this post was submitted on 24 Dec 2025
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YouTube is Awful. Please use YouTube, though. (thelibre.news)
submitted 3 days ago by chasteinsect@programming.dev to c/Technology@programming.dev
16 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Found this post at a great time where I'm slowly having a falling out with youtube and trying to use less of it. Not necessarily because "youtube is evil" but I'm starting to appreciate the beauty and minimalism of just written articles and blog posts. I enjoy going through them at my own pace and I don't need to look at a guy for him to read what could have been a blog post to me or watch those stock clips while he reads it. This is especially true for code content. Obviously I'm talking about a small subset of all videos on youtube (tech/news content ish).

I was actually a long term subscriber to youtube premium but I cancelled maybe a month ago. I was hesitant for a long time because I thought the value I got from it was so great that it was worth paying, especially since youtube splits the premium revenue 40/60 or 50/50 with creators. On top of that I also had youtube music. It felt wrong to do all these mental gymnastics and go the adblock route because of the creators. The author in the post touches on this point.

But as I started getting into Lemmy and reading blog posts more and more (also started reading a book), I understood that a lot of that perceived value was because that's the only thing I used and knew. There's a whole world out there and since then I've slowly started minimizing my time on it. Again, not because it's bad but just because I feel for a lot of content there are other things out there. It's a choice. Learning to enjoy reading a light book vs watching Youtube before bed, for example.

I do think there's some dishonesty and delusion going on in a lot of people's minds when it comes to adblockers. They use adblock and think they're somehow doing the right thing and they're so righteous about it, yet they continue watching Youtube and never donate to any creators. I have a few friends like that.

Since I don't spend that much time on it anymore, honestly I just watch the ads. Not as big of a deal as I once thought, and they make me want to spend even less time on the platform. I used to also use it for white noise or background music. Now I just use mynoise.net -great platform, would recommend.

Just a random stream of thoughts on my youtube experience.

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[–] lvxferre@mander.xyz 19 points 3 days ago (3 children)

All of this is to say: if you suggest that content creators should not use YouTube, you're effectively saying that their videos should not exist, because there is no YouTube competitor to switch to. It's a monopoly.

Recently I was ranting about this exact topic. I'll link the rant here, but to keep it short:

I don't blame content creators for publishing their videos in YouTube. I do blame them for doing so exclusively: YouTube (and Google, and GAFAM, and Big Tech...) is simply not trustable, it's insane for a content creator to rely solely on that platform.

And additionally, I do think people publishing their videos exclusively to YT are partially to blame for this very monopoly that harms both people who create and consume those videos.

[–] RobotToaster@mander.xyz 10 points 3 days ago (3 children)

The problem is videographers get blamed whatever platform they use.

Rumble/Bitchute, you're bad because there are righties on there.

Odysee/LBRY: you're bad because of crypto

Peertube: you're bad because nobody used that

What's left? Uploading political essays to pornhub?

IMO, With the current state of things, the best option is to just use as many platforms as possible and hope for the best.

[–] lvxferre@mander.xyz 7 points 3 days ago

IMO, With the current state of things, the best option is to just use as many platforms as possible and hope for the best.

Bingo. It might be a bit annoying to publish the same video across multiple platforms, but when shit hits the fan in one, both the creator and consumers say "glad there was a copy elsewhere".

[–] atro_city@fedia.io 5 points 3 days ago

That's the spirit! They'll hate you whatever you do, so just upload everywhere.

[–] Endymion_Mallorn@kbin.melroy.org 3 points 3 days ago

Dailymotion still exists, they could upload there in addition to YouTube.

[–] chasteinsect@programming.dev 8 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I had the same thought. Why not diversify by uploading videos simultaneously to platforms like PeerTube or creating written versions of the content? The author of libre.news does this, and I love it.

Obviously, alternative platforms won't have much impact initially and will likely get zero views at first. However, I believe that if more creators adopted this approach, audiences would gradually catch on and these platforms could grow into something bigger.

As I mentioned, I'm at a point in my life where I prefer reading blog posts over watching video content. It's great that this channel provides both formats, but most creators don't.

[–] lvxferre@mander.xyz 5 points 3 days ago

Specifically regarding written versions of the content, it's possible they get an initial audience quite fast. Plenty people prefer video, but "plenty" isn't "everyone"; there's people like me who'd rather read than watch a tutorial 10 times out of 10.

[–] karashta@piefed.social 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I feel this same way. There's not really a competitor that I can see. I want to like peertube but there's just not much content and the only way for a creator to get money from it is just donations? 

