YouTube announced that they would be changing their verification requirements for channels on their platform. Why may you ask? Because apparently it's really easy to forge the checkmark that appears beside a creators name, but that's not why creators and viewers are upset. They are angry because many creators who have spent years building their channels on Youtube have become unverified.

The qualification to become verified used to be that any creator who has 100,000 subscribers were eligible and can apply to get that checkmark. Now, in order to now become verified on YouTube one must prove their authenticity and their prominence. This means that in order to become verified on YouTube now, you must be a well-known creator and known outside of YouTube. The criteria that YouTube is requiring is actually pretty tough to meet. A lot of YouTubers won't make news outside of YouTube unless they are able to either accomplish something huge, or they film a dead body.

This change affected YouTubers such as Macdoesit, Sierra Schultzzie, and Chris Klemons, all three are medium-sized creators who make their living on the platform. The verification checkmark for these creators isn't just a way to say that their channel is important, but its a way for them to network with other creators so they can make friends and collab on videos. Sierra Schultzzie said on Twitter, "I don't care about the validation of a checkmark, but I've been able to make a lot of friendships with other creators because we get notifications when another verified channel comments on our videos." YouTube is already being sued by LGBTQ+ creators for unfair discrimination, now they are starting to discriminate against smaller channels. This could have a big impact on YouTube viewers and the small creators who make YouTube great.