YouTube News I hate to say "I Told you So", but oh well, "I DID!"

[Xavier De Buck]

Good ol' Napster. Yeah, I remember those days. I still have several hundred songs I downloaded with it. Before anyone gets all in a huff, I only download songs that I had actually bought at some point in time on vinyl, cassette or CD. My viewpoint of the whole copyright issue is that, when I pay for media, I am paying for the right to enjoy it on whichever medium I choose.

Very honest and gentleman-like.

I was young & stupid - you don't want to know how much stuff I downloaded and what I did with it.

Good thing there was no social media nor cell phones cameras to establish proof!

 

[Xavier De Buck]

But it is no longer worth it if you are doing it to earn just compensation for work. That VALUE is no longer there, and it is 100% YT's. They have placed all their bets on Shorts, which all financial analysts have said are not good placements for quality ads. This is why so many top advertisers have pulled their ads from YT or renegotiated for a budget price. YT's decision to chase TikTok is hurting the long-form creators that built YT, plain and simple. Like myself, many have moved on to other platforms.

Could we say for argument-sake that the 5-10 second videos at TT are just a fad and won't be around for long, hereby having people lean back towards long(er)-form content on YT who is the King of the Hill, dwarfing any other alternative...

 

[The Jungle Explorer]

Could we say for argument-sake that the 5-10 second videos at TT are just a fad and won't be around for long, hereby having people lean back towards long(er)-form content on YT who is the King of the Hill, dwarfing any other alternative...

I most certainly think that, like too much candy, this digital mind-crack media that everyone is so fascinated with right now will eventually wear off. I know on my YT channel, everyone has suddenly become so nice to me and overly appreciative of my content. I see this as evidence that they are fed up with having YT shove shorts in their face all day long. But, as good as it feels to be appreciated, it boils down to simple economics. It does not pay the bills to create for YT anymore. There is no incentive for me to continue.

I have 18K subs and I am making less on YouTube now than I was three years ago with just a few thousand subs. I am still getting good views, but my CPM has dropped by 80%. Before July of 2021 (when YT created the Shorts Fund and tweaked the algo to push Shorts) I was earning on average $15 per 1000 views. Now, I earn about 3 to 4. I produce evergreen content so, my content is as popular today as when I first released it. I have videos that are seven years old that are still in my top ten.

Yes, one day, people will grow tired of Shorts. They will grow tired of being psychologically manipulated and led around by a carrot on a stick (which is what YT's algo is actually doing now.) They will realize that YT is telling them what to watch, not SERVING them what they want. This will happen one day. The issue is, YT is losing its bread-and-butter creators in the meantime. I have been with YT since 2005. Yes, from the very beginning. Longer than anyone else here. YT was built by people like me. Until YT started pushing shorts, they PROMOTED long-form content and encouraged creators to make longer and longer content. For years YT pushed creators to make longer videos. The promise was, "Make longer videos so you can earn more money". Now, they have done a 180 reversal and stabbed all those creators in the back and now say, "If you want views and to be suggested, you have to make SHORTS". So all that hard work that creators put in for years doing what YT told them to do, is now losing value daily. It is an outright betrayal.

YT might have been King of the Hill, and they could have still been King of the long-form content hill, but they stuck a stick of dynamite in that hill and blew it up, so they can try to climb the TikTok hill. I don't know what the future holds, but I have been on this earth for a while now and have observed the mistakes of the past. I think that if YT continues on this course, they will not only lose their battle for Shorts King, they will lose their position as King of the YouTube University crowd. Other platforms are fighting for this niche while YouTube leadership is doing everything in its power to dump it and crush those creators. There is no way they hold on to it if they do not start showing us some love.

Am I saying YT will come to an end? No. I am saying that it will never again be King. It will not even be a prince or duke. You simply cannot step on the people that built your business while other platforms are welcoming them with love and open arms and expect to win.

 

[The Jungle Explorer]

Very honest and gentleman-like.

I was young & stupid - you don't want to know how much stuff I downloaded and what I did with it.

