After a tumultuous 2017, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki has published a blog post highlighting the company's five priorities for 2018 -- but the post is littered with vague promises that don't tie the company down to tangible policy changes. The first priority, Wojcicki writes, is "transparency and communication". YouTube was met with criticism last year for its silence over issues like unexplained demonetisation and "Elsagate", which saw apparent kids videos depict violent imagery like suicides and self-harm. YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki has offered up vague promises for 2018 To fix it? YouTube will be doing much of the same. Wojcicki says that, along with blog...
Earlier this month, we uncovered a novel advertising campaign subverting Donald Trump's "shithole countries" remark. We thought it was pretty damn funny. And it seems that the world largely agrees. Published on Namibian rapper EES's YouTube channel and commissioned by the Gondwana Collection, the video gives viewers a tour of Namibia's "shithole" attractions, including the country's host of wildlife and natural beauty. It has now been viewed over 89 000 times on EES's channel, and more than 476 000 times on Gondwana Collection's. In a press release analytics firm Meltwater explained that more than 1000 articles were penned about the video, with...
YouTube is readying its own music streaming service for debut in March 2018, according to a report by Bloomberg. The service, which is known within the firm as YouTube Remix, serves to hush music industry big-wigs who have been longing for a larger slice of revenue from the world's biggest video service. But Remix's existence isn't set in stone just yet. The Alphabet-owned company continues to slug it out with music companies Universal and Sony, and music video distributor Vevo for new content deals. There's also the question of how -- and if -- Remix will tie into Google's other streaming music service,...
YouTube this week announced the most watched videos of 2017 worldwide -- but there aren't exactly the videos South Africa was watching. Instead, South Africans were keeping loyal to local artists, Nigerian comedians, and beautiful women. Standard. (This list is of general trending videos, and not music videos from major labels.) 10. Simphiwe Ngema remembers late husband Dumisani Masilela Who: Eyewitness News When: 9 August Views: 1 million. 9. Quick thinking Porsche driver outwits an armed hijacker Who: Crime Intelligence & Community Awareness When: 13 May 2017 Views: 4.4 million. 8. Maths Teacher (Mark Angel Comedy) Who: MarkAngelComedy When: 16 June Views: 7 million. 7. Uzalo Mamlambo in real life Who: South African Videos When: 8 May Views: 1.6 million. 6. New Durban bhenga Dance 2017 Who: DangerFlex SA When: 26 January Views: 955 600. 5. Sipho Ngwenya feat Thinah...
YouTube has released its two top 10 lists -- one for general content and one for music videos -- so without further ado, here are the most watched videos of 2017. Top 10 Trending Videos 10. Children interrupt BBC News interview Who: BBC News; When: 10 March; Views: 25 million. 9. In a Heartbeat Who: Beth David and Esteban Bravo; When: 31 July; Views: 32 million. 8. history of the entire world, i guess Who: Bill Wurtz; When: 10 May; Views: 35.1 million. 7. A Bad Lip Reading of Donald Trump's inauguration Who: Bad Lip Reading; When: 25 January; Views: 35.1 million. 6. Lady Gaga's Sugar Super Halftime Show Who: NFL; When: 5 February; Views: 37.1 million. 5. Ed Sheeran's Carpool Karaoke Who: The Late Late Show with James Corden; When: 6 June; Views: 39.9 million. 4. Darci Lynne's America's Got Talent audition Who:...
YouTube has finally addressed its child content and monetisation problems after years of reportedly ignoring its creators and their concerns. In a post to YouTube's creator blog, CEO Susan Wojcicki admitted that the company has a problem, and that it needed to be "more accurate" with the content it financially endorses. The announcement comes years after creators say they sounded the alarm for what is now dubbed "Elsagate", a scandal that involves disturbing videos targeted at children. YouTube has seemingly only responded after a New York Times article led advertisers to divest from the company. CEO Susan Wocjicki says that YouTube needs to be 'more accurate' regarding content it financially endorses "Some bad actors are exploiting our openness...
YouTube's Community feature, which it had been testing with a few creators for around a year, has been expanded to all users with more than 10 000 subscribers. The social feature allows creators to engage with their viewers using text, photos, polls, and more. The expansion announcement was expected -- it had been hinted at by a number of creators on Twitter -- but what wasn't expected was the introduction of a Stories-like feature called Reels. Got word that the @YouTube Community tab I've been talking to you guys on is opening up to more creators this week. @nealmohan true? — Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5)...
