About YouTube Red | What I Know & What I Think

About YouTube Red | What I Know & What I Think

Hi everybody, Mary here.

So, I realised ten days ago (precisely) that YouTube Red was a thing ??? But at the time, we didn't really know what was going on, so I decided not to write at the moment, to avoid being wrong, having the wrong information, or listening to all these rumors that wanted to make the thing worse that it actually is.

But for now, here is what we know :

1. You pay 10 dollars a month for no ads, watching videos offline, and to have special contents (included some big YouTubers doing their thing like online shows and stuff like that).
2. You HAVE TO agree with the YouTube Red system, or ALL your videos will be privated until you agree. (So, if you REALLY love these old videos made by an inactive account, you should probably find a way to save them. I won't tell you how, but it's just a warning.)
3. The money you give to YouTube Red is actually put into a large bucket for ALL YOUTUBERS (big or small, it doesn't matter) and gives the money back according to the viewings of ALL the YouTubers.

(Tell me if I've forgotten something here)

So, here's my thoughts on this :

1. If I were a YouTuber (which I'm not), I would refuse this. Why ? Because I'm not a money cow. I would hate depending on the money taken from people who can't afford the goddamn thing. If I want to make something cool, it's better to make everyone capable of watching it. I don't want to create a split between some people who can afford it and those who can't. About AdBlock ? Well, YouTubers should do a video to explain how bad it is to use it. (I don't use it anymore myself, thanks.)
2. Wow, you have to agree to keep making YouTube videos ? I guess that (this is what I'm afraid of and it will probably happen in the next couple of years) someday, YouTube will say, well, let's do like Vessel. Make everything paid-for content. Sorry, I thought the gest on YouTube was... Ah, yes. Broadcast yourself. Show your talent, for free, and SHARE WITH PEOPLE. Talk to your audience via the comments, make video-responses, have a conversation, have FUN, basically. None of that is happening anymore. Basically, Google has managed to transform what was the innovation of the century and sparked talents across the globe (and infested us with cat videos and « try not to laugh challenge » videos, and to be honest, I haven't laughed even ONCE, so I guess I'm pretty good at this game) into a capitalistic machine that is just here to make more money, and nothing else.
3. This system is UNFAIR, let me tell you why : one, because the biggest YouTubers already have the longest view time, so they would only have a bigger part of the cake, compared to small YouTubers. Basically, not only Youtube was promoting ONLY BIG CHANNELS and not the small ones via the frontpage and the search thingies, but also, now, the big channels are going to get bigger, and the small channels are going to die and be swallowed whole. Isn't that funny that even BEFORE YouTube Red was announced (coincidence, I just checked out : it was EXACTLY ON THAT DAY that I posted it and then I found out about YouTube Red while going on Twitter and going through the trending tags, wow I can predict the future), I made a video about having a regular audience ? Well it won't be enough, since ALL the revenue will go to the bigger channels. It doesn't matter if you watch them or not. It doesn't matter who you watch or not. The big will get bigger and the small will DIE.

To be honest, I thought about this, and I have a couple of advice for fans and small YouTubers who are afraid of seeing the true spirit of YouTube die :

1. To the fans : I've seen many YouTubers say that the majority of their revenus are made RIGHT NOW so PLEASE wait for a little while before going Red and start paying the thing (if you so wish). There was a rumour creators wouldn't get paid for the free trial month (for now they WILL be paid, but only thanks to the Google Music subscribers that are joining now, they'll recieve as much money as without Red), so I'd advise you wait for a little before starting paying Red.
2. Actually you know what ? It doesn't MATTER if you don't pay Red. I mean, the free YouTube is still available anyways ? And for me (in France), Red hasn't arrived yet, so I guess we'll see the effects in the rest of the world later. But don't worry ! If you don't pay, you'll still be able to watch your favourite YouTubers. Just turn off AdBlock, please. This way, you give money to the ones you actually care about. And if you want to give them a little extra, don't just skip the ads, click on them. They have more money this way.
3. If you care about your small YouTubers, give them your money. To small YouTubers : I guess there are a couple of solutions for you. Start a Patreon and ask for your subscribers to give one dollar to every YouTuber they actually care about instead of giving it to YouTube Red, which will give more to the already big and basically nothing to the small. If I were in your shoes, I'd get OFF YOUTUBE and start going on other websites like Vimeo or Dailymotion.

Also, I'd start a little network for ALL small Youtubers to support each other, with categories (like gaming, humour, beauty & healthcare, and so on and so on), with a way to have your fans directly interact with you, and have a little « tip » if you like the video they made (10 cents, 25 cents, 50 cents, 1 dollar, 2 dollars) & also extras (up to 5 dollars a month) and in counterpart, the YouTuber could be giving some perks (like some merch, T-Shirts, posters, or follows on social media websites, I don't know), and for those who don't have money, some perks when you talk about your favourite small YouTubers on your social media websites or with your friends ! And also some forums for the fans to talk about their faves ALL THE TIME ! Come on, tell me your opinion about this. I'm a genius, aren't I ?

Anyways. YouTube Red is crap, giving more to the rich and ripping off the little hopes that current (or future) small YouTubers are having to see a little audience growing up and, even if they're not famous, to have a little group of people supporting them and giving them feedback.

I don't even have words for how sh*tty it is.

Okay, that's it for today ! I really hope you enjoyed this post and I'll see you very soon with another one !

And as usual, our last word : KIDNEYS !