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YouTube reveals new live content layout for channels to rival Twitch Unsplash: Alexander ShatovYouTube Gaming Partner Manager Jake Curtis has revealed a new layout for channel pages that will put more emphasis on live content throughout the platform. Over the last few years, YouTube Gaming has continued to grow into a platform that rivals Twitch for live streaming. They’ve acquired a plethora of big-name talent like Valkyrae, Fuslie, TimTheTatman, and more. On September 15, YouTube Gaming Partner Manager Jake Curtis revealed “highly requested” updates to Channel Pages that will start rolling out to the platform this fall. YouTube reveals new channel pages & layout In the newly announced redesign, Channel Pages will split content between Long Form, Shorts, and Live content on each account — providing a way for creators to separate their content between different tabs. On top of that, they announced in a video that they will also enable an algorithm that will put channel content in front of users based on what they enjoy. For example, if a user comes to your channel after watching one of your live streams, the home tab on the new channel layout will provide that user with your other VODs, or similar long-form videos. Shortly after the announcement, YouTube Gaming fans began sharing their thoughts in the replies. YouTuber WesNemo replied: “Insane news Jake, huge ty to you and the rest of the team.” JamesDC commented: “This is awesome!! Appreciate y’all continuously listening to the community and improving.” A third user replied: “Really digging this new design and features, especially the tailored experience. I would love to be able to have visitors see my other content.”

YouTuber reveals why he lives in a shed but owns three cars DRIVETRIBE – YouTubeYouTuber Jimmy Broadbent owns three different cars, but instead of having a house, he lives in a shed – here’s why. Broadbent has built a successful channel for himself, boasting over 365,000 subscribers, and is doing it all living out of the comfort of his mother’s shed. That’s right, he lives in his mom’s garden, but things aren’t exactly as bad as they seem. In fact, the YouTuber has managed to come into possession of Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R, so it’s clear he’s doing quite well for himself. YouTube channel DRIVETRIBE’s Mike caught up with Broadbent and interviewed him about his career, and finally figured out why he lives in a shed. “It a bit of a meme now that we joke now with me living in the shed,” the popular simulation racing creator explained. “It wasn’t a really nice start, to be honest. I used to, well I still do, have a lot of problems with my mental health…” He went on to explain it caused him to lose his job, relationship, and his house, effectively leaving him homeless and nowhere to go. “I had nowhere else to go, I was homeless,” the YouTuber revealed. “I had no money and had to basically move back home. My mum said ‘Yeah, we got this thing we got down in the garden that’s not really habitable.’” (Timestamp 5:00 for mobile viewers.) He explained the small space allowed him to get focused on YouTube, and said he didn’t need a huge amount of space to do work online. In an interview with StreamLabs, he revealed the hardest part of getting started was just having the motivation to do so. “Of course, when you first start on any platform doing anything, there are not a lot of eyes on you,” he said. “I remember doing a live stream to about four or five people right at the very start and that can be quite disheartening.” Years later, Broadbent does understand how “ludicrous” it is to live in a shed yet still own three cars. It is something many people living in a regular house can’t afford. Despite the small living space, it is a constant reminder for him to stay humble and keep growing.

YouTube restores verification to creators after massive backlash On September 19, YouTube announced changes to its standards and criteria for channel verification, and informed numerous creators that they would no longer be verified. After massive backlash on social media, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki announced they would restore verification and rollback some of their changes. When YouTube announced changes to their verification system, it wasn’t the loss of the notorious verified checkmark that got under the skin of their creators. That was certainly part of it, but it was the decision to remove verification from YouTube channels that already had it through the current system that caused a stir. After incredible amounts of backlash toward the Google-run video platform, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki announced through a series of updates on Twitter that currently verified channels will, in fact, keep their verification. “Channels that currently have verification will now keep it without appeal.” UPDATE 1: We heard loud & clear how much the badge means to you. Channels that currently have verification will now keep it without appeal. We’ll continue reviewing those channels to ensure we’re protecting creators from impersonation. More on our changes: https://t.co/B715A8xq2f — Susan Wojcicki (@SusanWojcicki) September 20, 2019 In the official update post on the Google blog, YouTube credited issues of impersonation and misinterpretation as the reason for the initial changes. According to them “nearly a third of YouTube users [said] they misunderstood the badge’s meaning, associating it with *endorsement of content*, and not an indicator of *identity*.” But YouTube acknowledged that they “completely missed the mark” with their initial improvements, and said those with verification status will not lose it. The standards for verification that YouTube released yesterday have also been slightly altered. Previously, any channel with 100k subs became verified. In the initial announcement, YouTube said that for channels to be verified they must be “authentic and prominent”. But that has also been updated after the backlash to “authentic and complete.” YouTube makes no mention of the now-removed requirement of “prominence” in their updated post. UPDATE 2: Like in the past, channels that reach 100k subs will be eligible to apply for verification. To better clarify how channels will qualify, we’ve updated the eligibility criteria here: https://t.co/SXwevL2ixO The new look for the badge will not roll out until next year. pic.twitter.com/KW8ErX0qLa — Susan Wojcicki (@SusanWojcicki) September 20, 2019 Here is that now removed section on the Prominence criterium: “Prominence: does this channel represent a well-known or highly searched creator, artist, public figure or company? Is this channel widely recognized outside of YouTube and have a strong presence online? Is this a popular channel that has a very similar name to many other channels?” Wojcicki first addressed the complaints about verification hours before the changes were announced: “To our creators & users–I’m sorry for the frustration & hurt that we caused with our new approach to verification.” To our creators & users–I’m sorry for the frustration & hurt that we caused with our new approach to verification. While trying to make improvements, we missed the mark. As I write this, we’re working to address your concerns & we’ll have more updates soon. — Susan Wojcicki (@SusanWojcicki) September 20, 2019 In the update, Wojcicki also announced that the new look for verification (from badge to gray background) won’t be implemented into 2020.

YouTube Responds To H3H3 After Subscription Box Controversy Ethan Klein of H3H3 Productions has been blasting YouTube for making changes to their Subscription Box, YouTube responded to the video via twitter leading H3H3 to put out another video addressing the issue. The drama surrounding the new subscription box algorithm began to form after a brief series of tweets on May 23rd, in which YouTube addressed a small channel’s concern that their subscription feed was no longer in chronological order. If you are unfamiliar with the ongoing controversy around the subscription box, new changes to the subscription feed algorithm have optimized the feed to be more ‘personalized’. It now suggests videos that YouTuber thinks users would be more likely to enjoy, rather than the most recent content a channel puts out. YouTube attempted to clarify the matter in a tweet, explaining that users were not forced into the new setting. You guys are just getting started. Touching the sub feed at all is a slippery slope. You start like this and in a year it will become the new norm for everyone. — Ethan Klein (@h3h3productions) May 24, 2018 H3H3’s Klein believes that the problem is the optimization of users’ subscription box will likely become implemented permanently and could cause subscribers to miss out on new content. The change in YouTube’s subscription box has many creators worried about feeds filtering out their content, in favor of more popular channels that appeal to a broader audience. Klein compares the recent changes to YouTube’s algorithm to the optimization of Facebook saying that the objective of the change is to keep users on the site as long as possible. YouTube optimization has left users, and content creators like H3H3 worrisome about the future of the website as changes could lead to a less user-friendly experience. As more changes come, Klein will undoubtedly have more to say about the future of YouTube and how it interfaces with the platform’s members.

YouTube responds to SMOSH parent company shutdown The parent company to popular YouTube comedy channel SMOSH, Defy Media, shut down without notice on November 6, leaving a number of YouTubers without a leg to stand on. Since being released from the company, many YouTubers underneath the Defy umbrella have seen immediate copyright claims on all of their videos – but YouTube claims that these strikes are part of efforts by the website to ‘protect’ the creators in question. News YouTuber Philip DeFranco reached out to YouTube for a statement on the issue, to which the site explained that the strikes are part of a bigger process to help creators regain their independence. “This is actually YouTube stepping in to take care of the creators,” DeFranco quoted of YouTube. “Separating the creators from Defy, then going through a process to set up these creators to be independently monetized.” YouTube then released a public statement via Twitter, reiterating their response that they are ‘working on releasing all of the claims as soon as possible.’ Since Defy’s shutdown, the company has undergone massive scrutiny from multiple former employees, including YouTuber Anthony Padilla. The former SMOSH member claimed that he only saw ‘a fraction’ of the money that Defy brought in from the SMOSH YouTube channel, feeling that he and partner Ian Hecox had been ‘taken advantage of.’ YouTuber Shane Dawson likewise chimed in on the situation, alleging that defy would ‘threaten to sue’ their employees when they asked to leave the company due to ‘feeling uncomfortable in the workplace.’ While SMOSH is now free from Defy Media, co-founder Ian Hecox has assured fans that the channel is not canceled, but rather looking for a new home in the interim.

YouTube removes PewDiePie Cocomelon diss track over child safety concerns YouTube: PewDiePieYouTube have removed Felix ‘PewDiePie’ Kjellberg’s diss track on the Cocomelon channel for violating platform guidelines around cyberbullying and child safety. In his decade on YouTube, PewDiePie has gotten into some interesting beefs with other channels, with the outcome usually being him settling the drama with a pretty funny joke, a video, or more recently, a diss track. PewDiePie viewers ate up his lyrics on ‘B**ch Lasagna’ when he was embroiled in a battle with T-Series to be the most subscribed channel, and on February 14, the YouTuber dropped another diss track. This time though, it was aimed at children’s channel Cocomelon – though he did call out rapper 6ix9ine in there too. However, if fans want to listen to it now, it’s been taken down by YouTube. In the early hours of February 19, fans of the Swede noted that the song had disappeared from his channel and quizzed YouTube’s support on why this was the case. The reason they gave on Twitter was that it violated two policies, child safety, and harassment. “This video violated two policies: 1) Child safety: by looking like it was made for kids but containing inappropriate content. 2) Harassment: by inciting harassment @ other creators– we allow criticism but this crossed the line,” TeamYouTube tweeted, highlighting the policies in question. “Any reuploads of the original, including full length or partial reuploads, clips, etc will be removed too. Still images are ok.” (2/2) Any reuploads of the original, including full length or partial reuploads, clips, etc will be removed too. Still images are ok. Also dropping the policy links below for reference: Child Safety: https://t.co/yHHlYizdu5 Harassment: https://t.co/n10mouwzhz— TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) February 19, 2021 Some fans accused the platform of double standards in the replies, noting that there is plenty of adult content on YouTube that violates similar guidelines but is not taken down.= Others noted that the video platform also makes exceptions on diss tracks for breaking certain policies too. Though, they do explain that saying “I was joking” after harassing someone through a diss track isn’t a get out of jail free card. What about the exceptions that specifically mention Diss Tracks? pic.twitter.com/Bm9ICMJP6n — Connor Dale (@CDProd95) February 19, 2021 As of writing, PewDiePie hasn’t responded to his song being taken down but he likely will do at some point, seeing as he hasn’t been shy when it comes to criticizing YouTube.

YouTube responds as creators panic over video views dropping Unsplash: @vmxhuYouTube responded on Twitter just shortly after creators began to panic over seeing their views drop on videos across the platform. There’s no doubt that any regularly active user of the internet has experienced some sort of issue with their favorite website at some point in time, even bigger platforms like YouTube or Twitch. As a matter of fact, Twitch recently left the streaming community in shambles after an Amazon Web Services outage brought the website to its knees. Now, YouTube has issued an update on Twitter just shortly after creators began to panic over seeing their views drop on videos across the platform. YouTube responds as creators panic over views dropping On January 9, YouTubers began sharing on Twitter that they noticed views on their videos were going down sporadically, including longtime creator Phillip DeFranco among dozens of others. “If your video looks like it died today it’s because Youtube appears to be “deleting” views. My show was performing great, a 3 out of 10,” he explained. “But then 50,000 views disappeared. Thought I was going crazy.” Just a few hours later, YouTube issued a response regarding the issues. “if your views are dropping, don’t panic! there’s an issue with real-time viewership drop and we’re working on the fix now,” they said. After their tweets, creators were left to wonder whether or not the Google-owned platform will give them their views back. Many are recalling a similar situation in which they were returned, easing the minds of many. We’ll have to wait to see what happens, however. In the meantime, you can head over to our entertainment section for more news and other stories.

YouTube remembers Technoblade with classy 9-year channel tribute YouTube/Wikimedia Commons: JarouldYouTube has uploaded a classy memorial video for Technoblade as a tribute to his nine-year channel anniversary. On June 30, 2022, Minecraft YouTuber Technoblade passed away after a battle with sarcoma cancer, an uncommon type of bone cancer that spreads to connective tissue. He was quickly remembered by many around the internet, including two tributes inside Minecraft as well as a variety of comments from other creators around the internet. Now, on the nine-year anniversary of Technoblades YouTube channel, the company has uploaded a classy tribute to the former Minecraft creator. YouTube remembers Technoblade with anniversary tribute Uploaded on October 28, 2022, exactly nine years after Technoblade uploaded his first video, the aptly titled ‘Technoblade Never Dies’ video shows various aspects of his career — from a clip of his first video upload to the creation of the iconic catchphrase, and more. The video revealed that since his unfortunate passing in June, an average of 300 new videos with “Technoblade Never Dies” in the title are uploaded, keeping his name in the community. Alongside the video is a fundraiser for the Sarcoma Foundation of America, a foundation that Techno had helped raise over a million dollars for after his diagnosis. At the time of writing, just two hours after it was uploaded, YouTube’s tribute to the creator has been viewed over half a million times and has raised nearly $2,000. Alongside that are over 3,200 comments from fans, with many repeating the iconic long-standing catchphrase: “Technoblade Never Dies.”

Andrew Tate’s channels removed from both YouTube & Twitch Andrew Tate has now been banned from five social platforms: Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube. And the creator has seemingly nuked his own Twitch channel hours later This week has been rough for controversial internet personality Andrew Tate, who has been banned from several of the largest social media platforms. This follows an unprecedented surge in popularity for Tate as he shared his opinions on shows and streams belonging to the internet’s largest creators. It began with Meta banning him from Facebook and Instagram (where he had over 14 million followers). He was later banned from TikTok with the platform taking action against videos and accounts featuring Tate’s controversial takes. And with these bans, all Tate had left was Twitch, YouTube, and Hustler’s University. But those who claim Tate is a toxic influence on young men because of his “misogynistic” opinions called for the influencer to be banned from the remaining platforms. Andrew Tate banned from YouTube On Monday, August 22, Andrew Tate’s YouTube channels – TateSpeech and Tateconfidential – would be removed from the platform. When attempting to visit both channels, users are met with a screen stating “This page isn’t available. Sorry about that. Try searching for something else.” At the time of writing, neither Andrew Tate nor YouTube has issued a statement now why the channels were deleted. However, in YouTube’s hate speech policy, channels are forbidden to post content promoting violence or hatred against individuals based on “sex/gender” as well as “victims of a major violent event and their kin.” Andrew Tate reportedly deletes Twitch channel Hours after Andrew Tate had two of his YouTube channels removed, users noticed that the ‘TateSpeech’ Twitch channel had been deleted. However, the screen that appears when attempting to visit the channel states that the channel was closed by the user. Despite having 50,000 followers, Tate rarely streamed on the TateSpeech channel but instead took to appearing on streams with a much larger following such as Adin Ross and Clix’s channels. The deletion of his channel happened concurrently with the launch of Hustler’s University 3.0, a “revamped” and “upgraded” version of his money-making academy. Users on Twitter speculate that Tate deleted this channel to dodge yet another platform ban so as to not be barred from appearing on other streams.

YouTube punishes JayStation after he faked girlfriend’s death Youtube: ImJayStationYouTuber ‘JayStation’ has had his channel demonetized and is taking a hiatus after being criticized for faking his girlfriend’s death. JayStation quickly came under fire from the YouTube community after releasing a video on January 22, claiming that his girlfriend Alexia had died, while also uploading a video on his second channel, featuring her. He even uploaded more content surrounding her death, notably a controversial “Ouija board challenge” that many found to be distasteful, while others continued to doubt that it had happened. Even YouTube star Ethan Klein from H3H3 joined the fray, dubbing JayStation as a “scumbag” and claiming that he faked his girlfriend’s death. On Jan 30 his girlfriend Alexia finally spoke out about the matter, confirming once and for all she was in fact alive. Shortly after, a #StopJayStation movement began to gain momentum as the community had grown tired of his controversial videos. His channel was later demonetized and on Feb 21 he released a video, announcing an “indefinite hiatus” from YouTube, but, this controversy wasn’t the reason behind his departure from the platform. He was reportedly arrested on Feb 3 for charges of assault and YouTube have confirmed that this was the reason behind his demonetization. It is possible for him to regain monetization, if he addresses all the issues with his channel in a video, although, it’s hard to know the exact process behind this and how long it would take. Regardless, YouTube users who were against the content creator can breathe easy as, at least for the time being, JayStation will not be posting any more videos.

YouTube pranksters are actually behind viral “stop p*ssing people off” protest Twitter: Just Stop OilYouTube pranksters Josh and Archie have all but confirmed that they are behind the viral “stop p*ssing people off” counter-protest toward a group of Just Stop Oil protesters in London. The internet is full of pranksters hoping to go viral with their next big practical joke. For instance, notorious YouTuber JiDion recently got banned from “all NBA-related events” after taking a nap courtside at a WNBA event in a video uploaded just yesterday. However, YouTube pranksters Josh and Archie may have upped the ante in a major way after a counter-protest of theirs took social media by storm. The situation began after a group of Just Stop Oil activists began protesting in London on the morning of July 20. Just Stop Oil is an environmental activism group that aims to halt Britain’s reliance on fossil fuels. YouTube pranksters Josh & Archie behind Just Stop Oil counter-protest In response to their protests, a group of counter-protesters formed a “human chain” around the Just Stop Oil activists wearing shirts that looked almost exactly similar to theirs, but instead read: “Just Stop P*ssing People Off.” The two groups got into a heated debate with each other, which was caught in a clip that quickly went viral on social media. However, it looks as though two YouTubers are actually behind the counter-protest: creators Josh and Archie, who boast nearly one and a half million subscribers on YouTube thanks to their over-the-top pranks such as “tricking the world” with an Ed Sheeran lookalike at KSI and Logan Paul’s boxing rematch in 2019. Dexerto spotted the two YouTubers in the video, by Archie’s distinctive voice, and the pair can be seen standing together in the video. Josh then even hinted at their involvement, reposting the video the knowing eyes emoji. This is just the latest prank to take over social media after a woman tricked her partner into believing aliens were invading Earth in a viral video last month.

YouTube pranksters sued by USC for posing as the mafia USC, YouTube: Ernest KanevskyYouTubers Ernest Kanevsky and Yuguo Bai are facing a lawsuit after invading classrooms at the University of Southern California, with the intention of making prank videos documenting their antics. Building up a YouTube channel with unique content is a hard task by any means, with creators often resorting to wild tactics to gain subscribers. In the case of Ernest Kanevsky and Yuguo Bai, two YouTubers from Los Angeles, their antics went too far after they invaded classrooms at the University of Southern California. However, it wasn’t just the classroom takeovers that earned them a lawsuit, the pair also posed as the Russian Mafia while students fled from the scene. YouTubers Ernest Kanevsky and Yuguo Bai banned from USC YouTube pranksters Ernest Kanevsky and Yuguo Bai abruptly interrupted students, as they pretended to be a member of the Russian Mafia and Hugo Boss respectively. Boss designed uniforms for the Nazis, causing further duress for students as the lecture in question was on the Holocaust, according to information obtained by The Guardian. Read More: Twitch streamer goes viral for turning their bedroom into a literal rave with pyro & lasers – The takeover of the lecture hall prompted students to flee for safety, as the pair appeared intimidating amid students fearing “for their lives.” This isn’t the first time that the YouTubers have caused chaos within classrooms, as they have pulled off similar pranks on the USC campus before, documenting their exploits on Kanevsky’s channel. Though, they are not students at the university. USC student Avery Kotler said to USC Annenberg Media that “the entire building’s worth of kids” began to evacuate as the prank escalated. “Everyone just left in a really big panic” added Kotler. In response to their continued harassment of USC students and faculty, the University has been granted a restraining order against Kanevsky and Bai. The YouTube duo were asked for their comments on the lawsuit but have yet to respond.

YouTube prankster slammed for trolling man by hitting on his wife and it backfires YouTube: Seth MeiringA YouTube prankster named Seth Meiring has been slammed online after he posted a video of him hitting on a woman in front of her husband. However, Seth soon came to regret his prank as the couple didn’t find it as funny as he did. Ever since the start of YouTube and social media, pranks have been a popular genre of content. But sometimes these pranks can go too far. A recent example of this is when a streamer filmed himself pretending to pour gasoline on cars as a prank and had a gun pulled on him as a result. Another prank has recently gone viral which has the internet split. A pranking YouTuber named Seth Meiring made his way to a beach where he decided to hit on a woman while her husband was sitting right next to her. However, the prank soon took a turn for the worse when the couple didn’t find it funny and confronted the prankster over it. Prankster called the police on couple In a video titled “Simp assaulted me”, Seth and his friend Jimmy are seen walking around a beach where their goal is to hit on women while their partners are right there next to them. Seth is also wearing a white t-shirt with the text “ur man is a p*ssy” on the back, which he only shows the couples when he walks away. The video shows Seth walking up to several couples before one of the husbands walks up to him and tells him to leave because he’s “bothering people” with the camera and his prank. Seth questions this, which leads to the man grabbing the microphone from Seth’s hand and throwing it into the ocean. After having a tantrum in front of the camera, Seth goes on to call the police. Much to Seth’s shock, the police take the couple’s side and ask him and his friend to leave the beach. “You’re both being trespassed from this park,” the police tell them. “Have you ever been trespassed before?” “Yes, we’re banned from every Walmart in the world,” Seth answered. The officer simply replied: “Shocking.” Viewers are conflicted about who to support Even though the video was first published on YouTube in February 2023, it has just gone viral on both TikTok and Twitter. Several YouTubers have also made comments about the incident, including Ray William Johnson. Ray said in his own video: “We should make laws to stop this bullsh*t.” Several people have taken to Twitter to comment on the video, with some saying they’re on Seth’s side as he didn’t actually do anything illegal. Others, however, are saying this prank classes as harassment. One person wrote on Twitter: “They deserved that. They were being annoying for no reason. He had what was coming to him.” Another said: “Some people would do anything for some click and attention smh.”

YouTube Prankster Vitalyzed Arrested at Gunpoint After Kidnapping Prank Goes Wrong Vitalyzed – YouTubeYouTuber and social media mogul Vitalyzed released a video where one of his pranks went terribly wrong – nearly seven months after the fact. Vitalyzed admitted that he’d been sitting on the footage for over half a year, and was finally ready to show it to the world. “I’ve been sitting on this footage for the longest time… it’s the most insane footage ever. I have to share it with you guys.” Vitaylzed’s controversial video was in collaboration with instagram mogul Evan “dwarfmamba” Eckenrode. Vitalyzed explained the premise as a kidnapping prank, where he stuffed Evan in a suitcase on the roadside in an attempt to get a reaction out of bystanders. In the video, Vitalyzed is seen zipping up the suitcase with Evan inside. Afterwards, he calls for a Lyft ride, asking for the drivers’ aid in placing the suitcase in the trunk of his car while Evan screamed for help. When questioned about the suitcase, Vitalyzed explained that he had stuffed his child inside as punishment for misbehaving. While some participants opened the suitcase in an attempt to free Evan, others simply walked away. More: Post Malone’s Private Jet Makes Emergency Landing After Attempting to Fly to the UK For KSI vs Logan Paul – However, one passerby decided to take legal action. Vitalyzed noted an LAPD helicopter flying above the area a short while into his prank. A series of police cars then pulled up to the scene and officers demanded that he drop the bag. “You know me, I love to push boundaries. I told them, ‘I’m not dropping the bag!’” The officers pulled out their guns and placed both Vitalyzed and Evan in handcuffs. After placing the two in the back of a police vehicle, the officers decided to let them go – much to their relief. Vitalyzed expressed distaste at the participant who called the authorities. “I guess that’s the reaction I wanted… he was a little pussy, calling the cops, which is fine.” This prank gone wrong showcases how dangerous such pursuits can be when pranksters decide to push the line. However, it doesn’t look like this instance will stop Vitalyzed’s efforts anytime soon.

