So YouTube has a lot of problems, there’s no denying that. Frivolous and selective (not to mention automated) copyright enforcement, bureaucratic termination appeal system, COPPA idiocy, the whole clusterfuck that is monetization, etc?
In contrast, Odysee is this open-source video platform that fixes many of these problems. It took of, like, I dunno, a year ago? Thing is, it’s still very inactive and dead. A lot of YouTubers have pined for a massive exodus from YouTube, which might sound familiar for many of us Lemmings here. Yet, the majority of them can’t seem to let it go, since YouTube/Google pretty much exercises a monopoly on the online video sharing industry.
What worries me is that Reddit alternatives, such as Lemmy, Mastodon, or kbin, could see a similar fate to YouTube alternatives like Odysee or BitChute. I’d love to see people quit Reddit en masse and hopefully find a “safe harbor” some place like here, but I’m hearing about realistic concerns regarding even the viability of this site’s databases, so I feel like the actual outcome will be more of a small dent than a massive crater.
Which is exactly what Huffman wants and he knows it.
Ugh, I hate this awful corporate creativity-stifling timeline.
Regarding Odysee/LBRY, I believe “content” video platforms can align with crypto if the video can make a tangible claim to be “on-chain”, which LBRY does: the reason why this might be the case is because it creates a potential positive feedback loop between securing the chain, securing the content, the market value of the layer 1, and the self-interest of viewers and creators.
The main challenge to overcome is that the incentive structure can’t center “watch to earn” or anything like that. When you try for those direct incentives you harm the value of the content by making it a speculation game, and I think that is people’s main issue with platforms like LBRY or, for another example, Steemit(a “blockchain Reddit” which is karma-to-earn, achieving the typical Web3 result of “people in impoverished countries go out of their way farming it to get a few dollars”).
There has to be a notion of collective space, collective good, just a hint of moderation or norms-based gatekeeping, and a largely undisturbed viewing experience. And that’s a “tortoise” strategy, because it doesn’t create big results for anyone right away, but the logic is sound: a chain storing more valuable information is more valuable to keep alive than its peers, and in time transforms itself into a historical archive. I do believe LBRY is gradually finding its way down this path - every time I look back at the Oddysee site the experience and the kinds of content I’m seeing posted has improved a little bit more.
Video content, at least the high end stuff that is now common on Youtube, remains expensive enough that it does have to fit in the mode of industrial production and earning its way in some respect - Youtube’s staying power is a debt-driven phenomenon, and the platform remains unsustainable despite having so much on it. So to me it’s just a question of whether we’ll align around crypto in the near term or stay more in the mode of, say, Nebula, and focus on premium subscriptions.
Content creators mostly want to focus on what is here right now, within the short time frame of “my next project”. You can call that short-sighted, but it’s often motivated by financing and career incentives, with a dash of trendiness and clout-chasing: you want to be where the big audience is, so you’ll run whatever rat race is there.