INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Less than 24 hours after YouTube announced that it would be changing its creator verification process, CEO Susan Wojcicki admitted that the
news hasn''t gone over very well.
To our creators - users & I&m sorry for the frustration - hurt that we caused with our new approach to
verification,& Wojcicki tweeted
&While trying to make improvements, we missed the mark
As I write this, we&re working to address your concerns - we&ll have more updates soon.
The stated goal of the changes was to make it clear
that verification isn''t an endorsement from YouTube, but simply a statement that the creator really is who they claim to be
This distinction became increasingly important as YouTube faced criticism for allowing the spread of hate speech and misinformation, with
executives thendefending the service as an open platform.
So moving forward, YouTube said it would focus on verifying public figures, famous
brands and well-known creators — rather than allowing any account with more than 100,000 subscribers to request verification.
Been doing
Youtube for 5 years, I post 2 videos a week, 950,000 subscribers…
YouTube emails me today that my channel has been &unverified& because the verified badge is only for well known channels with a large
following
@TeamYouTube literally no one asked for this
mdash; Sierra Schultzzie (@Schultzzie) September 19, 2019
As a result of the new
policy, numerous YouTube creators (including some with millions of subscribers) were notified they would be losing their verified status
Naturally, they went public with their unhappiness
(The news also led to some false alarms, like complaints that popular YouTuber PewDiePie had lost his checkmark, when he had not.)
While it
remains to be seen how extensively YouTube will be revising or reversing its plans — and whether creators will be satisfied — this still
seems like a clear mea culpa from YouTube leadership.
YouTube Neal Mohan is coming to Disrupt SF
