YouTube launched in 2005 as a video sharing platform, and was acquired by Google (now Alphabet) in 2006. It has built an entire community of creators that run channels dedicated to topics like gaming, tech reviews, and beauty. It also houses news videos and entertainment such as music videos, movie trailers, and clips from late-night TV shows.
YouTube’s rapid growth has not been without problems. YouTubers typically make money from ads that run in front of their videos, but if they break the platform’s rules, their channels and videos can be demonetized. Executives and moderators have worked to combat harassment, misinformation, terrorist propaganda, hate content, and other abuse.
The Verge runs two YouTube channels, The Verge and Verge Science.
As Google reengineers its cost base, The Information reports that the gold “Play Button” plaque handed out for reaching one million subscribers is now around 30 percent smaller, weighing just one pound compared to the previous four pounds. YouTube says the lighter and smaller awards resulted in a “more sustainable design.”
Amazon Prime has added every episode of The Legend of Vox Machina to YouTube, with all 24 episodes set to be removed again once season three launches on October 3rd.
That could bring some new fans to the series, and is a great way to speedrun the original 440+ hour Critical Role D&D campaign it’s based on.
The tool, announced last year, is now available to all Premium subscribers in the US on Android, the company says. This doesn’t personally sound like something I’d use, but it’s there if you want it.
The lawsuit, which is seeking class-action status, alleges “multiple causes of action related to the chronic mistreatment of and neglect suffered by participants” of the show, Variety reports.
In August, The New York Times reported that conditions on the show, Beast Games, have been pretty bad.
It’s a new way for viewers to share the stuff they really like — and for creators to grow on an increasingly busy platform.
You can grab your QR code from the YouTube app. Big year for QR codes!
A reader asked the Denver Post why it hadn’t covered a grisly and salacious 2014 murder in Littleton, CO. It hadn’t, because the crime never happened.
But there it is on YouTube and Spotify, accumulating millions of views with seemingly AI-generated voiceovers and faces. True crime fans say they reported the videos months ago after YouTube recommended them, but they aren’t being removed.
I have said before, and still firmly believe, that Every Frame a Painting is the best YouTube series of all time. And now, after eight years of silence, it’s back! (Apparently the folks at XOXO this weekend got a preview of the duo’s short film, too, which fills me jealousy.)
BRB watching all the EFAP videos again for the 9,326th time.
It’s year two for NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube, and it appears there’s not a ton of new stuff, but the combination of Yahoo Fantasy integration and a build-your-own-multiview feature is right up my alley. Sunday Ticket is expensive, but might be worth it.
Oh, and PSA: do not under any circumstances subscribe through the App Store. That price is highway robbery.
[YouTube Official Blog]
If you often fall asleep while watching a video, you can try YouTube Premium’s experimental sleep timer through September 2nd. It pauses your content after a certain amount of time, so that way autoplay doesn’t eat up all your internet data for the month.
Invitations are going out for Google’s community-led pilot to moderate misinformation by letting users append highly-rated notes to confusing or inaccurate videos. Per 9to5Google, you can sign up to participate on mobile in the US by clicking your profile pic in the app, then selecting “help inform viewers” under general settings.
Let us know in the comments if you’re seeing notes on videos.
From Car Throttle to Donut, countless YouTube creators are fleeing. But is this a new trend or a tale as old as venture capital?
While the platform currently cuts away from live content to display video ads, YouTube is now experimenting with live mid-rolls that will instead launch and run alongside the broadcast in Picture-in-Picture mode.
That should be less disruptive for viewers, and may also dissuade them from installing adblockers to avoid paying for YouTube’s ad-free premium service — something YouTube has been cracking down on.
[support.google.com]
The statement was included in a larger Associated Press report about the controversies MrBeast is dealing with:
“When Jimmy was a teenager he acted like many kids and used inappropriate language while trying to be funny,” a spokesperson for the YouTuber said in a statement to The Associated Press. “Over the years he has repeatedly apologized and has learned that increasing influence comes with increased responsibility to be more aware and more sensitive to the power of language. After making some bad jokes and other mistakes when he was younger, as an adult he has focused on engaging with the MrBeast community to work together on making a positive impact around the world.”
The change, which goes into effect as of today, gives creators seven days to appeal a suspension for “certain policy violations” before that suspension goes into effect, according to “Rob” on the YouTube team.
“This won’t be available for all suspensions to start with, but we hope to expand this over time,” Rob says.
[support.google.com]
Splice got itself in some trouble a couple weeks ago when it issued a YouTube copyright strike against Krystle Delgado, a music attorney who showed one of the company’s sample licenses on screen. Splice wised up and retracted the strike last week, CEO Kakul Srivastava tell me. “We fundamentally support the rights of creators to express themselves – even if we disagree,” she wrote in an email to Delgado.
For her part, Delgado confirmed that the strike was indeed retracted by YouTube, and tells me that she wishes she could have spoken to to Srivastava directly before Splice’s lawyers escalated the situation.
As always, I will remind everyone that copyright law is the only functional speech regulation on the internet, and using it to chill speech or block criticism never tends to go well!