Good thing there was no social media nor cell phones cameras to establish proof!

It sounds gentlemen-like today, but back in the 1990s, it was considered bad. People had the mentality that if you bought it on one medium (Tape, CD, etc) you could only consume it on that medium and that if you tried to move to something else, you were breaking the law. Everything had copy protection to keep you from copying it off that medium. Thank goodness people are not that dumb today. But back then I had many arguments trying to help people understand that when buying media, you were buying the right to consume it. The medium it came on was irrelevant. For if you were actually buying the medium, then you could absolutely own whatever was on it, and do whatever you wanted to with it. People back then could not understand me. Seems I have always understood things beyond what was tending and socially acceptable at the moment and felt like I was trying to hammer understanding into the heads of mules.

 

[Xavier De Buck]

I most certainly think that, like too much candy, this digital mind-crack media that everyone is so fascinated with right now will eventually wear off. I know on my YT channel, everyone has suddenly become so nice to me and overly appreciative of my content. I see this as evidence that they are fed up with having YT shove shorts in their face all day long. But, as good as it feels to be appreciated, it boils down to simple economics. It does not pay the bills to create for YT anymore. There is no incentive for me to continue.

I have 18K subs and I am making less on YouTube now than I was three years ago with just a few thousand subs. I am still getting good views, but my CPM has dropped by 80%. Before July of 2021 (when YT created the Shorts Fund and tweaked the algo to push Shorts) I was earning on average $15 per 1000 views. Now, I earn about 3 to 4. I produce evergreen content so, my content is as popular today as when I first released it. I have videos that are seven years old that are still in my top ten.

Yes, one day, people will grow tired of Shorts. They will grow tired of being psychologically manipulated and led around by a carrot on a stick (which is what YT's algo is actually doing now.) They will realize that YT is telling them what to watch, not SERVING them what they want. This will happen one day. The issue is, YT is losing its bread-and-butter creators in the meantime. I have been with YT since 2005. Yes, from the very beginning. Longer than anyone else here. YT was built by people like me. Until YT started pushing shorts, they PROMOTED long-form content and encouraged creators to make longer and longer content. For years YT pushed creators to make longer videos. The promise was, "Make longer videos so you can earn more money". Now, they have done a 180 reversal and stabbed all those creators in the back and now say, "If you want views and to be suggested, you have to make SHORTS". So all that hard work that creators put in for years doing what YT told them to do, is now losing value daily. It is an outright betrayal.

YT might have been King of the Hill, and they could have still been King of the long-form content hill, but they stuck a stick of dynamite in that hill and blew it up, so they can try to climb the TikTok hill. I don't know what the future holds, but I have been on this earth for a while now and have observed the mistakes of the past. I think that if YT continues on this course, they will not only lose their battle for Shorts King, they will lose their position as King of the YouTube University crowd. Other platforms are fighting for this niche while YouTube leadership is doing everything in its power to dump it and crush those creators. There is no way they hold on to it if they do not start showing us some love.

Am I saying YT will come to an end? No. I am saying that it will never again be King. It will not even be a prince or duke. You simply cannot step on the people that built your business while other platforms are welcoming them with love and open arms and expect to win.

Tough for me to comprehend that "all generations" will head for the short-form content format and leave long-form content behind?

Plus, it seems there's no real alternative outthere to post long-form content on other than YT?

 

[MattCommand1]

Tough for me to comprehend that "all generations" will head for the short-form content format and leave long-form content behind?

Plus, it seems there's no real alternative outthere to post long-form content on other than YT?

Long-form will always have a place simply because a lot of content cannot be compressed into such a short time.

I set up an account on DailyMotion. I had an account many years ago but it was deleted because my content was not of commercial grade. But it seems they now want to be an alternative to Youtube and even have a monetization program. I don't know the details though.

 

[The Jungle Explorer]

Long-form will always have a place simply because a lot of content cannot be compressed into such a short time.

