When YouTube first debuted on the Internet in early 2005, the video-sharing website was one of the first of its kind. The only other site similar was metacafe which was founded in July of 2003. Another video sharing website, Dailymotion, was founded a month after YouTube.
It is fair to say that YouTube has beaten out its early competitors and has become the default website for anyone wanting to upload a video.
In the beginning, people uploaded random videos that ranged from them going about their day or videos about their pets. Some of the early viral videos were “Chocolate Rain,” “Boxxy,” and “Evolution of Dance.”
These videos made their creators mild celebrities online but once a new video blew up, they were quickly forgotten about. Making money was something that creators did not really think about.
Fast forward to today, the site has evolved into a money-making venture where its top creators make millions of dollars through the site’s AdSense and corporate advertisements. With its goal of entering the mainstream, the site has gone through changes in both who its top creators are and the content that YouTube promotes.
These days, the only thing that seems to matter for YouTube is promoting people and content that they believe will bring it mainstream attention. In order to do this, they’ve sacrificed content and chosen to hitch their wagon to sensationalist videos produced by “YouTubers” who are young and seem to have no filter.
The best example of this is the controversy after the new year with Logan Paul. By now, we’re all aware that he went to Japan’s “suicide forest” and stumbled across a person who had committed suicide.
In a move the dumbfounded everyone, he decided to show the body on camera but have it blurred out. Instead of the video being flagged by YouTube and being taken down, the site actually put the video on their Trending page.
It took the site several days to respond to the questions asked by not just outsiders, but from the creators in its own community. Had Logan Paul not taken down the video, who knows how long it would have taken YouTube to take the video down itself.
While Logan Paul might be the most blatant offender, he’s far from the only one. YouTube seems to constantly change its algorithm that determines what it looks for in order to include a video on its Trending page and for how a creator can best make money off their videos. With the rules changing often, it leaves smaller channels struggling as the bigger channels continue to be the site’s main focus.
It’s because of that that some have decided to either leave the site entirely or change the content of their channel altogether. This in turn has led to creators making videos that are more controversial as vlogs have started to dominate the platform. With the current political landscape, creators are taking advantage of this by choosing a side and sharing extreme views. Often, they’re right-wing channels who rally against “SJWs” and feminism.
Pewdiepie, real name Felix Kjellberg, used to be the site’s poster boy. He got his success by doing live commentary on video game playthroughs. He came under fire for uttering the “n-word” in one of his live streams and older videos were uncovered where he was seen sporting a swastika and making crude jokes. In contrast to Logan Paul, YouTube did react swiftly and took Kjellberg off its top-tier advertising program.
“Controversy creates cash” and that seems to be the mantra that a significant number of creators are taking. It’s not difficult to see why because many creators who are not violating terms of service or community guidelines see their videos being demonetized without any explanation.
YouTube being somewhat complacent with creators the likes of Logan Paul only serves to spread the message that quality is not what these creators should be striving for.
Sensationalist videos where showing a dead body, tazing dead animals, or disrespecting a country is the type of content that will bring someone success despite any sort of backlash. What’s worse is these creators are influential are seen by millions of people, most being teenagers or younger.
If YouTube and its creators want to be taken seriously outside their little bubble, the site is going to have to be better in who and what kind of content they promote as well as being reacting quickly when someone violates its guidelines instead of waiting to see how it plays out.
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