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The most popular websites in the U.S. where users share content are Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram (Facebook's subsidiary), Reddit, Twitch, then arguably

The most popular websites in the U.S. where users share content are Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram (Facebook's subsidiary), Reddit, Twitch, then arguably Imgur which is more a hosting site of images for other services, and maybe even iTunes for podcasts. You can monetize your content on most of these sites but if you get banned from say YouTube, your audience just dropped from the whole country to say half of the country. To compare to the real world, imagine if you were banned from speaking where half of the country lives. Besides the fact you can't get your message out even to those who want to hear it, but that your income is earned from speaking and now you can't reach your audience. These are real concerns for most content creators now that their voice and livelihood relies on these services. There is a point where we can decide these companies have too much control. Whether it be by site visits, % of total internet audience, or number of accounts/reach... YouTube has more accounts than the entire population of the U.S. Maybe that could be the threshold where we consider a company should be a 'public forum' or subject to meet certain free speech standards/regulations with their policies.

nradov 7y ago
I have zero sympathy for entitled content creators who whine about getting demonetized. Earning some money from Youtube or Twitch might be a nice bonus but only a fool would rely upon it to live. If someone needs income then get a real job or start a company. And for those that just want to get their message out, well it's never been easier or cheaper to start a web site on any number of different hosting services. If they can't manage to gain an audience on their own site then their content is crap. The percentage of traffic on other sites is completely irrelevant; any user can jump to another site with literally a single click.
- SmartJerry 7y ago
  I think you are underestimating the size of these companies. You say get a "real job" but YouTube pays millions upon millions of people and may be the largest employer by number of people paid. It is already a real job. There are many insanely huge YouTubers who have started their own websites and they have all failed with them. Even being the largest creator on YouTube they couldn't move traffic to their own website.
  - nradov 7y ago
    I'm not underestimating anything: traffic and revenue data is publicly available for most of those sites. Only a tiny fraction of content creators earn any significant income. Everyone else in the long tail are just picking up crumbs.

nradov 7y ago

I have zero sympathy for entitled content creators who whine about getting demonetized. Earning some money from Youtube or Twitch might be a nice bonus but only a fool would rely upon it to live. If someone needs income then get a real job or start a company. And for those that just want to get their message out, well it's never been easier or cheaper to start a web site on any number of different hosting services. If they can't manage to gain an audience on their own site then their content is crap. The percentage of traffic on other sites is completely irrelevant; any user can jump to another site with literally a single click.

SmartJerry 7y ago
I think you are underestimating the size of these companies. You say get a "real job" but YouTube pays millions upon millions of people and may be the largest employer by number of people paid. It is already a real job. There are many insanely huge YouTubers who have started their own websites and they have all failed with them. Even being the largest creator on YouTube they couldn't move traffic to their own website.
- nradov 7y ago
  I'm not underestimating anything: traffic and revenue data is publicly available for most of those sites. Only a tiny fraction of content creators earn any significant income. Everyone else in the long tail are just picking up crumbs.