youtube is looking dire right now
i think we all know what's happening by now considering it's in effect tomorrow.
i am a creator who makes LPS videos, videos with Littlest Pet Shops. despite this, my videos are directed at a 13+ audience. 13+, the original requirement for YouTube, what it should've always remained with monitoring from parents.
unfortunately, with the new policy, YouTube is turning into an 18+ site. I think to an extent adults can enjoy my videos despite being made with LPS, but I know for a fact I'd still lose a chunk of my audience. It doesn't matter at any rate, because YouTube's AI will surely brush LPS off as for kids, and uploading videos and gaining an audience will be impossible.
Personally, I don't care a lot about views and subscribers; hell I don't even make a cent off videos. This has always been a hobby for me, and I don't plan to turn it into a career. Despite that, it's important to me, and I still wanted to build a community around it and share it with others. That was the point of even making my channel. That was the original reason for YouTube's existence, to share our creativity with others and build communities around videos.
In my teen years, mid-late 2010s, I did succeed in doing that with my channel, LPSAllisonTV, and I'm proud of that. But now, I want to get back into making LPS videos and carrying out my current projects, and ever since COPPA, it's been really difficult.
I do not want to give my ID to google, and I don't think anyone should. I don't trust the AI to work properly, and I don't like that it will prevent me from watching videos about LPS or even drawing, gaming, and other "childish" hobbies.
So, What's My Plan?
As of August 13th, I will be boycotting YouTube; not uploading, not watching, nothing. I encourage others to do the same. Create an outrage, fight for your privacy! Being complicit and assuming nothing will change only encourages these things, and it will get worse. Believe you can make a difference, believe in the people around you as well. At least try. It's not enough to just hope things will change.
However, if this doesn't work and YouTube doesn't reverse it, I'm not sure how I'll go about it. I'll just have to wait and see how things play out.
As for my projects? Well, I'm still going to make LPS videos and have them saved on my Drive behind the scenes. I will make my projects. They will just be private for a little while, which I think will help me build a stronger relationship with this hobby, being able to enjoy it without NEEDING an audience.
That said, I still want to build a community and share it with them. There are people who want to see my projects. There is a chance I will simply link the videos from my drive here, but I am unsure of anything yet.
I've considered moving to Rumble, but I don't know if I'll carry that out. Switching from such a big platform that everyone uses is very difficult; most big creators will still be on YouTube and it feels rather isolating. Still, it's an option in the back of my mind.
How Can I See Your Projects?
As always, I post art on this blog of my characters, including random OCs and characters from my LPS projects! For the LPS series and videos themselves, like I stated, I will be creating them and saving them to my Drive. They will be private for now, but as we watch things play out, that will change.
If YouTube reverses their policy, of course I will return and post the videos there as planned. If nothing changes, I may be able to link the videos from my Drive here, or I'll move to Rumble. So, if you want to see my content, this blog is your best resource for updates. I will be updating through this process and letting you know about my progress on videos, crafts, and more, as well as posting drawings.
Thank you for reading, whether you're a viewer, follower, or just passing by. I hope things work out for us, stay positive, stay safe, and dont give out your personal information! :]