YouTube prankster Niko Omilana snuck into KSI’s boxing fight undercover YOUTUBE: Niko OmilanaYouTube prankster Niko Omilana detailed how he snuck into KSI’s boxing match disguised as a giant bottle in new video. The YouTuber previously conned his way into KSI’s two fights with Logan Paul, and Jake Paul’s professional debut against AnEsonGib, which resulted in him being banned from attending any future Matchroom Boxing events. But that didn’t stop the prankster, as he worked with fellow YouTuber Kysha to make the ring walk with KSI, and join him in the ring. In a recent video titled ‘SNEAKING Into KSI’s Boxing Match (In the ring),’ Niko explained how he planned to pull off the prank using a giant seven-foot costume of a Prime Energy bottle. YouTube prankster Niko Olimano sneaks into KSI’s boxing fight Niko had Kysha secure him a wristband for the arena, which gave him VIP access to the venue. By using the Prime Energy bottle disguise, he went unnoticed despite his ban. He even went backstage and greeted KSI before the fight, and the ‘The Nightmare’ boxer failed to notice his friend’s true identity. As KSI made the walk for his first fight of the night, Niko walked behind him in disguise, cheering for him. It wasn’t until the YouTube boxer’s knockout win against Swarmz, that the prankster finally unmasked himself, revealing his true identity to his shocked friend, and millions of fans watching the fight. He told KSI that he had “really smashed” the fight, and the boxer proved to be a good sport, as he burst out laughing in disbelief and even gave Niko a hug. “Fair play Niko, you absolute d***head,” he said. “Unbelievable, I thought it was the other guy, the other YouTuber. He didn’t say a word. I just thought he was acting a bit weird, maybe he’s shy or scared to meet me. As soon as Niko popped out his head, I knew he’d played me.” KSI went on to knock out professional boxer Luis Pineda after his win against Swarmz, as Niko supported him at ringside for the rest of the event.

YouTube permanently deletes SteveWillDoIt’s channel for violating Community Guidelines YouTube: stevewilldoitYouTube has permanently deleted the channel of NELK Boys member SteveWillDoIt, citing violations of its Community Guidelines as reasons for the deletion. SteveWillDoIt is a major influencer who had over 4 million subscribers on his YouTube channel before it was unceremoniously deleted late on the evening of August 1, 2022. Alongside his own exploits, Steve is also a prominent member of the NELK Boys, a group of boisterous Canadian-American pranksters whose practical jokes have found them on the end of major drama in the past. While it’s unclear if a particular prank was the reason for the sudden deletion of Steve’s YouTube channel, the platform claimed that he violated the site’s Community Guidelines in their statement to the influencer. Steve shared the shocking news to his Instagram account, writing: “Youtube just permanently deleted my channel.” According to YouTube, it found “severe or repeated violations” of its Community Guidelines. “If we think a channel severely violates our policies, we take it down to protect other users on our platform.” The site did offer Steve the chance to appeal their decision “if you believe we’ve made the wrong call,” so it’s possible that fans could see Steve’s channel make a return if he’s able to win them over. YouTube only deletes channels if there are repeated Community Guidelines violations, “a single case of severe abuse, or channels or accounts dedicated to a policy violation (like hate speech, harassment, or impersonation).” At this time, it’s still unclear why Steve was banned or if he’ll get his channel back, leaving fans in the dark as they await more information.

YouTube plans to take action against “dislike mobs” Flickr / Bobby Duke, YouTubeYouTube is putting their collective feet down in regards to what they called “dislike mobs,” as stated in a video from the platform’s ‘Creator Insider’ news channel on January 29. Tom Leung, YouTube’s director of project management, discussed a few ideas that the site cooked up to mitigate what he called “dislike mobs,” which he defined as a mass of users who rush to dislike a video without even watching its content as a means to attack creators for some perceived wrongdoing. While users currently have the option to make their videos’ metrics invisible, Leung toyed with the idea of making this the default, with viewers unable to see a video’s like to dislike ratio unless a creator chooses to make such information public. Additionally, Leung introduced a concept that would require users to check a box explaining their reasoning for disliking a video – which would, in turn, give creators additional feedback for their content. The most dramatic solution Leung discussed was removing the dislike button completely, which would mark a drastic change for the platform that Leung himself called “extreme” and “not super democratic.” Leung clarified that YouTube is merely in talks to implement such changes, with no official plan enacted thus far. This latest discussion follows YouTube’s new algorithm against ‘conspiracy’ content, which suppresses recommendations for such content that denies historical events, makes false claims about scientific evidence, and promotes “miracle cures” for major illnesses. It was thought that popular YouTuber Shane Dawson’s recent ‘Conspiracy Series’ was demonetized due to the algorithm; however, it turns out that the site’s automatic review system pulled the video for showing footage of a ‘Bird Box’ prank. Dawson’s video has since been reviewed, with YouTube calling the incident a “mistake.”

YouTube mother under fire for “beating” 2-year-old over destroyed makeup Michelle Grace, YouTube / Freepik.comYouTuber and mother Michelle Grace has come under intense scrutiny after uploading a now-deleted video, where she claimed that she “beat” her two-year-old child for destroying her new makeup palette. While the internet is home to many disturbing instances, Grace sparked outrage across the net after uploading her controversial video, where she claimed that her two-year-old toddler destroyed her new Jeffree Star ‘Alien’ makeup palette. In the video, Grace revealed that she’d told her child multiple times not to play with her makeup, and even alleged that her hand “hurt” from “beating” her child severely. (Video re-upload credit: Lauren Edson. Video begins at 1:47) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmG5vRkpdaI “She has ruined two palettes of mine,” Grace said as her toddler openly cried in the background. “And one of them is being discontinued. …my hand hurts, because I just beat the crap out of her.” Needless to say, the video was not well-received by the masses, with even top YouTuber Philip DeFranco calling out the mother over her treatment of her child and dubbing the situation “heartbreaking and infuriating.” “I don’t believe in spanking or ‘popping’ your children in general, BUT even for those that do believe that, WHO DOES IT TO A F**KING 2 YEAR OLD?!?!” he wrote. “AND OVER A F**KING PALETTE?!” So @michellegraceh I don’t believe in spanking or “popping” your children in general BUT even for those that do believe that, WHO DOES IT TO A FUCKING 2 YEAR OLD?!?! AND OVER A FUCKING PALETTE?! Heartbreaking and infuriating… — Philip DeFranco 👊🏻 (@PhillyD) February 27, 2020 Public sentiment was largely the same, with many users echoing his disgust over the matter, causing Grace to explain the issue in a series of Instagram stories and Tweets after the video went viral. “She’s a lot smarter than you guys think,” she tweeted of her daughter. “She’s the most intelligent toddler I know. She knows right from wrong. So yes, she knew what she was doing.” The YouTuber also claimed that she should not have “posted the video,” arguing that the destroyed makeup wasn’t the reason for her child’s punishment, but that she “doesn’t listen” to instructions. She went on to share other clips of the video that were not part of other viral posts, where she claimed that she doesn’t spank her child “unless I absolutely have to, and usually, it’s just a pop.” Grace has since gone dark on social media in wake of the outrage, with many onlookers hoping that the YouTuber rethinks her parenting style as a consequence of her upload going viral.

Dr Disrespect says YouTube vs Twitch choice is easy, and it’s “nowhere close” YouTube, DrDisrespectWith the announcement of TimTheTatman and DrLupo signing exclusive contracts with YouTube, plenty of people have compared both platforms, and when DrDisrespect was asked his thoughts, he had a very interesting take. Since YouTube has started dipping their toes into the live-streaming world, they have been compared to Twitch quite often. With the recent signings of TimTheTatman and DrLupo, two of Twitch’s largest streamers, the Google-owned platform has been under more eyes than normal. While the leader of the TatmanArmy has explained he enjoys the platform so far, Dr Disrespect has a different opinion. Dr Disrespect’s opinion on YouTube vs. Twitch Having started on YouTube in 2020, Dr Disrespect has had his fair amount of experience streaming on the Google-owned platform. On his September 2 stream, the Two-Time read a message in chat about YouTube being better than Twitch and decided to speak his opinions. “From a functional standpoint, wrong. I think YouTube’s nowhere close” the Doc stated before motioning to turn off his music. He then continued: “Number one, there’s no discoverability. Your algorithms… I mean, do I need to hire a scientist or something?” “When I shut down the stream, it seems everything just goes into a black hole,” he said, implying his thoughts are due to a lack of channel raids and Twitch hosts. (Check out the stream below, or head to the clip here) While YouTube has the ability to “Live Redirect” your community to a video premiere, it’s limited to your channel only. Maybe with the signing of two of Twitch’s biggest stars, we’ll start to see the platform address some of the concerns the Doc has raised.

YouTube agrees to meet with Dr Disrespect after Doc’s rant about platform’s issues Twitter, @DrDisrespect / YouTube / Pexels, iStockJust a day after Dr Disrespect ranted about how YouTube needs to improve functionality to overtake Twitch, the platform has reached out and agreed to have a sit-down meeting with the Two-Time. Dr Disrespect is one of the biggest names in the streaming industry and was a major get for YouTube after his surprise permanent ban from Twitch in June 2020. But, while YouTube has made strides in its live-streaming functionality, the experienced, ever-opinionated Doc thinks there’s more to be done. During a colorful May 22 stream, Doc ranted about why YouTube is “underdeveloped” and how it needs to ramp up its progress. Discussing the limited rollout of clipping features and subscriber functionality, the Two Time’s tirade was quickly picked up in agreement by fans across social media. Now, YouTube has taken notice of the constructive criticism. The platform’s Head of Gaming and Commerce, Ryan ‘Fwiz’ Wyatt, reached out to thank Doc — eventually agreeing to a meeting for further feedback. looks like @drdisrespect might be getting that sit down with YouTube 👀 https://t.co/yYvPDKDXUA pic.twitter.com/ZiIMTzAVX7 — Wicked Good Gaming (@WickedGoodGames) May 23, 2021 Reacting to a clip of Doc’s rant, Fwiz replied “love it. Good feedback,” before letting the Two-Time know that the company was “working on some things” the streamer might appreciate. Dissatisfied with that tease, Doc told Fwiz that if they had a one-hour meeting, the entire YouTube “platform would be taken to the next level for life.” In response to that, Fwiz simply stated that his office would be reaching out to Dr Disrespect’s, suggesting that an actual meeting can take place. If this is the case, and who knows when or where it would be, then Doc’s ideas for an improved streaming service could come sooner than later. Already well-versed in game design, Doc has most recently worked with third-person shooter Rogue Company to design a Champions Club map. With a YouTube meeting, he might help Google design a better streaming experience as well. As far as improvements the Two-Time has expressed interest in, the standouts include better clipping functionality (including the option to clip on any channel as well as clip directories) and subscriber features (including gifted subs and the like). Whenever Doc and Fwiz meet, the gaming and streaming communities will be eager to find out just how much progress is in play for Twitch’s biggest rival.

YouTube & Minecraft community pays tribute to Technoblade: “An absolute legend” YouTube: TechnobladeMinecraft YouTuber Technoblade has died following a battle with cancer at age 23. His passing has prompted an outpouring of support from the Minecraft community and beyond, paying tribute to his memory and achievements. On June 30, Technoblade’s father provided a final update on his YouTube channel, confirming his son’s passing. Technoblade had been open about his battle with cancer, often turning it into humorous content on his channel, demonstrating his strong mentality throughout. “You’ve done so much for so many people, millions of people,” his father said. Following the news, tributes flooded in from all corners of the internet, particularly within the Minecraft community, which is as large as it is close-knit. Minecraft community pays tribute to Technoblade ConnorEatsPants, a frequent collaborator of Technoblade, said “don’t wait till your friends of peers, no matter how close, are gone to tell them what you love/appreciate about them. It’s never too cringey or inappropriate.” He also told a story of how Technoblade sent a card to his younger brother, thanking him for being a fan, after Connor told him he was his brother’s favorite YouTuber. If there’s anything I want to take from this, don’t wait till your friends or peers, no matter how close, are gone to tell them what you love/appreciate about them. It’s never too cringey or inappropriate, show those around you what they mean to you, and how they affected you. — connor (@ConnorEatsPants) July 1, 2022 Karl Jacobs said, “Techno was and is such a positive light, he truly genuinely believed in me n helped me so much.” Techno was and is such a positive light, he truly genuinely believed in me n helped me so much, much more than what may have been seen publicly. Im heartbroken but really so thankful he has been able to impact so many lives with his genuine wit, charm, and positivity. — karl 🙂 (@KarlJacobs_) July 1, 2022 TommyInnit called Techno a “f**king legend,” and revealed a message he had sent him on Minecraft for the SMP (the server many content creators play on). “Tell the rest of the SMP that having abolished all governments of men, I have ascended to heaven to take on the kingdom of God. – Technoblade.” Technoblade is a fucking legend. From being a massive fan, to one of his actual friends, I can’t describe how thankful I am to have been in his life. I just know he’s strategizing in heaven on how to beat God. This isn’t a joke. look at the screenshot.rest in peace pic.twitter.com/ntb2C5bdLM — TommyInnit (@tommyinnit) July 1, 2022 YouTube remembers Technoblade Joining the tributes was YouTube itself, along with many other content creators who Technoblade had been friends with, or just influenced in some way. YouTube Gaming’s official account tweeted “Technoblade was able to share his light and energy with so many around the world. We are deeply saddened by the news of his passing, and our thoughts go out to his family, friends, and the @Technopig community.” Through the hardest challenges, Technoblade was able to share his light and energy with so many around the world. We’re deeply saddened by the news of his passing and our thoughts go out to his family, friends, and the @Technothepig community ❤️ https://t.co/RJaN8I6pDs — YouTube Gaming (@YouTubeGaming) July 1, 2022 Twitch streamer and YouTuber Mizkif said that Technoblade’s attitude about content creation was something he “aspired” to. “Even with cancer, he just tried to make others smile and laugh,” he said. Technoblade was a phenomenal content creator. His attitude throughout his content is what I aspire to be. Not to take things seriously, joking around, and trying to make others smile. Even with cancer, he just tried to make others smile and laugh. RIP to a genuinely funny man — Mizkif (@REALMizkif) July 1, 2022 Fellow streamer Ludwig Ahgren said “I’ve been rewatching Technoblade for the past hour. He was so witty and so humble even in the toughest of times. “I’ll always look up to him.” I’ve been rewatching Technoblade’s for the past hour He was so witty and so humble even in the toughest of times I’ll always look up to him Rest In Peace > — ludwig (@LudwigAhgren) July 1, 2022 Pokimane also praised Technoblade for his inspiration, and that his legacy will live on forever. rip technoblade. you inspired millions around the world, and your legacy will live on forever. ❤️ oh, and fuck cancer. — pokimane (@pokimanelol) July 1, 2022 Jacksepticeye delivered a similar message, calling Techno an “absolute legend in the community.” RIP Technoblade. An absolute legend in the community whose influence was felt far and wide. Fuck cancer — Jacksepticeye (@Jacksepticeye) July 1, 2022 For Minecraft fans wishing to pay tribute to Technoblade as well, this can be done on the Hypixel Server. There, you can leave a message to Technoblade’s family, which will then be printed and sent to his family in tribute. You can watch the final video from Technoblade here on his YouTube channel.

YouTube “medium” claims he was brutally beaten in his own home ImJayStation, YouTube / FreepikYouTube is home to a wide variety of content, from everything to Tarot and palm readings and even seances, with one YouTuber in particular being known for communing with spirits of the dead – but the doubt around his “practices” is growing ever greater, following the release of a shocking series of photos. Controversial YouTuber ‘ImJayStation’ has garnered ample criticism throughout his career on the platform, with many users decrying his methods and claiming that he exploits the deaths of celebrities and internet stars for views. With this in mind, many are calling his latest claims into question, with JayStation alleging that he was brutally beaten in the privacy of his own home. 600https://twitter.com/Babyboo05304391/status/1138460776077910016?s=20 JayStation released two photos to YouTube on June 11, showing his face covered in severe bruises with his left eye bloodied. That’s not all; JayStation also released a video discussing the incident, where he claimed that three men in ski masks broke into his home and started violently beating him in a robbery attempt. “[They were] chokeholding me, I was going in and out of consciousness,” JayStation explained. “There was blood everywhere. My apartment is a disaster. …they say, ‘Where’s the money? Where’s the money?’” Despite JayStation’s solemn statement that “this is not a joke for YouTube,” many critics are calling his story into question, with some speculating that he fabricated the entire incident for views. “Given the fact that, from my knowledge, Jaystation stole someone’s content in the past, wouldn’t be surprised if this is fake like him,” one user wrote. “Just saying.” Given the fact that from my knowledge Jaystation stole someone’s content in the past, wouldn’t be surprised if this is fake like him. Just saying. — Cry0Gaming (@Cry0Gaming) June 11, 2019 Others questioned if the bruises on JayStation’s face were merely the work of a skilled makeup artist, with some posting tutorials on how to create a bloodied eye. How to fake a bloody swollen eye. https://t.co/sMmueLbPrN #imjaystation #jaystation #keemstar — Shadow of a Ghost :unicorn_face::butterfly::unicorn_face::butterfly::unicorn_face: (@spiritsandme) June 11, 2019 This wouldn’t be the first time JayStation has been at the center of controversy, by far; in fact, ‘No Jumper’ podcast host Adam22 and Drama Alert’s KEEMSTAR took shots at the YouTuber for holding a seance with rapper Mac Miller’s ghost, with KEEM claiming that JayStation’s video was meant “literally to make money and get views and exploit someone’s death.” Despite these debacles, JayStation has a loyal subscriber base, who are demanding justice for JayStation in light of the alleged attack.

YouTube legend Technoblade clears huge platform milestone in wake of passing YouTube/TechnobladeFollowing the tragic passing of popular YouTuber Technoblade, members of the community continue to show support for the content creator’s channel. Now over a month after his passing, Technoblade’s YouTube account has surpassed 15 millions subscribers. After fighting cancer for almost a year, Technoblade sadly passed away in June, 2022. On June 30, his family made the announcement via Twitter, uploading a video titled: “so long nerds.” The tear-jerking video, narrated by Technoblade’s father, has been viewed over 70 million times. The post included a final message to his fans, which his father read out, expressing that if he had a hundred lives, he “would choose to be Technoblade again every single time. Those were the happiest years of my life.” Almost exactly a month after the announcement of his passing, Technobalde’s YouTube account has now hit the 15 million subscriber mark. After this news was posted on Twitter, fans have yet again begun expressing their admiration and love for the late YouTuber. Following his passing, members of his community have been doing a variety of things to show their support and love. Many have been creating and sharing artwork that pays tribute to Technoblade.

YouTuber Logan Paul explains ‘inspirational’ change of direction for his popular Maverick brand Logan Paul YouTubeFor the two-year anniversary of YouTuber announced a new movement that will use his own channel and creative space in efforts to make the world a better place moving forward. In a startling change of pace, it seems like the Maverick name is going to take on a new identity from here on. “I want to start using this platform to inspire and create change when I can,” Paul said. Paul’s change of heart is starting off with a merchandise promotion that will be giving away a sweater “to a child in need.” Though specifics weren’t given, the promotion is a part of an overall initiative from the Lo-Gang to “actually do some good things with [his] YouTube channel.” The YouTuber has been meticulously working on his Maverick brand for years, and it looks like he’s now searching for the best ways to change directions for his company. “As much as I want to sit here and be the guy who’s like ‘We can change the world,’” Paul said. “Although we can, I’m not going to do it like that. I want it to be in an organic way, something that’s true to me.” (Timestamp at 0:28 and then at 6:27 for mobile viewers) Critics might look at this as another publicity stunt from Paul. But the content creator acknowledged his time in the limelight has produced unseemly headlines and is looking to change that. “As you guys know, I’ve done a lot of bullshit in my life,” Paul said. “But recently I came to the revelation: I want to do some good shit.” The YouTuber has seen better days since his controversial “going gay” comments to the infamous suicide forest incident as well as the fallout of his Flat Earth documentary. Though it seems like those days are well behind him since he’s looking to turn a new leaf after turning 24 years old. It’ll be interesting to see how Paul plans to execute his newfound purpose in the future. The successful vlogger thinks he hasn’t “done enough giving” up until this point, and will be amending that soon.

YouTube legend Anthony Padilla reveals his favorite “era” on the platform YouTube: Trash TasteAccording to his answer on the Trash Taste Podcast, Smosh founder Anthony Padilla believes the 2011 to 2013 era was the golden time of YouTube. YouTube has changed drastically over the years — with many distinctive eras of content creation and trends on the platform. When asked which era was his favorite, ex-Smosh content creator Anthony Padilla answered: “I think it was probably around like 2011 to 2013-ish, where there was money to be made. Yet there wasn’t this idea that mainstream media had, of like anyone can do this and become a millionaire.” He then continued to say “it just felt like creativity was what thrived most.” Garnt ‘Gigguk’ Maneetapho followed up: “that era of YouTube, all of the biggest creators at that time, they all started YouTube not to make money, but because they enjoyed the creativeness of it. “It progressed into people realizing that you can make this into a job, and it’s a legitimate business. Part of the magic is lost, as it transitioned into something else.” The conversation flowed onwards to discuss the introduction of the YouTube Algorithm, which debuted in 2012. Padilla shared his perspective, arguing that “the algorithm does reward the things that do have the highest retention, watching for the longest time, replaying the moments the most, the highest click-through rate of what looks most exciting.” YouTubers, who now saw the platform as a business, were forced to become more strategic choices — creating a culture where creators attempted to cater towards this specific metric in order to optimize viewership. During this introduction of the algorithm, the trends of what was viewed were evolving rapidly, resulting in confusion among creators, he claimed. Padilla recalls the historic YouTube shift in trends. “I remember a higher-up breathing down my neck saying, ‘you guys usually get a million views in the first three days. What’s going on?’” He then explains how “their entire company and all the x amount of employees are built on the performance of our videos.” The introduction of the algorithm thereby forced Smosh, which of course included Anthony Padilla, to create longer form content — requiring less editing.

