Here's why the latest change will send a huge influx of creators to DTube.
I spent this morning as I always do -- coffee in hand, clicking through my various internet platforms. Now that I'm on a semi-official Social Media Hiatus (I still have to work!!), I spend more time than usual on Steemit, DTube and YouTube. I was checking my subscriptions on YouTube when I started seeing a ton of angry videos from the smaller creators I follow, all focused on this email they received from YouTube.
Here's the email, courtesy of How To With Kristen:
Today we are announcing changes to the YouTube Partner Program (YPP). While our goal remains to keep the YPP open to as many channels as possible, we recognize we need more safeguards in place to protect creator revenue across the YouTube ecosystem.
What's Changing
Under the new eligibility requirements announced today, your YouTube channel, I Am Kristin, is no longer eligible for monetization because it doesn’t meet the new threshold of 4,000 hours of watchtime within the past 12 months and 1,000 subscribers. As a result, your channel will lose access to all monetization tools and features associated with the YouTube Partner Program on February 20, 2018 unless you surpass this threshold in the next 30 days. Accordingly, this email serves as 30 days notice that your YouTube Partner Program terms are terminated.
One of YouTube’s core values is to provide anyone the opportunity to earn money from a thriving channel. Creators who haven’t yet reached this new threshold can continue to benefit from our Creator Academy, our Help Center, and all the resources on the Creator Site to grow their channels. Once your channel reaches the new threshold, it will be reviewed to make sure it adheres to our policies and guidelines, and if so, monetization will be re-enabled.
To be even considered for monetization on YouTube, you now have to have:
- 4,000 hours (240,000 minutes) of watch time WITHIN the past 12 months
- 1,000 subscribers
That's...pretty crazy right? It's easy to see why YouTube would want to be backing away from monetization, especially considering Logan Paul's most recent antics. But this feels like more than their usual censorship and regulations to me.
The YouTube hierarchy is already difficult enough to climb. You have to beat the algorithm, for one, which means you have to post practically every day to be noticed. Then there's the human tendency to just plain exclude newcomers.
I don't know about you, but that's not a battle I feel like taking on.
Luckily, thanks to people like @heimindanger, we have @dtube: the decentralized video platform that's giving the power of curation back to the audience. Not the advertisers. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a lot of small YouTube creators switching over in the next few weeks.
What do you think of this latest change from YouTube? Sound off in the comments below, I'd love to hear from you.