I'm not trying to be overtly critical or anything, but I'm with the rest of you who just want an alternative. I'd pay a subscription if it felt worth it. (I have twitch turbo for this reason on twitch). Of course, I'm poor as hell so it's like... I can only subscribe to so many things and none of the ones I've seen seem worth it.

[–] BennyTheExplorer@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago

I mean, there is Nebula, wich seems to be the exact thing you are looking. There are also a mit of great creators on there and if you get a discount (pretty mich every crestor on there has a 40% off discount link), you get it from 30 dollars a month.

[–] frunch@lemmy.world 7 points 3 days ago (5 children)

Do content creators need to be paid? I guess i just never thought of making YouTube videos as a viable career path. Donations? Fine. But i really think so much of the problem with a giant social-media/video site like YouTube is that when mass creation is monetarily incentivized, it can create a whole industry for garbage videos designed to generate clicks to put money in some bottom-feeders bank accounts. I'm sure it also helps some people out who have no better way of making money or perhaps as much money, so it's not all bad at least.

Maybe I'm just getting too old, but i remember when YouTube first came around and there wasn't a heavy emphasis on self-promotion for ad revenue. The world was a different place then too, and tech was a lot less accessible. Less viewers, less videos, less capabilities for making/editing them as well. I don't know, i just have a hard time justifying the YouTuber as a legitimate occupation. I love some of the creators out there, but i think the ones i enjoy most are doing it because they enjoy making the videos in the first place. I've actually considered making some repair videos to share some of my knowledge on stuff, but the incentive has never been about making any money. Perhaps i would change my tune if i made a video that made me some. I suppose the successful YouTuber has been added to the list of the youths' aspirations alongside the famous musician or athlete or movie star that my generation always dreamed of becoming.

I guess it's just another instance of the inevitability that seems to loom over every aspect of our lives: anything that becomes popular will eventually be turned into a vehicle for advertisement. 🫠

[–] onlinepersona@programming.dev 4 points 2 days ago 

When content creators stay on youtube
opinionated freeloaders:

[–] MrQuallzin@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago

Entertainers have gone through many names and mediums through history, and just because technology has come to a point where the masses can throw garbage at the wall doesn't mean the entertainers shouldn't be paid.

It's like complaining that musicians shouldn't be paid since the record store is full of crap you don't like.

[–] lvxferre@mander.xyz 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I do think people should be mildly encouraged to make and share videos as a hobby, instead of a profession. Or as something you do because you want to contribute with society, much like when you edit a Wikipedia article.

However, there's a limit on what you get from unpaid hobbyists and contributors; they still need a job, so they'll have less time to create the content; and the fact they're being paid also encourages them to polish the content a bit better.

That's doubly true for videos because making videos takes a bloody lot of effort. For example, some LPers out there spend ~12h a day playing a game, then a few more hours editing the video, just to share something that is 30~60min long. The result is extremely enjoyable, in a way you wouldn't get if the LPer was just doing it as a hobby.

So I think the biggest question is not if this should be a paid job or not. It's more like, "since some will take it as a job, what's the best way to make sure they get paid?". Currently those people are basically declaring fealty to the the e-landlords of the advertisement mafia, not because they want to do so but because the alternatives out there (like subscribestar, patreon [yet another mafia] etc.) are barely viable for this.

[–] stray@pawb.social 2 points 2 days ago

Yes, people who do labor deserve monetary compensation. We live in capitalism and people need to pay rent and buy groceries.

[–] Applesause@mander.xyz 3 points 3 days ago

you dont get to enclose the commons and then tell me what a piece of shit i am for refusing to pay rent and hopping the fence.

[–] entwine@programming.dev 0 points 3 days ago

I don't have a lot of sympathy for youtube creators who complain about this. Why aren't there competitors to youtube? Because you're using youtube, and putting your videos on youtube. Instead of asking people to "like and subscribe" or waste money on a VPN or whatever, ask them to follow your peertube/odyssey/etc.

No, it isn't easy to do this. Youtube is a monopolist and a harmful presence on the internet (and, IMO, society at large). But if you just want to give up and keep using it, I'm going to keep blocking ads, and keep teaching people how to do that. If your dream of being a full time video creator fails, that's on you for hitching your wagon to the wrong horse. I'm not going to lose sleep over it.

With that said, I wonder if the solution to the youtube monopoly isn't simply RSS? Afaik that's basically how podcasts work, and there is no youtube-style monopoly for podcasts. Podcasts have ads and make a lot of money, so it's clearly viable.