YouTube legend Hutch fights back against Google over permanent monetization ban Instagram: theimightyhutchYouTube legend Hutch is hitting out at Google after he was hit with a permanent ban from monetization on the platform for “invalid traffic.” Since 2008, Hutch has grown his YouTube channel to an astounding 852,000 subscribers that have viewed his videos over 163 million times. Back in April 2022, however, Hutch’s monetization on the website was temporarily suspended for “invalid traffic,” causing him to spend over a year appealing the decision. Hutch revealed that he’s been permanently banned from monetizing on YouTube on May 3, 2023, and he’s not happy. Hutch hits out at Google following monetization ban In a series of tweets, Hutch shared his thoughts as well as a screenshot of the email he received from YouTube partner support. “Well pals, YouTubeCreators asked AdSense to take yet another look at my permanent suspension for “invalid traffic” and they have tripled down that I am responsible for what they detected on my channel. They seemingly do not believe that I could have been targeted,” he said. In the email, YouTube revealed that they found “invalid traffic” again in April 2023, causing them to completely disable Hutch’s AdSense account. In a reply, Hutch hit out at Google for having “no protections for creators” who may be targeted by someone attempting to remove their monetization. He said: “The lesson that I have taken from this experience as a creator on the platform for 15 yrs is there are essentially no protections for creators should you find yourself the target of somebody who wants to have your ability to monetize removed. There’s nothing you can do.” The lesson that I have taken from this experience as a creator on the platform for 15 yrs is there are essentially no protections for creators should you find yourself the target of somebody who wants to have your ability to monetize removed. There’s nothing you can do. — Hutch (@hutchinson) May 4, 2023 While it doesn’t look great for Hutch at the moment, the YouTube legend did mention in a reply to another user that he can appeal the company’s latest decision again in three months. For more entertainment news and other viral stories, head over to check out our coverage.

YouTube launches subscriber-only chat & teases more on the way to rival Twitch YouTubeYouTube just launched a subscriber-only chat feature for livestreams on the platform, with Global Head of Gaming Ryan ‘Fwiz’ Wyatt teasing more highly-requested features on the way to rival Twitch. Streaming on YouTube continues to evolve as the platform has now launched a sub-only mode feature. No different from how it works on Twitch, this allows the biggest personalities to keep their chat exclusive for subscribers. Casual viewers won’t be able to hop in and type away while this new function is enabled. Instead, everyone will need to be an active subscriber in order to communicate. It can be switched on and off throughout a broadcast and YouTube even allows creators to set how long viewers need to be subscribed for. Theoretically, only hardcore fans could engage in a live YouTube chat if the featured streamer locked sub-only mode to those that have been around for a year or two. YouTube launches sub-only mode in Beta https://twitter.com/Fwiz/status/1390439746841681929 The feature went live on May 6 with a few caveats. Sub-only mode is currently only its Beta form, meaning there could be some bugs along the way. Moreover, the feature is purely an “experiment” for the time being. As a result, a limited number of streamers have access to the feature. While YouTube hopes to let more creators engage down the line, there’s no indication of how far off we are from a global roll-out. If you’re one of the lucky few with early access, however, enabling the feature couldn’t be easier. You can switch it on before going live, or even swap over midway through a broadcast. Read More: When is Discord coming to PlayStation – Below is a step-by-step guide on how to enable sub-only chat for YouTube livestreams. How to enable sub-only chat on YouTube Go to your Live Control Room tab. – Once you’re here, click on the Edit option. – Click Live chat and look for the ‘who can send a message’ setting. – Click on ‘subscribers’ to enable sub-only mode. – As an optional choice, you can also set how long viewers must be subscribed. – Hit Save. – More YouTube features on the way to rival Twitch On top of the sub-only announcement, a few more highly-requested features were discussed. When questioned on the likes of ‘raiding’ and gifted subs, Fwiz simply replied saying there’s “more to come.” “We can’t share anything at this time, but just know we hear our Creator community on their Live streaming feature requests and we’re listening!” So while there’s no timeline mapped out for these additional features, it’s evident they’re a priority for the YouTube team. We’ll be sure to keep you up to date as YouTube Live continues its expansion over the coming months.

YouTube launches new Membership Tiers offering viewers channel-exclusive perks at five different price points A brand new tiered Membership feature has been launched by YouTube that will offer yet another way for fans and viewers to support content creators. This new feature allows YouTubers to offer five different Membership tiers to viewers at five different price points, each of which will offer fans exclusive content and access. The five price points are currently set at monthly rates of $1.99, $4.99, $9.99, $14.99, and $24.99, and it appears that the name of each tier can be chosen by the YouTuber. As for the perks, there is a variety of content that viewers can receive for becoming a member, such as loyalty badges in comments and live chat, custom emojis, ranks in the YouTuber’s Discord, and more. An image of what this all looks like was provided by Ryan ‘Fwiz’ Wyatt, Head of Gaming at YouTube, who posted a snapshot of the new feature on KreekCraft’s channel. We’ve launched Membership tiers in Beta and you can see it on @KreekCraft‘s channel already. Creators can offer up to 5 price levels (depending on what they want to offer for each tier). You can also create targeted Community posts for each level of members. pic.twitter.com/nza9HwINIJ — Ryan Wyatt (@Fwiz) January 25, 2019 Currently in beta, this feature is an extension of the already existing Memberships service on YouTube, which gave fans the chance to support and sponsor a channel for the base price of $4.99. However, this is clearly a huge step of expansion, creating a system that can now legitimately be considered a rival to Twitch’s current subscription service, which follows a similar model but only offers three tiers. As with the original Memberships program, creators will need to have 100,000 subscribers or more, be 18 years old order, and be members of the YouTube Partner Program to be eligible for this feature. YouTube first launched their Memberships service in 2018, but this new extension is a huge step forward. Shortly following its launch, YouTubers have already offered up ideas for how this new feature can be further improved. One popular suggestion has been enabling a channel’s custom emotes to be used in the comments and chat sections of other channels, much like how emotes work on Twitch. Another idea that seems to already be in the works is having Community posts targeted for each Membership tier, which could be used for tier-exclusive promotions.

YouTube issues statement on verifications following community backlash Unsplash / Pixabay / YouTubeYouTube has issued a statement to clarify on their decision to change how verification works on the video platform following community backlash. On September 19, YouTube announced on Twitter that it would be changing the criteria for verification eligibility, and sent out a mass email to creators warning them that they could be stripped of their badge. People were not happy with the change and feared for their future careers on the platform, sparking widespread debate and backlash across the internet. The video service has since issued a statement. YouTube clarified on its verification policy Later in the day on September 19, YouTube spoke out again from its Twitter account, this time to publish further clarification on its policy change. Read More: Twitch streamer rips into ‘ugly’ viewer – “No one lost a verification badge today,” it said, before stating that anyone affected by the email can appeal it. “If you received an email that your channel will no longer be verified, this was just an advanced notice & you can appeal.” Additional clarification: :heavy_check_mark:️No one lost a verification badge today–If you received an email that your channel will no longer be verified, this was just an advanced notice & you can appeal :heavy_check_mark:️The checkmark has never appeared on YouTube mobile channel pages (this will be added soon) https://t.co/vv64ClfuBx— YouTube Creators (@YTCreators) September 19, 2019 The video service then followed up with another tweet, and stated that every creator is an important part of its platform – verification badge or not. “We’re making this change to help everyone determine whether a channel is the official YouTube presence of the creator they’re looking for,” it said. “Please know that badge or no badge, you’re an important part of YouTube.” We’re making this change to help everyone determine whether a channel is the official YouTube presence of the creator they’re looking for. Please know that badge or no badge, you’re an important part of YouTube. — YouTube Creators (@YTCreators) September 19, 2019 People were not happy Like the first time the platform posted about its policy change, people flooded the replies with messages of criticism and backlash, unhappy even after clarity was brought to the situation. “You’re telling us this on a platform where those same “important” YouTubers are telling you it’s going against their wishes.” AntDude, a video game YouTuber with 350k subscribers, said. “But yo, thanks for looking out.” You’re telling us this on a platform where those same “”important”” YouTubers are telling you it’s going against their wishes, since verification check marks literally already did this for many people. But yo, thanks for looking out :ok_hand: — AntDude (@antdude92) September 19, 2019 Another prominent gaming personality, HiddenXperia, was mad about the change, and stated that the platform’s decision sounds ridiculous. “To help people determine if a channel is a creator’s ‘official presence’, you’re removing thousands if not tens of thousands of creator’s verification badges?” he said, before continuing. “You see how stupid that sounds, right?” So to help people determine if a channel is a creator’s ‘official presence’, you’re removing thousands if not tens of thousands of creator’s verification badges? You see how stupid that sounds, right? — Luc // HiddenXperia (@HiddenXperia) September 19, 2019 YouTube’s verification eligibility policy is due to go into effect in late October, and will affect content creators of all calibres. An appeal process will be set in place, but it’s unclear at the time of writing what exactly that will entail.

YouTube is permanently cancelling ‘YouTube Rewind’ creator showcase after ten years YouTubeYouTube has revealed that it is permanently canceling its once-beloved ‘YouTube Rewind’ year-end videos after a decade of celebrating creators and viral moments on the platform. YouTube Rewind was once an activity that everyone who frequented the video-sharing website looked forward to. Generally, these Rewind videos celebrated the platform’s biggest moments and most popular creators at the end of every year. However, in 2018, YouTube’s highly-anticipated Rewind video was met with heavy backlash.a Fans felt as though major moments from the year were left out due to controversy and that the site favored Hollywood celebrities. It even became one of the most-disliked videos on the platform. In 2020, YouTube announced that it would not be publishing a Rewind due to ongoing global health issues, prompting MrBeast to create his own version of the annual event. It even sparked the creation of an independent musical that was met with mixed reviews. YouTube reveals why it’s canceling YouTube Rewind On what would be the 10th anniversary of the Rewind tradition, YouTube revealed to TubeFilter that they are officially shelving the project after back-to-back years of criticism. However, it’s not the backlash that has prompted the company to make this decision; instead, they claim that YouTube has become “so massive that it is impossible to encapsulate its vastness and diversity within a minutes-long compilation.” “Since Rewind started in 2011, we have seen creators from MrBeast [54 million views], elrubiusOMG, and Slayy Point, to so many more, create their own end-of-year videos, uniquely capturing the year from each of their perspectives,” a YouTube spokesperson said of the situation. “It’ll continue to be inspiring to see the myriad of ways the most creative content producers in the world — our YouTube creators — encapsulate the end of year in their video recaps, as YouTube retires its own Rewind video.” For now, it looks like it’s in the hands of content creators to come up with their own Rewind videos. It would certainly be a rewarding experience to see some of YouTube’s bigger creators come together to make a project on par with previous Rewinds — but for now, there’s no telling what influencers will cook up at the year’s end, if anything.

YouTube is rolling out podcast section to rival Spotify Unsplash: @NordwoodYouTube has begun rolling out a podcast section on its website, bringing more value to the platform as they begin to rival Spotify as a one-stop shop for media. Over the last few years, YouTube has continued growing its platform to make it a one-stop shop for everything from music, to short and long-form videos, and live streams. Initially called YouTube Red, the company’s streaming service has gained popularity over the years thanks to the added ability to use close the mobile app while listening to videos on top of its vast selection of media. The Google-owned website launched YouTube Premium in 2018, bringing the company into the industry of music streaming alongside Apple Music and Spotify. YouTube has now begun rolling out a specific page for podcasts, furthering their discoverability. YouTube rolls out podcast section Thanks to a report on August 21 from 9to5google, we know that YouTube’s podcast page has begun its rollout to users around the world. The page began rolling out to users in late July 2022, but it appears that the company has ramped up its launch as more and more users are seeing the page. Once you have access, you’ll see some of the most popular podcasts across YouTube, including Logan Paul’s IMPAULSIVE, Nelk Boys‘ Full Send Podcast, and even Ethan Klein’s H3 Podcast. The specific podcast section provides a link on the site’s ‘Explore’ page, and users can go directly to it through the specific link. It’s unknown what will happen to the Google Podcast app as the feature continues to roll out, but given that YouTube Music eventually replaced Google’s app… it’s only a matter of time. We’ll have to wait to see how they integrate podcasts into the YouTube Music app, though.

YouTube Introduces New Features to Rival Twitch YouTube has rolled out a set of new features which will allow more options for creators to earn revenue for their content. With the online entertainment industry rapidly expanding across the world, the possibility for creators to earn a living from posting their content on various platforms has grown alongside it for a variety of categories. The desire to become a creator, especially in video entertainment, only continues to increase as time goes on, which has caused platforms to change their model in order to cater to creators and the ever-changing landscape of the scene. More: Multiple High Profile Streamers Including Daequan and KittyPlays Receive Temporary Bans on Twitch – During VidCon 2018, YouTube announced that they will be rolling out ‘Channel Memberships,’ a subscription-based service where viewers can pay $4.99 per month to receive custom badges, access to members-only content, and much more. Channel Memberships are similar to YouTube Gaming ‘Sponsorships,’ however, the new feature requires channels to have over 100,00 subscribers, be over the age of 18, and be a YouTube Partner. While the program was originally launched in January for a select number of creators, YouTube plans to launch Channel Memberships to those that qualify. Creators will now be able to promote upcoming videos with a feature titled ‘Premieres,’ which are short, pre-recorded videos that will allow channels to interact with subscribers in a live-chat prior to the launch of a video and take advantage of the ‘Super Chat’ feature. More: Multiple High Profile Streamers Including Daequan and KittyPlays Receive Temporary Bans on Twitch – Premieres will give content creators a number of new opportunities for promotion, and will potentially change the way channels connect with their viewers. According to YouTube, the ‘number of creators earning five figures a year is up by 35 percent and the number of creators earning six figures is up by 40 percent.’ While creators on the platform typically relied on advertisement revenue, the opportunity for other income streams has had a positive impact on those looking to make a career on the platform. More information on all the new features can be found on the official YouTube Blog.

YouTube is changing how ads work and users are absolutely furious UnsplashThe world’s top video platform is making big changes to how ads work, but YouTube users are not happy with them at all. On September 6, YouTube announced major changes to how ads will function with an assortment of modifications to existing features while giving creators less options. Going forward, beginning in the months ahead, creators will only be able to select placing ads before or after a video. Additionally, there will no longer be options for pre-roll, post-roll, skippable and non-skippable ads. Live videos will also have a 60 second count down before an ad pops up, giving the creator the option to skip the ad if they choose. YouTube users blast “unnecessary” changes to ads In a blog post, Google explained that it was making these changes to “extend best practices within the creator community and optimize creator revenue,” but the response hasn’t been very positive. Twitter/X account ‘YTAnalytics’ provided a rundown of the planned changes and there was plenty of backlash already in the comments. “Most of these changes seem really unnecessary,” one slammed. Elsewhere on X, more users weighed in, mocking Google for giving creators less control while others remained baffled by the ad changes to begin with. “So glad we have less control. Just what we been asking for. Great job YouTube. As a creator, we want strict guidelines and limitations,” one mocked. “This sounds so anti-beneficial,” wrote another. “Seems like something that will have a more favorable impact on the company than the creators – which is not the direction you wanna head in if you want to keep your creators.” What??? Why?? This sounds so anti-beneficial. — Danika ♡ (@Pigs_FlyHere) September 6, 2023 Seems like something that will have a more favorable impact on the company than the creators – which is not the direction you wanna head in if you want to keep your creators. A healthy business knows it’s community. A corrupt one… We’ll have to wait and see how these decisions pan out and if Google decides to double down on them or ease up on so many modifications at once. In the meantime, keep it locked to Dexerto for the latest on YouTube, streaming, and more.

YouTube icons Zoe Sugg and Alfie Deyes get engaged & fans are obsessed Alfie Deyes/InstagramThe OG YouTube couple, Zoella and Alfie Deyes, announced their engagement on Instagram after 11 years of dating – and fans are going crazy. YouTube stars Zoe Sugg and Alfie Deyes have announced their engagement after 11 years of dating. The couple announced the news in a joint post on their Instagram pages on Wednesday, September 13, which sent followers into a frenzy. Zoe, 33, and partner Alfie, 29, were seen in the clip embracing each other with Harry Styles’ song Music For A Sushi Restaurant playing in the background before Zoe excitedly ran towards the camera and lifted her hand to flash her huge ring. The post was met with thousands of likes and comments congratulating the happy couple. Scottish YouTube star and Make-Up guru Jamie Genevieve gushed: “Ahhhhh CONGRATS!!!!,” alongside a series of heart emojis. Singer Talia Mar commented: “Omggg so happy for youuuuuu.” Fellow YouTuber Joey Graceffa wrote: “Ahhhhh! Congratulations!!!!!! love you both so much!! so so so happy for you guys!” Zoe and Alfie have been in a relationship since 2012 and Zoe first revealed they were dating in a blog post the following year. This came after the couple had been mistakenly outed by their friend and fellow vlogger Jim Chapman, who had caught them kissing in the background of one of his videos. The couple live in the Brighton area and often post videos to their YouTube channels showcasing their life. The couple are parents to two-year-old daughter Ottilie Rue, who was born in August 2021, and they are currently expecting their second child in December 2023.

YouTuber Hampton Brandon arrested while IRL livestreaming, again Hampton Brandon YouTubeControversial personality Brandon ‘Hampton Brandon’ Grosso was arrested during a live broadcast on April 1, making it twice in a span of nine months that the streamer has been arrested on camera. Brandon’s claim to fame came through his nearly constant IRL streams around the city of Los Angeles as well as his popular ongoing feud with similar controversial streamer Ice_Posiedon. In a April 1 stream, Brandon was hanging out with friends in front of a barber shop in Arizona, a state in which he has amounted a few warrants, when the police suddenly showed up. A police offer can be heard calling out for Brandon as they approach. Upon hearing, the streamer turns back, eyes the camera in confusion but seems to continue idling on his phone. After a few more unanswered calls from the police, they close in on a still sitting Brandon and start subduing the streamer. At this point, the camera pans away from the scene, but a brief exchange can still be heard. “What did I do,” Brandon asked. “Relax,” an officer can be heard saying. “What am I doing wrong? What did I do,” Brandon said. “You are being detained right now,” an officer said. The stream ends shortly after, leaving his fans and viewers wondering at what the streamer had got himself into this time. Brandon has been in hot water with the law before, even garnering arrest warrants in Arizona. Previously, Brandon has streamed himself getting into a fist fight with Ice_Posiedon, attempting to break into Ice’s house, and much more. Different situations have led Brandon to be banned from numerous streaming sites including Twitch, YouTube, Periscope, etc. As surprising as the amount of run-ins with the law, it’s even more surprising with how the streamer keeps getting out of trouble. The streamer had even been arrested for six outstanding warrants at one point, with a bail marked at $100,000. But even that wasn’t enough since Brandon was released soon after. It’s currently unknown what the streamer will be facing during his latest run-in with the law, and viewers will be eager to find out how the next chapter in this story unfolds.

YouTube has big plans for podcasts after losing Joe Rogan in $200m Spotify deal Spotify/Joe Rogan/YouTubeYouTube reportedly has big plans for its podcast side of the website, especially after losing Joe Rogan’s full-length shows to Spotify. In September 2020, Joe Rogan’s podcast – The Joe Rogan Experience – said goodbye to a whole host of platforms as it become exclusive to Spotify in a reported $200 million deal. One of those, of course, being YouTube. Before Rogan’s mega-deal with Spotify, the UFC commentator’s podcast would get most of it’s views from YouTube, especially as fans could sit and watch the epic conversations between himself and his guests. While some clips from the show still make it onto YouTube, you do have to go through Spotify for the full-length video version of the show. Plenty of other podcasts have followed Rogan’s steps with a video side of things, and YouTube has big plans aimed at keeping them under their umbrella. YouTube has massive plans for podcasts According to a report from Business Insider, which cites YouTube sources, Rogan’s bumper deal with Spotify was signed at such a lofty figure due to his success on YouTube. Additionally, the report noted that will YouTube has begun rolling out some tools for the podcast side of their website – including a landing page – there are still more to come as they look to grow in the podcasting space off the back of Rogan’s departure. As per PodNews’ previous report, YouTube is apparently implementing RSS Feeds for podcasts, as well as metrics tracking for uploaders. Though, some of these are currently only available to those in the United States. PodNews also reported that podcasters will be able to feature audio adverts – both sold by Google and themselves, provided they are large enough to do so – which would be another significant boost. There’s unlikely to be a YouTube podcast that dethrones Rogan or any of the other Spotify exclusives anytime soon, but the podcasting battle will roll on.

YouTube group Asian Boss raise huge amount to prevent shutting down Asian Boss YouTubeYouTube media company Asian Boss has raised over $572,329 after viewers flood the channel’s GoFundMe page to help save it from shutting down. Asian Boss has delivered much-needed insights on the latest news and trends from Asia, with the aim of ‘bringing the world closer together’. Since being founded, the media company has given a voice to North Korean defectors and helped shed the light on Korea’s booming K-pop industry. Asian Boss has never shied away from tough tops and has continually given people the platform they need to tell their stories. Unfortunately, the channel’s investors suddenly went bankrupt due to the ongoing crisis, forcing Asian Boss to cut 40% of their employees. The team is now just months away from shutting down for good. However, viewers from around the world have rallied together and are currently trying to save Asian Boss from closing its doors for good. Asian Boss needs your help Asian Boss was founded by Stephen Park and Kei Ibaraki seven years ago. Since then, the media company has given its viewers insights into Asia that are neglected by mainstream media. The team has reported from Japan, Korea, India, the Philippines, Indonesia, China, and more in its pursuit for local insights into current social/political issues. Read More: Valkyrae reveals how Twitter helped her – During this time, Asian Boss has raised over US$700,000 through their videos which has been used to help people in need. Everything from building an elementary school in India to helping struggling single mothers and fathers in Korea. The team has always been focused on giving back to the community it covers, helping those that society often neglects. “That’s what I’m most proud of,” says Stephen Park Founder & CEO of Asian Boss. “Through storytelling, we’re able to give a voice to the voiceless, and help people in difficult situations through the power of our own community.” Asian Boss has never been afraid to cover controversial and sensitive topics, but this has often led to the demonetization of the channel’s videos. This led the team to pursue financial backing from investors, which have now gone bankrupt due to the ongoing crisis. “We’re in the process of moving out our office,” says Stephen. “At this rate, we’re going to have to stop all of our overseas productions as well. This is…it’s painful, it’s really painful. I don’t know if you guys can relate, but I’m the kind of guy who hates asking for help. I try to solve every problem by myself. But, since I started Asian Boss I came to realize that if you want to accomplish something big, you can never go at it alone.” For the first time ever, Asian Boss is asking its viewers for their help in raising the $700,000 it needs to continue making content. Since the channel’s video went live, it has reached 1.5M views on YouTube and received $572,329 in donations. If you wish to donate to the campaign, you can do so by going straight over to the official Asian Boss GoFundMe page. You can also show your support by participating in the #SaveAsianBoss campaign and following the YouTube channel.

YouTube group RDCWorld are making a movie with Jordan Peele Twitch: RDCGamingYouTube comedy group RDCWorld say that they’re working on a film with esteemed horror director Jordan Peele in a major move for the uber-popular influencers. RDCWorld are a group of YouTubers best known for their comedic sketches poking fun at anime series, video games, comics, sports, and pop culture. The group, headed by creator Mark Philips, first started their channel back in 2012, and have gone on to attend movie premiers and even rub elbows with the likes of LeBron James. Now, the guys are getting another major W added to their record, as Philips claims they’re working on a feature film. RDCWorld’s Mark Philips claims YouTube group is working on Jordan Peele film RDCWorld were featured on a panel at Dream Con 2023, an anime and gaming convention held in Austin, Texas. The panel was streamed on Twitch — and during that stream, Philips claimed that himself and the RDCWorld guys were working on an upcoming film with famed horror director Jordan Peele, best known for his movies ‘Nope,’ ‘Us,’ and ‘Get Out.’ “Am I allowed to say this?” Philips asked. “We’re working on a movie with Jordan Peele.” That’s not all; he also claimed that the group is making a production company, but says he’s keeping things close to the chest until everything gets ironed out. “That’s what I feel like is one of our biggest accomplishments,” he continued. “And we’re making a production company. We’re gonna announce that soon. We’re just keeping everything under wraps until we package it correctly.” This marks a major move for the YouTubers — and for content creators everywhere, who have been making attempts at breaking into the mainstream media for nigh over a decade now. Even famous YouTuber Markiplier suffered a snub at the Emmys last year… but he’s working on his own feature film that he claims will have a theatrical release.

