It's a sad week for YouTube. Last Friday, YouTube creators woke up finding out some of their best videos were demonetized by YouTube. This came as a big shock considering one of YouTube's biggest selling points to creators was the fact that content could make money through Google Adwords. However with any centralized autocratic organization (*cough* YouTube *cough* Facebook), we see that the service requires advertisers to be profitable. In a sense, advertisers indirectly hold control of these social media platforms, which is a sad but brutal reality.
We can see in this graph how YouTube's creator revenue stream has decreased 2012 till now.
How many times have you seen a Facebook ad that didn't pertain to you? Maybe it is too many to count. How annoyed are we when we see an ad on YouTube and we impatiently wait 5 seconds to immediately click "Skip Ad"?
Here is an official statement from YouTube on what is "ADVERTISER FRIENDLY" and what is demonetizable...#smh
Sexually suggestive content, including partial nudity and sexual humor
Violence, including display of serious injury and events related to violent extremism
Inappropriate language, including harassment, swearing and vulgar language
Promotion of drugs and regulated substances, including selling, use and abuse of such items
Controversial or sensitive subjects and events, including subjects related to war, political conflicts, natural disasters and tragedies, even if graphic imagery is not shown
Not only are many of these claims INCREDIBLY VAGUE, but it is also a form of censorship that demises the core principle and lifeblood of a social sharing platform like YouTube: giving voice & freedom to its creators.
This has been brewing for many years now and this latest round of demonetization may be the final nail in the coffin for YouTube. Many creators have expressed their frustration with the platform, which isn't entirely its fault (blame centralized organizations/technology). Fortunately, there is a silver lining in all this mess.
If you are reading this right now, you are a user of Steemit. And as such, you are one of the first people to use this product. As it is still in beta, we owe it not only ourselves and the current Steemit community, but to ALL THE PEOPLE NOT ON STEEMIT YET to continue creating content, supporting the Steemit team and contributing to the growth and stability of Steem as a currency of internet freedom and free speech.
My prediction is that within another year, Steemit will become the baseline for all new internet activities and we'll see a revolution in how the internet and creators work and thrive.
Who knows, maybe YouTube and Facebook won't be around by then ;)
