For a while now I’ve seen people complaining about having their channel blocked, content removed, account de-monetised etc on YouTube. All in all, it’s becoming hazardous for people looking to produce content as a living - if you don’t say the right thing(s), or alternatively if you say the wrong things, YouTube can take your livelihood away (!)
As a content consumer, I’ve recently noticed that the ads YouTube force you to watch seem to be getting longer and longer. Either 30 seconds plus, or an ad you can cancel after 5 seconds, which if you cancel leads on to a second ad. It’s becoming a “bad” experience, at least for me.
So this morning I came across a video on YouTube advertising a competitor (!) called “Odysee”, which I’ve been having a look through.
Seems to be a more organised approach, doesn’t seem to prioritise “big media” or other propaganda outlets, and doesn’t have the same “in your face” advertising when you want to watch something. (and playback seems for me to be at least as good as YouTube)
I also recognise some of the content from YouTube, so at least some content creators are dual-uploading to Odysee and Youtube … I can’t help but wonder how fast YouTube could lose it’s shirt given their current trajectory.
Anyone else tried this, be interested in hearing what it’s like when compared to YouTube over a period of time. Doesn’t appear to be a native Linux app that I can see (web page only), but I installed the Roku app on my TV and that also seems to work well.
People do seem fed up with YouTube, nearly everybody that I used to watch for linux news and tutorials has left.
I have tried Odysee and have had no problems (I only really look for linux content) but some have complained about it policy regarding crypto and complete lack of moderation including Nick of “The Linux Experiment”
https://thelinuxexp.com/Im-leaving-odysee/
He has moved his videos onto TILvids (tilvids.com) which I have found to be very good, there is not a huge amount of content but it is quite new, and some of the other YouTubers I watch also post on rumble.com which is another alternative.
Mmm, rumble.com looks like it might be the same software / platform as Odysee (?) and it too seems to have a fair bit of content. tilvids, yeah, looks like a “newer” product maybe still gaining momentum.
His reasons for leaving were quite interesting. I’m not sure what the link between the platform and Crypto is, but on the face of it, there doesn’t seem to be a practical connection (although I wouldn’t necessarily dispute his opinion on crypto itself).
As for content, well, this is the trillion dollar question. You either have freedom of speech, 1984, or somewhere in between. Personally I’d like to see freedom of speech and accountability rather than 1984, but that requires the government / legal system to hold people accountable. Somewhere in between relies on a “do no evil” ethos, which although adopted but some large companies seems to have been unsustainable.
For me it all started to go wrong in 1995 when a certain Telco decided it would be a really cool idea to offer an anonymous dial-up service 
