Your Work, Their Rules, Publishing at youtube.com?

There are many great analyses done by YouTubers, and they’re really influential and significant for culture. But the problem with YouTube is that YouTubers publish their content on YouTube and are subject to its terms and conditions. Since the content is published via YouTube, the YouTubers have to share it according to YouTube’s publication rules.

The problem.

As seen many times recently, content creators (actually writers—sadly they’re called “content creators” as if they’re working for YouTube Studio or something) are threatened: if their posts don’t follow YouTube’s “content guidelines,” they risk being kicked off the platform. If that happens, writers basically have no choice but to either give in to YouTube or have their work completely removed. All the hard work and research won’t be associated with them unless they publish it elsewhere, and YouTube doesn’t provide licensing for their work as a proper publication, though creators retain copyright over their work, YouTube controls its distribution, making it difficult to ensure that their labor and research remain associated with them. In other words, your work may be yours, but the platform has the final say over its visibility and reach.

Why it matters!

This situation really shows how digital distribution of opinion, journalism, and cultural critique is trapped behind platforms like YouTube, which are run by corporate policies, algorithms, and constantly changing rules. One can’t deny the massive reach YouTube gives, which traditional publications like personal websites or independent outlets just can’t match.

In the end, it raises the bigger question: how is knowledge published and culture produced in the digital age? Should writers go back to traditional publications and give up that massive reach?

A Way Forward

I think a better approach is for writers and artists to publish their work on independent platforms or personal websites first, and then use YouTube as an extension to reach more people, without worrying too much about YouTube’s policies. That way, their work stays solidly theirs and credited properly by the independent platforms.