Christopher Johnson has talked personally about the changes to the YouTube Partner Progamme and their effects on small YouTubers.
You may recognise Christopher from his time presenting on CBBC, his involvement in the channel FiveWhoFans, or for being one half of the podcast BigDamnCast.
He’s also a small YouTuber in his own right and, in his recent candid and well-articulated video YOUTUBE DOESN’T CARE ABOUT YOU, he discusses the changes to the Youtube Partner Programme and his changing attitudes towards YouTube as a platform. He addresses what it’s like to be on YouTube as a small creator and how it feels like the platform doesn’t care about him anymore.
“Ultimately, this place is no longer desirable to be a part of, because the platform no longer feels supportive of its smaller creators,” Christopher says, capturing the feelings of many small creators towards the new changes.
Among other well thought-out points, Christopher shares that, although YouTube may just be a hobby, he puts a lot of effort into his videos on all the channels he’s a part of, and this change to the Partner Programme makes it hard to see the point anymore.
He also discusses the financial issues that the changes cause and explains that, as a small YouTuber, it is getting increasingly harder to get your channel out there, especially when the YouTube algorithm is working against you, so trying to meet the new requirements for the Partner Programme is an extra feat.
He reminisces about the old days on YouTube when he felt like the platform was more supportive of creators. However, he now feels that unless you are a big YouTuber making money for the platform, in YouTube’s eyes you no longer exist. Echoing the opinions of other small creators, he suggests that another site should “step up” so that YouTubers have other options.
With YouTube’s changes affecting small YouTubers, we think it’s more important than ever to support them. Check out our #SmallAndMighty hashtag on Twitter to find new creators to watch!
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