WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:05.680 On the surface, channel memberships are a pretty good idea. Viewers toss a bit 00:00:04.480 --> 00:00:09.599 of coffee money to their favorite creators, and YouTube doesn't have to 00:00:07.680 --> 00:00:14.080 just sit on the sidelines, while platforms like Patreon and Flowplane 00:00:11.920 --> 00:00:18.640 reap all the rewards from early access or exclusive content. And for a while, 00:00:16.560 --> 00:00:21.920 it was working pretty well for both us and for our community, generating 00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:27.359 positive feedback from our channel members and helping to support our team. 00:00:24.480 --> 00:00:33.120 So then what changed to cause the recent outpouring of negative feedback around 00:00:30.160 --> 00:00:39.520 YouTube memberships? Well, I hate to throw blame at YouTube or especially the 00:00:36.079 --> 00:00:42.079 algorithm, but basically it's YouTube 00:00:39.520 --> 00:00:45.280 and the algorithm. Let's talk about it and the changes we're making on our 00:00:43.760 --> 00:00:51.840 channels because of it after a quick message from our sponsor MSI. Their 00:00:47.840 --> 00:00:54.879 Vector 16 HX AI A2XW laptop packs up to 00:00:51.840 --> 00:00:57.680 an Intel Core Ultra 9275HX 00:00:54.879 --> 00:01:02.079 processor and an NVIDIA RTX 5090 graphics card, making it a portable 00:00:59.600 --> 00:01:05.680 gaming beast. Check it out today using our link in the description. When they 00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:09.600 were first introduced a little over 6 years ago, paywalled videos, let's just 00:01:08.080 --> 00:01:13.200 call them what they are, could be accessed by clicking the join button 00:01:11.600 --> 00:01:16.960 next to the subscribe button on your favorite channels. They lived in a 00:01:14.960 --> 00:01:21.600 dedicated tab on the channel page and the promotion of these videos. Both the 00:01:19.439 --> 00:01:25.600 aggressiveness and the frequency was largely left up to the individual 00:01:23.600 --> 00:01:28.960 creators. Some directed viewers through their own website, others created 00:01:27.200 --> 00:01:32.479 playlists, while others created a carousel of membersonly content on the 00:01:30.720 --> 00:01:36.640 channel page. We had our own video platform already, Floatplane, that 00:01:34.640 --> 00:01:40.479 contains the same behindthe-scenes and early access content that we have on 00:01:38.400 --> 00:01:44.320 YouTube memberships. So, we usually focus on promoting that with little 00:01:42.079 --> 00:01:48.560 callouts in our videos. So, we took a pretty light, hey, just kind of putting 00:01:46.560 --> 00:01:52.720 this button here approach when it came to promoting YouTube memberships. It 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 00:01:54.720 --> 00:02:00.240 also weren't losing money after YouTube's cut. And we were just happy to 00:01:58.399 --> 00:02:03.600 be able to offer that as an option for anyone who wasn't comfortable or just 00:02:02.079 --> 00:02:08.800 didn't like the inconvenience of navigating offplatform to Flowplane. But 00:02:06.320 --> 00:02:13.599 then came a major shift. The membership tab, well, that's still there, but the 00:02:11.120 --> 00:02:18.879 membersonly videos are no longer confined to it. And I got to say, I'm 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 00:02:20.959 --> 00:02:26.879 to describe the unnavigability of YouTube when a whole bunch of the 00:02:25.200 --> 00:02:32.080 thumbnails that I'm looking at are for videos I can't freaking watch. And as 00:02:29.520 --> 00:02:34.959 bad as the channel video list page is, that's nothing compared to the way that 00:02:33.760 --> 00:02:40.640 YouTube has cluttered up recommendations, the homepage, and even 00:02:37.680 --> 00:02:44.959 freaking search. Like seriously, off script for a moment here, how bad is 00:02:42.319 --> 00:02:48.560 YouTube search these days? And the worst part is for every few 00:02:46.879 --> 00:02:52.400 bucks that we've made on this extra promotion and spam, we've received a 00:02:50.560 --> 00:02:57.920 barrage of complaints from our viewers talking about everything from the gross 00:02:55.120 --> 00:03:01.760 FOMO sales strategy of having this tiny green membersonly indicator that then 00:02:59.840 --> 00:03:06.640 turns into a giant sales pitch the second they click on it to talking about 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:09.840 how honestly it's like killing their interest in our channel. I mean, to say 00:03:08.319 --> 00:03:15.200 that this hasn't been worth it for us would be a gross understatement. So, let 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 00:03:16.640 --> 00:03:22.239 given the choice. Nor would we have signed up for the channel