Dear YouTube,
Oh, you and I have been through a lot, haven’t we? It probably all started in middle school with Shane Dawson. I’m sure you know who that is because he’s been online for more than ten years now, and you’ve caused him enough crap to make his time worth a little more stress. But somehow, he’s still here. A lot of my favorite creators are, actually.
It’s funny. I’ve seen the rise and fall of people over the years. I fully can call myself part of the YouTube generation – a group of kids who are now grown and have seen YouTube become a global media entertainment system.
YouTube, you’ve been a real close friend of mine over the years. In fact, for a while you were the reason I was still around. People like Shane Dawson and Markiplier were the reasons I would come home with a smile on my face whenever school would end, why I wasn’t always so depressed even though I had no idea what the hell I was going to do with my life. Those two, and many others, were there for me – all because of your amazing platform.
But sadly, that isn’t really the case now, is it?
I’m a sophomore in college now. Although I hadn’t been on your site for that long in my life (I was only a child at the time), it was around fifth grade – maybe three years into your platform – that I started to discover your videos. Over the years, they’ve grown into an empire, making unknowns like Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg, Lilly Singh, Tyler Oakley and Mark Edward Fischbach into celebrities that millions of people know.
But I’ve seen a decline in the past year.
No, this isn’t the “Oh, my Disney Channel shows were so much better than today” argument. I’m not pulling the “generation before me was better” card. In fact, I hate it when people do that. I’m one of those people that always gives new shows a chance, and as someone who has worked as a babysitter, I know some new children’s shows aren’t as good, but there are some great ones that are just as great as the ones I witnessed as a child. I believe the type of quality in entertainment changes over time for generations, and I fully support this.
But I only support it if the change is good.
YouTube, this drama that you’ve created started with this whole “ad-pocolypse” thing you had going. I don’t even know if it’s still a thing because I’m not directly affected by it, but if it is, I feel sorry for the creators who, for years, created family friendly content, and you took away their money or their earnings just because they may have said one bad word. Bad words don’t make a person. A person may curse like a sailor but have a heart of gold, and even though they could be making nice content enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of people, you took away what they deserve.
And let people like Logan Paul keep his?
YouTube. I do not despise this man like most of the world does right now. In fact, I was subscribed to him before all of this happened. I thought that he was the better of the two brothers, hence why my clicker went to click his subscribe button and not the brother who we shall not name in this article. Even though he was loud and a bit obnoxious, I found some of his content relatively entertaining and would sit down sometimes to watch it.
But then that video happened.
I’ve already explained my anger with the whole ad business, but that’s something I can deal with. People face these sorts of issues, so it’s something I can live with because I know my creators – the people I love – will be ok in the end.. But what I can’t live with – and will never live with – is stupidity and carelessness.
God, I hate those two words combined. I’ve been both and it’s not a fun feeling, but I’ve owned up and faced my mistakes. I’ve learned from them, and I feel that Logan Paul, and anyone else who has crossed the line, deserves to have their mistakes faced too.
I know what you did to Logan Paul. I know you took away his money and everything else that was supposed to “mean” something to him. But it doesn’t feel right. What he did was wrong. What he did was a violation of your bloody guidelines and yet there his channel is, still there. I have seen people’s channels get suspended for the most stupid of reasons, but even though he showed an actual dead body, he is still on the site.
I know he has a lot of fans. I know he makes you a lot of money. But I’m tired of seeing creators who don’t deserve to get punished be hurt by your rules, and seeing people like Logan Paul get off with a few bad things because he makes you “more money”.
I’m not going to be that person and boycott your site because I still do watch YouTube. Heck, I still watch Shane Dawson all these years later, as well as a few others from my childhood. But you need to get your s*** together YouTube. You need to own up before these mistakes go viral. You need to get your media team in check and delete those videos before they get on the trending page for more wandering eyes to see. You need to realize who the real creators are – the people who deserve to be treated well – and make sure that they are taken care of properly, while disposing of the trash.
You need to clear yourself up, YouTube. For the sake of the next generation of kids who are going to be watching your videos just as much as I did as a child, I hope you do it soon.
Sincerely,
A Concerned Viewer
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Image: Pexels