[Popegaf]

Considering the current system and real options that they have right now, what are they supposed to do if they want to earn money (or even a living) making videos that will make you happy?

Perhaps more importantly, would you give them money?

[Tijdreiziger]

Sure. I pay for YouTube Premium (which I understand gives content creators a comparatively higher rate for my view) and I still have to deal with sponsorships.

This also goes for channels with well over 1M subscribers. I honestly have a hard time believing they're struggling to make a living (but I haven't seen the numbers).

Worst of all, the sponsorships tend to be for some scammy VPN or gacha, even when it comes to creators who otherwise create high-quality content.

[tonypace]

Don't forget the totally legitimate sites selling software licences.

[TeMPOraL]

Well...

> what are they supposed to do if they want to earn money (or even a living) making videos that will make you happy

Make me happy? It's simple: don't do videos for a living. If you have something interesting to say, say it, and put a PayPal link (or Patreon, if you discover that you regularly have something interesting to say). If you don't have anything interesting to say, just don't do the video. I'm not gonna watch it anyway.

But that's just me, really. There's no good answer to your question, because for me, the moment a YouTuber wants to do videos in order to make money (or a living), I don't want to watch them anymore. Under the current system, they're creating a huge conflict of interest for themselves - monetizing views through advertising is in direct opposition to delivering quality and trustworthy content. Almost all ways to improve engagement degrade the value delivered to the viewer.

I'd be more comfortable with creators doubling down on Patron and one-time donations. Even the merch[0]. "I make this stuff for as long as I can afford it, want to help, send me money" is a honest deal. So is a paywall, but that's tougher to implement on the Internet.

> Perhaps more importantly, would you give them money?

Yes, I would and I do. I subscribe to a bunch of Patreons, occasionally buy stuff from creators or send them direct donations. But not for everything, of course. That's the nature of the market. A random video I got linked to is worth $0 to me until I finish watching it, and after I'm done, it's hard to price.

--

[0] - Though I seldom buy any, and really dislike the concept. Most merch is a waste of matter and energy used to create it; it exists only to break through people's reluctance to spend money on intangible content, but at the cost of most money being lost in making and shipping stuff that will end up in a landfill after a short dust-gathering break at some viewer's home. I hate these sorts of "hacks" for human psyche, but I see why they're needed.

There's also a conflict of interest here too - the videos could become just a vector for peddling merch. But so far, I haven't seen any YouTube creator falling into that trap - unlike ad monetization, which affects everyone.