thegreatkazoo
Smash Master
The question here is the following:
Where does the power in YouTube lie?
I give my two cents below.
As a subscriber of YouTube for Two Years, I have seen the degradation of its service primarily by the increasing transfer of power to these main categories: The sock puppet, troll, false flaggers. I will show several examples how each are being emphasized by YouTube and how each take away from the main objective that YouTube is intended for—users sharing and commenting on videos in a constructive manner.
The sock puppet, ironically, may have the most power in YouTube’s guest for ad revenue (ironically) as they can control the flow of who can or cannot post on YouTube, and possibly who could be a future partner. Here is an example. I will propose a plausible hypothetical, and then lists an example of the technique at work.
Let’s take Mango’s account for an example. Mango currently has a video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-s4RlOGUv1c. The video uses music from Aqua’s “Barbie Girl,” which MCA (now a part of Geffen Records) holds the copyright to. Geffen Records is under the umbrella of the Universal Music Group, which is the 4th largest channel & partner on YouTube. Let’s say one had a personal vendetta against him. In order to shutter his site, one would only have to do the following:
1. Create several accounts on YouTube (to the best of my knowledge, more than one account can be created on a single email address)
2. Flag the video for a copyright owned by Universal Music Group (hereinafter UMG).
3. Use the several other accounts that you made to flag the video in a likewise manner.
4. Bask in glory that you took down the champ.
Strange as it seems, the truth is stranger than fiction. However, most sock puppets, trolls, and false flaggers use similar tactics as a method of censorship. For instance, many creationists on YouTube find an effective (if not disturbing) tactic in hindering videos by false flagging an account. Enabled by default on an account, all registered users can vote up or down comments. Throughout the course of a video’s lifetime, comments which are deemed to beneficial to the discussion of a video are given thumbs up, while those of spammers or trolls are typically thumbed down. A sock puppet account holder can thumb down all comments which he deems against his position. Multiple voting can be done by having several sock puppets; and if comment voting is disabled, the user can mark every comment as spam. A user by the name of CDK007 has a channel devoted towards showing the veracity of the theory of evolution. Several creationists have used one star voting, spamming all comments, and down thumbing comments to censor his videos. Evidence can be seen on this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9q2ABS7wSxU&feature=channel_page
Well, this being my first proving ground post, hopefully I step in the right direction towards being a big time debater. Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated, and I will use it in several of the other posts I plan to make to become a full time debater (some of which includes a continuation on YouTube policies on fair use, Obama and race, and a few others). I will post more next week (North Avenue Trade School finals johns
).
Cheers.
Where does the power in YouTube lie?
I give my two cents below.
As a subscriber of YouTube for Two Years, I have seen the degradation of its service primarily by the increasing transfer of power to these main categories: The sock puppet, troll, false flaggers. I will show several examples how each are being emphasized by YouTube and how each take away from the main objective that YouTube is intended for—users sharing and commenting on videos in a constructive manner.
The sock puppet, ironically, may have the most power in YouTube’s guest for ad revenue (ironically) as they can control the flow of who can or cannot post on YouTube, and possibly who could be a future partner. Here is an example. I will propose a plausible hypothetical, and then lists an example of the technique at work.
Let’s take Mango’s account for an example. Mango currently has a video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-s4RlOGUv1c. The video uses music from Aqua’s “Barbie Girl,” which MCA (now a part of Geffen Records) holds the copyright to. Geffen Records is under the umbrella of the Universal Music Group, which is the 4th largest channel & partner on YouTube. Let’s say one had a personal vendetta against him. In order to shutter his site, one would only have to do the following:
1. Create several accounts on YouTube (to the best of my knowledge, more than one account can be created on a single email address)
2. Flag the video for a copyright owned by Universal Music Group (hereinafter UMG).
3. Use the several other accounts that you made to flag the video in a likewise manner.
4. Bask in glory that you took down the champ.
Strange as it seems, the truth is stranger than fiction. However, most sock puppets, trolls, and false flaggers use similar tactics as a method of censorship. For instance, many creationists on YouTube find an effective (if not disturbing) tactic in hindering videos by false flagging an account. Enabled by default on an account, all registered users can vote up or down comments. Throughout the course of a video’s lifetime, comments which are deemed to beneficial to the discussion of a video are given thumbs up, while those of spammers or trolls are typically thumbed down. A sock puppet account holder can thumb down all comments which he deems against his position. Multiple voting can be done by having several sock puppets; and if comment voting is disabled, the user can mark every comment as spam. A user by the name of CDK007 has a channel devoted towards showing the veracity of the theory of evolution. Several creationists have used one star voting, spamming all comments, and down thumbing comments to censor his videos. Evidence can be seen on this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9q2ABS7wSxU&feature=channel_page
Well, this being my first proving ground post, hopefully I step in the right direction towards being a big time debater. Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated, and I will use it in several of the other posts I plan to make to become a full time debater (some of which includes a continuation on YouTube policies on fair use, Obama and race, and a few others). I will post more next week (North Avenue Trade School finals johns
). Cheers.
