Some users don’t like what they see in “Coming Soon to YouTube in 2012.”
Last week YouTube released that aptly titled promo video to help introduce the A-list talent joining the video sharing service with professionally made channels, among them Stan Lee, Ben Silverman, Felicia Day, Amy Poehler, and Rainn Wilson. Instead of sharing the excitement, members of the community have instead taken to leaving outraged comments on the video.
The top comment for at least a day, written by DandamanV, encapsulates the majority of the roughly 1000 comments left on the video, which has twice as many dislikes as it does likes.
NO! YouTube was the broadcasting machine for the little guy, not the cashed up celebrity! YouTube needs to empower the underdog, not fuel the crapstorm of Hollywood. I’ve stopped watching TV and most Hollywood films because YouTube has proven to be more interactive that TV.
This isn’t the first time the YouTube community has spoken out about the commercialization of the site—not by a long shot.
In Nov. 2009, YouTuber MrChiCity3 uploaded a video, titled “YouTube is Dying (YouTube Exposed),” which elicited a huge community response, even from top members—and is still frequently discussed. “YouTube is Dying (YouTube Exposed)” has almost 1 million views, a high number for such a YouTube community-specific rant.
In April 2011, Andrew Bravener posted a comparable video, “An Open Letter To YouTube,” as did Mike Lombardo with “Please don’t let us die!” in October.
To be fair to the top YouTubers who were grouped with the incoming Hollywood celebrities for professional channels, they’ve worked hard to produce a large body of extremely popular content.
But what will happen to the “little guy,” those who make content to share with people—not for profit? The community’s concerns are hard to ignore.
“I don’t want my TV to invade YouTube,” commented Porcelanesa on the promo video. “I came here because it was YOUtube, people talking to people and sharing their lives, videos of their kids, their pets, something exciting that happened during the day they wanted to share with someone else. Normal people, like you and me.”