I set up an account on DailyMotion. I had an account many years ago but it was deleted because my content was not of commercial grade. But it seems they now want to be an alternative to Youtube and even have a monetization program. I don't know the details though.

Exactly! Long-form will always wind the day over Short form, that is not even a question. The question is, will YouTube still be the best place for creators to share long-form content in the future after they stabbed us, beat, us, and abandon us in their lustful adulterous affair with TikTok-style short videos? Already, it is not worth it to create for YT anymore, and apparently, the YouTube staff could care less if LF creators are moving to other platforms. They seem to be utterly oblivious or impervious to us, just assuming that we are slaves and we have not other place to go. At the same time, other platforms are saying, "Come over here! We love you."

Tikok has already extended its videos to 10 minutes and there is the noise that they will soon expand that to 30 minutes. You would think YT would say, "Hey, TikTok is coming after our long-form creators. We had better start trying to keep them." But no, YT is holding the door open for us and saying "Good Riddance!"

 

[Xavier De Buck]

Tiktok has already extended its videos to 10 minutes and there is the noise that they will soon expand that to 30 minutes. You would think YT would say, "Hey, TikTok is coming after our long-form creators. We had better start trying to keep them." But no, YT is holding the door open for us and saying "Good Riddance!"

It'll be interesting to see these platforms adjust...

Instagram for one decided a number of months ago to get rid of its "maximize screen" button whereby landscape videos, which could easily be viewed on IG by tilting the camera, can no longer be viewed that way and are now stuck having a 1/3 black bar on top & 1/3 black bar at the bottom, resulting in a tiny screen to watch (needless to say, resulting in very low engagement). Felt like a big finger to all YT creators wanting to share their content on IG...

I vaguely recall seeing a landscape video on TikTok which was allowed to maximize screen for the viewer to watch it with the phone tilted. Until they get rid of that function and there you are stuck with your landscape videos with "nowhere to share"...

 

[MattCommand1]

It'll be interesting to see these platforms adjust...

Instagram for one decided a number of months ago to get rid of its "maximize screen" button whereby landscape videos, which could easily be viewed on IG by tilting the camera, can no longer be viewed that way and are now stuck having a 1/3 black bar on top & 1/3 black bar at the bottom, resulting in a tiny screen to watch (needless to say, resulting in very low engagement). Felt like a big finger to all YT creators wanting to share their content on IG...

I vaguely recall seeing a landscape video on TikTok which was allowed to maximize screen for the viewer to watch it with the phone tilted. Until they get rid of that function and there you are stuck with your landscape videos with "nowhere to share"...

I didn't know that both TT & IG platforms are discouraging the viewing of horizontal videos. That actually irritates me they would intentionally cripple the viewing capability.

It seems like many creators are going to be forced to choose sides or have two adopt two different workflows to create both horizontal and video videos.

 

[Xavier De Buck]

I didn't know that both TT & IG platforms are discouraging the viewing of horizontal videos. That actually irritates me they would intentionally cripple the viewing capability.

It seems like many creators are going to be forced to choose sides or have two adopt two different workflows to create both horizontal and video videos.

Tell me about it! Crippling views indeed! And why? Cuz they're forcing you to use their respective default video sizes...

PLUS, I've learnt that people are 'loyal' to their platform of choice - many of my IG followers will NOT go to my YT channel to watch some video that I've marketed as being EXCLUSIVELY viewable on YT....yet, they rather NOT see it and miss out than actually heading over to YT, so I had to adjust my strategy and after uploading the video on YT, I started doing the same on IG a week or so later for them to see it as well.

THEN...IG decided to change a few vital settings and now watching that YT landscape video on IG looks like **** so I stopped doing it, resulting in all my 100,000's of followers missing out on my videos which took me lots of sweat, tears & money to put together!

HOWEVER...I decided to do an IG LIVE video on-site which was a quicker version of the lengthy & more detailed YT video which I'd be releasing later after the edit, but at least lets me address my IG audience about the upcoming video without being punished by IG for using the wrong format.

