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I have some YouTube videos that total half a million views, which is not much, but enough that I could be monetizing. I don't turn on monetizing because I don't

I have some YouTube videos that total half a million views, which is not much, but enough that I could be monetizing. I don't turn on monetizing because I don't feel okay pushing more ads on people. So my total is zero. I would like to make a living producing positive value to the world. I don't want the additional job of promoting advertisements that I would not necessarily endorse just because my work is popular enough that advertisers will pay to take some of the attention I've gotten. Ads are inherently manipulative, and I'd rather encourage everyone to use an adblocker rather than have a conflict-of-interest with what's actually good for my audience.

travisty 9y ago
You didn't give any data, so why even post?
FlyingAvatar 9y ago
I got YouTube Red for the purpose of contributing to content providers without watching ads. I would just use an ad blocker otherwise. Unless your content is for kids, where they probably don't have the choice to watch them or not, why not monetize? If it's your viewer's choice whether they see ads or not, and if the money might help you provide more or better content, it could be a win-win.
- quadrangle 9y ago
  (A) I don't like specifically supporting Google's efforts to tie direct-funding to their ad-platform (they specifically have made many efforts to make it so that direct funding is connected to removing ads because it cuts out people like me who refuse to use the ads… using their direct-funding approaches is actually an increase in advertising, not a reduction) and (B) I don't like the "viewer's choice" argument that I see as basically suckers-deserve-to-be-suckered. People who aren't thoughtful or knowledgeable enough to install an adblocker are just the people most susceptible to advertising manipulation. I want no part of increasing that. My understanding is that YouTube doesn't just give me a cut of revenue or not, they actually increase the ads tied to my videos if I "monetize". I won't be able to control the ads either to make sure they aren't manipulative or promoting products I would not be comfortable endorsing. The money would totally help me provide more and better content, for sure. I hate this dilemma, but I've ended up sacrificing a lot in my life to work on building a more ethical economy around all of this via https://snowdrift.coop https://snowdrift.coop (approaching launch, not fully operating yet) rather than give in to this whole ad-based economy that I would have trouble with even if it were only advertising typical corporate crap let alone engaging in the far more unethical tracking and other shit they actually do. https://wiki.snowdrift.coop/about/existing-mechanisms#third-party-ads https://wiki.snowdrift.coop/about/existing-mechanisms#third-... expresses my views on this. I hope this doesn't come across as me shaming everyone else who uses ads. I think the problems are systemic and recognize fully the way any individual going against the flow isn't necessarily the answer. That's why we need systemic change. I just wanted to share my perspective so this thread at least had the critical issues brought up, even though it's tangential. (Although my story of $0 ad income is an answer to the question)
quadrangle 9y ago
extra note: I have a relatively low (for U.S., not just among Hacker News crowd) income otherwise, so my refusal to monetize with ads isn't even tied to otherwise having a high income. I just don't want to play this game that I can't agree with morally.

travisty 9y ago

You didn't give any data, so why even post?

FlyingAvatar 9y ago

I got YouTube Red for the purpose of contributing to content providers without watching ads. I would just use an ad blocker otherwise. Unless your content is for kids, where they probably don't have the choice to watch them or not, why not monetize? If it's your viewer's choice whether they see ads or not, and if the money might help you provide more or better content, it could be a win-win.

quadrangle 9y ago
(A) I don't like specifically supporting Google's efforts to tie direct-funding to their ad-platform (they specifically have made many efforts to make it so that direct funding is connected to removing ads because it cuts out people like me who refuse to use the ads… using their direct-funding approaches is actually an increase in advertising, not a reduction) and (B) I don't like the "viewer's choice" argument that I see as basically suckers-deserve-to-be-suckered. People who aren't thoughtful or knowledgeable enough to install an adblocker are just the people most susceptible to advertising manipulation. I want no part of increasing that. My understanding is that YouTube doesn't just give me a cut of revenue or not, they actually increase the ads tied to my videos if I "monetize". I won't be able to control the ads either to make sure they aren't manipulative or promoting products I would not be comfortable endorsing. The money would totally help me provide more and better content, for sure. I hate this dilemma, but I've ended up sacrificing a lot in my life to work on building a more ethical economy around all of this via https://snowdrift.coop https://snowdrift.coop (approaching launch, not fully operating yet) rather than give in to this whole ad-based economy that I would have trouble with even if it were only advertising typical corporate crap let alone engaging in the far more unethical tracking and other shit they actually do. https://wiki.snowdrift.coop/about/existing-mechanisms#third-party-ads https://wiki.snowdrift.coop/about/existing-mechanisms#third-... expresses my views on this. I hope this doesn't come across as me shaming everyone else who uses ads. I think the problems are systemic and recognize fully the way any individual going against the flow isn't necessarily the answer. That's why we need systemic change. I just wanted to share my perspective so this thread at least had the critical issues brought up, even though it's tangential. (Although my story of $0 ad income is an answer to the question)

quadrangle 9y ago

extra note: I have a relatively low (for U.S., not just among Hacker News crowd) income otherwise, so my refusal to monetize with ads isn't even tied to otherwise having a high income. I just don't want to play this game that I can't agree with morally.