1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:05,680 On the surface, channel memberships are a pretty good idea. Viewers toss a bit 2 00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:09,599 of coffee money to their favorite creators, and YouTube doesn't have to 3 00:00:07,680 --> 00:00:14,080 just sit on the sidelines, while platforms like Patreon and Flowplane 4 00:00:11,920 --> 00:00:18,640 reap all the rewards from early access or exclusive content. And for a while, 5 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:21,920 it was working pretty well for both us and for our community, generating 6 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:27,359 positive feedback from our channel members and helping to support our team. 7 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:33,120 So then what changed to cause the recent outpouring of negative feedback around 8 00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:39,520 YouTube memberships? Well, I hate to throw blame at YouTube or especially the 9 00:00:36,079 --> 00:00:42,079 algorithm, but basically it's YouTube 10 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:45,280 and the algorithm. Let's talk about it and the changes we're making on our 11 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:51,840 channels because of it after a quick message from our sponsor MSI. Their 12 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:54,879 Vector 16 HX AI A2XW laptop packs up to 13 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:57,680 an Intel Core Ultra 9275HX 14 00:00:54,879 --> 00:01:02,079 processor and an NVIDIA RTX 5090 graphics card, making it a portable 15 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:05,680 gaming beast. Check it out today using our link in the description. When they 16 00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:09,600 were first introduced a little over 6 years ago, paywalled videos, let's just 17 00:01:08,080 --> 00:01:13,200 call them what they are, could be accessed by clicking the join button 18 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:16,960 next to the subscribe button on your favorite channels. They lived in a 19 00:01:14,960 --> 00:01:21,600 dedicated tab on the channel page and the promotion of these videos. Both the 20 00:01:19,439 --> 00:01:25,600 aggressiveness and the frequency was largely left up to the individual 21 00:01:23,600 --> 00:01:28,960 creators. Some directed viewers through their own website, others created 22 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:32,479 playlists, while others created a carousel of membersonly content on the 23 00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:36,640 channel page. We had our own video platform already, Floatplane, that 24 00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:40,479 contains the same behindthe-scenes and early access content that we have on 25 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:44,320 YouTube memberships. So, we usually focus on promoting that with little 26 00:01:42,079 --> 00:01:48,560 callouts in our videos. So, we took a pretty light, hey, just kind of putting 27 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:52,720 this button here approach when it came to promoting YouTube memberships. It 28 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:56,399 didn't make a lot of money that way, but with some fine-tuning to the pricing, we 29 00:01:54,720 --> 00:02:00,240 also weren't losing money after YouTube's cut. And we were just happy to 30 00:01:58,399 --> 00:02:03,600 be able to offer that as an option for anyone who wasn't comfortable or just 31 00:02:02,079 --> 00:02:08,800 didn't like the inconvenience of navigating offplatform to Flowplane. But 32 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:13,599 then came a major shift. The membership tab, well, that's still there, but the 33 00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:18,879 membersonly videos are no longer confined to it. And I got to say, I'm 34 00:02:16,239 --> 00:02:23,200 with Coor Upload here. In fact, I don't even think messy is a strong enough word 35 00:02:20,959 --> 00:02:26,879 to describe the unnavigability of YouTube when a whole bunch of the 36 00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:32,080 thumbnails that I'm looking at are for videos I can't freaking watch. And as 37 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:34,959 bad as the channel video list page is, that's nothing compared to the way that 38 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:40,640 YouTube has cluttered up recommendations, the homepage, and even 39 00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:44,959 freaking search. Like seriously, off script for a moment here, how bad is 40 00:02:42,319 --> 00:02:48,560 YouTube search these days? And the worst part is for every few 41 00:02:46,879 --> 00:02:52,400 bucks that we've made on this extra promotion and spam, we've received a 42 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:57,920 barrage of complaints from our viewers talking about everything from the gross 43 00:02:55,120 --> 00:03:01,760 FOMO sales strategy of having this tiny green membersonly indicator that then 44 00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:06,640 turns into a giant sales pitch the second they click on it to talking about 45 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:09,840 how honestly it's like killing their interest in our channel. I mean, to say 46 00:03:08,319 --> 00:03:15,200 that this hasn't been worth it for us would be a gross understatement. So, let 47 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:18,640 me make this clear. This is not a change that we would have enabled if we were 48 00:03:16,640 --> 00:03:22,239 given the choice. Nor would we have signed up for the channel memberships 49 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:26,159 program in the first place if we'd known that this was coming. And the most 50 00:03:24,239 --> 00:03:31,040 frustrating part of all of this for me is how utterly lacking in self-awareness 51 00:03:28,959 --> 00:03:36,239 YouTube seems to be here. Look at all this money you could make by enabling 52 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:38,959 memberships on your channel. Sorry. $8 a 53 00:03:36,239 --> 00:03:43,440 month to harass and spam ads at people who are by definition the ones who are 54 00:03:41,519 --> 00:03:49,120 likely to be my most dedicated audience members. Are you kidding me right now? I 55 00:03:46,959 --> 00:03:54,720 mean, it would be one thing if there were mechanisms like there are for ads, 56 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:59,200 subject matter, or even for creators to opt out of