YouTube has changed over the past number of years. A website once used for watching cat videos and known for carrying trends such as the Harlem Shake, or moments such as "Charlie Bit My Finger" which are recognizable to anyone who had access to the Internet in 2009, has become a place where thousands on content creators seek the next big moment to bring millions of viewers to their comment, like, and subscribe buttons.
In my last article, I discussed Logan Paul's video from his trip in Japan. As the news has circulated its course and I dissected the event in-depth in my article, I will not talk about it here. However, since I wrote the article, YouTube released an open letter on Twitter in acknowledgment of Logan Paul's video.
The tweets, in short, are formal and brief, but get to the point: YouTube acknowledges that the video went against their rules, and adjustments are in the works in order to take precautions against an incident happening again. However, along with several issues involving the actual apology contained within the letter - while YouTube claims that it is "genuinely upset," there is no mention of the victim or his family - another comment was raised by Matthew Patrick of the Game Theorists in a recent video.
Patrick discusses the issue of what he refers to as the "Logan Loophole," and brings up how the algorithm organizing YouTube videos encourages the behavior displayed by both Logan and Jake Paul as a way to increase their views, and hints at what making headlines and trending videos will mean for their Internet future.
Personally, I do not know exactly how to fix the issue - in his video, Patrick suggests his own solutions - but instead I seek to draw attention to what the culture on YouTube encourages. Creators, instead of earning ad revenue and subscribers for their quality content that is entertaining, find that those such as Logan Paul make waves on YouTube for drawing attention to themselves.
As Patrick says, they create controversy in order to gain views. As the idea stands, it makes sense. Over the past year alone, songs mocking and calling out other creators swarmed the trending pages, such as Jake Paul's track "It's Everyday Bro," and the subsequent "It's Everynight Sis" by Ricegum and Logan's Paul's "The Second Verse." Pointed lyrics, while little more than a way to bring viewers to all involved channels and increase traffic to their videos, are harmless in comparison to the showcasing of a suicide.
The rapid escalation from point A to point B should be a concern for viewers and content creators alike. Content creators looking to create their own following will be drowned out for those who will go to any length to make headlines and achieve their next million subscribers, while viewers will have to sift through video upon video of diss tracks, risky thumbnails, and suggestive content before they can find anything tasteful that they want to watch. All the while, those such as Logan and Jake Paul continue to be a force to be reckoned with, their own followings growing exponentially by the day.
Dear YouTube, whatever your method of adjustment is, please do it well.