YouTube Kids -- a child-friendly, filtered app -- has been updated to include individual profiles that adapt to a child's age. The company has announced that parents will now be able to create up to eight separate profiles for their children. The children can then set up passcodes for their profiles to avoid sibling interference. Parents will be able to override these security settings. YouTube requires the child's name and birthday for their profiles, and says it will adapt the look of its app to fit the age group. "Younger kids will get less text, while older kids will get more content on the home...
Back in June, South African YouTuber Kyle Olinsky was outed for sending sexually and violently graphic messages to random women on Instagram. In one message, he told a woman that she "can't say no", threatening her with rape. Many were outraged that a man of his status, with a sizeable following on his gaming channel BluRz, was seemingly harassing women online with no remorse. But Olinsky barely lost a subscriber, and he saw a small surge of followers on Twitter despite taking part in his own social media blackout. Olinsky's viewers were with him -- and when he finally released his...
YouTube creators have been complaining for months that the platform's monetisation policies and practices are dysfunctional -- but now it's targeting those raising money for victims of tragedy. On Monday, super-vlogger Casey Neistat uploaded a video entitled "LET'S HELP THE VICTIMS OF THE LAS VEGAS ATTACK". In the four-minute-long video, Neistat outlines how he wants to use his platform to help the victims of the mass shooting that saw 59 killed and over 500 injured. He explained how he set up a GoFundMe -- which has raised over US$280 000 as of writing -- and how he would be adding all of the video's...
Back in July, a story broke about South African YouTuber Kyle Olinsky (better known as "BluRz") sending seemingly horrific messages to a strange woman on Instagram. These messages were both violently and sexually graphic, and in one Olinsky said that the woman couldn't say no -- pushing the messages into rape threat territory. If you're looking for any articles from July, though, you'll be hard-pressed. Most articles were taken down -- Memeburn's included -- after a legal notice claimed that the messages were posted without consent from either party involved. No one denied that they were real. Now, Olinsky is back on...
YouTube has made it more difficult to use crowdsourced-funding platforms like Patreon with a recent out-of-the-blue update. The update forces creators to become part of its partnership program -- which lets users monetise their videos -- if they want to embed external links like Patreon to videos. The update was not announced on YouTube's official creator blog, and has many users upset with the potential tampering of their revenue. Youtube has just withdrawn the ability to post links to Patreon unless you monetise? You are fucking kidding me! — chinnyhill10 (@chinnyhill10) September 28, 2017 The news creates a few stumbling blocks for creators. The first is...
The 2017 Streamy Awards last night honoured YouTube's best and brightest -- but if you're feeling out of the loop, here's a quick guide to the evening's winners. Show of the Year: Sugar Pine 7 Steven Suptic used to create Minecraft videos. He was then a host on Sourcefed, before the rug was ripped from under the company and all employees were given short notice of their retrenchment. Suptic began vlogging -- but it wasn't your regular point, shoot, and talk to the camera. He used freeze frames and voice overs to blend real-life with scripted comedy and improv. The style evolved...
Traditional media (and the general population) have a tendency to dismiss YouTubers as silly and not worth taking seriously -- but they are entertainers connecting with massive audiences and what they do matters. In today's podcast, Julia Breakey and Daniel Mpala discuss why and how YouTube should be considered with the gravity it deserves. Take a listen in the latest episode of MiniMeme. Additional reading: Social media is real life Cybercrimes and cybersecurity bill YouTube's community guidelines MiniMeme Podcast #5: Should Dunkirk have been more diverse?
Don't look now, but the Swedish YouTube star known as PewDiePie has done something stupid on camera yet again. 27-year-old Felix Kjellberg was this weekend livestreaming a playthrough of sandbox-shooter PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, when he blurted a racial slur at another player in his line of fire. "What a f**king n****r," he scoffed. "Sorry but what the f**k? What a f**king a*****e," he continued. @pewdiepie RACIST?? @KEEMSTAR @JohnScarce pic.twitter.com/ulAz45ZN28 — Felipe Diaz (@ThatFelipeDiaz) September 10, 2017 A snippet of the stream was republished on Saturday to Twitter, where users flamed the Swedish YouTuber for his choice words. He didn't mean to tho so it's ok 👌🏾💀 pic.twitter.com/dShFZ9QBbO —...
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