YouTube Gaming set to add another big feature to compete with Twitch YouTube/TwitchIt looks as though YouTube Gaming is looking to capitalize on their massive steps forward in the livestreaming process by introducing a new feature to directly compete with Twitch. On August 30 and September 1, YouTube Gaming signed DrLupo and TimTheTatman as exclusive streamers on the platform, bringing them away from the ever-popular Twitch that has dominated livestreaming for so long. To many, it signals a slow changing of the guard, with two of Twitch’s biggest stars moving to a close competitor. With YouTube mounting pressure on Twitch, it looks now like another big change is coming, moving them even closer to truly competing with the Amazon-owned service. https://twitter.com/Fwiz/status/1433097342995996672 After the announcement of TimTheTatman joining, the head of YouTube Gaming Ryan ‘Fwiz’ Wyatt was joining in the celebrations online. One tweet has caught the eye of fans and streamers alike, however, as it hints at a major Twitch feature becoming available on YouTube streams. One user suggested that YouTube Gaming should add a subscription gifting feature, the same as can be found on Twitch, and Fwiz simply responded with a gif that has left fans feeling very optimistic. https://twitter.com/Fwiz/status/1433111547983785986?s=20 As 100 Thieves co-owner Jack ‘CouRage’ Dunlop pointed out, YouTube have added many great features for streamers and viewers, and sub gifting looks set to be next. Since he joined the platform in November 2019, YouTube have added the ability to clip streams, subscriber-only chats, polls, member loyalty messages and many more. I’m so happy Tim and Lupo joined YouTube now They’ve added so much since I joined -Fantastic clips feature -Member loyalty messages -Subscriber only chat -Polls -Super stickers -Ability to end stream and send your audience to a new video -Mobile membersAnd much more to come 👀 — Jack “CouRage” Dunlop (@CouRageJD) September 1, 2021 With the platform continuing to improve their service and pile the pressure on Twitch, it’ll be interesting to see whether it can truly compete. It goes without saying, though, that they’ve got plenty of plans to move YouTube Gaming forward — and this will be music to the ears of streamers looking to move away from Twitch.

YouTube give unexpected response to Jake Paul & RiceGum’s gambling scandal Jake Paul, RiceGum – YouTube / YouTubePopular YouTubers Jake Paul and Bryan ‘RiceGum’ Le are in hot water after promoting an alleged gambling and scam website to their viewers. Now, YouTube is finally speaking out on the debacle – but their response may not be exactly what fans are looking for. A spokesperson for the video platform addressed the situation in an interview with The Verge on January 3, where they claimed that creators are ultimately responsible for being transparent with their audience and complying with the law. “YouTube believes that creators should be transparent with their audiences if their content includes paid promotion of any kind,” the spokesperson stated. “Our policies make it clear that YouTube creators are responsible for ensuring their content complies with local laws, regulations and YouTube Community Guidelines.” However, the site does not label services like Mystery Boxes or even ‘lootboxes’ in video games as gambling – although its policy on YouTubers promoting scams or “deceptive practices” may come back to haunt the two, should the platform change their stance on the matter. Both Paul and RiceGum have since spoken out on the backlash, with RiceGum citing a plethora of other YouTubers partnered with ‘MysteryBrand.net’ in defense of his initial video. Although he expressed remorse for his involvement with the site, other YouTubers across the space are still unsatisfied with his apology – including the likes of H3H3’s Ethan Klein, who reminded RiceGum that he has an obligation to be responsible in regards to his “impressionable audience.” While Paul Tweeted out a short warning for his younger fans to stay away from gambling, he has yet to speak further on the matter.

YouTube Gaming officially rolling out gifted subs like Twitch Twittch/Unsplash: Szabo ViktorYouTube are starting to roll out a new gifted subscription feature, just like that which is so popular on Twitch. While YouTube Gaming has made strides in the livestreaming space, with popular creators like Valkyrae, Ludwig and TimTheTatman among their ranks, they’re still some way off being as big as Twitch for livestreams. The platform obviously lends itself mostly to video-on-demand (VOD) content, but has been growing out its live services over the years, and who better to take inspiration from than Twitch? While they play catch-up to the Amazon-owned streaming service, YouTube looks set to introduce a feature that has made Twitch so popular for both broadcasters and viewers — gifted subs. According to a tweet from the official YouTube Creators Japan account, gifted subs (or ‘memberships’ as they are known on YouTube) are rolling out to certain channels now, presumably ahead of a full launch. “New Membership Gift Alpha Edition,” the tweet reads. “For creators using livestreaming and membership, this is a function that allows existing channel members to give membership rights to other viewers.” 新機能 メンバーシップ ギフトα版✨ ライブ配信とメンバーシップをご利用のクリエイター向けで、既存のチャンネルメンバーが他の視聴者にメンバーシップの権利を贈れる機能です💡 ※現在はごく一部のチャンネルでテスト中の機能になります。— YouTube クリエイター (@ytcreatorsjapan) February 3, 2022 They link out to their YouTube membership page, with FAQs on membership and benefits around it. Gifted memberships allow users to essentially cover membership costs for other viewers, giving them one month of membership for free. This move comes a few months after it was first revealed that gifted subs and raids would be coming to YouTube, so it looks like the plan didn’t take too long to come to fruition. Whether this is only currently rolling out for Japanese creators, or that they were simply the first to announce it, isn’t yet clear.

YouTube Gaming finally adding gifted subs & raids as Twitch streamers move platforms YouTube/TwitchYouTube Gaming has revealed that they’re bringing a whole host of new features to their streaming service in 2022, and there are quite a few Twitch-inspired changes coming. For years, Twitch has comfortably cemented its place as the top dog when it comes to the internet’s favorite gaming streaming site. Though, there have been a few contenders making waves recently. Over the last few years, YouTube Gaming has been snapping up some of Twitch’s most popular creators – including getting both TimTheTatMan and DrLupo in the back half of 2021. With more streamers making the leap from Twitch to YouTube, there have been increased calls for more Twitch-like features, including better chat moderation tools, the ability to ‘raid’ another channel, and implementation of third-party emotes like BTTV and FrankerZ. Well, it appears YouTube has heard those calls as they’re finally making some big changes. On October 29, YouTube Gaming Ryan ‘Fwiz’ Wyatt detailed some of the platform’s plans for 2022, noting that they’ve been working hand-in-hand with the likes of Valkyrae and CouRage on some of the changes. Two of the biggest changes that will be instantly recognizable to any long-time Twitch users are Gifted Memberships and Live Redirect for Gaming. The former is self-explanatory – YouTube Members will now be able to gift streaming subscriptions to others, while the latter is akin to Twitch’s raid feature. The improvement to discoverability has been a big want for some newer YouTube streamers, noting how difficult it can be to explore the platform when compared to Twitch’s directory. https://twitter.com/fwiz/status/1454078781006618628?s=21 The platform also noted that they’ll be adding new moderation tools for streams as well as expanding the recently introduced Clips tool so that they can seamlessly become YouTube Shorts – which is YouTube’s answer for TikTok. It remains to be seen as to when exactly these features start rolling out but their additions may encourage other burgeoning streamers to join the YouTube scene.

YouTube Gaming has a new biggest streamer and it’s not IShowSpeed or Dr Disrespect YouTube/IShowSpeed/DrDisrespectA new competitor has risen to as YouTube Gaming’s most-watched streamer and it may surprise you to learn it’s not IShowSpeed, Dr Disrespect, or TimTheTatman. The year is still young, but 2023 has already seen a surprising shift in YouTube’s elite streamer rankings with a new gamer emerging in popularity. With Twitch and Kick feuding over top talent, it’s easy to forget that YouTube has a pretty stacked roster of its own with VTuber Kuzuha, Ludwig, Pekora, DrLupo, and others. However, in the first three months of 2023, Moroccan streamer Ilyas Elmaliki has stepped up to surpass iShowSpeed as the most-watched on the platform. Ilyas Elmalik becomes most-watched YouTube Gaming streamer According to a report by StreamCharts, Elmaliki has risen to the top spot on YouTube Gaming in 2023 with a whopping 258 hours of airtime. So far, from January to March of 2023, the Moroccan’s content has accumulated over 8.9 million hours watched while maintaining an average viewer count of 34.7K. IShowSpeed, meanwhile, racked up 8.57 hours of content watched for a close second with TimTheTatman coming in third at 7.54 million. That said, Speed has a whopping subscriber advantage with 16.5M subs compared to Elmaliki’s 730K, so it makes his hours watched all the more impressive. Dr Disrespect, who is rumored to be joining Kick, was in ninth with 6.25 million hours. Whether or not Doc will end up leaving YouTube, a platform he only joined due to his Twitch ban, remains to be seen. Only time will tell if Elmaliki will keep the crown throughout 2023, but until then, be sure to keep it locked to Dexerto for all the latest in the world of streaming and entertainment.

YouTube Shorts takes shot at TikTok with new livestream feature Unsplash: @vmxhuYouTube Shorts has taken a shot at TikTok with their latest feature, bringing vertical livestreams into Shorts feed for the first time. Launched back in September 2020, YouTube Shorts has helped skyrocket many channels on the site into the tens of thousands of subscribers. Similar to TikTok, YouTube Shorts offers a special feed for users to upload and consume content up to one minute long. Now, YouTube has taken another shot at TikTok by adding a new vertical livestream feature and you’ll be able to find them inside of the existing Shorts feed. YouTube Shorts adds vertical livestreams YouTube has been testing vertical livestreams on the platform since August 2023, but finally rolled it out to all users as of February 7, 2024. Announced in a clip on the YouTube Creators channel, it details the requirements to be able to live stream on the platform as well as some of the options you’ll be able to take advantage of when setting up the broadcast. These will show up in the feed similar to how TikTok Live broadcasts do, and you’ll be able to tap on it in order to enter the chat. On top of being able to stream vertically, YouTube creators can multi-stream both a horizontal and vertical broadcast for users to enjoy it however they wish. As the YouTube Support page on Twitter warns, though, it will show up as two broadcasts and requires the use of third-party plugins. Overall, the reaction to the new feature has been positive and users seem to be very excited to go live with the platform’s new feature.

Froste, Avalanche and Mako announce the 100 Thieves Mob House 100 ThievesPopular YouTubers and 100 Thieves members ‘The Mob’ made a huge move to the west coast to really kick off the content creation with their org. The Mob is a collective of friends including ‘Avalanche,’ ‘Classify,’ ‘Froste,’ and ‘Mako’ who entertain, joke and inspire their audiences with a variety of videos for their Twitch and YouTube channels. After ending their stint with SoaR Gaming in late 2018, The Mob moved over to the 100 Thieves family in a surprise announcement that hyped up fans of the YouTubers and the esports org alike. But eager anticipation was met with unnerving silence as the partnership had yet to produce much content, despite the 100 Thieves going all in on the group. Well it looks like fans of The Mob are going to be rewarded for their patience in full now that the YouTubers are getting set up in their new Los Angeles digs. “We’re pumping content from Day 1,” Avalanche said as he brought in an air mattress for impromptu backflips. As an important note, The Mob made sure to let their fans know that 100 Thieves CEO Matthew ‘Nadeshot’ Haag said that the official name of the new L.A. house was called: 100 Thieves Mob House. Even though The Mob were skirting around confidential details about their time with 100 Thieves, their excitement for the new place was palpable as they played off each other’s hype for the 100 Thieves Mob House. Froste noted how stressful the house-buying process had been. They’ve spent “almost a week” already in the new house getting acclimated, but once they’re fully set up, the content won’t stop coming. “We got the house, it’s ours. We’re living in it,” Froste said. “Streaming, YouTube videos (is going to happen). We just wanted to let everyone know that we’re here.” 100 Thieves’ meteoric rise can be attributed to their commitment to their lifestyle apparel line, competitive esports teams and huge initiative on content creations. The Mob teased that there’s a ton of “epic” things to coming with their 100 Thieves partnership, but it’ll all come soon with the revival of their MobCast.

YouTube finally clarifies how profanity affects monetization of videos YouTube has decided to clarify just how profanity can affect how people make money on the video sharing platform. There has been no new changes to YouTube’s monetization policies on profanity, but this new video from Creator Insider does shed some light on the criteria used when the decision is made to allow a video to run adverts or not. The short clip runs through some of the words that advertizers tend to raise concern about, the context in which profanity could be deemed acceptable and provides some insight into the ideal placement of profanity within video content. “Things like dang, shoot, damn, hell, no worries about those like they’re totally safe to monetize. You can use them as much as you want in your video, the title or thumbnail” says John, from YouTube’s Monetization team. F-bombs and other words which you wouldn’t typically hear on primetime television should not be included in thumbnails, titles or the beginning of videos, the pair explain. “There’s going to be a type of content that’s just not safe for monetization at all and that’s any use of racial slurs, derogatory content, really mean or hateful words” he added. It’s clearly about context with some profanity, though. Swear words will be deemed acceptable, for example, if the content creator stubs their toe or says it as a reaction to something of a similar nature. However, swearing directly at somebody else and targeting another person in a hateful way is another way to make your content unsafe for monetization.

YouTube explains why there won’t be a Rewind this year YouTubeFrom 2010 onward, YouTube has celebrated its most viral moments and top creators with a special showcase at the end of every year — but it doesn’t look like 2020 will be getting a YouTube Rewind this go around. Ever since 2018, YouTube Rewind has been met with some controversy; what used to be a recognition of the platform’s best videos and up-and-coming content creators became a popularity contest in the eyes of fans, which left out many important moments of the year (such as the Logan Paul vs KSI boxing match, among others). That year, YouTube Rewind became the most disliked video on the platform, garnering over 10 million dislikes in the first two weeks — and while YouTube drastically changed its formula for 2019, it seems that 2020 won’t be receiving a Rewind, at all. No YouTube Rewind 2020 In a tweet on November 12, YouTube revealed that 2020 will be the year without a Rewind, claiming that it doesn’t feel appropriate to celebrate their content after such a difficult time for just about everyone around the world. “2020 has been different,” the platform stated. “It doesn’t feel right to carry on as if it weren’t. So, we’re taking a break from Rewind this year.” “We know that so much of the good that did happen in 2020 was created by all of you. You’ve found ways to lift people up, help them cope, and make them laugh. You made a hard year genuinely better. Thank you for making a difference.” Although it’s highly probable that YouTube didn’t feel safe gathering a bunch of influencers together for a project, still others suggest the site could have gone with last year’s video compilation route, completely nixing the need for an on-location shoot, altogether. Thus far, it seems that YouTube’s announcement has sparked controversy among fans, with many feeling that now is the best time to recognize the site’s positive content and uplift its users. Despite their wants, it doesn’t look like 2020 is getting the star treatment of other years in the past, leaving many anxious regarding the future of the site’s long-held annual tradition.

YouTube Family Vloggers Accused of Staging a Wildfire Evacuation for Views Family vloggers Cole and Savannah LaBrant are accused of faking an evacuation order in a recent video that saw them leave their home due to the Holy Fire in California. The video showed the couple nervously evacuating their home with their five year-old daughter and travelling to San Francisco. Cole told viewers that his daughter’s number one fear is fires. The rest of the video was a travel vlog with the LaBrants enjoying a vacation in San Francisco, not quite what you would expect from a family potentially losing their home to a wildfire. Read More: News YouTuber ‘Scarce’ Updates Fans with Weight Loss Pictures – and his Progress is Shocking – It was later discovered by Fox 11 that the LaBrant’s area was never under evacuation notice, neither voluntary nor mandatory. The Holy Fire was 90 percent contained at the time of Cole and Sav’s video and was not close to where the family lived. Before the evacuation video was posted, Cole shared on Instagram that he took his wife to San Francisco in celebration of their anniversary. Neighbors were disgusted in the LaBrant’s for seemingly taking advantage of a disaster for views and spoke to a local Fox affiliate about the video. “I just think it’s really sad they would exploit a situation that’s as serious as a fire that so many people were evacuated just so they could get more likes or more hits on their channel.” The original thumbnail on the Cole & Sav channel showed the family with nervous looks as fires raged in the background. It has since been deleted and replaced with a screenshot of Cole talking to the camera. At the time of this writing, the Holy Fire is contained. Cole & Sav have not publicly commented on the situation and denied interviews with local news.

YouTube expert explains how David Dobrik became so successful YouTube: David DobrikDavid Dobrik has been one of the biggest success stories YouTube has seen in recent years, accruing over 16 million subscribers on the platform. Now, a YouTube and social media expert has explained exactly how he made it happen. While Dobrik was originally a Vine star, his transition to YouTube was relatively seamless and he soon picked up any traction he had gained from Vine and, obviously, a whole lot more. Since then, his views have started to outshine some of the biggest names on YouTube, yet has accomplsihed it in an unconventional yet authentic way – as YouTube expert Paddy Galloway explains. In a video that takes a deep dive into Dobrik’s career – as well as what he did to become so successful – Galloway lists several factors that have contributed to the Slovakian-born star’s success. One of the first things Galloway points out – after showing off Dobrik’s incredible viewing figures and estimated net worth of $7m – is that he “goes against many of the principles that YouTubers live by.” He makes short videos, uses copyrighted music and isn’t afraid to use strong language or show edgy content – meaning most of his videos get demonetized by default. Paddy then says that he believes Dobrik’s success comes down to four key factors – and he seems to hit the nail on the head. The first factor given is “Migrating his audience” or, in more simple terms, how he pulled his Vine followers across to YouTube. Through his growing knowledge of brand deals, content algorithms and the power of collaborations, the transition to YouTube sensation came much quicker than it did for David than it would have for others. Galloway then says the second factor to Dobrik’s success is how he “evolved the vlog.” He explains that while Vine might have died, Dobrik essentially makes videos that seem like Vine compilations, in that its short-form sketches or moments collated into one bigger piece. This is in contrast to other vloggers, who make them longer to increase watch time and monetization potential. He also notes the point of view the vlogs are filmed in – mostly on his friends, and from a side angle rather than straight-on, making viewers feel even more immersed in what they’re watching. Galloway’s third factor to success is the use of characters to add extra dimensions. Having a big group of friends who are also popular online personalities means David himself doesn’t have to drive the narrative of the vlog – instead, viewers become fans of the entire ensemble. Finally, Galloway says the fourth key to success is Dobrik’s outsmarting of the YouTube algorithm. Despite not being the ‘model YouTuber,’ he uses titles and thumbnails that are very clickable, and the short videos mean viewers stick around to watch the whole thing. Because of his great click-through-rate and watch-time, his videos still perform well on YouTube’s algorithm despite not hitting boxes the platform would typically search for. This breakdown provides a lot of food for thought for aspiring content creators, especially with the point that “content should always come first” the resounding message at the end. Although there always has to be a certain amount of luck involved to see so much success on YouTube, it’s clear that Dobrik continues to go above and beyond to create the best content possible, while also maximizing his opportunities on the platform.

YouTube explains why it is hiding dislike counts on videos YouTubeAfter experimenting with video dislikes earlier this year, YouTube has announced that it will officially hide the number of dislikes on videos across the platform. YouTube has rolled out a major change for viewers and content creators alike, stating that it will now remove the dislike count on all videos on the site. This change comes after YouTube’s experiment in March 2021, when the platform tested site and application designs that hid the number of dislikes from viewers. It looks like this adjustment has stuck, as on November 10, 2021, YouTube claimed the change will be a mainstay fixture moving forward. To reduce targeted dislike attacks & their impact on creators (esp on smaller creators), you’ll no longer see a public dislike *count* on YouTube starting today (the dislike button is staying). This comes after lots of research, testing & consideration → https://t.co/mJWDJSSRoG — TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) November 10, 2021 However, this development won’t affect content creators’ own videos. They will still be able to view the amount of dislikes that their videos receive, and the like to dislike ratio will also affect recommendations (the videos that YouTube feeds viewers based on their preferences). YouTube’s initial decision to remove dislike counts came as a response to “dislike attacks,” where viewers would mass-dislike a creator’s videos as a means of harassing them. YouTube reveals why it will hide dislike counts on videos “We want to create an inclusive and respectful environment where creators have the opportunity to succeed and feel safe to express themselves,” the platform stated in a blog post. “This is just one of many steps we are taking to continue to protect creators from harassment. Our work is not done, and we’ll continue to invest here.” This isn’t a new idea, by far; YouTube bandied about the idea of removing dislike counts on videos as far back as 2018 — the same year that YouTube Rewind became the most-disliked video on the site. In 2019, the site brought up the issue again, with YouTube’s Project management director Tom Leung claiming the platform was discussing ways to mitigate “dislike mobs.” After years of debate, it seems the site has crafted a firm response to these dislike campaigns, although the response has been decidedly mixed. Many users have expressed a “dislike” for this development, asking YouTube for greater options when it comes to preventing harassment via dislike or hate mob on the site. Give us O P T I O N S. Stop forcing it onto creators. Dislikes may affect the creator, but not the audience. — freezing sticks (👍 very cool 👍) (@Winteristix) November 10, 2021 Wow! Another horrible feature added from YouTube! You do realise the Dislike button is important? Your just doing it to not see the dislikes on Rewind 2018 — Rubi-Lee ☁️🤍 (@rubi__leee) November 10, 2021 Might as well just get rid of the dislike button entirely. What’s even the point of it then? — Josh Gaming 🎮 (@JoshGamnChannel) November 10, 2021 This latest dislike count change will begin to gradually roll out for users starting November 10, 2021.

Lifestyle YouTuber Emily Hartridge dies in motor accident Emily Hartridge InstagramOnline stars and fans across the net are mourning the tragic news of YouTuber Emily Hartridge who was involved in a fatal motor incident in South London. Hartridge had a massive following that stemmed from her whimsical lifestyle videos which shared advice and life knowledge to the thousands who tuned into her channel every week. Not only did she have over 300 thousand subscribers on YouTube, she had also amassed a passionate following on Twitter and Instagram filled with people who shared her enthusiasm for body and mental positivity. 600A representative for Hartridge posted a somber message on her Instagram announcing the news, which took everyone by surprise of the shocking development. “This is a horrible thing to have to say over Instagram but we know many of you were expecting to see Emily today and this is the only way to contact you all at once,” the post said. “Emily was involved in an accident yesterday and passed away.” Hartridge is believed to be the victim of a crash involving an electric scooter at the Queen Circus roundabout in Battersea that was hit by an oncoming lorry. She was pronounced dead at the scene. A similar incident happened a year prior when a trash lorry hit a cyclist at the same roundabout in July. 600The 35-year-old TV host was an energetic beacon for her following, constantly posting inspirational messages and hilarious videos promoting mental well-being throughout her channels. Friends and popular industry figures mourned the untimely loss for one of YouTube’s more positive creators, while others simply couldn’t believe the news. Devasted to hear about the tragic death of @emilyhartridge. I had the pleasure of working with Emily multiple times over the years. Emily was constantly spreading positivity. Apparently she was struck by a lorry whilst driving an e-scooter. Horrible news :sleepy: Rest in peace. pic.twitter.com/3tsqwbZbV6 — Spencer FC (@SpencerOwen) July 13, 2019 “Here’s another star in the sky tonight. Heartbroken to have lost someone who brought inspiration and joy to so many,” BBC broadcaster Andy Shepherd tweeted. “Finding this very very hard to compute. Devastating,” chef and TV personality Gizzi Erskine said. “My heart goes out to Emily’s family and friends. Such a shock. Sending you love and prayers,” TV presenter and model Davina Mccall wrote. We were supposed to make a video together a while back, but never locked it in. I can’t claim to have been super close to @emilyhartridge but you were always so fucking polite and lovely. Oh how life can be so fragile. Rest in peace mate. So, so tragic. #RIPEmily pic.twitter.com/gy1yW8WWvr — JaackMaate (@Jaack) July 13, 2019 Friends, family and followers of Hartridge will remember her for the kindness she spread and for her free spirited approach to life she was known for.

