Does anyone else miss pre-Google YouTube?

Question

Youtube used to be restricted to 10 minute videos. No ads. No corporate sponsors. No paid subscriptions. No violations of "community standards"

I miss when it was just people posting videos that interested them, someone sharing a song they wrote, people ranting about Starbucks cup sizes, sharing personal stories, showing off skills, etc.

It really felt like a community, especially when one channel would post a video in reply to another channel's video. You could stumble on interesting stuff, or things you would have never learned about otherwise. I remember once watching a girl spin yarn, and despite having no purpose in my life or hobbies I felt like I learned something from it.

Now you have a corporate algorithm telling you what you like and what you need to watch.

Just because I like to watch one particular motorcycle channel doesn't mean I want to only watch motorcycle videos now. I don't care that my feed is now polluted with robots reading other people's reddit stories. I like to watch this Chinese woman work on her farm because I find her artistic videography relaxing. I don't need to watch 73 other people perform manual labor. If I wanted to do that I'd pick up extra shifts at work.

Add to that there are now two or three ads inserted every few minutes, and I get no enjoyment from the platform anymore. Personalization just isn't very personal. It's actually frustrating and boring.

Now instead of actual creativity, you get several dozen "I flew my paramotor to Chick-fil-A, buy my merch!" type videos on every channel.

I'm sure I'm not the only one that feels this way.

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This is why we take down capitalism

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youtube kinda sucks now but they are a few alternitives floating around. vidlii odysee

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Sometimes, simplicity is best, but I don't think that corporations understand that...

I remember people used to make a lot of AMVs and funny flash animations back then. People were being creative and sharing their creations with everyone.

Now, mostly people care about is drama on youtube(obviously not everyone) and getting views and subs, and companies only care is about making as much money as they can by shoving as much ads as they can.

I do wish there was a website like 2000s youtube.

Actually, I wish the internet was like the 2000s again. Even for just a day. It felt simple and fun back then...

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I feel that, everything feels so competitive and broadcasted on YouTube now and I miss when it felt more like about having fun and doing things for you and a small group of people. Plus the 15 second unskippable ads are getting unbearable.

It seems though that every YouTube alternative that comes around seems to get an alt-right infestation, including the old YouTube revamps. Even so they don't have as many AMVs or animation memes as what I think about when I think of old YouTube.

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yeah i miss that shit it feels so clinical now, just like the rest.

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ugh, same! while I do love longer-form videos, I hate the fact that those are basically all you can get on youtube nowadays, and monetization is very unfair for anyone that doesn't upload long videos constantly.

unfortunately I was too young to remember pre-Google youtube, but I would've loved to have seen it! it seemed like such a different atmosphere, its sad to see greedy corporatism ruined it.

there are lots of youtube alternatives out there, but none of them have gained traction. i wish people finally weaned themselves off of big social media and just found something they truly enjoy, but only time will tell.

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i agree! i like vids longer than 10mins, but the algorithm filling up my page with things i've shown limited interest in bugs me so much. i search for one crochet video, and my entire homepage has a crochet recommendation after every other video for the next week!!

i'd rather just be recommended random things, even if i haven't shown an interest in it at least i'd have the chance to try something new and exit my little bubble. this sucks so bad for little creators who need to get their videos out, because unless someone's actively searching for them, they might not take off. it just makes it harder for creators to get discovered unless they do very specific things that bot algorithms pick up on. :(

i heard vidlii is a good alternative, i'm gonna try it out tonight! maybe it'll get more popular and we can have a bigger version of the old YouTube. :)

edit: i just made an account on vidlii and i can already say, i love the randomly-selected-video feature!! this is exactly what i was talking about earlier, now i can go watch videos that aren't specifically forced on my page and i can expand my horizons. i feel like i can properly surf the web there :D

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u used to be able to actually customize ur channel too.

i remember coming home from school and watching smosh videos, one day they uploaded a paranormal activity parody that was like 8 minutes long and it was the longest video theyd ever put up n i thought it was insane XD

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YouTube peaked at around 2015 IMO. It just got very restrictive and money-obsessed from there on. Heck, you get TWO (usually unskippable) ADS now also you can disable comments and likes, so creators can't get criticized if they did something wrong. YouTube was even planning to remove the dislike button.

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i wasn't really able to experience that youtube too much (i have some vague memories, although that would still probably be from after google had owned youtube for a little bit) but i do really appreciate what it was, and it sucks that its gotten so corporate. lately i seem to have gotten the youtube algorithm to show me more small creators which is pretty cool, at least. my sentiments are the same as everyone elses here really, i hope a youtube alternative that doesnt have alt right weirdos comes up at some point, and also gets decently popular.

