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I have made a post with exactly this title in past.
Last time the consensus was "No preference, variety is good".

Since that time I have received messages telling me to stop using YT and post everything with a hooktube link.
And now I've got another person telling me to stop using Hooktube.

So I'd like to hear from anyone that has an opinion one way or the other.

My take is that YT is the worst thing in existence for online creators. By supporting alternatives, we create potential for a brighter the future without a YT monopoly. So I have been using YT for small creators, but Hook for all else.
I agree that the hook player is inferior to the YT player. But if the choice is between shitty player, or shitty company, I'm willing to take a hit on usability.

What do you think?

I have made a post with exactly this title in past. Last time the consensus was "No preference, variety is good". Since that time I have received messages telling me to stop using YT and post everything with a hooktube link. And now I've got another person telling me to stop using Hooktube. So I'd like to hear from anyone that has an opinion one way or the other. My take is that YT is the worst thing in existence for online creators. By supporting alternatives, we create potential for a brighter the future without a YT monopoly. So I have been using YT for small creators, but Hook for all else. I agree that the hook player is inferior to the YT player. But if the choice is between shitty player, or shitty company, I'm willing to take a hit on usability. What do you think?

23 comments

[–] PMYA 0 points (+1|-1)

Twitch is a completely different situation, and is also owned by a massive company that could afford to take losses if it came to that. Twitch's financial model would not translate to a video host.

There are a number of things that would prevent another host from replacing YouTube. The first is that nobody making a living from YouTube is going to stop using YouTube unless they find themselves in a situation where they can't make money anymore. That kind of happened a little bit with people moving to twitch over the past year or two.

The initial cost of setting up a video host makes it unlikely that people are going to try setting one up as a project. Companies that do have the resources to do it aren't going to bother, because YouTube is not a money maker.

The only way this ever happens is with some kind of distributed hosting, which nobody is going to give a fuck about because the majority of YouTube users are normies or children.

There is also the issue with content takedowns. If your startup gets an influx with a shit ton of stuff being uploaded, good luck pulling all of the porn and copyrighted content down.

It just seems as though we are not quite ready to have an alternative.

nobody making a living from YouTube is going to stop using YouTube unless they find themselves in a situation where they can't make money anymore. That kind of happened a little bit with people moving to twitch over the past year or two.

You're kinda making my argument for me here. By keeping the status quo, you lock the creators into a bad deal.
By pulling funding, you cause them to start looking elsewhere.

Creators are desperate to leave, many have been trying to find homes in related markets like Twitch, but there is nothing that really fits the role at the moment.
A few of the more successful creators (like Philip Defranco) are already beginning to setup alternative venues for their content.

The initial cost of setting up a video host

Is peanuts.
A small hosting site would be less than your phone bill. Costs will rapidly scale up as the content does. But so would income.
The biggest start-up costs would be marketing and employee wages.

Companies that do have the resources to do it aren't going to bother, because YouTube is not a money maker.

It's a price-point calculation. Right now any profitable services are not profitable enough to avoid being bought up and torpedoed.
Hopefully that balance will shift.

It just seems as though we are not quite ready to have an alternative.

That's more or less how I see it. So I'm gonna rock the boat until we are.

[–] PMYA 0 points (+1|-1)

Not linking to YouTube is not going to do anything to YouTube traffic or stop people from getting paid. It's just too big. The reason people moved to Twitch is YouTube changed the way they hand out the ad money. Without going into too much detail, gaming channels got completely shafted, so a lot of people just started streaming instead.

I do not view this as a replacement, and it is not a viable alternative for the vast majority of YouTube. There are very few channels that can or even want to shift to a live streaming format.

What do you think is wrong with YouTube?

I do not view this as a replacement, and it is not a viable alternative for the vast majority of YouTube.

If by 'this' you mean Hook, I agree. It's not an alternative.

very few channels that can or even want to shift to a live streaming format.

I agree again. But some tried out of desperation, because youtube was playing games. They were hard up for an alternative, but there were none. Some tried going to Twitch, but as you point out, Twitch is something else, so it didn't work out. I'm not talking about gaming channels.

What do you think is wrong with YouTube?

It is a monopoly that uses that position to stifle competition and have direct control over content creators. I want to see competition.

It's just too big.

That's what she said.
But seriously, do not speak like that. That's quitter talk.
How will you be remembered?