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Is there a reason that Vimeo wouldn't work? Aside from the lack of regular users, which could be fixed over time.

sct202 6y ago
Monetization on Vimeo basically requires you to already have a following of some sort to sell subscriptions or pay per view videos. So I've seen some people use Youtube as a funnel to get viewership and send them into other services like Patreon/Vimeo/etc.
k3liutZu 6y ago
> Is there a reason that Vimeo wouldn't work? Do they have apps for all smartphones and TV's? I just search the iOS App Store, and the 2 Vimeo apps that are at the top seem to be for creators, not consumers. I watch most Youtube on the TV, if there's no Vimeo app, I wouldn't be able to consume the content.
virgil_disgr4ce 6y ago
This is a good question. I have a suspicion that the big difference is actually many tiny UX differences: Vimeo isn't nearly as aggressive with getting you to watch more videos (i.e. automatically playing a video next) with an aggressive recommendation algo; it also doesn't seem to encourage engagement as much. Vimeo's brand (at least afaict) is more on the business/commercial end, a 'prestige' brand (at least to some extent?) with fairly different demographics.
- thesuitonym 6y ago
  Interesting that we live in a world where these are problems. I mean, I understand why it is, but when you say it that way, it actually sounds like a much better and friendlier experience.
  - virgil_disgr4ce 6y ago
    It is, but it does serve different purposes. You don't go on Vimeo to find cute cat videos. You don't go on Vimeo to reply to strangers' comments about a music video or board game review etc etc etc.
dagw 6y ago
Discovery and search. Looking through my YouTube subscription, well over half of the people there are people I discovered via YouTube, either by searching for a video about a thing or by having it recommended to me. YouTube has the best tools for building an audience, and that is what a competitor has to replicate, not the video hosting functionality.

Monetization on Vimeo basically requires you to already have a following of some sort to sell subscriptions or pay per view videos. So I've seen some people use Youtube as a funnel to get viewership and send them into other services like Patreon/Vimeo/etc.

k3liutZu 6y ago

> Is there a reason that Vimeo wouldn't work? Do they have apps for all smartphones and TV's? I just search the iOS App Store, and the 2 Vimeo apps that are at the top seem to be for creators, not consumers. I watch most Youtube on the TV, if there's no Vimeo app, I wouldn't be able to consume the content.

virgil_disgr4ce 6y ago

This is a good question. I have a suspicion that the big difference is actually many tiny UX differences: Vimeo isn't nearly as aggressive with getting you to watch more videos (i.e. automatically playing a video next) with an aggressive recommendation algo; it also doesn't seem to encourage engagement as much. Vimeo's brand (at least afaict) is more on the business/commercial end, a 'prestige' brand (at least to some extent?) with fairly different demographics.

thesuitonym 6y ago
Interesting that we live in a world where these are problems. I mean, I understand why it is, but when you say it that way, it actually sounds like a much better and friendlier experience.
- virgil_disgr4ce 6y ago
  It is, but it does serve different purposes. You don't go on Vimeo to find cute cat videos. You don't go on Vimeo to reply to strangers' comments about a music video or board game review etc etc etc.

dagw 6y ago

Discovery and search. Looking through my YouTube subscription, well over half of the people there are people I discovered via YouTube, either by searching for a video about a thing or by having it recommended to me. YouTube has the best tools for building an audience, and that is what a competitor has to replicate, not the video hosting functionality.