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I started using YouTube when it was unrestricted by even copyright regulations. In the earliest days of YouTube, people uploaded literally anything, including obscure comedy sketch shows and the like. It was the wild west, much like the early days of Limewire. I was in college at the time and I'd have a blast watching those videos during my work study, instead of doing my homework lol.

Reviving the 2000s internet is something I have thought about for years. There have been many good attempts to do that. I see a few problems that have kept it from catching on: Lack of an ecosystem. In the earlier days, the 'net as it existed was the ecosystem because what we have now didn't exist yet and couldn't push it to the side. Now, we need an ecosystem that carves out a space on the internet and sets it apart from all the noise the other platforms create. The second problem I see is lack of awareness and engagement. Spacehey, yesterweb, vidli, etc., are all but invisible unless you're looking for it. I think we need a centralized hub that acts as a "home base" for a sort of "retronet" ecosystem. From that hub people can find all these other places. The third is closely related to the second, engagement. In addition to being more easily discoverable, there needs to be engagement that keeps people coming back and participating. Big Social Media solves that problem with algorithms. I think simpler things like email notifications would suffice. For example, after posting here, it would be great if I received an email notification the next time someone replies. That way I don't need to remember to come back and check.

These are just a few ideas and something I will start working on early next year. Any ideas others can add, questions or criticisms are welcome.

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The only way I have found to thoroughly confound the algorithm for YouTube is simply to have an absolutely unfocused viewing history. I watch everything from people playing games, to how-to vids, to listening to random music. It also helps that when I do get on YouTube it's usually to while away time or entertain my kids, so playlists come in extremely handy both in creator's pages as well as my own profiles.

I will say that the early days of the net were definitely more free than they are now, but you can chalk that up to the sickos and not just creators looking to cash in on a new way to make money. The old days of the net could be said to be *too* free, as sites that are now only found on the dark web used to be part of the top layer, completely accessible to anyone from any PC.

The old YouTube is just like any other small-start success: it catches on and spreads like wildfire, gets to be too much for the creator to manage, and winds up being acquired by a larger group with the people and capital to take it over. Even when Google grabbed it, change didn't happen quickly. The pissed off millionaires (read music artists and movie production companies) were hacked at file sharing because there's no way to physically stop it. When they pushed through the DMCA is when shit started to change drastically and quickly, since a platform like YouTube was based off the very things that were changed.

It literally became a vicious cycle: creators make content, people who make what the creators used (i.e. music, ideas, etc), artists/lawyers go after creators, creators fight back (like the Fair Use Act) and make more content, and it continues. It's not necessarily capitalism that's to blame, it's Fascist and Communistic corporations (and even shitty individuals) that have caused the absolute clusterf*** that YouTube and even the internet has become. Goodbye 'net of the 90s and 00s, you shall be forever missed.

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I miss the youtube with the 5 stars rating (much better than the superficial thumbs up/down thing) and when you were able to decorate your channel in an unique way just like it was possible with myspace. Those were the best and most colorful internet days. Back then I used to comment a lot more on youtube. Today I only log in when I upload a video on my channel, otherwise not. And almost completely stopped commenting, which is reduced to only replying to comments to my videos. And very important: I only watch youtube on my computer with my adblocker turned on of course!

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Agreed ;-;

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hardcore agree. i been saying this!!

it's always saddening when a platform made for creativity and open expression gets turned into something that is so so so corporate and business related now.

og youtube was so damn cool. just people posting their creations, now everything is sponsored, super high production, has to be super edited etc. before it was a lot more raw and i appreciated that genuine aspect.

you also used to be able to edit your youtube page to be way more customized and they took that away for whatever reason.

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the problem with youtube alternatives like bitview vidlii is that theyre just a bunch of shitposting and copy paste memes and shock humor. also a lot of nazis and slurs and people being racist for fun. im going to make my own and ban spam like content lol.

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i dont think there's a problem with monetization as long as it isnt overdone. the algorithm is too algorithm! the ads are overwhelming. it should be more chill and personal but theres nothing wrong with wanting to make some money from it.

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Youtube's soul died when the "Broadcast Yourself" part was removed from the logo. It's not a place for ordinary people anymore.

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Youtube has become boring. Every YouTuber feels the same nowadays. Of course that's not true in the grand scheme of things since there's a lot of small creators that aren't as corporate, but they always become that way eventually. And even then, the vibe is gone. It doesn't feel like a community spot anymore, it feels like... I don't know. It doesn't feel right.

Alternatives get too political. I'm not here to find out what Trump did or if Biden is a nutjob. I just want to enjoy my time. I know there's some nostalgia going on, but even trying to put that nostalgia aside; it feels as though the internet was a lot kinder back in the day.

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Does anyone else miss pre-Google YouTube?

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