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YouTube possible clampdown on reviewers

I'm gonna stand up for Vic and say he's one of the better reviewers on YouTube and I don't find him annoying or smug at all.
 
Hopefully any problems get quickly sorted. All of that corruption in America seems to be rubbing off on the industry as a whole right now, making ecigs as volatile an industry as it has been in years. It is worrying.
 
YouTube is taking a hard approach to any regulated genre of products, so weed, booze, guns, and tobacco.
Like it or not vaping is classed under tobacco laws to a large extent and is therefore regulated.

Links in descriptions to websites selling vape gear have been a no no for quite a while now, and while some channels get away with it, it could be said that it's only a matter of time before the YouTube algorithm catches up - I still have a massive amount of links on older videos (currently), so expect a telling off at some point, unless I get to work and remove them (it's a quick and painless process).

YouTube has the absolute right to impose restrictions and while it sucks, that's what's going to happen.
Generally a way of escaping the crackdown would be to age restrict the channel, however that makes your content impossible to find for someone that isn't signed into an account as they can't be confirmed to be an adult (even though that's rubbish as a kid could use a parent's account). It would also mean your content wouldn't come up in suggested videos etc and make it extremely difficult to grow the channel.

That being said, age restriction is certainly a better solution than having years of work wiped into oblivion when your channel gets deleted without warning.

As for other platforms, it's really not worth even trying them. YouTube dominates the viewing public's world and any other option would be restricted to hardcore hobbyists.
People will shout and say "if nobody uses them they won't become viable options" which in some part is true, but there isn't a vaping council that determines where to post content, so Vimeo, twitch, etc etc may have a viewer base but not all content creators will switch to that medium.

Additionally, putting your content to more than one platform can often decrease your visibility on your main one.

We're in a state of flux with YouTube at the moment, how the Americans deal with vaping in the coming months will have a massive impact on what YouTube does, and sadly, there's not a thing we can do about it.
 
As for other platforms, it's really not worth even trying them. YouTube dominates the viewing public's world and any other option would be restricted to hardcore hobbyists.

I don't consider myself a hardcore hobbyist and I would 100% watch vaping videos on another platform as long as I knew where to find them.

However, maybe it would be better if a new platform was not just for vaping but for all these evil things YouTube are clamping down on. Word about that would get around FAST!

I disagree that having your content on more than one platform decreases your visibility on the main one. it's pretty standard for creatives to post their content on multiple platforms, in fact in most cases this is the best strategy.

There isn't a vaping council, no, but maybe there should be! You talk like nothing can change, such a defeatist attitude lol. YouTube don't own the Internet, and it was only 15 years ago there was no YouTube!.

My degree is in Digital Media so I know a bit about this stuff. It would take time, and a lot of work but it is 100% doable, and I believe if YouTube carry on down this road, it will happen. Someone will do it, and be very successful doing it too.
 
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Cool, we're all entitled to opinions @InnaPickle

I'm not a defeatist as you suggest, I'm a realist.

The general public uses YouTube far beyond the majority of other platforms. With over 1.5 BILLION logged in users every month I believe it actually trumps Google for search enquiries (If not it's close).
As you mentioned, it's taken 15 years to get to this stage, therefore, it is not going to get beaten or matched by a new platform in the near future, as such is and will remain the strongest place to house content.

Regarding the content on one platform, that will depend on the style of content and your requirements as a business or creator. If the same video is on multiple platforms then those views will be shared across those platforms rather than accumulate in one area.
You are correct to some degree (in my opinion) and being 'on' multiple platforms is beneficial, however, you use the platforms to their strengths, so Instagram for photo, Twitter for comment, etc as their video content has always sadly lacked and not really picked up the necessary steam to pull people away from YT.

Using these different platforms to allow them to funnel interest to your 'home' is what's necessary. I for instance am on most platforms but only to support the YouTube content, let people know what's happening, what's coming up etc. This will change dependant on what the business needs though, do you want people to go to a website, build an insta following, or something else (like go to your YouTube).

Well done on the degree, I don't have a degree, just 5 years of real world experience growing my channel to the stage it is now, which hadn't been reached before in the UK. I don't for one minute suppose that I know everything in this or am any kind of professional marketer, however, the marketing professionals I know personally share a similar view to me.

Anyway, that's my thoughts, there is no definitive right and wrong other than YouTube can do what it wants, and if it deems it that vape reviewing is no longer allowed, we have no ability to argue. Reviewers will die off, some will maintain their profile on other mediums and we can only hope that one platform rises up and is useful.

What it will certainly mean though is that smokers and new vapers are not going to have access to the same free information that they have now in the normal places they'd look. I think we can all agree if that's the case everyone loses out.
 
Another platform you say?!?!?

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