memberships 00:03:20.080 --> 00:03:26.159 program in the first place if we'd known that this was coming. And the most 00:03:24.239 --> 00:03:31.040 frustrating part of all of this for me is how utterly lacking in self-awareness 00:03:28.959 --> 00:03:36.239 YouTube seems to be here. Look at all this money you could make by enabling 00:03:32.720 --> 00:03:38.959 memberships on your channel. Sorry. $8 a 00:03:36.239 --> 00:03:43.440 month to harass and spam ads at people who are by definition the ones who are 00:03:41.519 --> 00:03:49.120 likely to be my most dedicated audience members. Are you kidding me right now? I 00:03:46.959 --> 00:03:54.720 mean, it would be one thing if there were mechanisms like there are for ads, 00:03:51.840 --> 00:03:59.200 subject matter, or even for creators to opt out of these promotions as a viewer 00:03:57.200 --> 00:04:03.360 or if there were exemptions for people who are already paying for YouTube 00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:07.519 through premium. But at this time, no such mechanisms exist. And I've seen no 00:04:05.840 --> 00:04:11.519 indication from YouTube that they plan to enable creators to go back to 00:04:09.680 --> 00:04:15.760 controlling the promotion of these membersonly videos. The only assumption 00:04:13.519 --> 00:04:20.639 I can make then is that membersonly videos haven't impacted overall platform 00:04:18.639 --> 00:04:25.600 viewership enough to make them care andor that YouTube has found the upside 00:04:22.800 --> 00:04:30.479 of the additional revenue, they take 30% of course, is worth the friction with 00:04:27.680 --> 00:04:34.240 their users and creators. Oh yeah, did did I mention I'm not the only creator 00:04:32.320 --> 00:04:38.400 who's pissed off about this? The one and only DankPods wrote up this lengthy post 00:04:36.720 --> 00:04:42.160 on his Garbage Time channel just a couple of weeks ago outlining a number 00:04:40.400 --> 00:04:48.080 of complaints about the program that happened to mirror our own. So then what 00:04:45.040 --> 00:04:49.440 are we going to do about it? Effective. 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 00:04:51.759 --> 00:04:57.680 process of turning off membersonly videos on our YouTube channels. That 00:04:55.919 --> 00:05:01.440 means all of our payw wall videos will be either hidden or removed from the 00:04:59.440 --> 00:05:05.680 channel, and anyone who is enrolled in the support tiers that entitled them to 00:05:03.199 --> 00:05:10.400 those videos will be refunded a prrated amount for any time that was already 00:05:07.440 --> 00:05:14.479 paid according to YouTube's policies. As for the folks who joined the channel in 00:05:12.160 --> 00:05:18.639 the lower support tier for smaller perks like user badges and all that kind of 00:05:16.320 --> 00:05:21.840 thing, they'll be unaffected. That is, at least as long as that stuff doesn't 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 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:29.759 overall idea or that we don't love the support of our community. Like, if there 00:05:27.840 --> 00:05:33.600 are any YouTube members out there who liked the content and want it to 00:05:31.520 --> 00:05:37.840 continue, we would welcome you over at LMG.gg/flatplane. 00:05:35.680 --> 00:05:42.479 We just can't do it on YouTube until they make some changes. Speaking of, 00:05:40.639 --> 00:05:47.919 what is YouTube going to do about this problem? Well, I think that depends on 00:05:45.440 --> 00:05:51.680 you. I've obviously had my conversations with them about this, but most of it was 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 00:05:54.720 --> 00:06:01.199 enough to convince me to keep this feature enabled, at least not for now. 00:05:59.360 --> 00:06:05.120 And I think realistically it's going to take sustained pressure from both 00:06:03.039 --> 00:06:09.759 creators and viewers if you want to see them change course on this. But just so 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 00:06:11.680 --> 00:06:18.720 the change, we have seen a measurable uptick in member subscriptions, even as 00:06:16.880 --> 00:06:23.039 our overall channel viewership has fallen during that time. So clearly, 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, 00:06:25.919 --> 00:06:30.720 for some smaller creators, this difference could be life-changing, and I 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 00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:40.160 this segue to our sponsor, >> Ground News. There's been a lot of news 00:06:37.759 --> 00:06:43.199 lately with huge rippling effects across all matters of life. But how can you 00:06:41.759 --> 00:06:47.120 trust that you're not just being fed what others want you to see? 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