As if there wasn't enough going on in the world, Youtube has now decided to strip accounts under 1000 subscribers of the ability to monetize their videos.
Photo depicts Youtube's frosty ass attitude.
Queue Social Media OUTRAGE (Unsurprisingly!)
The outrage follows an email which has been issued to accounts with fewer than 1000 subscribers and less than 4000 HOURS watched within 12 months which states they will:
"Lose access to all Monetization tools and features associated with the Youtube partner program on February 20 2018, unless you surpass the threshold in the next 30 days"
I 'play' with Youtube a bit. I upload a video when I feel like it (mainly because my internet is so Shiz and it takes 8 hours to upload a 10 minute video) so for me, it's not a huge deal right now. I am planning on growing my account in 2018, but to be honest, seeing the attitude Youtube have had towards their smaller influencers is disgusting.
Here's a direct quote from Susan Wojcicki - Youtube's CEO:
"We're passionate
Just because I have fewer than 1000 subscribers, doesn't mean I'm a 'bad actor', in fact I'm not acting at all - perhaps this is something Youtube aren't familiar with. Reality. Real life. Battling real stigma's.
A lot of people across social media are blaming Logan Paul (the loss of revenue from his channel could possibly be blamed on youtube disabling monetization so they could potentially insert ads over the videos without sharing the revenue with the creator). I mean the guy's a moron, but surely Youtube don't rely on one accounts revenue?
As always, it's the little guy that gets left behind. As my Dad always says 'The rich get richer and the poor get poorer'. It feels as though youtube just thought "Ahh, If all else fails, we'll screw over the small accounts and make money from them".
Aside from that - surely there was a better way to go about this than Susan's shitty attitude?
Youtube could ASK what smaller youtubers need to help them grow, could do a 'Youtuber in the spotlight' on the discover page, offer a small free advertising voucher. They earn big bucks to be clever but it seems as though they're anything but!
Surely all they're doing is encouraging people to spend $1.99 (or however much it costs) on buying 1000 followers?
PEOPLE POWER
If you're tempted not to upload anymore content to youtube because of this, email them and let them know (people power!) and then PRIVATE all of your video's to stop the possibility that youtube could insert adverts over your video's without sharing the revenue with you.
On top of that, it will be interesting to see if the larger youtubers will stand up against this to support us the way many of us have supported them over the years. It'd be great if they would actually contact youtube and let them know of their disappointment.
HERE'S AN IDEA
If you're tempted to buy followers, don't. You're only cheapening your channel. Instead, let's support one another by placing your Youtube link in the comments below and subscribe to each other. I will ensure to subscribe (and if anyone is interested, my account is www.youtube.com/hollysbeautybox)
Let me know your thoughts below and start a big conversation about this!
H x
