YOUTUBE IS FAILING US – A COMMENTARY BY BRIAN S. “BUDDY” BAKER

(This is my interpretation of the state of Youtube as of 2019.  It should NOT be taken as an attack on the people ON youtube, but only in so much as they are the reason youtube is the way it is and was for the past three years.  Specifically, this is my OPINION of the state of Youtube, and where I see it going.  I am a USER and a CREATOR on this platform, and each time I give my opinion, it goes away, because it is OFF-TOPIC and LOCKED, and the questions I ask within a posted topic NEVER get resolved, NEVER get answered, and we ALWAYS get the same answers via twitter only.  Here is MY TAKE, which will NOT be silenced on MY BLOG! ~bsb)

Youtube is an amazing medium.  With it, you can create content of many types, and share your opinions and beliefs with the world.  Youtube says that they support creators, and our opinions/beliefs, and says that they welcome differing points of view.  Youtube CRO Susan Wojcicki (Which I will refer to as “Susan” or “Susan W.” throughout) seems to follow that philosophy to those who are blind to what has happened.  I have seen marked increases in content that has been demonitized, content that has been removed, channels that have been terminated, and a marked decrease in the amount of support that the community has received.  The MAIN 2 problems on Youtube can be broken down into THREE distinct areas of concern.

ONE:  Susan W:  She is the CEO of Youtube, and has allowed this platform to be even more restrictive then normal, and allows “teamyoutube” latitude to remove content that they believe is contrary to youube’s mission – They make a decision, and tell us that something has been removed, but they do NOT tell us anything as to WHY something has been removed.  Then, she will post “update videos” telling us how wonderful the platform is doing in combating “bad actors”, pedofiles, extremists, dangerous challenges, etc., telling all of us about the “exciting changes that are coming to youtube.”  You know, I have been a creator since about 2012, and I have not really seen anything GOOD happen here.  All I see is updates, Rule Changes, Bans, Terminations, Demonitizations and NO explanations for ANYTHING they do, and it is all based on “automatic algorithims” rather than common sense.

TWO: Team Youtube:  They are supposedly the team that is supposed to be available for you to ask questions to on the Youtube User Support Forums . Or, they say on Team Youtube Via Twitter .  However, they POST ONLY about rules, regulations, violations, and things that they want us to know about, but they RARELY post anything to HELP anyone.  A Great example of this, would be when we as a community ask questions about Monetizing Content, and they tell us that we need to check some link in the help center that does NOT answer our questions, and THEN, they don’t UPDATE the status on the Monetization Process, which, by the way, has taken a downhill  turn since 2017.  One day, I scan the fourms and I see this:  Requesting Montization in Youtube Help Community post  That says that

WHAT the BLOODY HECK am I, and millions of others doing on Youtube, posting there, if they turn a BLIND EYE to any concerns we post there?  Why does this “help community” exist if we, as CREATORS have no stake in what makes youtube great?  TYT has taken the most important thing AWAY from every person who is NOT a member of YPP, who is NOT monetized, who is NOT a person making them GOOD MONEY, and instead, has decided to embark on a campaign of “save Youtube’s ASS at the expense of everyone else’s HARD and BACKBREAKING work!”  Youtube DOES NOT RESPOND to concerns that matter to the 1% of us who are trying to make a go of this medium, and yet, they keep slamming us with 10-TONS of SHIT when we don’t understand what they are doing.  We as users cant SOLVE the problems of Terminations. Appeals, Copyright or Community Strikes or other sanctions, but TYT wont deal with them at ALL – Only as a “secret”

By this, I mean: They demonitize channels because of “VoxPocalype,” then they define “hate speeech”, then they go after creators that are a little left of center or right of center.  HATE is something that happens in the world, and while YT should be vigulent as to what is ON the platform, they should be EXPLAINING why these changes are happening, and why people have NO CHANCE of winning any appeals.  Do You know why you lose?  Neither do I, but YOUTUBE DOES, and they will POUND YOU with a 10-TON SLEDGE if you so much as break the rules, and even then, if they SAY that you can get a WARNING, you can get TERMINATED and if that happens, you might as well hang up your cameras on this medium, because you don’t matter!

I said that there were 3 areas of concern:  There are.  In addition to Susan W.’s and TeamYoutube’s APATHY towards our concerns, The other Area of concern is My “BIG 3 PROBLEMS:”

1.  APPEALS: They tell us we can “appeal”, but this is nothing more than some foolish pawn “looking at the appeal to see if they were RIGHT” rather than to spend QUALITY time looking at the situation, and crafting a response that actually says that they are DOING something about your situation – All they have done is to AUTOMATE everything, and then all they do is take 2 seconds or less, and DENY your appeal.  There is NOTHING available on How to do a SUCCESSFUL appeal that you will be able to WIN.  TYT expects YOU to be able to read thier idiotic minds, and understand what some lame-ass dolt believes thinks/feels about the reason for the ban:  NO:  WRONG:  I feel that if TYT can ban you, then they can TELL you what the hell they banned you for, and WHY they did this.  TYT seems to think that telling someone WHY they are banned/suspended will allow someone to scam this system – They DON’T  GET that the majority of the bans they issue are based on UNFAIR and INCONSISTENT application(s) of rules we have to follow, but they dont have to EXPLAIN – Appeals need to be done BY HUMANS, responded to BY HUMANS, and COMMUNICATED by humans.  EVERY decision Youtube makes should be appealable – PERIOD – System Broken, NOT fair!!

