19 votes

The secret list of words causing demonetization by Youtube bots

13 comments

  1. xstresedg
    Link
    It's sad that YouTube has gone this direction and they keep deflecting it, but typical company chasing the giant dollar sign in the sky.

    It's sad that YouTube has gone this direction and they keep deflecting it, but typical company chasing the giant dollar sign in the sky.

    6 votes
  2. NeoTheFox
    Link
    That Rusty Cage song was great, haven't seen it coming

    That Rusty Cage song was great, haven't seen it coming

    4 votes
  3. [7]
    imperialismus
    (edited )
    Link
    It's interesting to see someone investigate empirically, although the frenetic editing put me off watching more than a few minutes. Usually when youtubers talk about demonetization, it comes...

    It's interesting to see someone investigate empirically, although the frenetic editing put me off watching more than a few minutes.

    Usually when youtubers talk about demonetization, it comes across as whining that they're not making as much money as they used to. Which is something that, frankly, I don't feel particularly invested in. I get that it sucks if your income goes down but being able to make a living off of making videos on the internet is more of a luxury than a basic human right. I just tune out. I come to YT to learn something or be entertained, not to listen to some guy who makes a living off of playing video games on screen complain about his salary while offering baseless speculation.

    But on a broader scale, YouTube is a massive part of the public conversation and dissemination of news and opinions, and if it exhibits some kind of systemic bias towards certain kinds of content then that's a real issue. It's just not particularly interesting when you frame it as (1) me, the straight white professional let's player is making less money now, based on (2) [insert halfbaked, completely non-empirical speculation]. This approach is far more compelling. Just a shame about the editing.

    Edit: This comment's tone turned out more hostile than I had intended. I didn't mean to belittle the real work of people who make their living off of YouTube; please read my follow-up comments for clarification if you got that impression. Mea culpa.

    4 votes
    1. [6]
      xstresedg
      Link Parent
      No job in the world is a basic human right. Every job you every receive is a privilege, in some way/shape/form. Regardless of how you see making videos on the internet, these people are generally...

      being able to make a living off of making videos on the internet is more of a luxury than a basic human right.

      No job in the world is a basic human right. Every job you every receive is a privilege, in some way/shape/form. Regardless of how you see making videos on the internet, these people are generally putting more than full time hours into the process.

      From writing and storyboarding/conceptualizing, to shooting and editing, many YouTubers pull 50 or 60 hours a week, many times on just one video for that week. If they're not, as an individual, pulling those hours, they employ a number of people for it.

      It's all for the entertainment of others. Entertainment, aka the arts, is hugely important to society as a whole. It's a means to de-stress. By saying that they have a luxury is heavily discounting what they are doing for people, and more importantly, what they do to make it happen and the toll it takes on them.

      9 votes
      1. [5]
        imperialismus
        (edited )
        Link Parent
        You misunderstand what I'm trying to say. I'm well aware that people who "make videos on the internet" for a living are putting in a lot of time and effort. I could have put in a whole section...

        You misunderstand what I'm trying to say. I'm well aware that people who "make videos on the internet" for a living are putting in a lot of time and effort. I could have put in a whole section about how I recognize this, but I had hoped that would be implied. Basically, what I'm saying is this: I, along with everyone else who is not a literal saint, have a limited capacity for empathy. I cannot bear the entire world's pain - it's simply not possible. Humans are constitutionally incapable of feeling everyone's pain at the same time. As such, my capacity to care deeply for unknown strangers' fates is generally occupied by the victims of preventable diseases, starvation, war, terrorist attacks, the war on drugs, serious mental illness, domestic abuse, rape, murder, and other Really Fucking Terrible Things™. In order to remain sane, we all need to dissociate from certain kinds of pain, at least some of the time.

        And so, when I browse the internet looking for a documentary about ancient Rome or a strategy guide to Europa Universalis 4, I'm simply not in the mood to hear somebody who turned their hobby and passion into a job complain that the pay isn't as good anymore. I acknowledge that this sucks for the people involved, and I don't mean to belittle the fact that they actually put in a lot of work into making that content. It's the sort of thing I would happily listen to a friend unload on me - because we're friends. But when I browse YT I'm usually looking to escape all that. I usually have exhausted the empathy reserves I have for people I don't personally know. I'm not friends with Joe Youtube, a random person I subscribed to because they posted cool videos of CS:GO or about medieval weaponry or crushing random objects with a hydraulic press, and so the threshold for me to be able to care is simply higher.

