Youtube is a dying platform for niche video content producers.
Youtube: Video 1 received 196 views in 3 weeks.
Flickr: Video 1 received 2,648 views in about 2 weeks.
Youtube: Video 2 received 116 views.
Flickr: Video 2 received 787 views
Youtube: Video 3 posted Jul 6, 22 views.
Flickr: Video 3 posted last night, 29 views already.
Hmmm… Youtube has done to its content search algorithm what Facebook has done to their newsfeed – and both are going to lose their content producers!
The same type of videos I posted a year and longer ago to Youtube would receive hundreds to many thousands of views. But in 2014, similar videos are lucky to get even 100 views.
We know Youtube has changed their search algorithms, their recommended and “Watch” lists and how they prioritize who gets listed. From the perspective of niche video content producers, it is clear we are better off posting our content elsewhere. Or switch to producing video game mashups and cat videos!
Just guessing but Youtube seems to have become a platform for a group of established Youtube stars, up and coming music acts and “cover” singers, and viral videos.
The other possibility is fundamental changes in viewership – the audience now wants very high quality content (think Devin Graham or Corridor Digital), the audience now wants “channels” that focus on specific topics (there are some hints that this is happening), the audience wants “personalities” (strong hints that this has happened). The type of content people were looking for a year or three ago has changed – mountain bike racing, big events, air shows, etc – has all faded.
But that explanation fails to explain why the same video is watched 8 to 15 times more often on Flickr than on Youtube.
