Hello, spammers, impersonators, and/or other bad actors!
YouTube recently announced it's newest requirements for YouTube Partnership, officially taking effect on February 20th, 2018 (EDIT: with new Partnership applications apparently taking effect immediately?).
According to the official blog post, the new requirements will be put in place so "spammers, impersonators, and other bad actors can’t hurt our ecosystem or take advantage of you". By this, they mean that the new requirement for monetization is 4,000 hours of watchtime within the past 12 months and at least 1,000 subscribers.
Maybe I'm not looking in the right places, but the most recent news regarding content creators on YouTube who have 'taken advantage' of anyone or anything are ones that surely surpass said new requirements by hundreds, if not thousands?
"We’ve arrived at these new thresholds after thorough analysis and conversations with creators like you." Who were those analyzed, and who had these conversations? I can guarantee I am not one of those people, and I probably would not have been one of those people even if I had still been a YouTube Top Contributor.
To stop with the negative for a bit, it should be noted that, "99% of those affected were making less than $100 per year in the last year, with 90% earning less than $2.50 in the last month". So most of the affected accounts aren't really losing much revenue from this. (I've personally never made a cent from YouTube yet I've had a Partnered account since the end of 2011, you know, back when you had to go through the original application process? Why are legacy Partner accounts affected? What happens with accounts in a Content Network? Did YouTube think of these questions?)
Many serious content creators can most likely reach the new thresholds, but not all accounts grow at the same rate, especially if YouTube is not a primary source of income or content. Many gaming content creators who will not qualify for YouTube Partner after the changes take effect have already earned payments from the Twitch Affiliate Program. Some creators may easily meet one or the requirements, but not the other.
Backlash is already starting, but it's already quite awkward. Many have ran to the official blog post requesting 'Sub 4 Sub' hoping to get over 1,000 subscribers (and somehow magically getting the 4,000 hours of watchtime from that?). Those who will remain within the requirement thresholds are simply giving the response of, "Just focus on growing your channels!", and at least in this case, they are right... yet at the same time, channel growth works differently for everyone especially in a highly competitive environment.
While I am someone who will not be losing any revenue from the changes (yet losing the ability to do so), there are content creators who do not meet the new requirement thresholds, yet still produce content that does not fall under the categories of spammers, impersonators, and other bad actors who actually do have something to lose from the changes.
...but hey, when enough people spoke out against changes announced by Patreon recently, it convinced them to change their mind. So if you don't like the upcoming changes to the YouTube Partner Program, you have a few choices: A. Constructively tell YouTube through their blog/forums/other feedback methods how you will be affected by the change personally, or B. Just focus on continuing to create your content as normal, and eventually meet the requirements (if they in fact do make the new changes). DO NOT: Demand people to subscribe to you.
Regardless of the amount of revenue involved, these changes are discouraging to smaller, up-and-coming content creators. No matter your choice, either speaking out against them, or trying to push yourself to your limits, it's up to you how to fight. Just don't prove that YouTube is correct in calling you spammers, impersonators, and other bad actors.
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