around circa 2010-2012 everyone hated YouTube's new design? XD

Edited November 6, 2015 by Baby Dinosaur