YouTube has been my platform of choice since I started documenting my adventures. I like long-form and thoughtfully produced content, and that’s what I strive to share with others.
My YouTube career had been smooth sailing for a while. After the release of my thousand mile train hop from Denver to Chicago, my channel blew up from a hundred subscribers to over ten thousand.
Shortly after the ten thousand subscriber mark, YouTube seemed to be closely monitoring my channel. Videos were demonetized, age restricted, and completely taken down in some cases. It got to the point where my new videos wouldn’t even last twelve hours before they were taken down and my channel was given a community guidelines strike.
For those of you who don’t know, strikes remove your video from YouTube permanently, disable your channel from uploading or making posts for a period of time, and accumulate to a point at which your entire channel is deleted. I received 2 strikes and lost 4 videos, one of which I had no backup. I was one strike away from losing my entire channel.
This stress is not something I can deal with on top of a full-time job and my life outside of work. I can’t put all my effort into something that’s likely to be deleted, taking my channel with it.
Fighting Back
After closely reading YouTube’s community guidelines and what rules were allegedly violated, I began to look for solutions to these takedowns. The most obvious solution was to follow the exceptions listed in their content policy, specifically the exception for educational, documentary, scientific, or artistic content (EDSA).
Their EDSA policy allows violations of the community guidelines if certain criteria are met, but every video is reviewed on a case-by-case basis. First, context must be shown, such as who is in the video, what they’re doing, and why they’re doing it. Second, condemnation of the dangerous act is required. Finally, discouragement to the viewer is required.
I checked all the EDSA boxes through a disclaimer put either at the beginning of the video or in the video description (for older videos). This, however, was not enough. Since the videos are reviewed case-by-case, you’re at the mercy of an underpaid worker who is heavily biased toward rejecting rather than approving, since his job is on the line. Since my channel is relatively small, YouTube does not give it the same consideration they give to larger channels who show dangerous activities as well, such as STORROR.
Unsurprisingly, all my appeals were rejected, and there is no recourse for a small creator like me.
Eroding Freedom
Even if my appeals were accepted and my content stayed on YouTube, their community guidelines are getting more and more restrictive. Compared to other platforms I don’t use, such as TikTok, YouTube is less restrictive, but they’re undoubtably headed in the same direction.
It’s gotten to the point where many of the videos I watch as a viewer gross me out because of all the euphemisms and obvious hurdles the creator has to hop through in order not to lose monetization or even the existence of their video on the platform.
This brings to light the growing issue of information monopolies. Yes, the internet is free, and anyone can throw up a server with whatever they want on it, but the reality is that people use only a small handful of social media sites. Those platforms took years of development and resources to create, and speaking strictly from a technical perspective, they can do it better than anyone else.
These platforms are heavily funded by advertisers and other parties who are interested in your data. That’s an issue on its own, but it’s clear to see that this revenue model is harmful both to creators and to viewers. It’s not sustainable and will result in a few people having a lot of influence, all of whom will be influenced themselves by the platform operators.
How Can We Fix This?
Decentralization.
People with power will always take advantage of it to screw people over. It might take time, but it will happen.
I’m not an expert on blockchains, but I think it’s worth looking into blockchains such as DeSo for creating a free social media platform. The idea is to distribute information among independent computers (nodes) owned by individuals so that no single entity can modify or censor our data.
These technologies are in their experimental phase and have not yet gone mainstream. I think they have a lot of potential, though, and each new platform is finding more efficient ways to sustain itself. The biggest source of friction will probably be the general public’s unfamiliarity with crypto, but maybe that will eventually change with time.
What’s Next for My Channel
I don’t know yet. If YouTube relaxes their content policies, I might go back to them. If a decentralized video sharing site shows potential, I might go to it as well. I don’t see myself joining Rumble because of the video quality and limited reach for my desired audience. I also don’t see myself using Vimeo because of its limited reach and revenue model in which the creator pays. I only have a few subscribers on Patreon, and there isn’t really a way to explore new creators on the site, so Patreon alone isn’t a viable alternative.
I’ll keep my options open and jump on whatever seems promising, but YouTube isn’t going to work long-term, neither for me nor for dozens of other creators who make similar content.
Thanks for reading, and I’ll keep you updated.
