YouTube Apologises For Mocking Long Videos 88
YouTube has apologised and deleted a tweet from its official Twitter account in which it mocked content creators for making videos that were too long. From a report: Under its own rules, adverts can be placed in the middle of videos at least eight minutes long only - shortened in July 2020 from a 10-minute minimum. This means content creators can make more money by making longer videos. YouTubers can also start monetising their videos only once they have racked up 4,000 hours of watch time. "It is like giving your daughter allowance based on hours studied, not grades, then complaining she studies too much," former Amazon Studios strategy head Matthew Ball said. In the tweet, posted on Saturday afternoon and removed within a couple of hours, YouTube mocked "creators" who "after talking for 15 minutes" would say: "'All right, let's jump straight into the video.'" In a follow-up tweet to its 72 million followers, the platform said the original had been posted in "good faith... but we missed the mark and did not reflect the spirit of the creator community."
"[in] good faith..." (Score:5, Insightful)
the platform said the original had been posted in "good faith... but we missed the mark and did not reflect the spirit of the creator community."
Translation: "we were total assholes, without realizing it.... again".
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Re:"[in] good faith..." (Score:4, Insightful)
A lot of content creators are pretty annoyed by the mid stream ads and that they now have to go into every single video to remove them. The mid stream ads either drives viewers away or causes them to run adblockers.
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A lot of content creators are pretty annoyed by the mid stream ads and that they now have to go into every single video to remove them. The mid stream ads either drives viewers away or causes them to run adblockers.
Indeed, Louis Rossmann ranted about this [youtube.com] not too long ago.
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https://youtu.be/dCLxiN_dpjU [youtu.be]
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A lot of content creators are pretty annoyed by the mid stream ads
An obvious solution is to get to the point so your videos are shorter.
For any video over 10 minutes long, the first 30 seconds can be skipped. The last minute is usually promotions for other videos. There are usually several minutes of fluff in the middle.
I often scan across the progress bar, looking at the thumbnails, to find the 20% of the video that has the actual content.
To be fair, the headline is crap (false) (Score:2)
The headline also belies what the Tweet actually said, which isn't mentioned until the last sentence of the summary:
YouTube mocked "creators" who "after talking for 15 minutes" would say: "'All right, let's jump straight into the video.'"
There is a big difference between making a long video vs blabbing for 15 solid minutes before you actually say anything.
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That's how I read it too. The tweet was mocking someone who says "let's jump right in" after blathering on about some inane crap.
Re: To be fair, the headline is crap (false) (Score:2)
It's a legit issue. That's one thing that really annoys me about some YouTube videos, the beginning is full of inane crap about shoutouts to some other people, a status update about some drawing or contest that is long over by the time I saw the video, or some rant or argument about something that is not related to the stated subject of the video. I don't know why anybody would fault them for calling out what is a long standing issue of so many videos having needlessly long and off topic preambles.
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If you can find good creators there are decent long videos.
For example take Adrian's Digital Basement. The information could be condensed down a bit but much of the enjoyment is seeing the process he goes through and listening to him talking knowledgeably any the subject.
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For any video over 10 minutes long, the first 30 seconds can be skipped.
You're watching the wrong channels. Try Applied Science, for example.
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Or LockPickingLawyer. Blink and you'll miss it.
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It would really suck to get a midstream on the videos from this creator: https://www.youtube.com/channe... [youtube.com]
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One person coined the term Wadsworth Constant [knowyourmeme.com], which alleges that you can skip the first third of any YouTube video (or just about anything for that matter) and not miss anything important.
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An obvious solution is to get to the point so your videos are shorter.
The videos have to be longer in order to be monetized.
Google created this situation, then they mocked creators for finding ways to survive it.
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YouTube gave every content creator a whole month to set the default setting for their past videos - to allow midroll ads or not.l This took place in August and even EEVBlog did a tutorial on how to set it so your past video don't have them.
Going forward, each video uploaded has the option and can
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It was one option they had a month to spend the 4 minutes on their creator page to flip that would disable midroll ads.
They can fix this by leaving that option permanently. And that is what YouTube OUGHT to do.
There is no reason short of laziness to not let creators flip it on or off at will.
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If content creators are having to remove them manually, it means they accepted mid-roll ads are changing them only because of the backlash.
Either that or youtube added that feature later, decided to enable it for them by default, forced those users to go back and disable it on all their videos.
Which do you think it was?
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YouTube has a feature where a video can have bookmarks placed into the timebar, but working with those would require effort.
