WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU TUBE?

I must be YT’s biggest user. I have it playing all day and all night. I even fall asleep to podcasts, which might explain why I constantly dream about Joe Rogan. Don’t get me wrong — YT is great, and there are a lot of excellent channels if you’re willing to dig deep enough. I rely on it for my sobriety podcasts, music, true crime documentaries, and much more. The algorithm must be baffled, wondering what on earth is this guy is watching.

I was there from the start. I think I saw my first video in 2006 — that’s two decades ago now. I’ve watched the platform grow and followed the upgrades, along with the gradual creep of censorship and changing rules over the years. I have one real regret: I was a contributor in those early days. I ran a rather successful channel with thousands of subscribers, but I deleted the account, and I still regret that decision. If I still had those original videos up, they would likely have millions of views by now, translating into a steady bit of YouTube money. Since then I’ve tried creating different channels and posting vlogs, but met with zero interest — not a single subscriber, no likes, no comments — which isn’t entirely surprising when you start with no subs or momentum. I grew exasperated and eventually closed the show. Ideally, YouTube should offer a small incentive to new creators by promoting their videos just a little to help them gain initial traction. I was making content and getting virtually no views, so I was essentially the only person watching my own posts. That’s why I now use this blog to do the same thing in text form, sharing thoughts and work where they at least find a place to live.

One thing I have noticed is the content has become very PC and made safe for children, stripped of much of the edge and controversy it once carried. I remember the days when I watched videos on conspiracy theories, when online platforms still hosted a wild variety of fringe ideas and heated debates. This was back when Alex Jones hadn’t completely lost it and before so many channels were scrubbed or banned. Try looking up the 9/11 conspiracy, for example — you won’t find much of anything now. I always knew some form of censorship or sanitizing was coming, so I spent hundreds of hours downloading tens of thousands of videos that no longer exist on the ‘safe’ YouTube. I now have seven external hard drives full of old documentaries, obscure music, classic TV shows, podcasts and everything in between. I’m glad I did this, though I admit I might have gone a bit overboard. It hit me when I was downloading Taylor Swift tracks simply because they were there for the taking. I literally have maybe fifty terabytes of stuff — a ridiculous amount, given that 99 percent of this content I will probably never watch. I became addicted to downloading. I also have a collection of over two and a half thousand movies, though those didn’t come from YouTube. Maybe all of this hoarding will pay off if the internet ever goes down, but I’m not holding my breath.

Before I finish up here, what’s the deal with YouTube Premium? I downloaded it about a year ago and, to be honest, all it seemed to provide was an ad-free experience. I mainly browse with the Brave browser and haven’t seen a single ad in ages, so I’m struggling to understand what additional benefits Premium would actually give me. Why would I need to pay for Premium when my current setup already blocks ads?