How YouTube demonetization works

Regarding the PETA activist YouTube shooter, treehouseron comments,

I’m not saying she shoulda hurt anybody… but she was pretty much spot on at least about Youtube.

Basically the way you get new subscribers on youtube (which helps you make more money) is that Youtube’s computer algorithms suggest to you other videos in the sidebar, that you may be interested in because of whatever you’re watching now.

She was obviously crazy as a loon, but once they ‘blacklisted’ her account, all the videos would still be there but they wouldn’t suggest them to be watched on anybody’s other videos. It means you end up in a black hole of youtube, nobody can see your videos other than the people subscribed to you, and you don’t have any ads placed on those videos to make money off of.

Before you cheer that they did her like that, they typically do that to anybody espousing a conservative view of any kind. If you support the President in a youtube video it is immediately demonetized and not suggested to anybody.

Youtube also allows people to ‘report’ a video; if your video is reported (by haters, for any reason) with the click of a button your video is demonetized. Most political videos are timely; they’re only really relevant for a day or two until there’s more to the story, or something else is going on. If your video is demonetized the first day it’s up (by a click of the button from a hater), you lose any potential you have of making anything on the video. Even if they review it and correct it, nobody wants to watch a two day old video about politics.

These social media platforms are in the early days of their success and there are still a lot of unfair, biased policies to be ironed out. Nasim would say…. “Or Else.”