NEXT UP... I found out that TikTok will be doing 10-20-30min videos soon (portrait-mode!) so I'm going to download my 10-15min IG LIVE videos and start posting those on TT and see what happens.

Kind of ironic that I started off doing IG LIVE videos, moved over to doing YT videos little over a year ago, got punished by IG for posting YT videos, which now pushes me to TT, the "shortest attention platform", to post my longer videos!

PFEW -- are you still with me here after all the hopping around?!

 

[MattCommand1]

PLUS, I've learnt that people are 'loyal' to their platform of choice - many of my IG followers will NOT go to my YT channel to watch some video that I've marketed as being EXCLUSIVELY viewable on YT....yet, they rather NOT see it and miss out than actually heading over to YT, so I had to adjust my strategy and after uploading the video on YT, I started doing the same on IG a week or so later for them to see it as well.

NEXT UP... I found out that TikTok will be doing 10-20-30min videos soon (portrait-mode!) so I'm going to download my 10-15min IG LIVE videos and start posting those on TT and see what happens.

Kind of ironic that I started off doing IG LIVE videos, moved over to doing YT videos little over a year ago, got punished by IG for posting YT videos, which now pushes me to TT, the "shortest attention platform", to post my longer videos!

Yes, many creators have said cross-platform efforts have very low-yield results. My anecdotal experience bears that out so I don't try anymore. I pretty much assume a TT or IG viewer will not watch my YT videos and vice-versa. Each audience lives on their preferred platform.

I could be wrong but I don't see how Tiktok will be able to get its viewers to tolerate 10-30 minute videos. Of course, there are a few outlier viewers who will watch anything a creator produces. But I am not convinced that after being trained to watch 1-3 minute videos, they will suddenly embrace the long-form videos.

Xavier, you are certainly a quick, nimble creator. I will leave it to you to report back.

I want people who have longer-attention spans because I am more likely to get community loyalty. If I had my way, all my videos would more than 15-minutes but I won't puff up videos with air, BS, or any content that I don't think is a good use of time.

 

[Xavier De Buck]

Yes, many creators have said cross-platform efforts have very low-yield results. My anecdotal experience bears that out so I don't try anymore. I pretty much assume a TT or IG viewer will not watch my YT videos and vice-versa. Each audience lives on their preferred platform.

I could be wrong but I don't see how Tiktok will be able to get its viewers to tolerate 10-30 minute videos. Of course, there are a few outlier viewers who will watch anything a creator produces. But I am not convinced that after being trained to watch 1-3 minute videos, they will suddenly embrace the long-form videos.

Xavier, you are certainly a quick, nimble creator. I will leave it to you to report back.

I want people who have longer-attention spans because I am more likely to get community loyalty. If I had my way, all my videos would more than 15-minutes but I won't puff up videos with air, BS, or any content that I don't think is a good use of time.

Thanks, Matt! If it were up to me, I would have stayed on one platform (IG), but certain events led me to start on YT. And TT

I honestly wish I could just post my content on one platform, but in order to grow, I MUST embrace branching out on other platforms.

I can’t honestly imagine the 10-15-20min videos doing well on TT, in this current world and specifically on THE platform where the attention span is getting shorter and shorter! (Seems the optimal video length is 7 seconds…how do I even get there from my 10-15min long form videos?!?)

BUT they must clearly have access to some vital data theyΓÇÖre basing on to make that strategic decision, so IΓÇÖll give them the benefit of the doubt and start REPURPOSING some of my IG video content on there (potentiallyYT format as well, but letΓÇÖs see how they deal with the above-mentioned maximising option on there)

So, YT is pushing for more shorter content on their platform, whilst TT is looking to get more longer form video on theirs? Who of these platforms is bucking the trend? Who is behind the trend?

 

[MattCommand1]

Thanks, Matt! If it were up to me, I would have stayed on one platform (IG), but certain events led me to start on YT. And TT

I understand, we have to adapt. I don't much care about either IG or TT but I do have accounts with some videos on them "just in case". I also got a taste of it for myself.

