Casey Neistat calls out YouTube

[Yachts For Sale]

I really like some of his suggestions, especially the idea that YouTube should give creators tools that allow them to sell their own advertising. It's good to know that somebody close to the top at YT is making these kind of suggestions.

I don't agree with his analogy of an employee having to take an 80% pay cut though. Employees enter a contract that obliges the employer to pay a fixed sum in exchange for a fixed job being carried out. YouTube creators are NOT employees, we are all (to a greater or lesser extent) creative entrepreneurs who use YouTube as a platform to display our wares. If we find that our videos are being demonetised then we need to look to ourselves before we start to blame the platform.

In the case of Casey's demonetised video it is clear that a mistake was made by the algorithm, and nobody would disagree that this is a serious problem that needs to be resolved. For many channels though videos are demonetised due to bad language or inappropriate content. Creators who complain about this and yet continue to publish those kind of videos are just naive about the most basic rules of business. We all have the right to free speech, and advertisers have the right to withdraw their ads whenever they want. The sword cuts both ways.

The most significant thing that I took away from this video is that the problem is even more serious than I had thought. Casey is quite right when he said that the community is the one element that YouTube has to differentiate it from everybody else, it is their body armour to protect them against the competition. The community is very dissatisfied at the moment, and as much as I personally don't think that dissatisfaction is justified, it makes no difference what I think... The powers that be need to listen to their community and do something to keep them happy.

 

[PictureFIT]

I don't agree with his analogy of an employee having to take an 80% day cut though. Employees enter a contract that obliges the employer to pay a fixed sum in exchange for a fixed job being carried out. YouTube creators are NOT employees, we are all (to a greater or lesser extent) creative entrepreneurs who use YouTube as a platform to display our wares. If we find that our videos are being demonetised then we need to look to ourselves before we start to blame the platform.

We certainly shouldn't blame the platform, but if we decide to use the platform and it gives us guidelines and rules we have to follow in order to expect a certain payout, then we shouldn't be penalized when we do everything right. That's the problem. Probably not the same as employer/employee relationship. Maybe more like you given a booth at a very popular expo and then the expo coordinators decided to block off your booth and not allow people to buy your products when you've done nothing wrong. I believe that's where Casey was going with the analogy. Obviously, it's not a perfect fit, but the concept is the same: You do everything right but you get paid less.

Agree with your other points.

 

[Yachts For Sale]

Probably not the same as employer/employee relationship. Maybe more like you given a booth at a very popular expo and then the expo coordinators decided to block off your booth and not allow people to buy your products when you've done nothing wrong.

That's an excellent analogy.
I guess we are at the point now that a lot of exhibitors are complaining to the organisers and evaluating whether it's even worth exhibiting at this venue any more.