They actually are in a position to do this.
Nobody is switching to let’s say PeerTube because of something YouTube does as long as not every creator is switching too
They are, but even YT won’t last forever. TikTok and IG are eating their lunch badly, and as YT continues to chase after that market and keeps neglecting and pissing off people that bring value to the platform, something just might crop up as an alternative.
I mean, a month ago many thought Reddit is irreplaceable, and now look around.
But reddit is fundamentally built different than other social media platforms. Reddit is more like a collection of forums than a social media platform. The only thing that keeps people on reddit is the content and that can be moved.
On Youtube its the Algorithm and the Content Creators that keep people to use the platform. PeerTube and LBRY simply don’t have the creators Youtube has.
On reddit people choose what to see. On YouTube the algorithm simply is wayy more important than on reddit.
Exactly, it’s about creators and content. If enough creators get ticked off, they move, content moves with them and users follow.
Let’s not overestimate the algorithm too much. Big Tech thinks it’s some godsend technology, but it’s just another buzzword meaning “stream of content”. If you don’t have any special care about what you’re looking at, then you can just scroll r/all or the TikTok front page, algorithm or not. And if you want some particular creators, you go where they go.
I’m also hopeful for more creator-owned services like Nebula and Dropout. They tend to run off extremely cheap subscription models (about $5 a month for Dropout, less than $2 a month for Nebula) and all that money goes to the creators with very little business overhead in the way.
I never gave a damn about dropout, and when they laid off Drawfee - literally the only thing worth watching - I just followed drawfee’s new solo channel. It’s kind of drifted too far into the Millennial mainstream, but what you going to do. I’m a Gen-Xer, a cynical understanding that the world is trash is just part of my lifelong worldview.
Begun, the AdBlocker Wars have.
Twitter makes you sign in to look at tweets, which makes the site worthless now
Yewtube for the win!!!
Actually yewtube is down today, but other Invidious instances and Piped are fine
I like Piped better because it includes SponsorBlock but half the time it won’t play any video, so I usually use Yewtube…
Premium just seems like too expensive a proposition for the casual viewer. I use an adblocker but if they made premium five bucks a month I’d probably just do it. And I think many people wouldn’t mind paying that to avoid ads.
I maintain that Google shouldn’t be supported. They make gazillions from spying on user data and controlling an insanely large part of the internet and users’ devices. They also have some control over finances with another revenue stream already through GPay.
They don’t need even more money from us.
I hear your point - you’re not wrong. But I believe that any service that you enjoy is worth paying for. Services cost money and at the end of the day, it’s a for profit company. That said, as a very casual viewer I’ll do what I can to avoid paying, since, to your point, they make plenty of money off of us. If I were a heavy YT user, I’d probably just pay to avoid dealing with all of the ads.
I don’t want to berate you or anything, so don’t get me wrong. I just want to explain my position a bit further.
it’s a for profit company
Capitalism has two sides: the sellers and the customers. The seller’s job is to make the most amount of money for the least amount of product or effort.
The customer’s job is to get the most product for the least amount of money.
It’s an adversarial relationship. Don’t forget that. It doesn’t mean we need to be enemies, but the sides are fundamentally opposite.
If customers start saying that companies need to make money, they’re forgetting their role.
Don’t do that. Be selfish. Don’t do the sellers’ job for them. They sure as fuck won’t return the favor.
We’ve been shifting from being customers to consumers. We don’t even find that word weird anymore, as if it’s completely natural to just consume without any critical thought.
Because corporations employ smart people whose entire job is to think of new ways how to fuck you over, you’re in an inherent disadvantage. So again, at least don’t make it easy.
Furthermore,
any service that you enjoy is worth paying for
Sure, but are you enjoying the service YT provides, or the content people make?
What happened with Reddit was a good example about the owner of infrastructure forgetting that it’s the users that make thing happen.
Reddit or YT without users are only empty shells, yet they think they own everything and can dictate everything.
People use adblocks because YT can’t be reasonable with their ads. They’re creating the problem and then selling you the solution. That’s what those smart people employed there do.
