Before he left The Hollywood Reporter for the greener pastures of Thrillist, Steve Bryant wrote a list of online video lessons learned. In said list is one of my favorite quotes about the medium: “Boobs evolved for thumbnails.”
No content producer or new media studio has cracked the code for internet success and strategies on how to make “Teh Best Webshow Evar!!!1!!” are in a perpetual state of flux (Where should you release your episodes? On what type of schedule? How long should they be? Does it have to be interactive? How interactive? Etc? Etc.).
But underneath all the trials and errors lies that tried and true TNA method of garnering an audience. Entire YouTube careers have been based on cleavage (see Athene Wins and Hot for Words) and it’s a well known phenomenon that in a regular old web series, the episodes with the most (or disproportionate) view counts are going to be the ones where the thumbnail is the most lascivious.
But that was the old YouTube. Now, there’s a new YouTube with quality standards that penalize the use of profanity and sexually suggestive material. A Youtube for all of us.
A post on YouTube’s blog outlines the new initiatives it will take to “make the collective YouTube experience even better” (for advertisers, not necessarily users).
- Stricter standard for mature content – While videos featuring pornographic images or sex acts are always removed from the site when they’re flagged, we’re tightening the standard for what is considered “sexually suggestive.” Videos with sexually suggestive (but not prohibited) content will be age-restricted, which means they’ll be available only to viewers who are 18 or older.
- Demotion of sexually suggestive content and profanity – Videos that are considered sexually suggestive, or that contain profanity, will be algorithmically demoted on our ‘Most Viewed,’ ‘Top Favorited,’ and other browse pages. The classification of these types of videos is based on a number of factors, including video content and descriptions. In testing, we’ve found that out of the thousands of videos on these pages, only several each day are automatically demoted for being too graphic or explicit. However, those videos are often the ones which end up being repeatedly flagged by the community as being inappropriate.
- Improved thumbnails – To make sure your thumbnail represents your video, your choices will now be selected algorithmically. You’ll still have three thumbnails to choose from, but they will no longer be auto-generated from the 25/50/75 points in the video index.
- More accurate video information – Our Community Guidelines have always prohibited folks from attempting to game view counts by entering misleading information in video descriptions, tags, titles, and other metadata. We remain serious about enforcing these rules. Remember, violations of these guidelines could result in removal of your video and repeated violations will lead to termination of your account.
As expected, this caused an outrage in the YouTube community, especially amongst its Producers with a history of gaming views.
Some made legitimate arguments that they need control of their thumbnails in order to properly brand their content. That’s a good point. Users who choose their thumbnail images not by cupsize but by relevance to their videos might become innocent victims within this new system. That sucks, but breasts shouldn’t be people’s biggest concern.
By algorithmically demoting content that’s sexually suggestive or contains profanity, YouTube is essentially censoring its users. It’s not full-blown censorship (probably nothing the NCAC is going to be up in arms about), but it’s still censorship. A difference of degree, not kind. And when does it end?
I realize YouTube needs to make money and attracting advertisers is easier when you promote content that’s “safe,” but does this mean the end is nigh for the say-whatever-you-want-it’s-the-Wild-West internet? In a few years will the site be a saccharine-coated candyland of family friendly content for Madison Ave.?
For further analaysis and deconstruction, check out YouTube Reviewed.
Comments
There seems to be a trend in many types of media to self-regulate at a certain point, usually to avoid political action. The Comic Book Code, the film and television ratings systems, and the addition of labels to music all spring to mind. Interesting that this is self-imposed.
For me the question is whether this is just a natural part of the growth of the medium. Is network TV censoring itself when it chooses family friendly content? Maybe, but it’s what they need to do to attract advertisers, and pay for all the content.
YouTube, a victim of its own success in that it is now highly scrutinized for any choices it makes in ways its competitors are not, is making similar choices. I’m not sure if they are right or not, but if they weren’t so disproportionately the biggest player in the space, those who are unhappy with the changes could go elsewhere. In this case, that option has its own pitfalls.
It will be interesting to see if this has a similar effect to the one that occurred when many theater chains decided not to show NC-17 films. They made a business decision, something within their rights, but it essentially meant that an NC-17 rating was a kiss of death. Now movies on the bubble are engaged in a game of three card monte, trying to trim just enough to make an R. Perhaps the same will happen in these instances. Sometimes the hoops artists jump through to toe the line make the whole endeavor even better -witness Seinfeld’s “Master of My Domain”). If they had just used actual words for the contest, it would not have been nearly as funny. Possible silver lining? Maybe not, but I do think that these sorts of dust ups show health and growth in the medium.
YouTube is not the internet. If they want to self-regulate, it opens the doors for their competitors who don’t censor themselves.
Beyond that, we all need to divorce ourselves from the concept that advertising is what should be driving artistic creation. Either that, or people need to accept the blanket fact that if they want something for free, it’s going to be squeaky clean and mainstream; you’ll have to pay to see the edge.
Lastly, this choice by YouTube to become more advertiser-friendly is a strict business decision, but it comes at the expense of freedom for artists and experimenters. Not that artists are the ones trying to game the system with boob thumbnails, but because some folks were, YouTube has now enacted sweeping self-censorship that negates its ability to be a hub for anything that goes outside the norm. (In terms of quality content, that applies far more to language and innuendo than it does to boob thumbnails.)
Looks like YouTube has gone mainstream without the attendant profit (yet). That means it’s time for someone else to step in and provide the uncensored alternative.
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