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I've been running adblocks since the GameFAQs days, the last straw was the napster frog which for some inexplicable reason has a rendered penis.
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That's not unique, just look up the unedited version of the Crazy Frog version of Axel F.
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This happens a lot. See programming languages. Every time a new one appears, it's a complete mess.
Shell script - complete mess
Perl - aims to do shell script better, supplants it, compeltely unusable without a tonne of modules and then a few years later is complete dropped from OS's, with some going to python
PHP - aims to do web scripting better than perl, supplants it, includes so many built in modules that bloats the interpreter and then gets so asininely complex that the language is often blamed for probl
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the platform said the original had been posted in "good faith... but we missed the mark and did not reflect the spirit of the creator community."
Translation: "we were total assholes, without realizing it.... again".
Yeah well the YouTube "Creators" had it coming. If pointing out the obvious makes you an arsehole then count me in their ranks. The entire is being literally inundated with garbage videos which could be condensed down to 2 sentences without losing any of the relevant content.
I dunno... (Score:5, Insightful)
They had a valid point. I don’t spend much time on YouTube; but it sure seems like “creators” go out of their way to make videos which are way, way too long and contain very little actual content.
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The worst is "how-to" videos where the 10 seconds it takes to show you how to do something are preceded by 5 minutes of a rambling, repetitive introduction.
Re:I dunno... (Score:5, Informative)
The worst is "how-to" videos where the 10 seconds it takes to show you how to do something are preceded by 5 minutes of a rambling, repetitive introduction.
The trick is to read the comments first. Someone usually leaves a message saying "Skip to 2:38 ...".
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I wonder how long it will take before skipping is disabled in some "feature upgrade" of the site...
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That's why I like watching Lock Picking Lawyer. He is exactly what his name says, he gets the lock, he picks it.
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I actually prefer is longer videos. Though, I do watch all of them when I can.
Under 2 minutes, crap lock picked with random item
Between 2 and 4 minutes, standard Lockpicking fare, maybe with a minor twist.
Over 4 minutes .. something unique and very interesting.
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The entire web is that way now. I go to look up a recipe and I have to wade through thousands of words of babble about how awesome the recipe is for a virtual recipe card that totals about twenty-five words and measurements at the end of it.
The web needs editors. Real editors. Not editorializers.
Re:I dunno... (Score:5, Funny)
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They had a valid point. I don’t spend much time on YouTube; but it sure seems like “creators” go out of their way to make videos which are way, way too long and contain very little actual content.
Yeah, it is definitely a thing, there are lots of videos that ramble on and on in introductions.
The problem is those creators do it because of youtube algorithms. Youtube makes it so that longer videos make more money. Youtube is directly responsible for this situation and they are the only ones that can fix it. Youtube makes the rules and in this tweet, they were blaming creators for playing by the rules.
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If you were going to make a 7 minute video but stretching it to 8 minutes gets you double the return... Well it's hard to turn down that value proposition.
Sucks for the viewers though, I like high density content.
I'm sure YouTube have a "Boil the frog" plan and were just getting started with it.
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You're watching the wrong channels. The channels I watch regularly are much more information dense than anything you might get on traditional TV.
That said, I have seen some low-quality channels that consist of little more than regurgitating press releases (and dragging that out over 20 minutes) or reading from Wikipedia out loud.
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High information density isn't always what you want though. Obviously there is "slow TV" like Ramblac and Nippon Wondering, but for example there are a lot of retro computer channels where people repair stuff or just play around with old machines. Part of the charm is taking it easy, listening to them talk about the machines at length, go through the repair process (it's like a who-dun-it drama only better!) or simply enjoy the authentic experience of installing a game from 5.25" floppy and loading it up.
LG
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I can't count the number of times I've had a recommended video turn out to be something with about as much actual information as one could fit on a matchbook cover, stretched out over ten minutes. They shouldn't be apologizing to the content creators, they should be apologizing for the content creators. The nonsense has been going on for far longer than this particular ad program. Apparently they get some kind of bonus credit if they can trick a user into sticking around for more than ten minutes, so tha
What about 2 hour+ adverts, or permium? (Score:2)
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The only time I saw an ad that length was an ad for The Lego Movie 2, and the ad was The Lego Movie in its entirety.
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A mess (Score:2)
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Don't forget people who take comments from 4chan and reddit and read them out. In fact, I'm pretty sure that's considered copyright infringement.
Youtube interrupts monumental moments (Score:5, Interesting)
Today while watching SpaceX's StarLink 13(12) launch, YT interrupted with in-stream (uninterruptable unskippable) ads RIGHT AT T-01 and again just as the first stage was coming down on the drone ship.
