Recent changes on YouTube
Photo Courtesy of BM Amaro- Pexels
YouTube is—and has been for quite some time—one of the most successful social media platforms and streaming services in the current age. However, in order to stay relevant, YouTube needs to be constantly updating and changing. Unfortunately, those changes may not always be for the best, according to some, and are often met with controversy. This is the case for some of the more recent changes coming to YouTube.
The majority of YouTube’s changes have been met with concern and pushback from most creators. Creators find most concerning the change regarding how videos posted on the site are scanned; videos, or sometimes entire channels, are losing the money that they are generating from their videos. Animators, particularly storytime animators, are facing this problem, as their videos are getting flagged as being “made for kids,” despite not being made with that intention, and then getting in trouble for content that was never made for kids… for not catering towards kids. The worst part of this is that YouTube does not seem to actually be listening when these animators ask to appeal the claims against them or even ask for clarification on what they did wrong. They only get repeated automated responses, as detailed by a video by an animator who had lost their monetization, Kelsey Animated.
This is not just happening with animators. Overly sensitive censoring on YouTube has even flagged and removed monetization from videos that attempt to bring awareness to shows or films that cover serious issues, such as eating disorders, in a positive or negative light. When faced with this kind of censorship, Matt Neff released a video explaining that his experience in trying to appeal the claims led him to believe that YouTube may be using AI to scan videos. When he had asked for non-AI to review his video, he was told no. While there is not confirmation of YouTube using AI to scan their videos, the potential is still worrying.
While not notable for the general public, YouTube is soon instating new policies that will make it harder for newer content creators. On Feb. 1, 2027, new changes are coming to the YouTube Partnership Program that will make it harder for creators to get monetized. The current threshold that content creators must reach is a total of 4,000 hours of engaged watch hours within the past year—hours from viewers who have stayed longer than thirty seconds—for long-form videos, or 10 million engaged views for shorts. However, in the upcoming year, these numbers are doubling. Long form videos must reach a minimum of 8,000 engaged watch hours within the past year, and shorts must reach a minimum of 20 million engaged watch hours, according to the YouTube Help page of Google Support.
Luckily, the same source confirms that creators who already have monetization will not lose their monetization, so long as they have at least 1,000 engaged watch hours for videos and one million for shorts. In spite of the majority of YouTube’s troubling policies as of late, not taking all monetization away after the policy change will be appreciated.
With YouTube being an ever-growing platform, it is not a surprise that becoming a creator will be more difficult; many say it may not be a bad thing that the minimum watch hours are increasing, though we still hope that some of the more unfair monetization losses will be remedied.