YouTube Ending Email Notification Hurts Small Creators (And They Don't Care!)

In this video, we discuss the new policy of YouTube where they are ending email notifications of new uploads and live streams for creators.

I don't talk a lot about YouTube as a platform because, well, there are enough other people out there bringing up issues. However, on August 6, 2020, YouTube, through their Creator Insider channel, announced that they were ceasing the sending of email alerts to subscribers of channels. They don't see an issue with this, where I have a HUGE issue with it.

You can see their entire video by visiting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBNQRhA7xos&feature=youtu.be

One of the reasons to seek subscribers is so that people can be notified and alerted when new content they deem desirable is available for viewing. That is one of the beauties of the platform, or at least it was. Instead of BROADcasting, like television does, YouTube creators could NARROWcast, sending out their content to a small yet passionate group who enjoy that content and want to support it.

By removing the ability of a viewer to receive an email notification, you also limit the reach of the small, independent creators. Large channels such as Pewdiepie, ABC, MSNBC, Disney, and others don't rely on subscribers because they have an established audience. Smaller creators such as myself, @Russ Lyman, @Gaming Off The Grid, @BirdOPrey5, and others rely on tools such as email marketing to reach out to our audiences to make them aware of new content. Now, we're losing that tool through no fault of our own.

So what is one to do?

You could create your own email list of subscribers, but that would likely be cost prohibitive to be honest. You can rely on other services such as Patreon to let your audience know when you have new content, but that depends on a donation which, yeah, not great. So here's my recommendation for fans and creators alike:

1 - Turn on Notifications, this way you get alerted on your devices as much as possible (YouTube sucks at notifications, I'll grant you that)
2 - If you are a creator, setup a Twitter & Facebook page if you don't have one already. Share your links and content EVERY DAMN TIME you upload!
3 - Make sure you are tagging your content and using your about section for SEO purposes
4 - If you have a creator you like, share the daylights out of their content to help spread the word
5 - Tell YouTube this change sucks and you want or need your email notifications
6 - If streaming is your thing, there are more creator-friendly platforms out there. Start multi-platform streaming sooner than later.

I'm not happy about this, and you shouldn't be either. But in the end, this is Google/Alphabet/YouTube's game, we just get to play in it.

#Youtube #SmallCreator #Notifications

The footage used in this review are used under the Fair Use laws, referenced below:

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/107

Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include—

(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;
(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.
(Pub. L. 94–553, title I, § 101, Oct. 19, 1976, 90 Stat. 2546; Pub. L. 101–650, title VI, § 607, Dec. 1, 1990, 104 Stat. 5132; Pub. L. 102–492, Oct. 24, 1992, 106 Stat. 3145.)