Do you guys remember back in the day when you could look up on YouTube and find videos on some of the most obscure nonsense ever? Like, watching a movie review on the fourth Karate Kid movie, or a video game review on some unlicensed NES Game that nobody ever heard of, or some foreign cartoon that never made it in the U.S. but was still somewhat decent. Have you ever noticed that now most YouTube creators tend to be making videos based more on trends and things that have become or were always really popular? Is there any reason that the Nostalgia Critic is reviewing the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings movies outside of the fact that they would get a lot of views? Has AVGN done a review of a lesser known game since Hudson Hawk? Maybe My Horse Prince, but that is an outlier in a sea of Garfield, SimCity and Final Fantasy 6 Reviews. You ever wonder why this kind of stuff is happening? Of course you probably haven't, because the answer has been talked about by everyone from controversial YouTubers to nobodies on the most obscure Social Media platform; YouTube has changed, and that change is bad for all artists and creators, not just online ones.
Obviously, we know why the YouTube algorithm is bad for online creators, it rewards monotony and content theft while punishing original work and obscure topics. I'm sure all those rappers who react to ERB and Freshy Kanal make great music, but the majority of people only watch their react videos, no judgement. If you're a media reviewer then the algorithm will punish you if you decide to talk about an obscure property that you hold absolutely dear to your heart. It makes sense why people make those videos that will do well, YouTube is a business and a job for many people, they have to talk about what will get them a lot of views. The problem with this is that it encourages content farms, YouTube channels that make three or more videos a day or have a dozen or so other channels that do pretty much the same thing, think 5-Minute Crafts or WatchMojo. These channels are able to pump out content because they take less effort and have bigger teams than Joe-Schmoe-Body-o'No with only 1000 subscribers.
However, I also want to stress that this algorithm is not just bad for the YouTube creators, it's just as bad, arguably even more, for other creators; filmmakers, game developers, musicians, animators, comic creators, the works. I realize that this does not seem like something worth complaining about, after all film studios spend thousands, upwards of millions on advertising, as do game studios. Plus, it isn't like the music industry is suffering from a garbage algorithm withholding their paychecks, Disney isn't losing money over YouTube deciding not to push their latest upload. Yes, the studios aren't going to suffer because of YouTube's algorithm, because the studios aren't people, they are corporations that don't have the capacity of suffering. No, the real people who will suffer are the artists who make the content for the corporations to hoard money from, especially indie creators.
Let me create a hypothetical; say you're a game developer, and you're spending months on this passion project video game. You don't have any money to afford a team so you create everything by hand, the sprites, the music, the coding, everything. It's heavily inspired by the games you loved growing up and know there are still demand for even though they really don't make them anymore, and you put a lot of attention to detail into this game, what elements to take from your favourite games, and which ones to leave behind. After years of work, you finally release your game to an astounding zero fanfare. Nobody talks about your game, very few people actually buy your game, and by the time it gains traction as a cult hit, the algorithm will have moved on to something completely different.
I've learned about so many weird movies thanks to online reviewers, Movies like Freaked, Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure, Ralph Bakshi's Lord of the Rings, and The Room. Games like Klonoa, Harvest Moon: Animal Parade, Remington Super Slam Hunting: Africa, The Stanley Parable, Thief Simulator, and of course I can't forget the mention Stardew Valley. Other things like The Legend of Calmity Jane and Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century, the Legend of Zelda Manga, all of these things were stuff that was introduced to me via online reviewers and content creators. For a lot of people, the internet is where one learns about media that interests them, everyone from reviewers to comedians to countdown artists, all of these lesser known, up and coming, or cult classic pieces of media that ultimately would have just been forgotten and now have been given a second life. Now it's all replaced with brand sponsorship deals and the popular seeking out the popular.
The internet used to be a fantastic place to learn about this movie that had zero staying power but was completely up your alley, because that is the kind of place YouTube used to be. A lot of this does have to fall on the shoulders of how YouTube is used nowadays, we don't really subscribe to personalities or characters, we subscribe to content, so who cares that this critic is talking about a pilot to an internet animated series that is full of promise? They aren't talking about The Amazing Digital Circus. Recently, some BlueSky users have been criticizing Saberspark for seeing the Snow White remake in theatres while the new Looney Tunes movie, The Day The Earth Blew Up, was hardly mentioned by him. However, to play devil's advocate a little bit, what do you think will get more views? The highly talked about, controversial and rage-baiting Disney movie, or the Looney Tunes movie that has stakes only certain people seem to care about. I'm sure Saberspark would have much preferred to watch and talk about The Day The Earth Blew Up, but between the two movies, one is very clearly the one more people will view. This is not speculation either, I can back this up, Doug Walker made a video about both movies, and in six days the video about The Day The Earth Blew Up got 39K views, while in half that time the video on Snow White got 138K views. (As of writing on March 24, 2025)
I can kind of see why it's becoming more popular for studios and companies to just completely remove stuff from streaming because it's not getting the views, because why spend money on something that is not going to be popular? YouTube is the same thing, why push this video that isn't getting any views when this video could get us more ad revenue? This is why it was surprising to many that Disney extended Elemental's theatrical run, and that move paid off because Elemental was a sleeper hit. However, Disney can pull that off because they're a multi-billion dollar company that can take a hit like that. Imagine if the company behind Flow did that, they'd be bankrupt before making a second movie. Funny enough, I can only find videos talking about Flow after it won the Golden Globe, which says to me that the movie would have been relegated to cult status if it wasn't an award show darling.
My ultimate point here is that, because YouTube's algorithm does not encourage branching out and discussing lesser known properties, a lot of creators are going to suffer. Indie creators depend largely on word of mouth and if that is unable to spread then that project ends up unfinished or completely rushed to finish it. We need YouTubers to talk about lesser known media, up and coming projects that show promise and cult classics that deserve re-evaluation, and the great thing is that the power to change this is in our hands. Encourage your favourite media reviewers to talk about obscure things, and actively watch those videos when they come out, don't just stick them in your watch later bin and forget about them. Be aware of content farms and never be afraid to re-watch a video you've seen before. It's also important to share and talk about things you're into, not just online but in person too, which is why video stores and comic shops are great places to check out. YouTube's push for popular content is bad for everyone, so let's do something about it.