A user who essentially costs YouTube money has very little say. The way to have a say is to concretely support the creators and channels you watch directly by giving them money.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
As content creators, we're benefitting YouTube every day. YouTube couldn't do what they do without us, so do not underestimate your power.
Let's make it so the more you invest in YouTube, the better deal YouTube gets for you.
The thing that has made YouTube so successful is that you can relate to the people you're watching to a much higher degree than to the people you see on TV.
We started about three years before YouTube existed, so we had to host all the videos on our own servers at a co-location facility. When we got so many hits on our first few videos, and we estimated our bandwidth bill was going to be about $12,000 a month, we knew that we had to establish a business model ASAP.
The great thing about YouTube is there are no gatekeepers. No one is waiting to tell you if you're good enough. It's just your audience.
By creating fantastic content and spending zero time on audience development, you are certain that you will not succeed on YouTube. You have to focus on audience development as much as you focus on creating content.
Unfortunately, I think YouTube is going down the route of rewarding the select few around content creation, be it with partnerships or with ways of funding original content.
Our users were one step ahead of us. They began using YouTube to share videos of all kinds. Their dogs, vacations, anything. We found this very interesting. We said, 'Why not let the users define what YouTube is all about?'
What we'd like to think of YouTube as is a part of Google with very overlapping goals and values. We're a fundamental part of the advertising business for Google.
I don't need YouTube's money. I have my own money.