The most recent talk of firearms community not related to firearms is Youtube putting Restricted label on gun related videos. This was a part of change implemented by Youtube over monetization policy. Now, any channel that wants to monetize needs to get 10,000 views total before doing so.
Along with that came the labeling. Youtube (owned by Google, which owns Blogger which this blog is running on) decided to unilaterally cover anything remotely considered controversial as Restricted. The word is that gun related videos are not the only one impacted by this decision.
This is not the first time Youtube decided to put restriction on gun related video. Hickok45 had his account shutdown twice for some reason. Royal Nonesuch lost his monetization after South Korea government complained that his DIY gun building video contributed to a lunatic building one and killing a police officer.
So what can be done?
The very first would be to talk to Youtube to change its stance. However, there is no guaranty that this could change the policy
The next way would be to move away from Youtube and seek independent platforms. Full30.com is the prime example of this move. The site only has a limited number of video makers so it will not be useful for individuals, but it will at least give an independent service for the community.
For individuals, there aren't that many good video hosting sites available. Vimeo, Daily Motion has been a distant competitor, but it generally doesn't get mentioned in the firearms community. Instagram, Twitter, FaceBook are other options for individuals, but they all have their own shortcomings.
In the long run, it would be better to have independent platform for the firearms community. This will not be an easy task, and it remains to be seen how this will go.
Karl from InRange TV posted his view on the matter. Please have a look at it.
Some would ask if monetization is important. The reason why monetization is important is because it gives incentive to make better products(in this case, videos). By monetizing, video makers are able to get better gear, better help, thus increasing quality of the video.
It takes serious amount of work and time to make a video. A few years ago, watching some professionals make video and edit it gave me an appreciation of the work that goes in to making one. It came down to about 1 hour of work for 1 minute of video. The 1 hour of work included planning, filming and editing. There is not saying all other video makers spend that time, but it is to show that it takes dedication and resources to bring up that video.
We can rely on good will of several people to make video, but for more quality production, monetization is a part that must be there. There are other ways such as Patreon but the easiest way is to have ads play when the video is played.
Karl put forth the idea of the old media attacking the democratized flow of information. Democratized information may not be perfect, but it offsets problems that traditional media has. It is important that all individuals think about what kind of implication this brings.