I honestly wish I could just post my content on one platform, but in order to grow, I MUST embrace branching out on other platforms.

I don't begrudge anyone for tackling as many platforms as they can. I will have to concede doing this until I get more leverage (reasonably priced video editing help is the thing I most want). I think people can grow in any number of ways. It depends on the definition of growth. I don't define my growth exclusively by SM or YT standards (not to say I wouldn't want or welcome it.)

I can’t honestly imagine the 10-15-20min videos doing well on TT, in this current world and specifically on THE platform where the attention span is getting shorter and shorter! (Seems the optimal video length is 7 seconds…how do I even get there from my 10-15min long form videos?!?)

A lot of successful creators do quite well with longer videos on YT (not necessarily IG or TT). It is all in what we seek and who we want to model. Many creators don't care about the 15-second crowd. I shared an article last year on super-long content that not a single person responded to. I did my part in sharing. It is not everyone's cup of tea but I was/am intrigued and have experimented. https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22967496/youtube-tiktok-creators

So, YT is pushing for more shorter content on their platform, whilst TT is looking to get more longer form video on theirs? Who is bucking the trend? Who is behind the trend?

I don't want to paint myself into a corner. I would not say I am going with or against the trend. I am doing what I want to pursue at the moment. My priorities and creative interests can (and has) changed and evolved over time.

 

[LeylaMango]

Well, now that I've published a short, I think they might be right. Just a feeling, considering one short now makes up about 1/5 of my views.

 

[Xavier De Buck]

Thanks, Matt! If it were up to me, I would have stayed on one platform (IG), but certain events led me to start on YT. And TT

I understand, we have to adapt. I don't much care about either IG or TT but I do have accounts with some videos on them "just in case". I also got a taste of it for myself.

I honestly wish I could just post my content on one platform, but in order to grow, I MUST embrace branching out on other platforms.

I don't begrudge anyone for tackling as many platforms as they can. I will have to concede doing this until I get more leverage (reasonably priced video editing help is the thing I most want). I think people can grow in any number of ways. It depends on the definition of growth. I don't define my growth exclusively by SM or YT standards (not to say I wouldn't want or welcome it.)

I can’t honestly imagine the 10-15-20min videos doing well on TT, in this current world and specifically on THE platform where the attention span is getting shorter and shorter! (Seems the optimal video length is 7 seconds…how do I even get there from my 10-15min long form videos?!?)

A lot of successful creators do quite well with longer videos on YT (not necessarily IG or TT). It is all in what we seek and who we want to model. Many creators don't care about the 15-second crowd. I shared an article last year on super-long content that not a single person responded to. I did my part in sharing. It is not everyone's cup of tea but I was/am intrigued and have experimented. https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22967496/youtube-tiktok-creators

So, YT is pushing for more shorter content on their platform, whilst TT is looking to get more longer form video on theirs? Who is bucking the trend? Who is behind the trend?

I don't want to paint myself into a corner. I would not say I am going with or against the trend. I am doing what I want to pursue at the moment. My priorities and creative interests can (and has) changed and evolved over time.

Thanks for your feedback, Matt.

Quick correction (I'll update my post as well) -- I was referring to WHO of the social media platforms is bucking the trend or behind the trend. Not what we individually were going to do...

 

[MediaMan]

Well, now that I've published a short, I think they might be right. Just a feeling, considering one short now makes up about 1/5 of my views.

yah...but keep this in mind for food for thought... if your channel will never be monetized for shorts (10 million shorts views in the last 90 days) you're taking away some potential eyeballs on your long form content. The theory is those shorts bring in subscribers so it's worth the risk. Your results of course will vary....wildly.

 

[LeylaMango]

yah...but keep this in mind for food for thought... if your channel will never be monetized for shorts (10 million shorts views in the last 90 days) you're taking away some potential eyeballs on your long form content. The theory is those shorts bring in subscribers so it's worth the risk. Your results of course will vary....wildly.

I'm very aware of this. At the rate I'm going, I'm probably not getting monetized at all.