October 5, 2018
Can Youtube exist without its UGC base? Surely not in the form we know today, but this might not just be hypothetical speculation. YouTube users are currently leaving the platform at an alarming rate, in favour of the Google video colossus.
It seems to be a mix of “burnout” syndrome, plus the possibility of utilising new and improved alternatives elsewhere. Some of those alternatives are monetised too. Over the last few years, content producers have felt the pressure to create videos in fear that they might lose followers or popularity, or have their content jeopardised by a new algorithm change.
Have you ever wondered why you, as a viewer, are always compelled to watch videos with content strictly related to your profile and your google searches? Have you ever felt frustrated because you can’t find something new and different? Well, now put yourself into the shoes of a content creator that can’t find the right way to broadcast his content to you…
That is exactly the reason why so many viewers and producers are moving to new platforms. The data that the other platforms can provide to the creators and the advertisers, compared to YouTube, is more rich and useful to the marketeers like us.
YouTube’s response to this shift has been based on empty promises. The video platform actually favours quantity over quality.
Also, if you publish a video and that video isn’t successful, then the simple possibility to have access to metrics that tell you when people stopped watching it, automatically evolves into an obsession over numbers. This obviously doesn’t help and actually frustrates the creators even more.
The panorama is constantly evolving in social media and the current YouTube crisis is certainly helping to shape a new marketing trend.