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YouTube is a very interesting website. Among all the internet giants, YouTube has likely changed the most. To the point where it's purpose now is arguably completely different to when it first launched.
What do I mean by this? Well, YouTube launched as a sort of "video based social media site". Where rather than post text and images, users would post and communicate through the medium of video. The default user icon was a man holding a camcorder, there used to be "video responses" where users could reply to other people's videos with videos of their own, the old tagline of the site used to be "broadcast yourself" in a nod to the sites intended purpose. YouTube was meant to be a place not just to watch videos, but to create and post videos of your own. Watching and uploading were both things the site expected the average user to do. And so you had a lot of early YouTube content just be kids with their parents camera doing stupid shit and posting it for fun. There was no purpose or goal in mind, and dedicated creators were few and far between.
Fast forward to today, and none of this is the case anymore. YouTube is now a site mainly for consuming video content, rather than creating it. YouTube's algorithm is designed to heavily prioritize long form content, effectively killing the reach of videos under 10 minutes and giving rise to the infamous "video essay" format. Audiences now expect YouTube videos to have a certain level of production value. To where if you don't have an intro, background music, 1080p footage and a million different jump cuts, people won't even give you the time of day. Video responses are dead and have been for ages. YouTube now assumes it's average user will only consume content, rather than create it.
The YouTube of today now serves a completely different purpose than it used to. And herein lies the point of this thread. The consolidation of the internet has emptied many niches that were previously filled. To the point where I'd argue the internet is much less useful today than it was 10 to 15 years ago.
Just because YouTube is still called YouTube, doesn't mean it's the same website anymore. Just because Reddit and Discord have become the new social/information hubs of the internet doesn't mean that forums no longer have a place. For the past couple of years, people have operated under the assumption that these new sites could just outright replace the "outdated" ones they were meant to compete with. And in allowing mediums like internet forums and old YouTube to die, we've created a bunch of holes in the online world that have yet to be filled.
But I think that might be about to change.
Do you know what manages to fill the old niche of a video based social media site, where runtime is irrelevant and users are expected to both watch and create content? TikTok. Yes, that's right. TikTok is essentially the replacement for old YouTube. Don't get me wrong, I despise that Chinese spyware crap and never use it myself. But the fact still remains that its design philosophy is more similar to old YouTube than YouTube itself is these days. There's a lot of room for new websites and apps to fill old niches that were left from the consolidation of the internet. And I think this is a great opportunity for the internet as a whole to grow. Especially as we're seeing more and more of these tech giants crumble to pieces these days now that their interest free investor money is running dry. Perhaps forums like this one could pave the way to a new, more diverse era of the internet.
But what do you all think?
What do I mean by this? Well, YouTube launched as a sort of "video based social media site". Where rather than post text and images, users would post and communicate through the medium of video. The default user icon was a man holding a camcorder, there used to be "video responses" where users could reply to other people's videos with videos of their own, the old tagline of the site used to be "broadcast yourself" in a nod to the sites intended purpose. YouTube was meant to be a place not just to watch videos, but to create and post videos of your own. Watching and uploading were both things the site expected the average user to do. And so you had a lot of early YouTube content just be kids with their parents camera doing stupid shit and posting it for fun. There was no purpose or goal in mind, and dedicated creators were few and far between.
Fast forward to today, and none of this is the case anymore. YouTube is now a site mainly for consuming video content, rather than creating it. YouTube's algorithm is designed to heavily prioritize long form content, effectively killing the reach of videos under 10 minutes and giving rise to the infamous "video essay" format. Audiences now expect YouTube videos to have a certain level of production value. To where if you don't have an intro, background music, 1080p footage and a million different jump cuts, people won't even give you the time of day. Video responses are dead and have been for ages. YouTube now assumes it's average user will only consume content, rather than create it.
The YouTube of today now serves a completely different purpose than it used to. And herein lies the point of this thread. The consolidation of the internet has emptied many niches that were previously filled. To the point where I'd argue the internet is much less useful today than it was 10 to 15 years ago.
Just because YouTube is still called YouTube, doesn't mean it's the same website anymore. Just because Reddit and Discord have become the new social/information hubs of the internet doesn't mean that forums no longer have a place. For the past couple of years, people have operated under the assumption that these new sites could just outright replace the "outdated" ones they were meant to compete with. And in allowing mediums like internet forums and old YouTube to die, we've created a bunch of holes in the online world that have yet to be filled.
But I think that might be about to change.
Do you know what manages to fill the old niche of a video based social media site, where runtime is irrelevant and users are expected to both watch and create content? TikTok. Yes, that's right. TikTok is essentially the replacement for old YouTube. Don't get me wrong, I despise that Chinese spyware crap and never use it myself. But the fact still remains that its design philosophy is more similar to old YouTube than YouTube itself is these days. There's a lot of room for new websites and apps to fill old niches that were left from the consolidation of the internet. And I think this is a great opportunity for the internet as a whole to grow. Especially as we're seeing more and more of these tech giants crumble to pieces these days now that their interest free investor money is running dry. Perhaps forums like this one could pave the way to a new, more diverse era of the internet.
But what do you all think?