Watch Out Google, YouTubers Are Unionizing

Re:Watch Out Google, YouTubers Are Unionizing by bootlooped on Wednesday August 14, 2019 @01:24PM (#20697750)

There is probably a demographic of YouTube viewers who skew towards watching fresh content from their favorite content creators. YouTube would probably see reduced engagement from them due to a strike. I'm not sure what percent of total views they account for though.

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Re:Watch Out Google, YouTubers Are Unionizing by noxToken on Wednesday August 14, 2019 @01:52PM (#20698079)

Their algorithm change really killed the recommendation engine for me. I don't mind new content for channels I'm subscribed to. I don't mind similar content to channels I'm subscribed to. I don't like revisiting YouTube after 3, 5, and 10 days later to see the same 3 videos recommended at the top. I don't want to watch a single video of prolific channel and then have their uploads clog my feed.

I want to explore. I want stuff that's familiar, similar and also unrelated that I would potentially like. Their "related" stuff is always so similar that it falls into "more of the same". You used to be able to explore without entering search terms via trending and categories, but the same channels and types of videos dominate those avenues. If you don't like the type of stuff there, you'll spend a lot of time being disappointed for maybe one video that was alright.

It's ok to recommend more of the same, but give me a way to see stuff that isn't the same.

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Re:Watch Out Google, YouTubers Are Unionizing by ummonk on Wednesday August 14, 2019 @01:33PM (#20697852)

Yeah, I think if a substantial group of popular personalities all announced they were moving to a different site, they would be able to move a pretty large audience with them.

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Re:Watch Out Google, YouTubers Are Unionizing by notahacker on Wednesday August 14, 2019 @01:29PM (#20697800)

I'm not sure the reduced engagement would move the needle that much. I suspect many of the most loyal fans would reduce their (current and future) engagement with the striking YouTubers' channels rather than YouTube as a whole.

Since the purpose of a strike is fundamentally to prove the employer needs its employees [nearly] as much as the employees need their salary, a strike which proves the opposite would be really self-defeating...

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Re:Watch Out Google, YouTubers Are Unionizing by ebiester on Wednesday August 14, 2019 @01:44PM (#20697982)

However, viewers don't identify themselves with YouTube. If five channels I want to watch are off to another platform, I'll spend a half hour over there a week to watch them. It doesn't hurt me. Maybe I will still go to YouTube for other content.

The brand loyalty isn't there. It isn't that YouTube has anything magic other than quantity.

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Re:Watch Out Google, YouTubers Are Unionizing by bluedino on Wednesday August 14, 2019 @01:58PM (#20698149)

If that platform doesn't have an app on my TV it's going to hurt a little bit

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Re:Watch Out Google, YouTubers Are Unionizing by bluedino on Wednesday August 14, 2019 @01:28PM (#20697797)

That's my point. I spend at the very least an hour a day watching new content from ~50 channels.

But there is so much out there I could watch if they all got hit by a bus one day.

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Re:Watch Out Google, YouTubers Are Unionizing by BookmarkSaver on Wednesday August 14, 2019 @01:34PM (#20697864)

Definitely a large portion of the high-value advertising content, whatever the viewership is overall.

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