BW Media Spotlight

A little bit of fun trivia for this filler from the buffer.

YouTube has become a big player in the streaming game, currently combining big name stuff with user created works, though at times it feels like YouTube’s owner, Google, is less interested in supporting the latter and pursuing Hollywood. Corporatism at work, thinking the big names bring in the most moolah? Possibly, but smaller creators are feeling more and more frustrated at changes to the platform’s Partner Program rules that tighten the numbers needed to join, questionable AI bots flagging things, false flags to get money or attack people they don’t like, and some serious hits to animation channels along those lines as well as potential newcomers. This makes little sense given how YouTube creators are being chased for livestreaming channels, Tubi has an outlet for those same creators, and then there’s three theatrical movies by YouTubers (and in one case adapting his own work) that did well in theaters this year.

I thought that’s what this video from Fact Quickie was going to go over, but seeing as they’re a kind of documentary channel I’m not surprised it isn’t. Usually this channel has videos that fit the Daily Video length, but this is more like a not so quickie, though still too short for Saturday Night Showcase as a trivia video. Host Simon Whistler goes over the history of YouTube, starting as a video dating channel and almost immediately pivoting to the site where you post pictures of your dog. Now it’s a home for original content as video making software has made major technological leaps. He doesn’t go over that part so much, focusing on the history of the channel itself, what video is actually the first ever YouTube video, and how PayPal played a part in the site’s formation.

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