YouTube
YouTube is the next MTV
YouTube is going the way of MTV. It’s like a once-great rock band that’s been taken over by corporations, sellouts, and grifters.
Ask yourself:
- Why do I keep getting YouTube Premium ads when I said no?
- Why can’t I see dislikes on videos?
- Why do I have to pay to watch videos in 4K?
And guess what? The free version of YouTube is silently testing 5 Ads, instead of 2, before your video starts. It’s slow-motion suicide:
“The year is 2044, I have to wait for 40 ads so I can watch a 5-second video”
YouTube has gotten worse because they are shit scared of appearing un-advertiasable. It’s become overrun by clickbait, low-quality content, censorship, and is no longer a place where starving artists and gumshoes can make a living.
We came to YouTube in search of creative freedom and a platform that would showcase our work to the world. And while it did that for a while, YouTube is now nothing better than television with extra steps.
I’m done.
Like Netflix to Blockbuster, we need a better solution.
It’s time to move on to other platforms that don’t suck. Here are five better alternatives to YouTube:
1. Twitter
“Splitting revenue with video creators like YouTube could be a huge unlock. We could literally give video creators 100% of their ad revenue up to $1m then do split.”
— Elon Musk Private Twitter Texts
The Elon Musk Twitter texts are an absolute masterclass in how things get done at the highest level. Do CEOs like Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey, Larry Ellison and Sam Bankman-Fried decide the fate of the world in corporate board rooms? No!
They do it over group chat, apparently.
If you haven’t read these messages, you’re missing out on the most important thing happening in tech right now.
It’s a war between old money and new money, with Twitter being the ultimate weapon. In a nutshell, Elon wants to make Twitter compete against YouTube. It’s fucking nuts.
Here’s what he has planned:
- Twitter Video: Elon wants a dedicated CONTENT CREATION team that publishes on Twitter first, and he plans on doing this by giving them the best % ad revenue split in the industry.
- Transparency Team: He wants to make the algorithm for these creators more understandable and fair.
- Mr. Beast: Elon wants to recruit Mr. Beast as a dedicated Twitter creator, and I’m assuming they have other creators in mind as well.
- Blockchain Twitter: You will have to pay tiny amounts of crypto to post a message on Twitter which will cut out the vast majority of spam and bots. He also wants a blockchain database.
- Pay For DMs: You will be able to DM who you want for .01 a DM (500,000 followers = $5,000) so if you want to promote a podcast or new book you can message a celeb.
- Massive Layoffs: Elon is considering cutting staff at Twitter from 8,000 to 3,000, and he’s reportedly planning on doing this on day one. Yikes.
I don’t care what you think about Elon, he clearly has some creative ideas on how to make Twitter the go-to platform for video creators.
If anything was ever going to compete against YouTube, it’s this.
2. TikTok
I’m on record saying TikTok is hot garbage rotting your kid’s brain like a hikikomori in a Japanese anime, but I’m also on record saying it’s the future of social media.
And that’s because TikTok has made a major shift towards long-form content.
In the past, TikTok was all about short, Vine-like videos that were popular with teenagers. But now TikTok is gaining a slightly more educational edge with videos that are up to 10 minutes long:
Some of the most popular videos on TikTok are now cooking tutorials, educational, makeup tips, and design advice. And even though the videos are still shot on a phone and often have terrible production value, they can be strangely compelling from time to time!
Still…
When all’s said and done, TikTok isn’t for me.
(And the Chinese corruption and censorship don’t help)
But they are stealing the younger demographic right out from under YouTube’s nose.
3. Rumble
“Everyone has a Lambo or a Ferrari, it’s easy.”
— Top G Andrew Tate
When YouTube banned Andrew Tate, they opened up the floodgates for a mass exodus of right-wing content creators and viewers. And while there are many platforms that have tried to capitalize on this, the most successful so far has been Rumble.
Rumble is a Canadian-based video-sharing website that has become something of a refuge for conservative content creators.
Steven Crowder is there, Russel Brand, Dan Bongino, heck, even the second oldest newspaper in America the New York Post who turned to the platform after a story was censored and happened to be accurate.
I’m not sure how I feel about a 100% partisan website, but video platforms are heading the way of the media. If you’re a rational thinker who wants a fuller picture you’ll have your left-wing platform (YouTube, NYT), right-wing (Rumble, WSJ) and centrist (Medium, Substack).
4. LBRY/Odysee
I find a more interesting mix of content on Odysee these days than on YouTube. LBRY is an open-source, decentralized protocol for storing and sharing digital content. It’s sort of like a cross between YouTube and BitTorrent.
This is the most popular picture in the comments on Odysse:
Odysse feels like the early days of YouTube: There’s community, upvotes and downvotes, and a mix of content that you won’t find anywhere else.
The one downside is that it’s not as user-friendly as YouTube (as most crypto solutions often are).
But it has potential.
5. There really isn’t a comparable platform yet
YouTube took an incalculable loss of money to create what they have.
They were able to do this because they were owned by Google, who could afford to lose a few billion dollars while they stole our data and gave us algorithms loco parentis.
YouTube is a datafarm.
It’s why “competitors” like Daily Motion and Vimeo never stood a chance.
Nothing besides a pre-established platform could ever give YouTube a run for its money — and that’s why I’m excited to see what Elon Musk and Co. do with Twitter Video. (Trademark?)
Final Thought
There really isn’t another comparable platform to YouTube as of now, but people are looking for one. It’s because there are obvious places where it fails:
- Shadow bans and opaque “algorithmic” decisions
- Unfair curation system that benefits celebrities and established brands
- Ads that are getting more and more intrusive
- Anti-competitive ad share practices
- Censorship that is beginning to affect left and right equally
If I’m playing Devil’s Advocate, there’s an old saying: “If you aren’t willing to line up and get fucked, there are a thousand more people who are.”
YouTube’s hegemony will not be an easy breakup.
Like Google, YouTube is a verb that everyone uses: “Just YouTube it!”
But YT is shooting itself in the foot with these asinine user policies; it’s disenfranchising the same users who made it what it is today.
This is all to say that competition will improve YouTube, not kill it.
And the sooner we find an alternative, the better.
Well, it seems that Twitter deal is once again on hold (or at least complicated once again). We’ll see. Love you and happy Friday! Tell me what you think in the comments.
YouTube is the next MTV
