May 25, 2009
YouTube to Hulu Tube?
As of late I've come across a lot of YouTube complaint videos. These vary from subtle criticisms to full blown conspiracy theories, but the one thing that they all reinforce is the fact that it's tough to get noticed on YouTube.
I've griped about this myself. I'm not a YouTube partner (someone who receives a commission of ad revenue for their video views) and I've never been featured on the site. My goal has never been to make money from YouTube necessarily, but I approached the site with the goal to stir up some attention to open doors for myself elsewhere. My own frustration is that while partners are featured and viral videos of random gags draw in millions of views, the majority of YouTube content creators literally become buried.
What has resulted is a hierarchy, where prominent YouTubers can dominant the main pages while others who are invested in creating quality content (such as myself) are relegated to use only their own self-promotion to even have a chance at attracting outside views. The problem is that YouTube is big. Too big. Without any randomization or a more diverse system of featuring videos, having a hit is becoming more about luck and being associated with other popular videos than it is about quality.
Part of the issue is that there's a lot of money to be made with a site as popular as YouTube. I can understand the desire to cash in from both advertisers and creators, but that also comes at a cost.
Personally, I have a lot to be happy about, and my YouTube experience has come with some of the rewards I had hoped it would outside of the site itself (like invites from festivals, etc.). It's a great tool that I use regularly, but the shift to cater to advertisers is hurting the little guy. Some would say it was only a matter of time, but I think the evolution of the site should include more middle room and less top page focus. What I'd really like to see is YouTube try and reform itself to highlight various creators more randomly - perhaps create spin-off versions of the site that highlight different types of content while still feeding into each other. Whether people chose to watch or not will come down to quality anyway, but being in a position to even receive views is still very difficult.
What are your thoughts on this?
I've posted one of the more popular complaint videos I found below. While it seems a bit sensationalist, there are several good points that highlight the evolution of YouTube from free video forum to advertising giant.
Hulu Tube - Phasing You Out of YouTube
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
LinkWithin
6 comments:
I'm actually quite happy with the system YouTube has established. The more marketable your videos are the more views they are going to get. This system can really be applied to anything, especially in the film industry. Films such as Spiderman and Batman make millions more than films such as the "The Boy with Striped Pajamas." If you want to devote yourself to making quality artistic films to impress a very very small audience then that's great but at the same time you can't expect high amounts of people to care about that work. For example, a quality website with an organized page might not get as much attention as a website that's more outgoing and less organized and well put together. It's become more about content than quality with everything these days and YouTube really carries out that philosophy accurately. If you're looking to gain attention with your movies or on YouTube you have to be willing to comply to this new standard of work.
I agree with you to a certain extent Alex, but the problem with complying to 'the new standard' is that it's the same old trick over and over.
I've made my cop out vids - a lip sync, etc. And those are fun and I'm not saying that YouTube should get rid of that stuff. However, with so much content it's difficult to find the raw good stuff under all the hype. It's why I think some specialized YouTube pages for more specific types of content might be beneficial - for example, a holiday page at Christmas with new videos, comedies about specific events, travel videos specifically about one location, vlogs only about pets, etc. By randomly featuring a specific theme or category it's not just about one video anymore, it's about a group.
With a site as big as YouTube they need to build the capacity to service more than just the big guys. And this requires modification from the top because the big guys can already cheat the system.
I have relegated you tube to simply being a tool in the arsenal of tools available. As a musician, I can upload a video an invite those I wish to view it. Forget everyone else. Beyond that it is of no use to me.
I think that's part of the trick. If YouTube won't change, the users will, and diversifying with other sites is good idea.
Hey Luke, good post, I have had issues with youtube and hate google in general, however they seem handy. I haven't really experienced what they have talked about but the worst that can happen is my views get cut in half, maybe that is not a bad thing. I feel that most of what is on youtube is crap. For guys like us it could attract the right people rather than the quantity. Honestly I don't post on there to try and gain fame, I post because its a tool to me for my own archiving, advertising and demos. I also feel that the video presents a very opinionated view on things and I'd urge people not to believe what they hear. If your really curious go out and use the product and then base your decision on that. Not every product is for everyone, the internet is the same, I remember when myspace was all the rage.
it's all interesting. that narrators voice was annoying, tho. reminded me of the guy from clerks.
Post a Comment