these promotions as a viewer 57 00:03:57,200 --> 00:04:03,360 or if there were exemptions for people who are already paying for YouTube 58 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:07,519 through premium. But at this time, no such mechanisms exist. And I've seen no 59 00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:11,519 indication from YouTube that they plan to enable creators to go back to 60 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:15,760 controlling the promotion of these membersonly videos. The only assumption 61 00:04:13,519 --> 00:04:20,639 I can make then is that membersonly videos haven't impacted overall platform 62 00:04:18,639 --> 00:04:25,600 viewership enough to make them care andor that YouTube has found the upside 63 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:30,479 of the additional revenue, they take 30% of course, is worth the friction with 64 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:34,240 their users and creators. Oh yeah, did did I mention I'm not the only creator 65 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:38,400 who's pissed off about this? The one and only DankPods wrote up this lengthy post 66 00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:42,160 on his Garbage Time channel just a couple of weeks ago outlining a number 67 00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:48,080 of complaints about the program that happened to mirror our own. So then what 68 00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:49,440 are we going to do about it? Effective. 69 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:53,840 I'm not wearing a watch, but you get the point. Now we're going to begin the 70 00:04:51,759 --> 00:04:57,680 process of turning off membersonly videos on our YouTube channels. That 71 00:04:55,919 --> 00:05:01,440 means all of our payw wall videos will be either hidden or removed from the 72 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:05,680 channel, and anyone who is enrolled in the support tiers that entitled them to 73 00:05:03,199 --> 00:05:10,400 those videos will be refunded a prrated amount for any time that was already 74 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:14,479 paid according to YouTube's policies. As for the folks who joined the channel in 75 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:18,639 the lower support tier for smaller perks like user badges and all that kind of 76 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:21,840 thing, they'll be unaffected. That is, at least as long as that stuff doesn't 77 00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:25,919 start cluttering up our channels and our feeds. I mean, it's not that we hate the 78 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:29,759 overall idea or that we don't love the support of our community. Like, if there 79 00:05:27,840 --> 00:05:33,600 are any YouTube members out there who liked the content and want it to 80 00:05:31,520 --> 00:05:37,840 continue, we would welcome you over at LMG.gg/flatplane. 81 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:42,479 We just can't do it on YouTube until they make some changes. Speaking of, 82 00:05:40,639 --> 00:05:47,919 what is YouTube going to do about this problem? Well, I think that depends on 83 00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:51,680 you. I've obviously had my conversations with them about this, but most of it was 84 00:05:49,840 --> 00:05:56,320 off the record. So, I can't really say any more than what I heard was not 85 00:05:54,720 --> 00:06:01,199 enough to convince me to keep this feature enabled, at least not for now. 86 00:05:59,360 --> 00:06:05,120 And I think realistically it's going to take sustained pressure from both 87 00:06:03,039 --> 00:06:09,759 creators and viewers if you want to see them change course on this. But just so 88 00:06:07,840 --> 00:06:14,160 I don't get your hopes up, I don't think that pressure is going to come. Since 89 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:18,720 the change, we have seen a measurable uptick in member subscriptions, even as 90 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:23,039 our overall channel viewership has fallen during that time. So clearly, 91 00:06:21,199 --> 00:06:27,600 there's a lot of money in keeping things the way that they are. And in fairness, 92 00:06:25,919 --> 00:06:30,720 for some smaller creators, this difference could be life-changing, and I 93 00:06:29,280 --> 00:06:35,440 could see why they would want to keep it as is. There's also a lot of money in 94 00:06:33,600 --> 00:06:40,160 this segue to our sponsor, >> Ground News. There's been a lot of news 95 00:06:37,759 --> 00:06:43,199 lately with huge rippling effects across all matters of life. But how can you 96 00:06:41,759 --> 00:06:47,120 trust that you're not just being fed what others want you to see? Developed 97 00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:51,680 by a former NASA engineer and recognized by the Nobel Peace Center, ground news 98 00:06:49,199 --> 00:06:55,520 can help you break free of media bias. For example, let's use this story about 99 00:06:53,680 --> 00:07:00,000 a deal where OpenAI could potentially take a 10% stake in AMD. With ground 100 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:04,240 news, you have visibility on whether the reporting is leaning right or left. In 101 00:07:02,319 --> 00:07:07,840 this case, we see that it's more or less in the center, and we can even click in 102 00:07:05,840 --> 00:07:11,440 and read each individual article if you want. Or ground News will take those 103 00:07:09,759 --> 00:07:14,800 articles and summarize them in bullet point form, keeping only the information 104 00:07:13,039 --> 00:07:17,759 that you need to know. And with their blind spot feature, you can get 105 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:21,199 visibility on news that you might have previously missed due to your personal 106 00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:25,120 preferences. Think of it as a reverse algorithm. It's meant to give you the 107 00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:28,800 power to see past your blind spot and get the full picture of what's going on. 108 00:07:27,199 --> 00:07:33,280 So, click our link in the description and get access to ground news for free 109 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:37,360 or save 40% on their Vantage plan to unlock even more features. If you guys 110 00:07:35,759 --> 00:07:45,160 enjoyed this video, I don't know, maybe the last time we gave YouTube a hard time. What was that? Not moderating 111 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:45,160 comments. It is better these days.