[gwbas1c]

I'll be honest: I probably watch more Youtube than Netflix. But, and this is a big but: I'll continue paying for Netflix long after I stop paying for Youtube.

Why? Netflix is quality content that I watch when I plan on sitting in front of the TV. In contrast, I only watch Youtube for a few minutes here and there.

A different analogy is live TV versus a DVD. Youtube is more like live TV: lower-quality, news, commentary, interactive. Netflix is well-produced narratives.

[random878]

I don't pay for either, but I'd also add:

Netflix has a threshold level of quality. There's probably plenty on there I wouldn't want to watch, but nothing that I'd deem offensively bad.

YouTube, however, I find to be increasingly toxic. There is some amazing content on YouTube, which is often superior to traditional media, but I find I need to wade through increasing levels of garbage to get to it.

[theWheez]

As a platform, YouTube's incentives don't serve the user as well as they could.

A prime example was a video with millions of views on a very popular channel about 9/11 conspiracies. Did the YouTuber believe them? No. But cranking out a 10m+ video every day is more important than what he believes.

Then you look at high quality channels who put out a video once a week, or even month, and they are forced to rely on Patreon (which is a great platform!).

Not sure what the solution to this would be, but I feel similarly on the wading through garbage to get to the good stuff.

[random878]

I completely agree.

There's stuff on YouTube that I just can't see existing, or getting noticed, on alternative platforms. A great example would be a channel called 'Primitive Technology'[1]. It's superb, and I really enjoy each video despite having no real interest in the subject!

But, this is 0.01% of YouTube. The rest is horrendous political videos pitched at the level of 4chan, vloggers aimed at 13 year olds, and millions of shaky footage of unboxing items.

I wouldn't mind so much if there was a suitable way to curate a decent feed (without signing in and giving my life history to google). I generally only find out about the decent content on YouTube via word of mouth off-platform.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAL3JXZSzSm8AlZyD3nQdBA/vid...

[golfer]

A bigger question is if Netflix can continue to thrive in a world where all the large media companies create their own Netflix-like streaming services. Disney has their own coming soon, apple, Amazon, Facebook, Hulu, Comcast, etc etc. Content costs continue to rise, and competition will be fierce.

Netflix has a great head start and knows its audience well. But much larger companies are knocking on its door.

[skohan]

IMO Netflix has done well in this regard by transforming themselves into a content company rather than a content delivery service. Recently most of my favorite shows on Netflix have been 1st party titles, and I can't think of another content producer who's output is as varied and as high-quality as Netflix at the moment. Maybe Disney has the IP and the raw muscle to pull this off, but they will have to prove it.

I actually think competition is good for the space. As I said, I think Netflix is really good now, but if they became an uncontested monopoly in the streaming space, I would fear that quality would suffer.

[codq]

HBO is infinitely more valuable to me as a producer of quality content.

I actually can't remember the last time a Netflix show has brought me as much fulfillment and joy as almost anything on HBO.

[hajhatten]

For me, twitch is more of an analogue to tv and youtube a strange middleground between the two.

[koonsolo]

Good analogy! It even matches with displaying commercials.

[gwbas1c]

Ironically, I never intended on paying for YouTube, but once I switched to Google Music, (paid,) all the commercials disappeared.

If I had to choose, though, I'd continue paying for Netflix and put up with the commercials.