The worst feeling as a YouTuber is to have no hope on a platform that hates spreading the truth to its users.
Has this ever happened to you?
You're recording a video about vaccines, finish filming, spend 3 hours editing the video, export the video for 30 minutes, upload it to YouTube, which can take about 15 minutes, add a fantastic title, design an eye-catching thumbnail for an hour, and add a video description….
Then you click the "Public" button. You're done!
Total time spent preparing the video: +/- 3 hours 45 minutes.
All of a sudden… You get an email from Google saying that your video has been removed and your channel has received a warning!
Your heart sinks...
Strike: "Our team has reviewed your content, and, unfortunately, we think it violates our medical misinformation policy. We've removed the following from YouTube:"
"YouTube doesn't allow claims about COVID-19 vaccinations that contradict expert consensus from local health authorities or the World Health Organization."
You put in all of the hard work, YouTube removed your video, and on top of it, YouTube added a strike to your channel!
3 more strikes and you're out! After that, YouTube will permanently DELETE your channel from the platform.
All that hard work you put into your channel. GONE forever.
It's a scary thought, but this is what YouTube and big tech companies have become over the past years...
And it's only getting worse.
It seems like YouTube today is designed to accept content about unicorns, lollipops, and kittens. But once you stray from the "Community Guidelines," you get the silent treatment.
This slow creeping totalitarian policing that's been going on is making us wonder if the only thing we're going to have left to communicate is with fucking emojis.
As a creator who wants your message spread to others, we know what you're feeling. It's tough because the YouTube algorithm is actively trying to throw you under the bus.
And the worst part is that there is no other platform that can replicate the power of YouTube. So forget Vimeo, Patreon, Locals, OnlyFans, and Twitch!
Welcome to 1984. Google ruined YouTube with shadowbans!
Is YouTube Really Trying to "Shadow Ban" YouTubers?
Let's pump the brakes a bit and analyze this situation with a little bit less emotion…
First things first, we need to analyze what the word "shadowban" means.
Simply, it’s YouTube user's and creator's way of communicating that YouTube is trying to suppress them in the algorithm silently.
The "shadowban" includes:
- Demonetization
- Content removal
- Video reach suppression
- Comment suppression
- Demonization
- Limiting a channel's growth in subs, views, watch time, etc.
Do "shadowbans" actually exist? Simple answer.
No.
Before you get mad at us, read what we're about to explain.
The word "shadowban" is community-created. YouTube has never used the term until some creators started mentioning it until it spread like napalm.
After the COVID lockdowns began and tech companies began suppressing "misinformation," that's when the "shadowban" term began to take off.
Use THIS word instead of "shadowban"...
Deemphasize.
When a video flirts with YouTube's community guidelines, YouTube will intentionally deemphasize videos in its search and discovery systems.
This includes videos with content that is disrespectful, hateful, sexual, and uses medical misinformation (AKA COVID.)
All of this can be found in YouTube's Community Guidelines.
The Truth and Solutions
Now here's something that most of you probably don't realize about this "shadowbanning" situation on YouTube.
Most average YouTube users don't want to watch videos that violate the community guidelines. That is why the more controversial videos tend to perform worse than the "mainstream" content on YouTube.
However, this doesn't mean you should stop creating controversial videos.
Sometimes YouTube's algorithm will not identify that the video is violating rules and therefore will not receive any suppression. The only thing suppressing the video are the viewers that decide not to watch the video.
Just think about it for a second… Most people in this world would rather conform to the social norm than hear the truth about something.
Ask yourself this… Do you think some traditional suburban family would want to watch a video that explains how the western government is turning Communist and taking away its people's rights?
Hell no!
They would prefer to watch something more comforting and in our eyes is unbearable.
Most of you reading this article are probably the complete opposite of the average suburban family.
Here's another fact that most of you content creators hate to hear.
Your content flat out sucks.
Yes, we said it. Stop blaming the algorithm for "shadowbanning" your videos and start taking action towards creating good fucking videos.
All you need to do is identify your target audience's story and pain points, then start blasting them with videos that create a deep connection with them.
This is not mentioned enough as a content strategy…. but you NEED to have an opinion.
There are SO MANY ways to connect deeply with your audience without having to violate any community guidelines.
If you want to talk about the vaccines, just say "Fauci Juice" or the "Stabbies" like Hotep Jesus and Uncle Hotep refer to it.
Boom! YouTube's AI technology will not even know what those two words mean.
YouTube knows that different types of communities exist within the massive platform. YouTube would be DUMB if all of a sudden they decided to deemphasize EVERYONE who barely violates a community guideline.
YouTube needs to make money from everyone, even from the creators they dislike.
There's a reason why Ben Shapiro is making millions of dollars without getting banned off of YouTube.
Stop getting paranoid about the "shadowban" because you probably will never get affected by it. Sure, you might never be able to reach a million view status with your videos, but so what?
That doesn't mean you couldn't monetize yourself the same way as the more prominent channels. You can still make big money with a smaller channel and the right marketing strategy.
After all, most of you probably want to make a lot of money off of YouTube right?
If you want to make money from your channel with a small audience, then do it! Sure, it will take a lot of hard work, but it's 100% possible.
What Happens If YouTube Removed One Of Your Videos?
Don't panic. It's not a big deal.
Take the L, and learn from it.
If you're going to stay on YouTube, you MUST follow its rules. Your two choices are to remain on the platform or get banned and start over.
Which one do you prefer?
Sure, it sucks to have to deal with this problem, but there are so many ways to get around it without getting your content and channel removed or deemphasized
Here’s how you can prevent your channel and videos from getting deemphasized:
1. Start using different vocabulary. (Vaccine = Fauci Juice)
2. Read the community guidelines and avoid everything they tell you not to do. YouTube isn't trying to hide its rules from you.
3. If your video gets a yellow icon and you know that it was a guideline violation. DO NOT send a human review to YouTube. A human reviewer will look at it, and they can either monetize it, keep it limited, or even worse, send a strike to your channel.
You can't express your opinions to the fullest capabilities (especially COVID), but you probably can get away with a lot as long as you don't go overboard.
Don't let the "shadowban" scare prevent you from creating content that your audience loves. The last thing you want to do is suppress yourself from creating amazing videos.
YouTube probably won't remove your videos, suppress them, or ban your channel.
Conclusion
Not going to lie; content creators are getting a little too irrational with this "shadowban" craze.
Yes, YouTube is deemphasizing channels that go against their community guidelines, but that doesn't mean that they are doing it to everyone.
When you hear content creators and see your fans constantly mentioning the shadowban, so be it…
The reality is that YouTube probably won't even care about you or your content. There are so many channels and videos out there. Your content is only a tiny spec in the universe of YouTube.
As long as you try not to get banned, you'll be fine. So there's no need to freak out about the mysterious "shadowban."
Create content that provides a deep connection with your fanbase, and you'll be as successful as the most prominent content creators on YouTube.
You don't have to be a big channel to have success on YouTube. Controversial channels usually tend to get fewer views and subscribers, but that's not a bad thing.
Do you want to attract normies to your band?
Hell no!
You ideally probably want a squad of down-to-earth viewers that will watch all of your videos, comment, and invest in your brand.
And if you want to start growing your tribe of based ass viewers, click the red button below.
You don't need to have a million subscribers if you don't want it, but we’ll help you grow a community of ride or die fans.
YouTube lets you get 100,000 or 1 million subscribers if you want it, but it's up to you if you're going to take it.