YouTube Escape2021: How to watch & what to expect YouTubeYouTube has kicked off the second season of its Rewind series in the form of YouTube Escape2021 – an interactive livestream that will recap on the best moments of the year. Here’s how and when you can watch Escape. Since 2010, YouTube released its annual ‘YouTube Rewind’, highlighting the best creators, memes, moments, and pop-culture hits of the year. However, the annual recap made a disappearance in 2020 and has now been replaced by Escape2021 – a three-chapter, 24-hour interactive livestream that kicks off YouTube Season 2 of Rewind. Here’s what we know about YouTube Escape2021, including how to watch and what to expect. Contents What is YouTube Escape2021 Escape2021 is the first installment of the second season of the YouTube Rewind series. Like its predecessor, we should expect Escape2021 to recap on the best moments we’ve seen on YouTube throughout 2021. Read More: How to get YouTube dislikes back – Unlike Rewind, Escape2021 will be in the form of a livestream that will last 24-hours. The stream will be split up into three chapters where viewers can play through challenges and experiences from 2021, with relaxing music in between from lo-fi girl. Specifics of what to expect during the different chapters are unknown. However, artists such as BTS, Doja Cat and The Weeknd are expected to make an appearance throughout the stream. How to watch YouTube Escape2021 YouTube Escape2021 will start on December 16 and will run for 24-hours hosting three chapters throughout the livestream. You can watch Escape2021 on the official YouTube channel which we’ve embedded for you. The three different chapters allow viewers from all regions of the world to experience Escape at a reasonable time. Below are the set times for each chapter.

YouTube duo Stokes Twins handed felony charge after bank robbery prank YouTube: Stokes TwinsYouTube prank stars Stokes Twins have been handed a felony charge by the Orange County District Attorney in relation to a fake bank robbery prank video the pair recorded in October 2019. The twins, 23, face up to four years in state prison if convicted. The YouTube duo were each charged on Wednesday with one felony count of false imprisonment affected by violence, menace, fraud, or deceit and one misdemeanor count of falsely reporting an emergency, according to authorities. The pair — Alan and Alex Stokes — boast 4.8 million subscribers on their prank-dedicated channel. The upload in question, titled “BANK ROBBER PRANK! (gone wrong),” was watched nearly 1.5 million times since October 20, 2019. In the video, the brothers pretend they are robbing a bank. The pair plead with unsuspecting strangers for clothes or getaway cars, all while pretending to carry a bloated duffel bag full of ‘stolen money’ from the nearby bank. Some bystanders reported the incident to the police, which led to officers arriving and ending the prank video. The moment in question, when police officers respond to the call, is included in the Stokes Twins’ October 20 upload. The brothers also called an Uber during the prank, but the requested driver “refused to drive them”. The Uber driver in question was reportedly held at gunpoint after Orange County officers arrived. In a statement, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said, “these were not pranks. These are crimes that could have resulted in someone getting seriously injured or killed.” “Law enforcement officers are sworn to protect the public. When someone calls 911 to report an active bank robbery they are going to respond to protect lives. Instead, what they found was some kind of twisted attempt to gain more popularity. [They were] unnecessarily putting members of the public and police officers in danger.” The Stokes Twins were given a verbal warning by police at the time relating to their “dangerous conduct,” but were released. According to the DA’s office, the Stokes brothers will be sentenced to up to four years in prison “if convicted on all counts.” The Orange County police officers who arrived on the scene at the end of the video also said the Stokes Twins were “lucky [they] didn’t get guns drawn” on them. “That is what is going to get… someone potentially hurt,” the responding officers said. “Think about what’s going on nowadays. Think about it… you’ve got to be smarter than that. You know better.”

YouTube doctor breaks down why Valkyrae’s new skincare line is “so misleading” YouTube: Dr. Dray / RFLCTA dermatologist with a massive following on YouTube was asked to speak about Valkyrae’s controversial new RFLCT skincare line, and she explained why it’s “so misleading” for the star’s fan Rachell ‘Valkyrae’ Hofstetter’s RFLCT skincare line has become a huge talking point ever since it was first revealed on October 19. The masses called her out for taking part in what they considered to be a “scam.” In their view, the company’s claims about the product’s benefits aren’t supported by sufficient scientific evidence. In fact, there have been peer-reviewed studies that suggest any amount of blue light from computer or television screens has a negligible effect on the skin. Dr. Dray, a dermatologist with more than 1.3 million subscribers on her YouTube channel, was asked by fans to share her thoughts on the issue. She revealed the main reason why she thinks the product is “misleading.” Dr. Dray pointed out that one thing she found “misleading” was the company’s claims that BLPF, which stands for blue light protection factor, is like SPF (sun protection factor) in sunscreens but for blue light. “That’s a little misleading because this BLPF that is their trademark kind of ingredient is probably a batch of antioxidants or something like that,” she said. “We don’t know exactly what it is, but I think that’s a little bit misleading.” Dray explains that SPF is more than a simple batch of ingredients. It’s a standardized measurement that tells you how well a product will protect you from a burn, and it is tested. She claimed there is “no such thing” for blue light. “When you’re making claims like this, I do think you need to be careful. I think it can mislead consumers into thinking that the product has been tested in the way that sunscreen would be tested to show protection.” Despite her criticism of the products, Dray insisted she was sure it wasn’t Valkyrae’s intent to mislead her fans. In fact, she acknowledged that some of the ingredients used in the product could help mitigate blue light damage to the skin, but only from the sun – if at all. Read More: Streamer 39daph won’t support RFLCT skincare – Still, the backlash has been immense. In her first comments on it all, Valkyrae claims it’s “warranted.” She plans to speak about it in more detail soon.

YouTube documentary about saving Lia Marie Johnson goes viral YouTube: Lia Marie JohnsonA YouTube documentary depicting the troubling situation involving Lia Marie Johnson has gone viral online. Almost half a million people have seen the video aimed to raise awareness about her personal troubles, in only 48 hours. Johnson rose to fame online, appearing as a series regular on the Fine Brothers Entertainment show React, where she appeared as both a child and a teen before departing to create her own YouTube channel, and sign a record deal with Capitol Records. Throughout 2019 though, many became concerned for the 23-year-old’s well-being, streaming on Instagram Live on a number of occasions, shouting at those who watched her back in May, while police were called to a music studio in Los Angeles on January 2. On January 20, YouTuber J Aubrey uploaded a 28-minute video titled “The Trouble Case of Lia Marie Johnson.” The video breaks down her rise to fame and subsequent issues, before calling for help to bring the singer away from the situation she is in, claiming she “hasn’t been herself for a long time.” “I can’t correctly hypothesize any traumatic events that lead to the spiral of Lia Marie Johnson,” he states. “Given the limited information we have to work with, no one can know for sure, but at the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter how she reached this state. It’s only a matter of how she will obtain the help necessary to get better.” “I know Johnson is a talented performer with more potential than she probably even realizes, which makes this situation all the more devastating,” the YouTuber explains. “I understand that having your personal problems amplified by the internet probably does little to better your actual condition, but when you’re concerning behavior is consistently displayed in front of millions, you can’t blame anyone for worrying.” “Lia Marie Johnson is a troubled soul who was thrown into a twisted industry, and while I don’t have all the answers, I sincerely hope she finds the moral assistance to regain the peace she once had,” he concludes. J Aubrey produces long-form video essays on YouTube, addressing issues and controversies he notices on the platform, while also breaking down the effect that stars have had on the entertainment industry, such as Jon Stewart or Kanye West. The content creator uploaded his video on January 19, and already it has been viewed 477,000 times. Lia Marie Johnson has remained active on social media despite the concerns raised for her welfare, posting a number of images on Instagram since her stream on January 2 which ended with law enforcement becoming involved. Many still remain worried about her current state, and much like J Aubrey, hope that the starlet receives the help she needs.

YouTube deletes Corpse Husband face reveal video for doxxing despite creator’s complaints Twitter: CORPSEA YouTube video that supposedly revealed Corpse Husband’s face, as well as real name and other personal details, has been deleted by the platform, after it accumulated over two million views. Corpse Husband is a popular YouTuber and musician, who rose to prominence through Among Us livestreams as well as his musical aspirations and uniquely gravelly voice. Despite his fame, Corpse has never revealed his face, although various leaks and dubious claims that his face is known have been shared over the past few years. On February 27, YouTuber ShamPee posted a video titled “Why Corpse Husband Abandoned his Audience”, which went viral, reaching over two million views, before it was taken down. Why did YouTube delete the Corpse Husband video? ShamPee was “devastated” by the takedown, and asked YouTube on Twitter for an opportunity to appeal. He blamed the takedown on mass reports from “stans” of Corpse Husband. However, YouTube responded, stating that the takedown was due to their harassment policy for “content that encourages abusive fan behavior such as doxxing, dogpiling or brigading.” They also gave the timestamp for when this occurred in the video. ShamPee was apologetic, saying he overlooked notifying his editor about this section of the video, and that it wasn’t done “maliciously or intentionally.” However, versions of the video are still available on YouTube, through ‘reaction’ videos from other creators. ShamPee however has stated he has no intentions to upload the video, despite its success. “I have learned my lesson here and again; I’m deeply sorry,” he said. Some defended ShamPee however, stating that the information in his video was already available publicly, and so he should not be held accountable for “doxxing.” Also, the video condemned the original posters of the information. YouTuber John Swan argued it was a “totally justified takedown.” ShamPee responded and said he would be releasing an apology video. For now, Corpse Husband’s face remains somewhat of a mystery, despite the various ‘leaks’ claiming to reveal it. Corpse has been less active on social media in recent months, rarely posting, although he did upload a new song titled Under the Weather in February.

YouTube demonetizes all David Dobrik channels amid ongoing Vlog Squad controversy David DobrikFirst, it was the sponsors. Now, it’s YouTube pulling the plug on David Dobrik, with the platform demonetizing all of his channels, including that which hosts his VIEWS podcast, amid ongoing controversies with the Vlog Squad. YouTube has made its move against David Dobrik, the sensation under fire for a host of allegations of sexual assault, bullying, and harassment against him and his Vlog Squad. While Dobrik has issued two apologies, brands like EA, DoorDash, and HBO Max have cut all ties with the once-YouTube sensation. Now the platform is distancing itself from Dobrik too. In a statement to Digital Insider, a YouTube spokesperson said the platform would be cutting ties with Dobrik and demonetizing his channels after he violated their Creator Responsibility policy. “We have strict policies that prohibit sexual harassment on YouTube and take allegations of sexual assault very seriously,” they said. Read More: Most controversial YouTuber apologies – David Dobrik’s personal channel, David Dobrik Too, the VIEWS video podcast channel, and Durte Dom’s personal channel have all been demonetized. The YouTube channels have nearly 30 million subscribers combined as of the time of publishing. YouTube demonetizing Dobrik’s channels means the content creator can no longer earn ad revenue on any of his videos. This was a major income stream for Dobrik, which raked in upwards of five figures on a daily basis during the height of his vlogging. Dobrik, the face of the Vlog Squad, was scrutinized over racist and homophobic remarks made in the early days of filming dating back to 2017. He was also accused of creating an atmosphere on set that made co-workers feel “worthless” and “traumatized.” Vlog Squad member Dominykas Zeglaitis, better known as Durte Dom, has also been accused of sexually assaulting a woman during the filming of a vlog back in 2018.

YouTube deletes “absurd” tweet after facing backlash for mocking creators YouTube is under fire for a now-deleted tweet where they mocked their own content creators for padding out the length of their videos, a move that is in many cases a direct result of the site’s own monetization policy that’s been widely criticized by the community. It’s no big secret that in order to make money on YouTube videos, creators have to play by the website’s rules in order for their videos to qualify for that sweet, sweet revenue. Things like profanity, subject matter, and the length of videos all affect how much money, if any, can be made on a certain video, and there are a lot of people out there who aren’t too fond of how the system works. This is probably why a recent post from the site’s official Twitter account that mocked YouTubers for dragging out the length of their videos, a common strategy used to take advantage of the site’s monetization incentives, was quickly deleted. After just two hours in the social media sphere, the tweet was taken down by YouTube, but that didn’t stop screenshots from being taken and distributed throughout the internet for all to see. If you’ve spent any amount of time on YouTube at all, there’s a good chance you can recall an example of exactly the types of videos this tweet was referencing. Usually, it’s no big deal to skip past the few minutes of ads to get to the actual content we clicked for, but YouTube mocking creators who are only playing by the rules the site itself set up, seems like a really low blow. Matthew Ball, former Head of Strategy at Amazon Studios, had a lot to say on the matter, going on a massive Twitter rant that expressed a lot of the same sentiments many others were also posting. “It is like giving your daughter allowance based on hours studied, not grades, then complaining she studies too much,” he wrote. “I don’t know a single creator who wouldn’t prefer to spend the same time per week making videos, but release fewer of them and have a shorter runtime.” Others added that while the tweet was probably put out without much thought going into it, there’s clear evidence that those who run the platform are well aware that their incentives for making money lead to types of videos that “absolutely no one wants.” It’s far from the first time the site’s monetization guidelines have come under fire and caused a stir, but based on how YouTube has (or hasn’t) responded to concerns about the system in the past, we wouldn’t say change is exactly right on the horizon.

YouTube couple Jatie Vlogs explain why they pulled breakup prank on fans YouTube: Jatie VlogsYouTuber couple Josh Brueckner and Katie Betzing played a prank on their fans on March 21 about breaking up, but were met with backlash and mass downvotes. Now, they’ve explained why they did it. Jatie Vlogs sent their near two million YouTube fans into a tizzy after ‘announcing’ they were breaking up, after proposing in November 2019 and recently moving in together. The 10-minute video played on fan’s emotions, although it led to a barrage of downvotes — over 43,000 as of March 24 — from the wider community. After the mixed response to the video, the couple issued a statement, in the form of a behind the scenes video, saying that while they are apologetic over people being upset, they believed it was what their fans wanted. “If you were upset, I’m sorry. A lot of you guys wanted this and we just wanted to do what you guys wanted,” said Betzing. “We hope you guys take this lightly because it wasn’t meant to be too serious.” “With that being said…you probably hate us right now for pranking you,” added Brueckner. “We’re sure you guys have sent so much love our way right now, and we appreciate guys for being so supportive.” The couple have spent a lot of time indoors with the recent lockdowns happening across the world, seeing their fans’ reactions to pranks they’ve done in the past. With that in mind, the YouTubers wanted to give back to their community in a way they haven’t done before by playing a little joke on them. “We just posted our empty house tour video, they’re all expecting the moving in video — let’s mess with them,” Betzing said. “Let’s move in together, and kind of ‘take a break.’” “It’s fun to prank you guys. You watch us prank each other, our friends, our family — you watch us prank everybody, so it’s about time you guys got pranked,” added Brueckner. As for the critics who say the two videos — which have amassed over 4 million views combined and are on YouTube’s Trending list — were a ploy to rake in views, they’ve dismissed them entirely. The couple maintains their focus was entirely on their fanbase and what they’ve been asking for, and there was no malice intended. In fact, Betzing stated again it was what their fans had asked for. “You can, clear as day, see the comments that were like ‘prank us’ — [our fans] have been begging us.”

YouTube creators outraged as new profanity guidelines wreak havoc YouTube has made a drastic change to its advertiser-friendly content guidelines, specifically relating to the use of profanity, resulting in a wave of demonization for users on the platform. Over the years, YouTube has adjusted its content policies to suit the needs of advertisers. Where YouTube was once the wild west of video sharing, users now have to abide by a set of rules to make money from their content. Advertisers choose whether or not to use YouTube based on the type of content allowed on the platform and can refine the videos their ads appear in. As we’ve seen in the infamous Adpocalypse of 2017, offensive content can lead to major brands pulling advertising from the platform as a whole. These companies included Coca-Cola, Dr. Pepper, Johnson & Johnson, Mars, Adidas, and HP. This led to YouTube cracking down on offensive content and enforcing new guidelines to ensure the platform’s longevity. However, it has been several years since YouTube as a platform has been at risk of losing advertisers, yet a massive policy change has recently seen content creators lose monetization, leaving these users confused. YouTube profanity policy leaves platform confused Before this policy change, creators operated by the rule that there shouldn’t be any harsh profanity – like “f*ck” – within the first 30 seconds of the video. However, this new policy states that creators can’t use profanities for the video’s first 8-15 seconds. But that’s not the part of the policy change that’s causing the most havoc. The Gaming and monetization section of YouTube’s YouTube Partner Program guidelines states that videos can maintain monetization if “profanity does not occur throughout the majority of the video.” But the Advertiser-friendly content guidelines state, “Occasional use of profanity (such as in music videos) won’t necessarily result in your video being unsuitable for advertising.” These ambiguous guidelines have confused many content creators, as they don’t offer a concrete reason for their videos’ demonetization. YouTubers are wondering what qualifies as the “majority” of their video and are left uneasy by the use of the word “necessarily,” as it leaves the door open for YouTube to remove monetization at their discretion. And this widespread fear of demonization isn’t misplaced. Several content creators have reported mass demonetization on their channels with no warning from YouTube. These include MoistCr1TiKaL, LS Mark, RTGame, Stan from Poland, and more. YouTube’s new policy also applies to the entire content library of each creator. Some creators report that videos from 10+ years are being demonetized due to “Extreme Profanity,” and even private videos are being flagged by the system. As of writing, YouTube has yet to respond to the outrage from creators. It is possible that the platform is seeking advertisers that require a more family-friendly atmosphere and are enacting policies that would allow for that. With the increasing popularity of video sponsorships, creators have strayed away from midroll ads, resulting in less profit for the platform. But the policy change doesn’t seem to be the problem for creators. Instead, they are more upset with the lack of communication from YouTube leading up to the change. Some YouTubers have stated had the platform informed creators beforehand and allowed them time to make the necessary changes to their content, the backlash could have been much less severe.

YouTube confirms new policy won’t delete Reckful, Totalbiscuit, and others’ channels Unsplash.com: NikYouTube has confirmed that Google’s new policy of deleting inactive accounts will not affect dead creators like Reckful, Totalbiscuit, and others. On May 16, 2023, Google revealed that they will begin deleting accounts that have been inactive for at least two years. This would remove their Gmail, YouTube, Drive, Photos, and more. Many quickly began to worry about the YouTube accounts of deceased creators like Reckful, Totalbiscuit, and others. However, YouTube Creator Liason Rene Ritchie has confirmed that they will not be removing accounts that have videos uploaded to their channel. YouTube confirms accounts with videos will not be deleted In a tweet on May 17, just a day after the policy was revealed, Rene made the policy clear in a tweet replying to a concerned fan. “Confirming we have no plans to delete accounts with YT videos,” he said. This means that the accounts of Reckful, Totalbiscuit, Emily Hart, and dozens of others will not be deleted once the policy comes into effect in December 2023. The policy would also affect accounts in the future, meaning fans of Technoblade, RS Glory and Gold, and more were worried about losing their favorite creator’s content in the near future as well. While many appreciate Richie’s comment on the situation, others are still worried that Google might decide to do so in the future. We’ve reached out to YouTube for another comment, and will update this article should they respond. In the meantime, head over to our entertainment section for more news and other viral stories.

YouTube couple jailed after causing over 20 car crashes for views Unsplash: MichaelJinPhotoYouTuber couple Christopher and Kimberly Phelps from California have been jailed for purposely crashing into cars and committing insurance fraud, which they filmed and uploaded to social media. Since the rise of YouTube and other social media sites, filming and sharing your everyday life with others has become a daily routine for some. But the thrill of getting likes can get addictive, causing people to do weird and sometimes even dangerous things. For Californian couple Christopher and Kimberly Phelps, this included filming themselves driving dangerously and blaming others. They then continued to post these videos on YouTube under the username “BLU3 GHO57” before turning to their insurance company to get compensation for the damages. The couple got arrested in March 2023, and have now been sentenced to jail, with Christopher ordered to serve three years and had his driver’s license immediately revoked because of the assault with a deadly weapon charge. Meanwhile, Kimberly was sentenced to 90 days in weekend county jail/work release, three years of supervised probation, and to attend a 52-week child abuse prevention program. She’s now out on bail. YouTubers allegedly caused accidents for YouTube clicks Even though the videos only got an average of 50-60 views each, the channel had approximately 162 dash cam videos featuring, collisions, attempted or near collisions, and road rage incidents. Prosecutors later said the couple also had their child in the car for many of the collisions. The California Department of Insurance began an investigation after discovering the channel and after Christopher was involved in a “suspicious collision” where he seemed to stop for no apparent reason, causing a truck pulling a trailer to hit his vehicle. The California Department of Insurance issued a statement in March when the couple first got arrested. It read: “Christopher Phelps has been charged with six felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon, 11 felony counts of insurance fraud, and five felony counts of child endangerment. Kimberly Phelps has been charged with two counts of felony child endangerment and one count of felony insurance fraud. “Christopher Phelps was previously charged with one felony count of assault with a deadly weapon and one felony count of causing a vehicle collision for the purpose of presenting a false claim following his arrest [in March 2023].”

YouTube CEO tells Ludwig she “knew” removing dislikes would be controversial YouTube: LudwigYouTube star Ludwig sat down with the platform’s CEO, Susan Wojcicki, to discuss some of the site’s recent moves — like removing dislike counts on videos. YouTube notably removed dislike counts on all videos across its platform in November 2021, marking a huge change for content creators. The site claimed that it made this adjustment to “reduce targeted dislike attacks and their impact on creators,” saying they “want to create an inclusive and respectful environment where creators have the opportunity to succeed and feel safe to express themselves.” The removal was met with widespread discontent. Creators spoke out against hiding dislike counts, arguing that it could hinder their ability to discern what content their viewers want to see. To reduce targeted dislike attacks & their impact on creators (esp on smaller creators), you’ll no longer see a public dislike *count* on YouTube starting today (the dislike button is staying). This comes after lots of research, testing & consideration → https://t.co/mJWDJSSRoG — TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) November 10, 2021 Susan Wojcicki speaks on YouTube removing dislike counts Despite the backlash, the change is here to stay. Nearly half a year later, YouTube star Ludwig got the chance to bend CEO Susan Wojcicki’s ear on the controversial topic, which she says she knew would result in discontent. “We knew it was going to be controversial,” she admitted. “We have to do what is the right thing for the ecosystem as a whole.” Wojcicki went on to explain that the platform ran a bevy of experiments before ultimately deciding on making the change, claiming that YouTube needed to remove dislikes to support its many smaller creators. “I understand there were people — many people, and yes, we heard loud and clear — why people were unhappy with that decision,” she continued. “But then we also saw the impact that it was having on a lot of new creators, and that’s bad. We need to have, and continue to support, smaller creators and how they’re growing. That’s important for the long-term health of our ecosystem.” “For decisions like that, we know it’s going to be tough, but we just power through it.” (Topic begins at 17:57) And yes, Susan does read Tweets and comments about YouTube, saying she sifts through the public feedback on social media to “note if there’s something here we haven’t thought about.” Luckily, there is a way for creators to see how many dislikes their video received, thanks to a handy Chrome plugin that was popularized just after YouTube’s divisive dislike demolition.