I know these are coincidental, based on timing, but it COMPLETELY RUINS THE POINT. I'd rather watch a stuttering video hosted on someone's backyard server than have a historical event interrupted by an ad for politicians lying about each other.
In-stream ads are an abomination. They modify the Creator content to benefit the host. Sure, it's free. I'll gladly pay for a non-free version where I don't get that.
E
Re:Youtube interrupts monumental moments (Score:5, Informative)
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Install uBlock Origin in your browser. You'll never see ads again, anywhere.
The "in-stream" ads are part of the video stream. uBO (have that) doesn't know anything different is going on during those in-stream ads.
E
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Install uBlock Origin in your browser. You'll never see ads again, anywhere.
The "in-stream" ads are part of the video stream. uBO (have that) doesn't know anything different is going on during those in-stream ads.
E
I don't know. I have uBlock Origin and Ghostery and I have never seen a single add on my PC during a YouTube video. I see them all the time when watching YouTube on my phone or TV, but not a single one on my PC.
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Toggle it off, reload, then toggle it on (Score:2)
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The "in-stream" ads are part of the video stream.
What's an "in-stream" ad? I certainly have never seen an advert in my browser while watching Youtube. Not before, not during.
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Install uBlock Origin in your browser. You'll never see ads again, anywhere.
Browser? What's a browser? People on their phones with the Youtube app are dying to know!
It's amazing how much of a shitshow Youtube is these days without an adblocker.
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People on their phones with the Youtube app are dying to know!
https://vanced.app/ [vanced.app]
Enjoy.
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If the ads were banner ads without sound then people would be a lot less annoyed with them as long as they don't trigger epilepsy.
If the ads were silent and non-blocking the acceptance would be a lot higher.
Re:Youtube interrupts monumental moments (Score:5, Informative)
You know the creator doesn't have to monetize (Score:2)
YouTube always errs on the side of not showing ads, to the point where lots of creators have to go out of their way to avoid demonetization. Ever since a bunch of McDonald's and Nike adverts showed up on White Supremacist vids. It was called the ad-pocalypse.
NewPipe (Score:2)
I watch on my Android phone with NewPipe and never see ads. I can also just MiraCast my phone to my TV if I want to watch it larger. Of course, this is only really doable because it's not terribly prevalent. As soon as it becomes widely used, I'm sure the streams themselves will be edited, and not the player, to insert ads. Still, it's a great ap now, allows downloading, and just works.
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"No-one has been able to prove Tony wrong, but it's now illegal to question the mainstream narrative on Youtube."
How is it "illegal"? And why should YouTube, a private company, be compelled to stream videos by some crackpot?
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YouTube allows all kinds of false and fake psuedoscience, such as fake medicine, homeopathy, healing crystals, aura bullshit, and so on to be openly advertised. If Tony's statements are "harmful" then it means YouTube endorses the aforementioned frauds who cause very real physical and financial harm to people.
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No-one has been able to prove Tony wrong
The sure sign of a crackpot. The greatest scientists have been proven wrong countless times. And when they are, they admit their mistakes and adapt their research accordingly. For example, Einstein didn't believe black holes were real, even if his theory predicted them, and the ones who proved him wrong just got Nobel prizes. Einstein is still considered one the greatest scientists of all times.
Most likely, if our crackpot is not wrong, he is "not even wrong". Statements are so unscientific that they are ne
Demonitize != censor (Score:5, Informative)
For the record, Heller parroting carefully orchestrated talking points that are just on the edge of misinformation that would get you banned due to the high risk of said information being applied. There's nothing interesting about him except that he's picked his topics just well enough to walk that line.
The only positive thing is he hasn't yet got enough subs to warrant a Professor Stick debunking, but given he's close to 100k subs I'm sure it's coming. In any case if you go through Professor Stick's YouTube channel you'll find most if not all of Heller's talking points debunked.
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Whether people are dumb enough to agree with him isn't the issue. That "no one has been able to prove Tony wrong" doesn't matter, because being so wildly detached from reality as to make one's arguments unassailable is actually a thing.
They're not engaging in censorship, they're restricting the spread of deliberate misinformation on the platform. See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
It's obvious his "schtick" is deliberately stirring up controversy where sanity would otherwise prevail. It's not ed
Good (Score:3)
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I don't mind 10-15 seconds of it - but minutes of it is rather terrible.
