So its no surprise that we all watch youtube videos and maybe watch at least 10 youtube videos a week? We do watch at least 3 in class usually. Recently, I have been getting so mad when there is an ad before viewing my video but youtube is getting smart. I wanted to know how much money people or advertisers make off these youtube videos. I googled it (of course, cause we google everything we don’t know these days) and found this article. It is dated since the article was in the New York Times in 2008 but this just goes to show that this started awhile back when people might not have even know how to make money off youtube.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/11/business/media/11youtube.html
After reading this article, some people may want to quite their job. Seriously, one guy was making almost $20,000 a month off his youtube video. Granted it does take time to get a fan base and realize what is quality content but is this serious? I am also recently hearing in the news that you may have to pay to have a youtube account but then you can make money off your videos. I am interested to see if this is true and to see if this changes the whole dynamic of youtube. Any thoughts?
You are certainly not the first person to be disturbed by the suggestion that YouTube should be turned into a pay site. Part of the reason for this seemingly universal response is that YouTube has been a site that is dedicated to the creation, sharing, and responding to other people. No matter what the content that we may be viewing (think back to the various college application videos that we looked at in class a couple of weeks ago), YouTube is understood as a place on the Web where people can share the videos that they have created (no matter how unprofessional they may be), as well as being a place where people can see what other people are making. In this sense, YouTube may be the Internet equivalent of a fair trade space – where people trade their videos for the time that viewers spend watching their videos. If this is the case, than attempts to transform the site into yet another profit generating venture would seem to result in a negative backlash from those who have participated in this digital free exchange.
I find it completely disturbing that they would be willing to make YouTube a pay site. Not everybody gets a million and five views on every single video and it’d make it all the more stressful to even start making videos.
I once tried making YouTube videos to help me get a head start in the beauty industry, and even though I tend to be a confident and determined person, it was very nerve wracking to sit there and film yourself and then even harder trying to edit the video itself. The worst part is waiting for views and comments; I received some negative ones and they really hurt even though I didn’t know who these people could have been. If YouTube were to become a pay site, I feel like a lot of users would just leave altogether for fear of wasting their money and in turn being “rejected” or un-viewed.
I can see how making money off videos can be a plus, but I would be so upset if they made youtube a pay site! I use youtube at least once a day (if not more) and think that it is a great way for people of all ages to express themselves. I remember a few months back when Wikipedia said that they may start charging people to use their website which was even more upsetting! One of the greatest appeals of sites like youtube and Wikipedia is that it is free and easy to use; by making consumers pay for their websites I personally believe that they would end up losing many viewers.
I actually remember reading that specific article a couple years ago. Back then I really had no clue you could make money off of youtube until I read the article. I was pretty amazed that people were making a living off of youtube. While there are a lot of successful people who have been able to accomplish an income through youtube there are cases of ” one hit wonders”. Where a certain user makes a certain video that goes viral quickly, yet the user fails to make another video have the same success. There was one case I read about where a man quit his job to purse a you tube career after becoming a partner with youtube yet failed to make successful videos at a consistent rate. It is for sure a skill and talent to be successful in you tube. A youtube career can also be stressful, especially when the user has to keep up a consistency of videos with quality to them every week to keep being a partner with youtube. For example a very well known youtube user Kain Carter who does comedy skits and has reached over 100 million views on youtube broke down virally. He posted a video about how fame through youtube has hurt his relationships with family and has made him a machine in that he works to the point where he doesn’t eat for days working on his youtube videos.
I, too, find myself frustrated when an ad comes up before the YouTube video I am about to watch. I think that it would be unfair for YouTube to pay some people and not pay others. The internet is comprised of people’s opinions and feelings, whether it be professional or not. It’s what YOU make it. As stated above, not every YouTube video gains millions of views. But, does that make it any less of a video than one that does gain many views? Is Rebecca Black’s “Friday” any better than a How-To on making oragami? …I’d watch the oragami video over “Friday” any day, as I’m sure everyone else would, as well.
As for charging people to use YouTube…I think that idea would have a negative impact on the website. It is a huge website with lots to offer, and I think the originality and purpose would die if it turns into a paid site.