YouTube community outraged as Brooke Houts returns after dog abuse video Brooke Houts, YouTubeYouTuber Brooke Houts sparked outrage across the net in 2019 after accidentally uploading footage of herself hitting and spitting on her pet dog — and now, the content creator has returned to social media, but netizens aren’t happy with this update. Houts was met with widespread backlash in August 2019, after mistakenly uploading footage for a vlog that showed the YouTuber striking her pet Doberman Pinscher, Sphinx, and even spitting on the animal. The accidental upload quickly caught viewers’ attention, who spread clips from the now-deleted video like wildfire across the net — even prompting involvement from the Los Angeles Police Department. haha hilarious prank @brookehouts !!! xD pic.twitter.com/kjvmOnln7e — shoe (@shoe0nhead) August 7, 2019 The LAPD’s Animal Cruelty Task Force investigated the content creator, ultimately ruling that Houts would be able to keep her pet, with TMZ reporting that law enforcement concluded their evidence didn’t “support criminal charges.” With social media stars like H3H3’s Ethan Klein and Logan Paul putting Houts on blast for purported animal abuse, it makes sense that the YouTuber took a step back from social media — but she announced her return to content creation on March 6 with a video explaining her absence. https://twitter.com/brookehouts/status/1158906113741299712?s=20 According to Houts, she wanted to find the right time to return to making videos, and has been focusing on her physical and mental health as well as joining a church group. “There was a lot of change that I had to go through before coming back to YouTube,” she admitted. “And I can confidently say that I’ve honestly never been in a better place physically, mentally.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75U0YdxIi8M Despite her uplifting words, commenters are outraged at her return to the platform, and hit out at the YouTuber for mistreating her animal. “Literally nobody asked where you’ve been,” one user wrote. “You’re disgusting.” “Lets be real, she’s only back because she isn’t getting the income she used to,” another commented. “Sis, I’m sorry, but you’re genuinely cancelled. You need to find another job.” “Brooke: Where I’ve been,” yet another chimed in. “Everybody here: I was hoping in jail!” In spite of her attempts at making a comeback, it seems like Hout’s scandal continues to follow her — and there’s no telling if critics will ever forget the disturbing video footage that led to her downfall.

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki steps down after 9 years YouTube: CBS MorningsYouTube’s longtime CEO, Susan Wojcicki, has announced that she’s leaving her position at the video-sharing company after leading the platform for nine years. On February 16, 2023, Susan Wojcicki announced her departure from YouTube after leading the platform as its CEO for nine years. The “personal update from Susan” was initially sent to YouTube staff earlier that morning, but was publicly posted to the site a short while later. In the update, Wojcicki revealed her reasons for stepping down from YouTube, claiming that she wants to focus on her personal life and family, as well as a few passion projects in the interim. Susan Wojcicki reveals reason for stepping down from YouTube “Today, after nearly 25 years here, I’ve decided to step back from my role as the head of YouTube and start a new chapter focused on my family, health, and personal projects I’m passionate about,” she explained. Wojcicki also revealed the site’s new leader who will be taking her place — Neal Mohan, who will be stepping in as SVP and new head of YouTube. Mohan has served as YouTube’s Chief Product Officer and helped launch some of the platform’s biggest features like YouTube TV, YouTube Music, YouTube Premium, and YouTube shorts, on top of leading its Trust and Safety Team. “He has a wonderful sense for our product, our business, our creator and user communities, and our employees,” Wojcicki wrote. “Neal will be a terrific leader for YouTube.” Including her time at YouTube, Wojcicki has spent 25 years with Google and will continue to play an advisory role for the search engine giant and Alphabet. “Beyond that, I’ll still be around, so I’ll have a chance to thank the thousands of people from all across the company and the world who I’ve worked with and learned from,” she concluded. “…I always dreamed of working for a company with a mission that could change the world for the better. Thanks to you and your vision, I got the chance to live that dream. It has been an absolute privilege to be a part of it, and I’m excited for what’s next.”

YouTube CEO speaks out on “cringey” Rewind 2018 video YouTube / Asa Mathat, ReCode.netYouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki has spoken out on the site’s widely-criticized ‘YouTube Rewind 2018’ video, acknowledging that the project failed to meet fans’ expectations in a big way. Wojcicki addressed the issue in a Creator Blog post on February 5, admitting that Rewind did not feature some of 2018’s biggest moments on the platform – and even claimed that her children called the video “cringey,” to boot. “We hear you that it didn’t accurately show the year’s key moments, nor did it reflect the YouTube you know,” Wojcicki wrote. “We’ll do better to tell our story in 2019.” https://youtube-creators.googleblog.com/2019/02/youtube-in-2019-looking-back-and-moving.htmlWojcicki went on to explain YouTube’s reasoning for straying away from the likes of the KSI vs Logan Paul fight, or PewDiePie’s ongoing battle against Bollywood label T-Series – despite their major impact on the platform. Read More: YouTube explains why they aren’t deleting Austin Jones’ channel following child pornography charges – “Last year, we also saw how the bad actions of a few individuals can negatively impact the entire creator ecosystem, and that’s why we put even more focus on responsible growth,” she said, likely referencing Paul’s ‘Suicide Forest’ scandal and PewDiePie’s promotion of an allegedly anti-Semitic channel. YouTube Rewind 2018 became the most disliked video in YouTube’s history on December 8, 2018, surpassing the likes of Justin Bieber’s ‘Baby’ and Jake Paul’s ‘It’s Everyday Bro.’ Major YouTube personalities expressed immense satisfaction with the video, creating their own iterations that received a record number of likes – with PewDiePie’s own rendition breaking the record for the most-liked non-music video on the platform with over seven million likes and counting.

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki responds to claims that YouTube rewards drama YouTube: Anthony PadillaIn a discussion with influencer-turned-interviewer Anthony Padilla, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki addressed concerns of “rewarding” harassment and toxicity egged on by drama channels. It’s not uncommon to see content creators across the internet complaining about YouTube’s constantly-shifting policies and treatment of traditionally “taboo” topics — but one of the most prominent issues that’s come to light is harassment and slander campaigns. YouTube has a rich profile of drama channels, who often report on the goings-on between high-profile influencers and other trending topics… but some of these channels have been criticized for appearing to encourage harassment against other creators. Longtime YouTuber Anthony Padilla brought up this concern during a June 23 interview with YouTube’s CEO, Susan Wojcicki, who claimed that the platform is working to “discourage” toxicity brought about by inflammatory drama channels. “One of the things that we saw is that people were repeatedly attacking someone, but in a small way,” she began. “The one person doesn’t feel like the one jab is contributing to this much bigger damage,” Padilla interjected. “That’s why we actually then started to implement policy around that, and have a variety of different steps, whether it’s demonetization or having a strike, or losing a channel, ultimately,” Wojcicki replied. “We don’t want to see creator-on-creator harassment.” (Topic begins at 9:11) As for when drama channels actually express legitimate concerns over potentially harmful or illegal activity, Wojcicki claimed that YouTube does “remove [the offending parties] from the platform” if the allegations are found to be true. “These cases take many different forms, and some people are accused but they’re actually innocent, or they say they didn’t do it but they [turn out to be] guilty. …we’re trying to make sure that we are not having any kind of nexus or connection to illegal activity in terms of things that have happened on the platform.” Ultimately, Padilla’s interview with Wojcicki revealed one thing in striking clarity: YouTube’s inner workings are far more complicated than some critics make it out to be, and the platform does make efforts to listen to its creators on important topics… even if it doesn’t always seem that way.

YouTube CEO responds after Ludwig gets Twitch logo tattooed on himself Instagram: ludwigahgren / Wall Street JournalYouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki has responded after popular streamer Ludwig got a tattoo of the Twitch logo on his leg, despite leaving the platform to sign an exclusive contract with YouTube last year. Ludwig Ahgren officially broke off his ties to Twitch in November 2021, leaving the purple streaming platform in favor of an exclusive streaming contract with YouTube. Although admitting to being “stressed and anxious” about his decision at the time, he recently revealed that he felt it was the “right one” in the end — but he recently ran into an awkward situation regarding his status as an official YouTube streamer. In late November, Ludwig held a charity stream in which he claimed that he’d get a tattoo suggested by the top donator. As it happens, fellow influencer Valkyrae ended up taking the crown by donating a whopping $15,000, daring him to get a tattoo of the Twitch logo. It seems that Ludwig is a man of his word. He went through with Valkyrae’s tattoo idea on December 6 and even live-streamed the process for his viewers. YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki trolls Ludwig over his Twitch tattoo He also Tweeted about the ordeal just before getting inked — and it looks like YouTube CEO, Susan Wojcicki, took notice of the situation. She replied to Ludwig’s Tweet with the eyes emoji, as though poking fun at him by letting him know that she’s well aware of his traitorous actions. Ludwig had a hilarious response to Susan’s Tweet, asking his followers: “Who narc’d?” He also suggested a peace offering to his boss, saying he’d be willing to get matching YouTube tattoos with Wojcicki if she wanted. This is far from his first public interaction with YouTube’s head honcho; in fact, Ludwig interviewed her earlier this year, asking her hard-hitting questions about the platform’s policies in a video that’s received over 2 million views. Luckily, it looks like Ludwig gets to keep his job for now as he prepares for his upcoming Chess Boxing event coming up on December 11.

YouTube CEO responds to PewDiePie over failed Rewind 2018 and demonetization After admitting that the 2018 YouTube rewind was “cringey”, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki has responded to PewDiePie, after he thanked her for the admission, but raised more issues about the platform. The 2018 Rewind video, which is meant to cover the year’s best moments on the platform, didn’t exactly live up to expectations, and was met with widespread disapproval, indicated by the 15 million dislikes and counting. PewDiePie, the most subscribed YouTuber, made his own Rewind video, titled ‘YouTube Rewind 2018 but it’s actually good’ – which unsurprisingly faired much better, with over seven million likes and less than 100,000 dislikes. PewDiePie’s Rewind video was much more successful than the official version. In a blog post on February 6, Wojcicki said “Even at home, my kids told me our 2018 Rewind was “cringey.” We hear you that it didn’t accurately show the year’s key moments, nor did it reflect the YouTube you know.” PewDiePie reacted to this admission in a video on February 7, saying “it feels, just nice to hear them say it – just admit that they messed up.” However, he also said there are more serious issues currently affecting YouTube, namely demonetization of channels and how this negatively impacts video views. Wojcicki responded in a comment under the video, explaining: “You are right we sometimes make mistakes, but we are working hard to listen to creators and review our systems when creators are reporting issues.” Wojcicki responded in a comment on PewDiePie’s February 7 video. The comment has received over 22,000 ‘thumbs up’ from viewers, so the communication is at least appreciated. The feeling of being left in the dark is something high on PewDiePie’s list of complaints, so if YouTube can be true to its promise of ‘transparency’, it will be a step in the right direction. PewDiePie is currently one of the trending topics on YouTube, as he fights to retain his top spot from the corporate challenge of Indian production company T-Series. Issues around demonetization and misuse of copyright claims remain rampant on YouTube, with many creators, big and small, struggling to get answers from the people at the top. Wojcicki commenting directly on PewDiePie’s video is a rare sight, but maybe a sign for things to come.

YouTube brings yet another popular TikTok feature to Shorts YouTubeYouTube is launching the ability to do voiceovers on Shorts that are recorded inside of the app, bringing yet another popular TikTok feature to the platform. YouTube has been diving into the short-form video format over the last few years with Shorts, providing another platform alongside TikTok for creators to share their content. They’ve been slowly releasing new features, like the ability to publish stream clips as Shorts within the app, and even adding a new way to monetize the content. Now, YouTube has announced that they’re launching yet another feature — the ability to do voiceovers straight from the app. YouTube Shorts launches Voiceovers YouTube revealed the new voiceover feature and how to use it in a blog post on September 27. “We’ve seen you asking and we’ve answered – you can now use our voiceover feature to narrate your Shorts!,” it reads. “Add another layer of creative expression to your Shorts by narrating what happens in your content.” The voiceover feature has already begun rolling out to users on iOS, but it’s safe to assume that Android will get it as well in the coming weeks. How to use YouTube Shorts Voiceover feature The YouTube app on iOS will allow you to add voiceover to your shorts after recording your content in-app. Here’s how: Tap the checkmark in the bottom right corner – Tap the voiceover button – Select the spot in the video you want to narrate over – Record your voiceover – Use the volume panel to adjust audio levels for your voiceover, music, and original video’s audio – If you want to undo (or redo) your voiceover, just tap the undo button. For more YouTube news, head over to our hub.

YouTube busts scammer for extorting smaller channels for money Netral English / YouTubeA scammer used YouTube’s highly controversial Content ID system to extort money from two gaming channels – but the crook’s plan didn’t last long. Two YouTubers, going by the screen names of ObbyRaidz and Kenzo, reached out to YouTube for help after being targeted by the scammer, who used YouTube’s Content ID system to falsely claim their videos under the guise of copyright infringement. The scammer, under the name ‘VengefulFlame,’ claimed enough videos until their channels had two copyright strikes against them, each – just one step away from ultimate channel termination. hello @TeamYouTube I have two false copyright strikes on my channel & someone out there is extorting me for my money to have the strikes removed. help. pic.twitter.com/pNmzNH34Ff — Kenzo (@KenzoPvP) January 30, 2019 It was then that VengefulFlame approached the YouTubers with a proposition: hand over money, or be faced with the deletion of their channels. According to a report by Motherboard, the scammer would double the ransom amounts each time their messages went unanswered, with some amounts jumping to $200 in Bitcoin or $300 via PayPal. VengefulFlame would threaten to issue a third strike, should a user refuse to meet their demands. YouTube took action after being notified of the situation by ObbyRaidz and Kenzo on Twitter, removing the offending strikes and reinstating their videos. YouTube likewise claimed that they had originally flagged VengefulFlame’s strikes as suspicious, and later terminated the scammer’s channel following the debacle. Appreciate your patience —we confirmed that this takedown notice was (obviously) abusive. The strike on your channel is resolved and the video is reinstated. This is an example of a fraudulent legal request, which we have zero tolerance for, so we also terminated this channel. — TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) January 30, 2019 This isn’t the first time the site’s Content ID system has spiraled out of control, either; YouTuber ‘TheFatRat’ had his original song claimed against him in December of 2018, and was unable to get in contact with the claimant – despite reaching out to YouTube for help. While TheFatRat has since found justice, similar stories continue to pop up across the platform, prompting mass outrage and even petitions from angry creators.

YouTuber Boogie2988 delivers epic rant against Reddit critics following Tesla debacle Boogie2988 YouTube / RedditControversial YouTuber and Twitch streamer Steven ‘Boogie2933’ Williams aimed his typical rants squarely at his critics, calling out users from popular social site Reddit. Boogie has been the focal point of troubling debacles, mainly with him revealing apparent tax fraud schemes as well as “begging” for money following a major purchase of a $100,000 luxury Tesla vehicle. While his fanbase has stuck by him throughout the many ordeals, these are just some of the issues that internet-goers who don’t look at Boogie in high favor will bring up in expressing their opinions about the content creator. I am getting to where I dont give a f*ck what people think about me. — Boogie2988 :soon: vidcon! (@Boogie2988) July 3, 2019 During one of his livestreams, Boogie was talking with his chat when one of his viewers asked him if he’s kept up with popular social media Reddit: “Boogie, I love ya but did you see Reddit today?” Read more: Summit1g reactions during terrifying Resident Evil 2 Twitch stream are absolutely priceless – While the question seemed innocent enough, it seemed to set off the streamer into a fiery rant aimed at how much he “never cared” about what opinions the people on that site has on him. Boogie was using his alter-ego character ‘Francis’ to get his point across in the clip, which also explains higher-pitched voice than normal. “Oh, I’ve seen Reddit today,” Boogie said imitating Reddit goers. “’Ooo, we don’t like Boogie anymore.’ Good, I don’t f*ckin like you. I don’t f*ckin like you, Reddit. Okay? I don’t care, I never cared.” At that point the streamer mockingly held up “the world’s tiniest violin” and played it for the people hating on him saying it was for “how little of a sh*t [he gives] for what Reddit thinks about [him].” He ended the rant with a couple of requests for the Reddit community, as the streamer hit the apex of his scathing retort to the waves of negativity he’s been getting. To cap off his rant, he made a remark for his viewers to “pay for [his] f*cking Tesla, you fuckers” which seemed to be alluding to one of the latest issues to arise between Boogie and Reddit. Boogie has come under fire recently for how he went about buying his Tesla. Boogie is no stranger to criticisms as he’s felt the thick of it due to racist comments made on stream to one of his donors which was clipped and has routinely made its way around the web. It looks like this will be another entry to the clips and instances against Boogie the internet has compiled, as he carries on streaming his notable rants and gameplay.

YouTube artist Marko stuns Logan Paul with custom Pokemon boxing gloves YouTube: MARKOLogan Paul was left absolutely stunned by a gift from popular YouTube artist Marko Terzo, who surprised him with a unique pair of Pokemon-themed boxing gloves ahead of his fight against Floyd Mayweather. Over the last few years, Logan has built his brand around two things: Pokemon and boxing. His boxing matches against KSI were some of the biggest events to happen in the history of the internet, leading to his (now-delayed) bout against Mayweather. Throughout 2020, he also helped contribute to the rise of Pokemon trading cards once again, putting them in the eyes of the mainstream and seeing prices soar following his involvement. So when Marko, who himself has over 5 million subscribers on YouTube, decided to make the star a customized gift, there was really only one option. This isn’t the first time Marko has come up with a custom design for Logan, but it might be one of the best yet, as confirmed by Paul himself. Starting with just a standard pair of boxing gloves, Marko made them completely blank before starting his designs. On one glove was Pikachu, surrounded by lightning bolts and looking as ferocious as a Pokemon can look. On the other, Marko used a more unique Pokeball-inspired design, fitting the theme but adding his own touch. Paul, when he received them, was visibly shocked. “Oh my god!” he exclaimed after opening the box. “This is my favorite. You snapped.” Logan added that the custom design covers “all his loves in life,” saying it was “a fantastic gift” and assuring Marko that he’s getting better at his work. Logan joked about it, but it’s unlikely we’ll see him don these when he goes up against Mayweather, one of the greatest fighters of all time. That said, they’re still a pretty awesome gift and will likely be treasured by Logan for a very long time.

YouTube bans multiple VTubers for streaming adult videos in Splatoon 3 Twitter/kikaze_kimikoMultiple VTubers have been banned from YouTube after streaming adult movies in Splatoon 3 by using ink projectiles as a pseudo greenscreen to show the mature content. YouTube and Nintendo took action after VTubers decided to hold a competition that Twitter has since dubbed “Splatoon Adult Video”, which started trending on social media. According to reports, the VTubing group Sinsogumi would set Splatoon 3’s ink transparency to zero and when they shot an opposing team’s ink color, an adult video would play over it. Apparently, the video was one that VTuber Hinachun, one of the participants, had appeared in. An archived tweet from one of the competitors states that the side that got banned from YouTube would lose the contest, suggesting that everyone partaking knew they were breaking the rules. Automation-Media says that Tomeru Ikinone, Kimiko Kikaze, Sigure, Hinachun, Kudoa Tatsuki, Sofia Sapphire, Teriteri Bouzu, and Ryotaro competed in the event. YouTube takes action after VTubers show adult videos in Splatoon So far, a few VTubers have been banned with Ikinone Tomeru and Kikaze Kimono’s accounts being deleted. Going to their pages now results in a message that reads, “This account has been terminated due to multiple or severe violations of YouTube’s policy on nudity or sexual content.” Meanwhile, Sigure’s channel was deleted mid-stream, being one of the first to suffer consequences on YouTube. Many of those involved have issued apologies, with the group’s leader, Ikinone, saying, “I made light of breaking the terms of service and simply jumped at the novel and interesting idea.” Meanwhile, the Sinsogumi Twitter account said it plans to reprimand Ikinone, but the punishment remains unknown at this time. Nintendo also responded to the shenanigans, posting to Twitter posting that “Use that violates public order and morals, acts that intentionally mislead the rules of the game, acts that significantly damage the value of the game or characters and the world, and acts that encourage or take advantage of them will be deleted or legally enforced.” It’s not clear if Nintendo was directly involved in getting the VTuber accounts banned, but it is clear that neither YouTube nor Nintendo are allowing the activity to continue.

YouTube apologizes after shutting down 24/7 LoFi Hip-Hop stream YouTube / ChilledCowYouTube have issued an apology to popular YouTube channel ‘ChilledCow’ for accidentally shutting down their 24/7 LoFi Hip-Hop stream. YouTube has a storied past of receiving backlash for its demonetization algorithm, which has led to plenty of creators facing financial difficulty when creating and posting videos is their primary source of income. The Google-owned platform has also been subjected to plenty of criticism for wrongfully terminating channels — some of which boasted millions of subscribers. And the story remains much the same for ChilledCow, a popular music channel which has amassed over 4.3 million subscribers. After streaming ‘lofi hip hop radio – beats to relax/study to’ for almost 549 days straight, YouTube cut the famous Study Girl’s antics short by shutting down the broadcast abruptly. With thousands watching at any given moment, ChilledCow alerted YouTube almost immediately. Over 24 hours later, the social media team responded stating: “Thanks for flagging this to us! Our teams confirmed that this was a mistake on our side and your channel has now been reinstated.” Thanks for flagging this to us! Our teams confirmed that this was a mistake on our side and your channel has now been reinstated. We’re sorry this happened! We’ve shared feedback with our review team to prevent similar errors from happening in the future. — TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) February 23, 2020 In response to YouTube’s Tweet, one user even raised the question of whether YouTube could “outline what exactly those steps are going to be” to ensure a similar event doesn’t occur in the future. Ultimately, this would require YouTube to be transparent with how ChilledCow’s video was deemed to have breached their Terms of Service… Information which probably won’t see the light of day, as YouTubers have faced algorithm issues for years now. A more pressing matter, however, was raised by their second question of: “What recourse do smaller channels without as much help and outcry if they’re caught in your “mistakes?” Having received a flood of likes, the Twitter user’s questions appear to be reflective of ChilledCow’s community. Can you please clearly communicate how this issue happened in the first place, and outline what exactly those steps are going to be to prevent this from happening? What recourse do smaller channels without as much help and outcry if they’re caught in your “mistakes?” — Jason™ (@yuusharo) February 23, 2020 In light of the events that transpired, ChilledCow reached out to their community to thank them for the stream of endless support. “Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the tremendous support,” the message began. “I’m grateful to have such an amazing community.” My account has been unbanned, thank you from the bottom of my heart for the tremendous support, I’m grateful to have such an amazing community🧡I will launch the stream again as soon as possible pic.twitter.com/hcAKB5wXWb — Lofi Girl (@lofigirl) February 22, 2020 At the time of writing, YouTube is yet to release an official statement in response to how and why the stream was terminated. Nonetheless, Study Girl is back up and running on ChilledCow’s YouTube channel for those wanting to listen to some LoFi beats.