As to talking about what they are going to react to, comment on, whatever for multiple minutes before doing the "lets in jump right into the video" thing, well, they kinda gotta. And after they show whatever as well. 'Cause otherwise, potential copyright issues. Enough legit commentary gets blocked due to the anticopyright bots/algos as it is. But that whole "for commentary purposes" bit in the US copyright laws will/should let them
Why do I see no ads on YT? (Score:2)
Guys this is really weird, everybody complains about in video Ads and unskipable ads .. but am I really the only one that does not complain because I don't see any?
"Adblocker for youtube" you say is to blame?
The I will really uninstall at .. because I want ads ..
https://addons.mozilla.org/de/... [mozilla.org]
ps.
This YT is for mocking too long videos know you feel how long videos felt!
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Techmoan has puppets. (Score:4, Interesting)
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In other words (Score:5, Funny)
The "creators" were doing the same thing recipe sites do. You go to look up a recipe and find the life story of your grandmother's sister's husband who loved these cookies as he wandered across the frozen wasteland of Minnesota. Where he came from, Finland, these cookies were made every weekend and shoved into every pocket you could find because they were so darn tasty! People couldn't get enough of them. It was especially great to have a handful, or two, of these when the long winter months came along and he had to go out and chop down a tree for firewood while fending off the pack of wolves which always seemed to come around. Maybe they were interested in the cookies as well!
He always loved these cookies and we've continued this tradition of making them, though not every weekend. Once a month my daughter and I set up early in the morning, before everyone's awake, and carefully mix the ingredients. Don't over do it. You don't want the cookies to be too tough. We'll talk about the upcoming holiday season while mixing the dough, adding a few extras here and there, and keeping our voices down so as not to wake anyone.
Once we have the dough ready, we carefully open the oven door because it creaks and my husband hasn't gotten around to oiling it. The trays filled with little balls of uncooked goodness are slid in and we check the time so they don't bake too long.
As soon as the first batch comes out the whole house awakens. Everyone straggles into the kitchen, noses held high as they sniff the air for the fragrant tang of cookies. We can barely get the sheets out of the oven before hands are grabbing at the golden mounds! Fingers might get a bit singed, but that's the price they're willing to pay for these family traditions. Sometimes we'll have to make a second and even a third batch! These cookies go great with a steaming mug of hot chocolate on a cold winter morning, though I prefer coffee.
Oh yeah. Here's the recipe.
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And when you try to scroll straight to the recipe, you find that they include hundreds of huge images (and ads) that slows the page loading down so much you've got a 2+ minute wait until you can actually get to the recipe.
An even bigger problem (Score:1)
Is an autoplaying ad for an app called "Slotmania" that features an extreme closeup for somebody picking his nose. I'm not typing the details because I can't write it without vomiting, but lets just say I was dry heaving BAD, and I didn't want to watch the video I was looking for after that.
This was wrong and incredibly stupid for YT to do this, and possibly even in violation of the law scince it caused a dangerous, potentially physical reaction. This is like knowingly running an ad whith rapidly flashing l
Re: An even bigger problem (Score:2)
", potentially physical reaction. "
potentially DEADLY physical reaction
Odd (Score:1)
It's usually short things that get mocked.
Remember to like, favorite & subscribe. (Score:1)
YouTube doesn't follow its own rules (Score:2)
Which is nonsense. I'm regularly watching 2-3 minute videos from particular channels (e.g.: Clickspring Clips) that get interrupted only 30 seconds in with a 5+ minute ad. Really, YouTube? The ad's longer than the video???
Shortening of the world's attention span (Score:1)
Youtube is focusing on shorter videos in many ways (e.g., counter shows views per video, not e.g., minutes of video watched).
As a consequence, content creators prefer to create many small videos instead of longer ones, and this is shortening our attention span. With the reach of youtube, this is creating a series problem affecting millions.
Making longer (20-40 minute) videos would make people better. And youtube has easy ways of doing that: just make the view counter show the number of minutes actually watc
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*serious problem, not a series problem
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As a consequence, content creators prefer to create many small videos instead of longer ones
So, Idiocracy [wikipedia.org] foretells the future again. Bring on the episodes of Ow! My balls! [youtube.com]
Shortening the video with full of content (Score:1)
They're not wrong (Score:2)
Long videos should be mocked early and often, with all the world's derision.
I usually look at the length before I start, if it's 5mins or more, it's probably not worth it. Found a Ken Robinson TED talk the other night, it was just under 1hr, thought what the heck, it might be good - and boy was I disappointed. Even in that edited almost hour, he did not manage to say anything insightful, only a couple of superficial anecdotes and jokes. I was just sitting there the whole time waiting for him to get to the