New Content! To release or Not to Release, that is the Question?

[Jungle Explorer]

So we all know that creators are losing Adsense revenue as a result of YouTube trying to appease advertisers by tweaking their algorithms to exclude "Potentially Offensive Content" (POC) from ad placement. Unfortunately, POC is an extremely broad term with wide possibility of interpretation and can be anything from a political comment to a fishing video, depending on who is watching. As a result, just about every channel that is not the, "Fluffy Bunny Channel" has been hit hard by loss of Adsense revenue because of YouTube's knee jerk reaction trying to appease the Ad Gods.

So the question is, should we release new content during this crisis of injustice? Or, should we wait until all this mess clears out and youtube stops punishing good creators for what a tiny few did before releasing new content? Why release new content during a time when it is not going to make you any money because of no fault of your own?

 

[KatyAdelson]

Why release new content during a time when it is not going to make you any money because of no fault of your own?

I would say you should still release stuff because of your viewers. ^^ I don't think of my channel as the center of its viewers attention, but rather that they are the center of my attention... Maybe don't post something you invested a lot of money into and were hoping to get some sort of large return on, but I'd definitely try to post something nice for the viewers.

 

[ZavNation]

I agree with Katy, I do see your objective if some were doing YouTube for the revenue though. This is totally up to you though since people have different views personally I just do it to entertain others in the process. (revenue will just be a bonus)

 

[Farley Productions]

For me I'd still keep releasing my old content and ideas to my viewers because that is what they came to see when clicking on my channel again. But I also see where you're going with this. Because of the new Youtube TOS (Terms of Service) I tend to censor my videos a little more. Mainly to avoid going to overboard with jokes or phrases that no one would find funny or entertaining and more over just plain offensive. But it doesn't mean I won't keep posting up the same content.
I've found other ways to help bring in an additional income that will one day pay off. And if I can make some extra revenue from Youtube (even if it's only $50 a month for example) then it'll just be a nice bonus.

 

[Jungle Explorer]

Those are all valid points, but there is a much greater thing that is happening here than just the loss of income. We are dealing with a form of tyranny that is arising as a result of advertisers expressing their power of influence through the advertising dollar.

Do none of you feel that there was an injustice done to YouTube creators through this whole Fiasco? Does anyone not feel that they have lost their voice and importance.? The only voice that is being heard here is the voice of the advertiser. What about the voice of the creator? Are we meaning less here?

This whole thing is about more than just loss of Revenue, it is about a society that is deciding whether we want to allow advertisers to make law. Are we going to be allowed advertisers to decide what can be created and what can't be created? Are we going to allow Advertiser to censor free speech? If advertisers can control what can and cannot be said then why do we even have a constitution. They are subverting the whole system of law and Order and democracy.

Take the case of Bill O'Reilly for example. He was accused by some women of sexual harassment. Because of this advertisers began pulling their ad revenue from Fox News. So Fox got rid of O'Reilly. Now I don't personally like the guy that much, but the truth is, he was not convicted in a court of law of any wrongdoing. There was no evidence presented that would pass legal muster. He was not tried in front of a jury of his peers. He was not given a fair trial. But he was still punished and lost his job.

If we are going to allow advertisers to punish people without any trial and subvert the whole legal system by bypassing it by using their ad dollar to force what they considered to be Justice on people like YouTube creators that did nothing wrong, then we are headed for a complete total tyrannical slavery of a form, in which advertisers make law and force their will upon the people with no representation and no system of justice or legal procedure.

This is a serious issue and we as YouTube creators need to decide whether we want to submit to this form of tyranny or whether we need to join together and make a statement that our voice matters too, not just the voice of the advertisers.

 

[Scapestrato]

Still going on with my usual uploading schedule over here

 

[Xynudu]

I don't see the issue.

The policy has had absolutely no effect on my earnings, as I don't publish potentially "offensive or advertiser unfriendly" material.

If you want to publish that type of material you can still do it. YT aren't stopping you. But I don't see why advertisers should be forced to support those channels. It cuts both ways. It's your choice.

Just think back to the old YT days with NO advertising - people still quite happily put up content.

The YT policy might just clean up standards a bit, which wouldn't be a bad thing.

Cheers Rob

 

[Jungle Explorer]

Who is to decide what is "Potentially" offensive? I think this phrase is so ambiguous as to make it possible for anything to qualify. Personally, I am offended by pretty much everything on network TV these days, so does that mean we should shut it down? I don't produce anything that should offended anyone either, but we live in a society that is so diverse that I can't think of anything that you could produce that would not offend some people.

But the problem again is not about POC. The problem, is advertisers using their power to bypass the system of law and order to enforce their will upon on anyone or anything they don't agree with.

We have a system of laws to handle crime. We have a elected officials to pass laws if we feel something is unacceptable. We have a constitution that governs and grants us protected rights. This systems guarantees that a person has a right to due process and a fair trial. But these advertisers are punishing people without due process and a fair trial. The are bypassing our elected officials. They are ignoring our Constitution. They are causing financial injury to innocent creators that have not done anything wrong or illegal. Maybe it has not effected you, but do one google search on it and you will find that it has unjustly effected thousands of innocent creators.

If we as a society accept that big companies can use their power to extract their own form of vigilante justice on anyone they choose, then where will it end? We will become a society of Mob rule where the rich and influential, use their power to get subvert law and order. It is no different then an old western movie where the rich cattle ranchers own the little town and everyone lives in fear of them.