YouTube apologizes to Cr1TiKaL & Markiplier after backlash over strikes YouTube: Markiplier / Penguinz0[jwplayer mgzBNoPb] YouTube stars Cr1TiKaL and Markiplier became the center of drama after YouTube both issued strikes and removed their videos reacting to a viral clip — but now, the platform has reversed its actions and even apologized to the content creators. The issue began after YouTube hit popular creator Cr1TiKaL with a strike on one of his videos, in which he reacted to a viral clip that showed people dressed as popular cartoon characters getting into a staged brawl. That’s not all; YouTube later removed the video altogether, claiming it contained “violent and graphic content” — and Cr1TiKaL wasn’t the only one who ended up getting punished over the clip. After speaking out on the issue and decrying YouTube’s decision on Twitter, Mark ‘Markiplier’ Fischbach was also hit with a strike, and his video, which featured his own reaction to a similar roadside fight, was likewise removed. This incited a wave of backlash against the platform; however, shortly after the criticisms against them began to go viral on social media, YouTube’s official Twitter account issued apologies to both creators and said that they would take back the strikes. “We’re not going to die on this hill,” Team YouTube wrote in reply to Cr1TiKaL. “You were right – after (even further) review, your video & others are back up, and these strikes have been removed. This was an over-enforcement of our policies, especially with the added context/commentary, as you originally pointed out.” Update: we’re not going to die on this hill. You were right – after (even further) review, your video & others are back up and these strikes have been removed. This was an over-enforcement of our policies, especially w/ the added context/commentary as you originally pointed out. — TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) September 2, 2020 “This is definitely not the game we want to play – we’re so sorry for the confusion and frustration here,” YouTube added in response to Markiplier’s tweet. “Your video and others are back up, and the associated strikes have been removed.” Markiplier has issued his own humorous reply to YouTube’s statement: “I appreciate the reinstatement and apology. I’m willing to accept that mistakes can happen and hope we can work together to minimize the chance that it’ll happen in the future. I’ll take the Spongebob costume off for now…” I appreciate the reinstatement and apology. I’m willing to accept that mistakes can happen and hope we can work together to minimize the chance that it’ll happen in the future. I’ll take the Spongebob costume off for now… https://t.co/yLCrrDxBIW — Mark (@markiplier) September 2, 2020 Cr1TiKaL expressed similar sentiments over YouTube’s decision, calling their reinstatement of his video “absolutely fantastic news.” Absolutely fantastic news! I think we’re all thankful to hear you were willing to go back and reevaluate the decision, it means a lot to creators to see that. Hopefully we can all have more open dialogue when it comes to things like this in the future. Thank you https://t.co/2xAT4Jcc6O — Charlie (@MoistCr1TiKaL) September 2, 2020 While YouTube has been met with ample criticism over similar situations, many fans are hopeful this most recent repeal of confusing bans points to there being light at the end of the tunnel in regards to similar scenarios.

YouTube announces virtual Beauty Festival with Millie Bobby Brown, Jessica Alba & more Pixabay, Pexels / Instagram: Patrick Starrr, Millie Bobby BrownIt’s no secret that YouTube’s beauty community is one of the biggest groups on the platform, and the site is set on celebrating its makeup moguls with a huge, celebrity-filled virtual summit. YouTube’s beauty scene is stuffed to the brim with high-profile influencers; names like Patrick Starrr, Jeffree Star and Nikkie Tutorials all got their start on the platform and have gone on to become major players in the mainstream beauty industry. Now, YouTube is bringing together these personalities — alongside a slew of major A-List celebrities — to recognize its massive community centered on all things makeup, fashion and all-around glam. When is the YouTube Beauty Festival? As first reported by People, the YouTube Beauty Festival will kick off on May 14, but it isn’t an in-person convention; instead, this summit will be taking place on the net, directly on YouTube, of course. So excited for the first-ever YouTube Beauty Festival next month with @DerekBlasberg, Emma Chamberlain, Hyram, @aasian and more! #YouTubeOriginals https://t.co/bx8KxJtNwI — Susan Wojcicki (@SusanWojcicki) April 29, 2021 Fans can tune into the broadcast on youtube.com/fashion, which will be hosted by Derek Blasberg, YouTube’s Head of Fashion and Beauty. What celebrities are at the YouTube Beauty Festival? Blasberg isn’t the only one hosting this virtual event by far; Jessica Alba, Pharrell Williams, and even Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown are all set to appear at YouTube’s first-ever beauty summit. Read More: Top 20 most followed Twitch streamers – As for YouTube’s own influencers, Emma Chamberlain, Patrick Starrr and Manny MUA are slated to take part in the festivities. It makes sense; all three of these creators have made quite a name for themselves throughout their years reviewing products, creating tutorials, and sharing their lives with their huge fanbases. View this post on Instagram What is the YouTube Beauty Festival about? YouTube’s Beauty Festival will feature panels about the history of the beauty industry, diversity in the beauty community and more. Read More: Best ways to make money on TikTok – Panels revealed so far include the ‘Black Beauty Roundtable’ with Chanel Tyler, YouTube’s Head of Beauty Creators, ‘Ask a Drag Queen’ with none other than Ru Paul’s Drag Race winners Monet x Change and Bob the Drag Queen, and ‘Pharrell Glow,’ where the music artist promises to spill the secrets on his flawless skin. While the Festival is all-virtual this year, creators behind the celebration are hopeful that 2022 will switch to an in-person format — but for now, this unprecedented summit looks to be one of the hottest fashion events of 2021.

YouTube adding copyright protection feature to prevent content stealing Unsplash: Alexander ShatovIn order to combat instances of content stealing through unauthorized uploads, YouTube has added a feature to the site to make it easier for creators to take down exact copies of their content. In the social media content-creation world, it’s unfortunately common to see people reuploading creators’ videos in their entirety to the same platform in the hopes of scoring a lot of views, or even money — and YouTube is definitely no exception to this. On their website, YouTube makes it clear that they operate under the ‘Fair Use’ law, stating: “Fair use is a US law that allows the reuse of copyright-protected material under certain circumstances without getting permission from the copyright owner.” They explain that in countries like the UK, these circumstances can include review, quotation, parody, and more. Now the site has revealed that they’ve implemented a new feature that will allow content creators to more easily identify and take down videos that don’t fall under fair use and that are exact duplicates of their content. Ryan ‘Fwiz’ Watt explained via Twitter that at the request of creators they have added this new feature that targets unauthorized uploads, and adds that they plan to “expand access to the Copyright Match Tool” over the coming months. When a creator submits a takedown request, they’ll be given the option to “prevent copies of these videos from appearing on YouTube going forward.” https://twitter.com/Fwiz/status/1405649710682042371 Once that option is selected, any copies of the same video that are identified will be automatically removed before they are even uploaded. While the Copyright Match Tool was previously only available to those in the YouTube Partner Program, they say they will soon be expanding the tool to “any creator that issues a valid takedown request.” Although many are glad to see the new feature that will help tackle the growing issue of unauthorized uploads on YouTube, some have expressed their concerns over how the tool will impact gaming and commentary creators. How successful the feature will be remains to be seen, but if it’s effective, it will certainly come as a relief to many content creators on YouTube.

YouTube and Twitch are competing to sign Ninja NinjaAfter Mixer folded into a merger with Facebook Gaming, their headline streamer Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins was left with no place to call home. Now, livestreaming giant Twitch is apparently competing alongside YouTube for Blevins’ signature. Before his big-money-move to Mixer, Ninja was the number one most followed streamer on Twitch, with over 14 million. His channel is still intact, as is his follower count, but it’s not clear if he will ditch the platform once again. On July 8, he rather unexpectedly went live on YouTube for his first stream back, but there was little fanfare. It was later reported by esports insider Rod ‘Slasher’ Breslau that Ninja hadn’t yet signed any exclusive contracts. Where will Ninja stream now? It has now been reported by SBJ’s Adam Stern that YouTube, Twitch and Facebook Gaming are in a three-horse race to get Ninja to commit to their platforms exclusively. The value of having Ninja on your platform can’t be understated (although it wasn’t enough alone to boost Mixer to a sustainable position). His fanbase are bound to follow him to whatever platform he lands on. According to Stern, a deal should be reached with one of the platforms “by end of summer, per sources.” The hunt to sign @Ninja is a three-horse race between @YouTubeGaming, @Twitch and @FacebookGaming, and a deal should be wrapped up by end of summer, per sources. ➖ @Slasher first reported that Blevins has not yet signed an exclusive deal despite yesterday’s YouTube stream. pic.twitter.com/gfRpj4DFRG — Adam Stern (@A_S12) July 9, 2020 Of course, Ninja already has a big presence on YouTube, thanks to his regular videos that he’s been posting for years. With 20 million subscribers, it’s actually his most-followed social media channel, ahead of Instagram (15m), Twitch (14m) and Twitter (6m). However, while YouTube might be Ninja’s biggest platform, Twitch is still the home for video game livestreaming, even if YouTube Gaming has been making some big leaps forward in recent years. One of Ninja’s frequent collaborators, Jack ‘CouRage’ Dunlop, made the switch to YouTube in 2019, not long after the Mixer moves. So far, it’s been a successful switch for him. The question also remains over the future of Michael ‘shroud’ Grzesiek, who moved to Mixer a month after Ninja, and similarly is now free to explore his options on other platforms. He could opt to return to his 7.1 million followers on Twitch, or his 6.3 million YouTube subscribers.

YouTube accused of violating EU privacy laws, along with other major services Digital Dealer / YouTubePopular video platform YouTube could be in hot water, after being accused of violating major privacy legislation by data privacy activist Max Schrems. According to Schrems and his Austrian-based nonprofit org ‘None of Your Business,’ major companies such as YouTube, Apple, Amazon, Spotify, and even Netflix have been found in violation of E.U. privacy legislation as laid out in Article 15. Article 15 grants users the right to request information detailing their personal data from online services. The article requires platforms to relinquish details on how users’ data is being used within their systems – including if it is being shared with advertisers, as well as how it is stored in the platform in question, etc. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/interview/max-schrems/Schrems and his nonprofit reportedly represented 10 users who filed such requests, with minimal results. Schrems claimed that the companies in question did not provide all of the data required by Article 15 – which could hit them with a 4% fine across their global revenue. Additionally, Schrems noted that many data requests were handled by automated services, with some sites, such as music streaming service SoundCloud and U.K. sports video platform DZN, simply ignoring the requests altogether. https://www.coolbusinessideas.com/archives/how-video-streaming-services-like-netflix-and-vidgo-are-changing-tv-forever/Schrems argued that such automated systems are “built to withhold relevant information,” and held that companies’ refusal to deliver information about users’ data are a “structural violation of users’ rights.” While YouTube has yet to make a public statement on the matter, the site has expressed concern over improper use of Article 13, which could see major copyright strikes across the platform – among many other websites. People asked us what YouTube would look like if Article 13 gets implemented in the wrong way. So we mocked this up… Does it scare you too? If so, click here to #SaveYourInternet → https://t.co/UzaIKzKpj1 pic.twitter.com/obaNTfKlQD — YouTube (@YouTube) January 18, 2019

YouTube accused of wrongfully terminating channels with millions of subs YouTubeA handful of popular YouTubers have hit out at the platform after their channels, some of which boasted millions of subscribers, were suddenly removed. The creators have claimed that the terminations were wrongful and unjustified. For many of the top creators on YouTube, it can be their only source of income, and a sudden and unexpected channel termination can cause serious financial difficulty, not to mention the loss of their creative output. In late 2019 and early 2020, a number of popular channels have claimed that their YouTube accounts were completely terminated, without notice, despite not having (knowingly) violated any of the rules or terms of service. One of the biggest names to have suffered this fate is XboxAddictionz, who had a whopping 3.6 million subscribers until his channel was suddenly removed in December. YouTube suspended / terminated my channel today. No warnings or strikes on my account. 8 years & 3M+ subscribers just gone. I’m hoping there is some way to get it back — XA (@XboxAddictionz) December 5, 2019 Then, on February 3, another three major channels were removed, all claiming the same tale: that they had received no warning and had, to their knowledge, not broken any rules, and had no obvious route of appeal. The three channels, ProPepper, TheMasterOfLuck, and InTrollsive, all had at least 1 million subscribers and were full-time content creators. This morning, my YouTube channel was wrongfully terminated Please look into this @TeamYouTube. You stated that I’ve violated community guidelines, but this is a mistake. My channel/videos all fall well within the guidelines advised by your teamhttps://t.co/FnfTkAxvY7 pic.twitter.com/0Q5IiommxY — ProPepper (@ProPepper) February 3, 2020 ProPepper, who had over 2.3 million subs, was told that he had violated community guidelines but denies this claim. He states: “my channel/videos all fall well within the guidelines advised by your team.” Master Of Luck, real name William Tyler, was similarly terminated, seemingly on the same day. “Like others, I had no warning, no strikes, and did everything by the rules,” he said, “5 Years and over 1 million subscribers gone.” The worst thing about this is I have lost all the videos I uploaded more than 1 year ago. Those are videos I cherished and always re-watched time and time again as it’s nostalgic and reminds me where I came from. Now they’re gone. Along with all my playlists and liked videos :/ — William Tyler (@TheMasterOfLuck) February 3, 2020 Tyler also criticized the platform for allowing YouTuber JayStation to remain on the platform, despite uploading several videos in which he falsely claimed his girlfriend had died. I know this will be ignored by @ytcreators All I will say is this. Trollers/Prankers are marked as the bad people of @YouTube for some reason. You start to ban us, yet you allow creators who FAKE THEIR GIRLFRIENDS DEATH FOR MONETARY GAIN to upload on your site. Hypocritical. — William Tyler (@TheMasterOfLuck) February 3, 2020 A third channel, InTrollsive, was also terminated on February 3, and also says he received no warning. Although his channel growth had stagnated in 2019, he still had over 1 million subscribers, and claims that in his seven years on the platform has “never broken a single YouTube guideline or received a copyright strike.” My YouTube channel was Terminated this morning without any warning & I’ve never broken a single YouTube guideline or received a copyright strike. I’ve been a content creator since 2013 and losing a channel I worked so hard for is heart breaking. — InTrollsive (@InTrollsive) February 3, 2020 It’s unclear if it’s possible to have these channels reinstated if they were in fact wrongly terminated. But, XboxAddictionz, who had his channel removed in December, still does not have it back. YouTube made headlines in November 2019 for a rule that stipulates it can terminate accounts if they are “no longer commercially viable,” noted in their “Account Suspension & Termination” section. More recently, it was revealed for the first time that YouTube generated $15.1 billion in ad revenue in fiscal year 2019.

YourRAGE catches “loser” DoorDash driver stealing order outside his house Twitch/YourRAGETwitch star YourRAGE is lashing out at DoorDash after he caught a delivery driver eat one of his orders on camera. Through the years we’ve seen all sorts of shenanigans from drivers on food delivery apps with some being heroes while others are absolute zeroes. We’ve seen UberEats drivers literally save customers stranded on top of buildings while others have ruined orders because they didn’t like the tip they received. Now, streamer YourRAGE has exposed a DoorDasher for delivering an order and then returning three minutes later to steal food from another order outside of his house. YourRAGE calls out DoorDash driver for eating his food In a video uploaded to Twitter, the streamer zoomed in on a “f**king loser” DoorDash driver coming onto his property to drop off cinnamon buns near three other orders outside his door. After dropping the order by the door and taking a photo to confirm it had been delivered, the driver left, but that wasn’t the last YourRAGE would be seeing from him. Just three minutes later, the man returned, looked around, and dug into a different order to steal a wing. “He takes one of my wings from Papa Johns!” YourRAGE sneered. “What the f**k?!” Despite tagging DoorDash in the tweet and asking why drivers were taking his food, the company’s account hasn’t responded to the concern. It’s not clear if they’ve done anything to rectify the situation. YourRAGE is hardly the first streamer this has happened to. Notably, Twitch and OnlyFans star Amouranth called out UberEats a driver stole her food, but the app replied to her to fix the issue. It’s not clear why YourRAGE was just leaving food outside his door to begin with, but hopefully, he ends up getting refunded after catching a thief red-handed.

YourRAGE joins FaZe Clan and reveals move from Twitch to Kick FaZe Clan/YourRAGEInternet star YourRAGE revealed that he’s signed with FaZe Clan as a content creator and is moving from Twitch to Kick. Over the last few years, YourRAGE has skyrocketed in popularity with hilarious gaming content and Just Chatting streams, where he hangs out and chats with members of his community. He’s close friends with Twitch star Kai Cenat as well, having appeared on many of Kai’s streams and YouTube videos with the rest of the AMP crew. On August 14, 2023, Rage signed with FaZe Clan and is moving his live streams from Twitch to Kick full-time. YourRage signs with FaZe & moves to Kick After uploading his announcement video to Twitter, fans flooded the comments with their thoughts about the shock announcement. “I never thought I’d join a gaming org, but I’m going all in with FaZe,” said FaZe YourRAGE in a press release sent to Dexerto. “With FaZe by my side, we’re going to experiment with new formats, introduce new content and invest in my stream. I’m beyond blessed to have grown my community to its size today but know it’s about to get even crazier.” Alongside his new contract with FaZe Clan, YourRAGE also revealed to fans that after several years of building his Twitch channel up to a massive 1.4 million followers, he’s signed a contract with Kick. Following in the footsteps of xQc and Amouranth, Rage is set to begin streaming on the new green platform immediately.

Young Twitch streamer pressured by MrBeast impersonator to destroy Xbox One MrBeast, Instagram / YouTube, My Mate VINCEA young Twitch streamer was tricked into thinking he should to pour water all over his Xbox One console, after being tricked by a MrBeast impersonator, and things went incredibly downhill from there. The streamer, jaidengggg, who many viewers believed was possibly too young to be streaming on the platform to begin with, was targeted by a number of pranksters and impersonators during his June 23 broadcast. He was streaming from the Travel and Outdoors section on Fortnite Battle Royale in the background. The gaming session never lasted too long, though, as a MrBeast impersonator appeared in the chat and started to convince the youngster not only to pour water all over his console in exchange for a huge donation – just as the popular content creator has done in past YouTube videos. But, it turns out that it wasn’t him at all. “The fan is right here,” he said, before spilling water from a blue cup onto his Xbox One. “Did it. ‘That was so little,’ no it was not! Bruh, I’m not breaking this Xbox right now. It’s so expensive.” The user that tricked this young streamer went by the name of not_mr_beast__6000. After pressuring the child to potentially destroy his own console with a barrage of messages, he offered to drop a sizeable $5,000 donation in return. Clearly, the child believed him. Jaidengggg then showed the chat the damage that he’d done with the water, and quickly realized that he should try to remove it as quick as possible. If that wasn’t bad enough, the trolls went on to convince the player that not only was his Xbox now broken, but was emitting deadly fumes as well. “You might die? Get out of the house?” he read from his chat, before one user told him to not breathe in the imaginary gas. Yet, the player knew no better and covered his face right after, clearly scared by what he had been told. He later completely left the room and went outside, before messages flooded the chat explaining how the fumes may kill his family, as they were still inside the house. Jaidengggg stopped streaming soon after. This isn’t the first time that an impersonator of popular YouTube star MrBeast had convinced somebody to do something that’s very much ill advised, though. One player was tricked into thinking that if they destroy their PC in the bath, they would receive $5,000. It was later revealed that it was just a prankster on Twitch, just like this one. It’s unknown as to whether or not the streamer’s Xbox survived the water incident or not, but it’s just a shame that somebody had to be caught in the middle of these trolls to begin with.

Young Twitch fan caught giving $20k of parent’s money to streamers PixabayA teenage Twitch fan has racked up some serious charges on their parent’s debit card after an alleged $20,000 spree on donations and subscriptions, without the card holder’s knowledge. Twitch is an entirely free-to-watch platform for the most part, requiring no subscription fees to sign-up and start watching any stream, from any broadcaster, at any time. But, if you become a loyal fan who regularly tunes into a select few streamers, it’s common to support those broadcasters financially, either through a monthly subscription or other means of donating. The price of a monthly sub ranges from $4.99 to $24.99, depending on the ‘tier’, which is split between the streamer and Amazon-owned Twitch itself. With countless streamers to choose from, if you’re not careful, you could end up with a heft monthly bill. And this is before any donations are taken into account. You can choose to donate an unlimited amount of cash as a one-off gift to a streamer, and it appears that this teenage fan was doing just that, reaching over $20,000 in only just over two weeks. According to their parent, who posted a worried plea on the official Twitch subreddit, their “minor” child “spent almost $20k using a debit card on subscriptions & donations, cleaning out my bank accounts without my knowledge or permission. Years of savings gone in 17 days.” Unknowingly liberated from their savings, the parent explained that they had received no response from either customer service, nor Amazon’s legal team or CEO Emmett Shear. Depending on how the money was spent, some of it may not even be reclaimable through Twitch. Many streamers use third-parties like StreamLabs to process one-off donations. Only channel subscriptions or ‘bits’ are handled by Twitch directly. Some helpful responders suggested that the parent’s only recourse would be to contact their bank directly and report the transactions as fraudulent. The bank could then, hopefully, begin the process of chargebacks. The parent said that she got the names of the streamers from their child, and they included an NBA and NFL player, and three other “super popular” streamers. This will be very disappointing news to whatever streamers benefitted from the child’s reckless spending spree, but chargebacks are not uncommon. Streamers are often advised not to spend any money received from donations for at least a few months, as chargebacks are apparently surprisingly common. H/T: DotEsports

Young Twitch streamer banned after harassing female streamers “because it’s funny” TwitchA young Twitch streamer has been suspended from the platform after a clip went viral, showing them watching a female streamer and saying that “harassing women” was “funny” and “content.” Twitch streamer Amanderz shared the clip on her Twitter, showing the young streamer watching her on his own broadcast. She captioned the post “reasons why I’m scared of the new generation of kids.” The streamer, who is potentially not old enough to stream on Twitch, says “I am so cold right now, I hope her t**ties warm me up. Why are they deleting my [comments]?! She is my girlfriend, I don’t know what the f**k she is talking about.” He continues, “anyway, time to go harass more women because it’s funny and it’s content.” The young streamer’s channel has now been removed from Twitch, with the page now reading “This channel is currently unavailable due to a violation of Twitch’s Community Guidelines or Terms of Service.” It’s not known whether he was banned due to his comments, or because of his age – Twitch’s terms of service state that “in order to register for a Twitch account you must be at least 13 years of age.” It is also against Twitch community guidelines to harass other broadcasters on the platform, even if the harassment takes place off Twitch services. The clip has also sparked responses from the streaming community, pleading for older creators to set a better example. Streamer QTCinderella implored streamers to stop “giving attention” to “‘hot take’ sexist men”, who could encourage copycat behavior.