        And therefore, when a person I don't know posts a video that is simultaneously complaining about a job that is, in the grand scheme of things, pretty fucking peachy, and also not offering any concrete data on the matter, I find myself tuning out a lot. That's what I'm trying to say. I don't mean to imply that working the YT beat is necessarily a super easy and lazy job. Merely that in the grand scheme of things there are more important issues and my personal capacity for empathy towards people who are in no particular immediate danger of losing their lives, homes or health is usually pretty well exhausted by the time I get to such Youtube videos.

        3 votes
        1. [3]
          xstresedg
          Link Parent
          I don't believe I misunderstood what you said at all. You were the one who chose the words "whine" and "luxury". In my eyes, the way you came across was not someone who was empathetically...

          I don't believe I misunderstood what you said at all. You were the one who chose the words "whine" and "luxury". In my eyes, the way you came across was not someone who was empathetically exhausted and looking for relief, but as someone who was annoyed and bitter. You also end up coming across in that last paragraph in the same manner with the use of "pretty fucking peachy."

          You're not forced to watch the video, just move on and watch the things you enjoy. Let the YouTubers be transparent to their subscribers about the situation that they are in, or perceive that they are in. Just because their problems aren't drastic, doesn't mean their problems aren't important to them. First world problems, and all that.

          8 votes
          1. [2]
            imperialismus
            Link Parent
            I also said "comes across as". I actually struggled with how to word that comment in a way that properly conveyed my intentions, which was not to belittle YouTubers in general. I acknowledge that...

            I don't believe I misunderstood what you said at all. You were the one who chose the words "whine" and "luxury".

            I also said "comes across as". I actually struggled with how to word that comment in a way that properly conveyed my intentions, which was not to belittle YouTubers in general. I acknowledge that I probably failed in that, and I apologize for that impression. But I hope you can see that it was miscommunication, and not a malicious, bitter and hostile attitude that was to blame. It was not intended as such, and again, I reiterate that that wasn't my intention.

            You also end up coming across in that last paragraph in the same manner with the use of "pretty fucking peachy."

            I said "in the grand scheme of things, pretty fucking peachy". Meaning, in comparison to the previous things I had mentioned, namely, "preventable diseases, starvation, war, terrorist attacks, the war on drugs, serious mental illness, domestic abuse, rape, murder, and other Really Fucking Terrible Things™." I acknowledged that the tone of my comment was contrary to what I intended, and I'm sorry about that. Please don't read further malicious intentions into my words that aren't there.

            I'll put an edit into that comment to clarify things.

            5 votes
            1. xstresedg
              Link Parent
              It's all good. This is the point of conversation to clarify and verify. I'd rather come to you with how I'm perceiving your words than complain somewhere else about "ugh that imperialismus thinks...

              It's all good. This is the point of conversation to clarify and verify. I'd rather come to you with how I'm perceiving your words than complain somewhere else about "ugh that imperialismus thinks x, y, and z" without getting that clarification and better context. This also helps others who read your post who may see it the same as me, and they can see the communication here. It also applies vice versa, if someone sees your post and sees nothing wrong, but sees the communication and is maybe able to understand things from my point of view.

              Tone can be the bane of intent.

              4 votes
        2. 45930
          Link Parent
          I don't think you're wrong, but you don't seem to be considering the impact on your own life. When you look for a documentary about rome or an EU:IV playthrough video, you expect to find one. It's...

          I don't think you're wrong, but you don't seem to be considering the impact on your own life. When you look for a documentary about rome or an EU:IV playthrough video, you expect to find one. It's quite possible that in the near future, the only content available will be behind a paywall of some kind, or just not available at all, as creators are growing fed up with youtube. I, for one, really hate integrated ads in my videos. I sub to a couple people on twitch, and I support a couple of patreons, but I consume content from creators that I'm not directly supporting. I understand that they're doing what they need to do to make money, but I feel that the content suffers, and I'm less and less interested in the "free" content that's available.

          If you look at it selfishly, then for you to continue to have all of the content you want, youtube's inability to support the creators of that content is your problem. Either YT will support them, or you will be forced to, or it will just cease to exist.

          2 votes
  4. [2]
    cfabbro
    Link
    Changed the topic title to that of the video description, which isn't as clickbaity as the video title and is much more informative, and also added a bunch of relevant tags. Please let me know if...

    Changed the topic title to that of the video description, which isn't as clickbaity as the video title and is much more informative, and also added a bunch of relevant tags. Please let me know if these changes are acceptable.

    11 votes
  5. [2]
    json
    Link
    "New Zealand" Ok.

    "New Zealand"

    Ok.

    3 votes
    1. xstresedg
      Link Parent
      Their ancestors made their choice.

      Their ancestors made their choice.

      3 votes