For some time, I have suspected that YouTube has installed a code that results in the theft of video views for vlogs on my Zennie62 YouTube Channel. I have over 35,000 subscribers and videos that in the recent past (early 2016) received views that were commensurate with the popularity of a search topic, suddenly did not get them, starting around July of 2016.
YouTube had this “rule” that was, and still is, preached to what are now called “YouTube Creators” rather than “YouTube Partners” (why this designation changed, I do not know) and that was to focus on daily vlogs that were “topical” and followed the “trending topics” of the day. In fact, that is still true today. Trouble is, when I do this, I’m not rewarded for it in views.
When I talk about this, some non-thinking types say “just make quality content” – well, I do. Quality is in the eye of the beholder, and it’s really dishonest to get folks wrapped up in a ‘no-win’ scenario where they make videos, and then when one does get seen the observer says “well, that was quality content.”
Well, it was my cat jumping on a large truck from the ground up. If that’s quality content, then something’s wrong – it’s a cat jumping high in the air!
But, I digress.
On the day of the Total Solar Eclipse, I made this livestream of the event:
It was a really intense two hours and we got the partial eclipse here, as the video shows. But while I was live-vlogging, my view count was low – even as other livestreams of the same basic event had thousands of views. So, I figured maybe I just had one of those vlogs that was not in the “zone of totality,” as they call it. That’s where the Earth got real dark like night.
Then, one of my viewers Barry Lee happened to take this screenshot of my livevlog, and sent it to me via Twitter direct message. The photo you see reports that I had over 30,000 views! I was gobsmacked. Wow.
“30,838 watching now” – that’s what the system reported. You can see it. Right there.
That’s what I expected my dashboard to report. I never saw that number. And even now, I do not see that at all.
See…
Something is wrong, and I feel YouTube is not doing right by me here.
For some reason, YouTube only wants certain types of people to succeed on the site – not like the recent past at all. Remember, YouTube is not even 15 years old in total – it was launched in 2005.
I joined in April of 2006. I do classic vlogging – not staged shows – get the camcorder and show your life, and report the news from your point of view. That is what I do.
But all I see of late, like the last two years, are images of just young people – that’s it. It’s like Logan’s Run, the movie where if you were 30 years old, you were terminated. That’s how YouTube acts, today. Age discrimination? Yes. Completely.
I think YouTube has some code that dials in your channel’s information on how old you are or some other indicator, and retards your videos from the views they get. I really believe that. All the better to discourage you from making more vlogs.
Does YouTube care that I’m on the White House Press List? No, and I have proof of that. Democratic National Convention coverage? YouTube turns a blind eye. NFL Draft? YouTube pays no attention. San Diego Comic Con Press List? YouTube could give a care. The old, old YouTube under Chad Hurley would have cared – not this version.
But then Chad was the founder.
Now, YouTube might come up with a garbage argument about “quality views” but I look at it this way: if someone came to my channel and stayed long enough to get information on what I’m doing, that’s a quality view, and because they made a decision based on what they saw: they either stayed longer or left. I don’t care if it was for a second, it was an impression. I should be compensated for that.
YouTube has reached a period where it’s doing a lot of evil with respect to its content creators. There’s no reason for that at all. Honesty is the best way to stop this problem – tell me why this is happening so we can talk.
But give me my stolen views, and the money, please.
I earned it.