2.  COPYRIGHT CLAIMS/CONTENT ID CLAIMS:  System favors the claimant in all respects.  It is TOO easy for someone to CLAIM ANYTHING on the platform, and for that person to “strike out” a channel – But the “copyright system” is a YOUTUBE SYSTEM, and they are the ones who are taking things down, LAWFULLY, as they are required to, but of course, it allows ANYONE to strike you, and if you lose the battle and counter the claim, you LOSE your CHANNEL forever!  They need to listen to the creators, and STOP every Tom, Dick, Harry, Steve and Sam I. am from being able to claim EVERY VIDEO on someone’s channel:  MumboJumbo, a Youtuber. had 400 CLAIMS on his Channel, and that would shut his channel OUT.  If people don’t have the legal right to CLAIM something that they DO NOT have the RIGHTS to, they should be SEVERELY PUNISHED – NOT allowed to RUIN someone’s Youtube Career!

Yes, Youtube can do this in seconds, and has “run off” respected youtubers from the platform, because they just drop a ban or restrict access to features.  One of them is Eli The Computer Guy, who was live stream banned, and had content copystricken for some reason, which means that he, along with others, are questioning WHY youtube does things like this, and they, won’t tell him anything – they just DO the ACTION and say “Screw You, Eli – This is WRONG”

3.  TERMINATION WITHOUT APPEAL RIGHTS:  System again, fails, because TYT can NOT even follow thier own frickin rules, they enforce them at their pleasure, they don’t EXPLAIN anything they do, and when you appeal an action, unless you have a LOT of good followers, you cant even get TYT to RESPOND, let alone return a channel to operation, or give a violator a second chance!  TYT makes the rule, changes the rules, and applies them as they see fit, at the EXPENSE of the creator, which brings me to my next point.  IF you are just an average Joe Schmoe, where do you get HELP/Communication/INFORMATION?  From 400K webpages called a “Help Center” or a “Creator Academy”  FAIL – I might as well bring Alyssa Milano in here and ask her how to produce content, as she is a HUMAN, while Youtube is ALL BUT DEAD, all BOTS, and NO Brains!

THE FUTURE OF YOUTUBE (CREATORS LIKE US HAVE NOTHING GOOD TO SEE OR SAY)

I HATE to be pessimistic, BUT youtube used to be FUN to make content for.  It used to be a place where MOST (90%) of content was allowed – Now, we have pedos, idiots, extremists, hate mongers, and people who do not agree with norms, and they have changed, but those who disagree with YOUTUBE are the ones that will get the BOOT – NOT the support.  Youtube is now “Here is a RULE, you VIOLATED it – GOODBYE forever fuckheads” rather than to help us understand what we did to break the rules – The rules do not seem to apply to big channels, and neither so the support channels – I question Youtube on a Daily basis, and I get NOTHING, and this is NOT a fair thing to do.  The title of this post is “Going…….Going…..Going……..DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWN,” and that is the future of the Youtube I used to like:  Its too HARSH, too HEAVY HANDED, Too Self-Serving, Not uplifting or able to give us the POWERS OR TOOLS we need to succeed…….Team Youtube Can’t “get into specifics” which means we are left to GUESS about what we think is allowed, and what youtube wants to see on its platform.

Susan W. as CEO posts shit like:  THIS  But, these postings and Videos DO NOT EVEN ADDRESS the 3 things I listed above, and when she does address it, she makes it sound like it is IMPORTANT to her and the platform, but this posting will probably be ignored, or just shit on, with no regard to fair play, integrity, honesty, Moral Character or anything like that.  Tell Me Susan:  What have you done for the ones that are waiting for Monetization:  NOTHING!!  WHAT are you doing to AID this to faster and better completion?: NOTHING!!  She acts like everyone on YT that is NOT Monetized is WORTHLESS, and she projects that to Team Youtube, as they threaten us with actions for asking to get an update on the situation.  Twitter users want ACTION, and believe that Susan is NOT doing a good job, and that is why you see shit like “#FireSusan” or “#FireTeamYoutube” all over the place.  a CEO also is the FACE of the organization!

Let me Tell You:  I run a 501C3 Organization (Thrift Store Ministry) in a local Church, where I try to be FAIR, HONEST and Christian-Like to EVERYONE.  The Rules and Policies are ENFORCED, and they are FAIRLY applied.  If I say “NO” I ******EXPLAIN WHY I SAY WHAT I SAY or WHAT I DO******** Team Youtube is just a bunch of pansies that are enforcing the rules without explaining anything, and they do it secretly, they don’t post to communicate, and there IS a community out here that is TIRED of being IGNORED and NOT responded to:  I Help people every day, and I GIVE AWAY THOUNDS of DOLLARS of product A YEAR, and TYT and Susan W. Can’t even MANAGE the place – People don’t believe you are trustworthy, or telling us the TRUTH, and this is BAD – YOU NEED to be MORE TRANSPARENT, and SHOW us More of the processes that we have to endure………..

And while we are at it:  DO A REVIEW OF ALL MONETIZATION DECISIONS, AND DO IT FAST:  PEOPLE ARE WAITING – AND HOW BOUT BEING FAIR ABOUT TERMIONATIONS – GIVE US A WAY TO GET CHANNELS BACK, AND CLEAR UP PROBLEMS!!!  APPEALS ARE NOT WORKING, SYSTEM SHOULD BE REDESIGNED.  AND HOW BOUT A “support@youtube” address for actual support that is taken seriously…….feel like I am writing to /dev/ZERO!

I as a creator, also do NOT like being referred to as a “bad actor”  some of us need help to succeed, and so far, everything is for YPP – Change this – Youtube used to be FUN – You are the Captain of this BOAT, and unless things change, I personally believe Youtube is “Going…….Going………Gone………..Dead!!

“Youtube: Failing us since 2017”

Your Play, Susan:  “Whatch’oo Gonna do to Make these Concerns Heard??

Respectfully,

Brian S. Baker <brian@buddy-baker.us>