Young streamer devastated after dad destroys PC she bought with YouTube revenue Twitter/NarwhalFPSA 15-year-old Twitch streamer and YouTuber is going viral for all the wrong reasons after her father threw her PC in the pool, destroying it. No one ever wants to lose their PC. In modern times, people, especially PC gamers, have a personal connection to their computer given how often they spend using it to communicate, watch videos, and live their lives. As such, watching anyone, let alone a family member, physically destroy your computer would be absolutely dreadful, but that’s exactly what happened to streamer NarwhalFPS. In a viral social media post, the YouTuber and Twitch streamer explained how and why her father threw her PC in a pool, rendering it completely absolute. Streamer’s dad throws PC in pool over argument Taking to Twitter, Narwhal posted a photo of her PC in the pool, completely submerged. The tweet gained attention, racking up nearly 9,000 likes since being posted on March 12. In a follow-up post, the streamer revealed her dad wasn’t having a good day, resulting in him taking it out on her and the computer. my dad threw my pc in the poool yay! pic.twitter.com/fBwNCCjHnc — 𝓷𝓪𝓻 🐙 (@NarwhalFPS) March 13, 2022 “I was having an argument with my sister… and he got mad and threw it in the pool because I wouldn’t listen,” she said. “I don’t have a PC anymore.” To make things worse, Narwhal said she used her YouTube revenue to buy the PC. Looking at her YouTube channel, she has just under 100,000 subscribers and one video about Rubix’s Cubes with a whopping 43 million views. It’s unclear what will come next for the young streamer, but it seems as though she will have to purchase another when she can, keeping it safe from her dad and their backyard pool. Until then, the YouTuber will have to make do without a PC for the time being.

Young streamer tricked into destroying PC by Mr Beast imposter – Mom confirms it’s real A young Twitch streamer was cruelly tricked into destroying his brand new, $1,200 PC, after someone pretending to be popular YouTuber Fortnite fan, and had been using the PC to play. However, it appears a viewer pretending to be Mr Beast convinced the child, and his mother, into completely destroying it, as ‘sponsors’ would send him a new one if he did so. Many of Mr Beast’s popular videos involve him donating large sums of money to Twitch streamers, sometimes in return for completing a challenge of some kind. It has led to trolls claiming to be Mr Beast, and it appears one such troll was very successful on this occasion. After placing the PC into a bathtub and lathering it in soap, the streamer then even later retrieved a baseball bat and a machete to completely dismantle his pride and joy. Some have questioned the legitimacy of the situation, suggesting that perhaps it was all faked for the attention – especially considering how willing the parent was to allow her children to destroy an expensive item. However, the mother of rogue07 has explained on Twitter that it was not faked, and that both her and her children were acting on the promise that a new PC would indeed be rewarded for destroying the current one. As stupid as it looks to most of you- my son and his friends thought this was some guy they follow- it wasn’t. We screwed up his PC- and it’s up to mama to fix the situation. That’s it! No need for all the videos and awful comments :smirk: — Nichole Nasiatka (@wifee88) January 31, 2019 That was a joke. A bad one, but a joke. I was “ok” with it, because my son and his Little friends were completely sure this was a real guy they followed. Also, I told him to put the machete away, and gave him the “mom look” as soon as I realized he had it. Stupid. Got that.— Nichole Nasiatka (@wifee88) January 31, 2019 A Reddit user who claims to have watched the entire livestream explains that that the streamer believed he would receive a PC worth around $5,000, if he carried out the destruction of his current one. Apparently ecstatic at this proposition, the kid went through with the request. Rogue07’s Twitch channel no longer exists on the website, and his Mother has explained that it was suspended and deactivated following the livestream. It looks like this young streamer just experienced a very expensive but valuable life lesson – don’t believe everything you read on the internet. Josh’s Twitch acct has been suspended and deactivated. The video was not uploaded by us, and has been more hassle than imaginable. Yesterday’s news, time to move on… — Nichole Nasiatka (@wifee88) January 31, 2019 A re-upload of the stream has been posted to YouTube, which shows the young streamer being convinced that he is communicating with Mr Beast, before demolishing his pricey PC. Mr Beast has confirmed that while he feels sorry for the young streamer, he won’t be able to replace the destroyed PC, and has explained the reasons in a statement to KEEMSTAR.

Young girl’s friendship with creepy doll has internet “terrified” Twitter: garywhittaThe internet has been left “terrified” after the parents of a young girl revealed she had befriended a creepy doll meant for Halloween. If there is one rule that any horror fan knows, it is not to befriend the creepy doll that comes into your possession — Chucky, Annabelle, and M3GAN should be enough proof as to why. This rule especially applies to children, though it seems that forbidding the budding friendship between a young girl and a potentially possessed doll might be harder than expected. Gary Whitta, an English author, screenwriter, and game designer, took to Twitter to reveal his daughter had befriended a creepy doll intended as a Halloween prop. And she wasn’t eager to give up her new pal. Sharing a photo of the young girl embracing the doll, Gary wrote, “This was supposed to go out on the front porch but she’s decided it’s her new best friend and won’t let it out of her sight.” The doll was ultimately dubbed “special baby” by its new bestie, and any attempts to return the creepy family addition to storage or the front porch were not met well. Instead, Special Baby was treated to a makeover with some new hairclips to ensure its terrifying blacked-out eyes were always visible. Gary jokingly wrote to Twitter that he could feel the doll “following [him] around the house and staring at [him] with murderous intent.” Users of the platform were ‘horrified’ by the unsettling friendship, with one person theorizing that the Special Baby “probably comes to life at night and tells her how to handle you. May want to sleep lightly.” Not everyone, however, was opposed to the unusual bond; “She’s going to unhaunt the doll, and I am here for it.” Check out all the latest entertainment news on our page here.

Young female motorcycle influencer unmasked as a 50-year-old man @azusagakuyukiThe internet has always been a place where people can be anyone they want to be, but sometimes this can lead to a pretty big surprise. Modern-day editing software and realistic motion capture enable people around the world to take on new online identities. The current trend of VTubers (Virtual Youtubers) has skyrocketed in recent years, demonstrating just how popular these online personalities can be. Not only do they allow their creators to have new online personas, but they also enable the streamer to hide their real identities from their viewers. Adding to this trend is the fascinating and rather terrifying world of deepfakes. Unlike VTubers, whose images are based around the anime aesthetic, deepfakes enable the user to replace the faces of people in videos. Essentially, content creators can use machine learning to put another person’s face over their own. It’s certainly a tantalizing prospect for many people and one that can lead to some rather bizarre stories. This is exactly what happened when a popular female motorcycle influencer was found to be a 50-year-old Japanese man. Many of @azusagakuyuki’s fans had suspected that the influencer had been using editing software, but they had never been able to confirm it. The questions namely came when some eagle-eyed users had spotted a number of images that appeared to show reflections of the Twitter user’s real face. However, it was only until a Japanese media company did some digging that the true identity of azusagakuyuki was unveiled. The video linked below shows the moment the female motorbike enthusiast was unveiled to be none other than a 50-year-old man. https://twitter.com/senpai_hato__/status/1371493331759419395 During the interview, @azusagakuyuki told the media that nobody wants to see an “uncle”, so he turned himself into a “beautiful woman” in the hopes that his photos would be more popular. As of writing, the account has over 20K followers and it seems the recent unveiling has only made the influencer even more popular. The Twitter user revealed that they had been using an app called FaceApp, which allows people to completely alter their face and gender when taking photos. It’s certainly a rather bizarre story and one that demonstrates just how easy it is to fake your own online identity.

TimTheTatman amazes young Fortnite fan with astounding donation TimTheTatman/TwitchTwitch streamer Fortnite during his April 3 stream when he came across a young fan by the name of Brady, who Tim surprised by offering to buy a brand new PC. During his stream on April 3, Tim was playing random Duos in Fortnite with an alt account called TTV.rush3r when he came across a young fan named Brady, who went by bradyzlol in in-game. The two played a couple of games together and Brady even mentioned how viewers came over from Tim’s chat to Brady’s to donate him money randomly, and it sounded like Tim was going to chip in some extra money for Brady to perhaps get a new PC. “I’m gonna wanna talk to your dad in like DMs to help you get a new computer,” Tim said. “You’re a good kid, here’s the thing too, you’re a really nice kid. You’re very respectful. I think you got like $500 there, so maybe we can get you a $1000 computer or something like that.” Tim has played with many random players in Fortnite before but it seems safe to say none of them has made the impression Brady has on him. At the end of all of his streams, Tim will go through the Twitch directory and find a small streamer before hosting them with his tens of thousands of viewers. While Tim didn’t host Brady after this stream, he still received loads of thank yous and praise from him in a Twitter video. You’re a good kid Brady! Good games today… and I’ll help figure out the PC stuff!https://t.co/nwhxSB8hFC — timthetatman (@timthetatman) April 3, 2019 In Brady’s video thanking Tim for offering to get him a PC, he offered many tearful thank yous and showed a genuine reaction to such a good gesture. “TimTheTatman, I got into a random duo with him,” Brady said. “He just kept talking, it escalated and it kept getting better and better. It just led to him buying me a new computer.” Acts of kindness like this on Twitch can be found a lot among the bigger streamers. Most recently, Jaryd ‘Summit1g’ Lazar offered to buy a PC for a viewer back in January. While Twitch can be toxic at times, there are also heartwarming moments like this sprinkled in there.

Young Fan with Crush on Pokimane Gives Way Too Much Info When They Meet in Fortnite Duos Pokimane/TwitchA 12 year old Fortnite player randomly matched with streamer Imane “Pokimane” Anys, who he has a big crush on, but went too far in declaring his affection for her. Pokimane was playing Fortnite on stream when she decided to play some random duos, where the player joins up with another randomly assigned partner to play together. For popular streamers, this can be great content, as fans who are familiar with them are often star struck, and can’t believe their luck that they are playing with them live on stream in front of thousands. But it’s not always a great idea, especially for very popular streamers, because of course there are plenty of trolls who will take their 15 minutes of fame to antoganise the streamer and their viewers, as is often seen with Dr DisRespect. Pokimane however ran into a very different kind of problem. When she matched with the young 12 year old, it immediately became clear that there could be an issue – the fan had a massive crush on her. Initially, he wasn’t aware that he was in fact playing with the real Pokimane, but once she told him, he was very forward indeed about his crush. First asking for her number and telling her how ‘hot’ he thinks she is, questions which Pokimane simply laughed off innocently and inquired his age. But after this, the young fan clearly forgot that thousands were listening, or perhaps was caught up in the moment, and crossed the line. We won’t repeat what he said to Pokimane, but he said it loud and proud for the entire stream to hear, who certainly got a laugh out of it. Pokimane quickly told him off and let him know it is now way to speak to a woman – especially with the tens of thousands of viewers who were tuning in. The two continued to play the match out however, and the young fan went to her stream to discover that it was in fact Pokimane herself, but that didn’t stop him being very crude. Pokimane did play the match out until the end despite some of her viewers telling her to leave, as the young fan continued to be very rude. It’s an example however of the immaturity that exists within some portions of young gamers and fans of the gaming scene, which top streamer Ninja made a point of in recent weeks. Ninja has explained that he chooses not to play with female gamers and streamers because their interactions would be immediately spread and rumors would ignite, because of the attitudes of many fans towards female streamers in particular.

Young fan struggles to breathe after meeting Pokimane in Fortnite CBS / Pokimane, YouTubeImane “Pokimane” Anys is one of Twitch’s most popular streamers, known for her humorous interactions with fans in Fortnite — but one these fan encounters took an unexpected turn. While Pokimane’s Twitch channel now features a slew of different games, her YouTube channel is rife with Fortnite Duos videos, where she teams up with random players and chats with them over the microphone. Many of these players are children, who often geek out over being paired with their favorite Fortnite-centric content creator. However, one of these young fans had a reaction that Anys did not expect, which occurred after some shuffling around of their microphone on the other end of the line. After introducing herself, the fan could be heard breathing heavily, as though they’d just finished a long workout session. “Are you okay?” the streamer asked, obviously concerned for the youngster’s health. “What the?” the fan suddenly screamed, interspersed with the same heavy breathing. “No! What the?!” ok ngl this was one of the funniest freakouts i’ve ever seen in duo fill.. watch it unfold @ ▶️ https://t.co/00HPu9ujUD 😄 pic.twitter.com/0ttidTwO8q — pokimane (@pokimanelol) January 17, 2020 “Dude, should I call an ambulance?” Pokimane inquired. “Are you good? Oh my god, I don’t think he’s faking! Hello? Do you have asthma? …Not saying anything about people who have asthma, it just sounds like he has asthma. You know, my brother has asthma.” While the fan never revealed exactly why they were breathing so hard, it seems that they were merely excited to be part of Anys’s video, as revealed in another breathy exclamation later on in their game. “I’ve never been in a YouTuber’s game,” he admitted after Pokimane claimed that she’d never heard anyone “freak out” this badly over being paired with her. That wasn’t the only hilarious moment to come out of Pokimane’s Fortnite video either; she was later teamed up with a father-son duo, and, although she wasn’t able to record their full interaction, she called it one of the “cutest” meetings she’s had in the game thus far. Her Fortnite Duos never disappoint, and thanks to her overly-excited fan, the latest episode made for an unexpectedly hilarious (if a bit concerning) moment that was a testament to her popularity as a streamer.

You won’t believe what NICKMERCS wanted to call his G FUEL NICKMERCS / G FUELTwitch star NICKMERCS is one of many top gaming influencers to have earned a spot on G FUEL’s flavor list and if he had his own way, the name of his drink would have been hilarious. Nicholas Kolcheff is one of the biggest first-person shooter streamers around today, with over 6 million followers on Twitch and north of four million subscribers. G FUEL, as many gamers will be aware already, is an energy drink associated with the streaming community, often collaboration with the top stars in the space for customized flavors. The content creator is associated with different types of the popular energy drink, MFAM Punch, FaZeberry, and Sour Blue Chug Rug – available to buy in powder and cans online. While the titles for those beverages might be very ‘on brand’ and fit the bill for NICKMERCS, some of his first ideas have surfaced and one, in particular, is too funny. NICKMERCS had hilarious G FUEL name scrapped On October 26, the streamer took a moment to just chat along with his fans, resulting in a short conversation about his G FUEL. “God forbid I talk about my dick for more than five minutes, my manager texting me: ‘Shut up, we’re going to lose G FUEL…’ Chat, you know I tried to call my G FUEL Tropical Tripod? “They came back with the most professional s**t. Like ‘yeah, we’re just not really comfortable with Tropical Tripod, but here are some things you might like.” This guy @NICKMERCS really tried to make his G Fuel flavor all about his dick.. “”Tropical Tripod”” 💀 pic.twitter.com/xOdIuQqwN1 — Wicked Good Gaming (@WickedGoodGames) October 26, 2021 As many will be aware, Tropical Tripod is not exactly the most ‘safe for work’ name out there, to say the least. Read More: All Streamys 2021 nominees revealed – After a few more jokes between Nick, the artist involved in the collab, and the G FUEL team, they insisted that they need to change the “contour” of some of his designs. Just another day on stream for NICKMERCS and his fans, who were laughing along during the conversation, but just goes to show that not everybody successful in the industry takes themselves too seriously.

YouTuber PeeWeeToms Provides Emotional Update Regarding His Terminal Cancer PeeWeeToms – YouTubeYouTuber PeeWeeToms has revealed that his terminal cancer has begun spreading throughout his body, infecting major organs, his nervous system, and even bone. The YouTuber, who currently boasts 127k subscribers, has been chronicling his journey with the disease since July 2015. The cancer – sarcomatoid carcinoma, specifically – was diagnosed as inoperable in April of 2018, where Toms broke the news in an emotional video after a failed surgery. However, the sickness has gotten even worse – and it appears that there’s little hope for Toms’ recovery. Toms uploaded a solemn video informing viewers of this update. In the video, Toms looks much thinner – after just six months since the previous diagnosis, his voice has gotten raspy, and his cheekbones are highly visible. Toms read off the results of his scan, stating that the video wouldn’t be easy to make. “There’s been mass growth on my chest wall… my liver has mass metastasis. I have now got erosion in my bone, along with bone cancer. Life expectancy now is not very long at all.” He likewise revealed that an amputation of his arm and part of his chest would not be possible due to the cancer’s growth. While Toms said that he would post an update on his website, nothing has yet been published. He stated that he was devastated by the news, and would spend his time with friends and family. However, he isn’t going to stop making videos. Toms expressed a desire to keep uploading content, and to keep “fighting for time” in spite of his rapidly declining health.

YouTuber WillNE reveals how he tricked the press into thinking he was entering ‘I’m a Celebrity’ ITVYouTuber Will ‘WillNE’ Lenney has revealed how he tricked the British press into thinking that he would be appearing on the 2018 series of reality show I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! The show, which is broadcast in the UK, features 10 celebrities flying out to the Australian jungle where they complete challenges and trials as they attempt to be voted as the winner by the British public. There is always massive interest in who will be entering the reality survival show, and this year YouTuber WillNE decided to try and make the press report that he was going to be a contestant – a move Lenney claims was in response to the treatment of fellow YouTuber Joe ‘ThatcherJoe’ Sugg, who is appearing on Strictly Come Dancing, by media outlets. The YouTuber came up with the idea just over a week before the official contestants were announced, so had to move quickly, heading out to the shops to buy the red fleece, khaki pants and navy t-shirt that celebrities are normally dressed in for their I’m a Celebrity press photos. Armed with his new gear, WillNE brought in a friend to shoot his “official” press shots, photoshopping in a jungle background, and even using a houseplant to provide the effects of some jungle leaves. Calling on the help of fellow YouTuber Niko Omilana, the pair began to release the pictures on popular social media accounts like The Bread Batch, creating enough buzz that press began to pick up the story and post it online. Not content with this, Lenney realized that celebrities had already started flying out to Australia, so headed to the airport with a suitcase for a few more snaps, posting them on social media to help convince people of his story. Unfortunately for Will, ITV finally announced the full cast by video, meaning for him, the jig was up. WillNE can be proud of his incredible prank, but if he does ever get an invite to the show , we’re not sure anyone will actually believe him. You can find out more about the lengths he went to in the video above.

YouTuber MrBeast hints at collaboration with FaZe Tfue to help PewDiePie MrBeast, YouTube / FaZe Clan, Esports ObserverPopular YouTuber MrBeast, king of big-budget projects and social experiments, may be gearing up to collaborate with Fortnite pro FaZe Tfue, as hinted at by a Tweet he published on December 3. MrBeast has gone to great lengths to support YouTube king Felix ‘PewDiePie’ Kjellberg, who is currently in a close race with Bollywood label T-Series to secure the most subscribers on the video platform. While MrBeast has teased the possibility of working with social media stars Logan and Jake Paul in an effort to boost PewDiePie’s subscriber count, he may also be working with Tfue, if his Tweet holds any legitimacy. Sorry for stealing Tfue from his stream, he will be back in a bit. pic.twitter.com/jvUq3fsAt5 — MrBeast (@MrBeastYT) December 3, 2018 “Sorry for stealing Tfue from his stream,” MrBeast wrote over a screenshot of Tfue’s Twitch channel, which revealed that the streamer had left his setup to go on a break. “He will be back in a bit.” A collaboration with Tfue could likewise mark PewDiePie’s first venture into Fortnite, which he jokingly admitted could send him soaring above his competition in a previous video. Tell his chat that he will be back in 10 mins https://t.co/tHJGckog6z — MrBeast (@MrBeastYT) December 3, 2018 This wouldn’t be the first time MrBeast has undertaken a crazy scheme to help PewDiePie, either; he rescued the Swede from an early defeat by buying out every billboard in his entire city during a massive advertising campaign, which saw a huge increase in subscribers for PewDiePie’s channel. MrBeast even went on to say PewDiePie’s name 100,000 times in an 11-hour-long video on November 25, and even teased a possible trip to India to undertake yet another advertisement spree – along with buying an ad for the 2019 Super Bowl.

YouTuber MrBeast ‘watched by snipers’ during 24-hour Area 51 challenge Mrbeast / youtubePopular YouTube star Jimmy ‘MrBeast’ Donaldson found himself getting ‘looked at by snipers’ while spending 24 hours outside of Area 51 as part of his latest challenge. Area 51 has been the subject of many memes and videos since the viral “Storm Area 51, They can’t stop us all” event was shared on Facebook, garnering interest from over 3 million people on the social networking site. Popular YouTuber MrBeast, who is known for his extreme challenges and giveaway videos, was the latest to jump on the trend as he challenged himself to stay at the classified Nevada Air Force facility for 24 hours. MrBeast and his friends began scouting out the area after arriving at the front gates although they were hesitant to stick around for too long after realising they were being watched, “So we’re trying to spend 24 hours in Area 51 but there’s a sniper in a truck looking at us.” After realising their best bet would be to move on, the group then made their way to the back entrance of Area 51 where they decided to get the 24 hour challenge underway where they encountered many other visitors of the popular location also stopping by. MrBeast and his friends could hear many aircrafts flying above during their stay outside of the Military Air Force Base but much to their disappointment they did not come across any real UFO’s or Aliens. After camping out successfully the group then climbed one of the nearby mountains so that they could have a better look at the base using their high powered telescope. MrBeast jokingly began to organize a plan for the proposed Area 51 raid, marking the locations where each group of people are going to start from. Despite this being one of the more risky challenge videos that MrBeast has taken part in, they did not seem to encounter much trouble with any of the Area 51 security during their stay. However, he did not encourage anyone watching the video to follow in his footsteps in scouting out the classified Air Force facility.

YouTuber Lilly Singh announces indefinite break from YouTube Popular YouTuber Lilly ‘Superwoman’ Singh is taking a hiatus from YouTube, and her reasons for doing so include the current state of the platform as well as her own mental health. Singh admitted to her 14 million subscribers that she is “‘exhausted” from constantly creating content, and that her eight years of making videos have mentally drained her. “I am mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually exhausted,” she stated of the situation. She likewise commented on the pressure that YouTubers feel to constantly make videos, calling the platform a “machine” that creators throw themselves into for fear of becoming “irrelevant.” “The thing about YouTube is… it’s kind of a machine, and it makes creators believe that we have to pump out [content] consistently, even at the cost of our life and mental health and happiness,” she continued. “Because, if you don’t, you’ll become irrelevant.” Additionally, Singh feels that YouTube has changed so much that she “doesn’t understand it,” and hopes to re-evaluate her definition of success and what she wants her legacy to become during her break. Singh has likewise started her own production company, which she wishes to focus on in the interim, along with her charity work. announced her retirement from YouTube entirely, stating that she “wants to find her own path in life.”

YouTuber ‘Jevholution’ Explains How He Pulled Off Fake McDonald’s Poster Prank to Bring Awareness to Asians in Media Jev ‘Jevholution’ Maravilla – YouTubeYouTuber Jev ‘Jevholution’ Maravilla pulled off a convincing prank in a McDonald’s, where he created a promotional poster of his own design and installed it without the staff noticing. His prank has since gone viral, with his Tweet of the initiative garnering 195,000 retweets and over 797,000 likes as of September 4. The Tweet, posted on September 2, states that the poster had been left up for 51 days. “I noticed there was a blank wall at McDonald’s so I decided to make this fake poster of me and my friend. It’s now been 51 days since i hung it up.” “If you haven’t noticed, there aren’t a lot of Asians represented in media… Look around. There are literally no Asians on any of these walls. Maybe we can change that.” An empty spot on the wall, just above a small table, provided the perfect location for the poster. Jev and his friend, Chris, took a picture in front of their neighborhood event center, edited the photo to match the graphics in the McDonald’s posters, and received a print of their picture a week later. Jev then threw together a mock employee’s uniform and managed to hang the picture in the blank space with the help of his friends. “I really hope they never take it down.” Read More: PewDiePie Reacts to Cringey Esports Moments – Ft. Nadeshot, Crimsix, Seagull, Pala and More – Jev’s prank was more than a practical joke. It was also a message, meant to hold a megaphone to Asian representation in media of all kinds. Whether Jev’s poster will remain in the restaurant is still to be seen, but his point was made loud and clear.