CENSORSHIP, ADPOCALYPSE, AND CONTROL
Social media is a public forum on private platforms. That makes it a sticky point.
After all, we all have that First Amendment right to speak our mind in the “public square,” but what if that “public square” is actually digital and is not a publicly owned piece of real estate, but a publicly traded and a privately owned digital platform?
Twitter has received a lot of grief lately for suspending accounts or banning people who post tweets on their platform that go against the company’s “terms of use” – in other words, ideological prism – which allegedly works against more right-of-center opinions.
YouTube has been under fire for its so-called “Adpocalypse,” where it had rather suddenly demonetized many content creators’ videos on the platform, out of fear that the content was going to be “offensive” to some advertisers.
This stemmed from a major terror group posting videos on YouTube and monetizing them for funding terrorist activities, and a “Kill All Jews” supposedly satirical video by the infamous PewDiePie, which also forced advertisers to pause about placing ads on the platform.
For a while there, in the wake of the chilling of free speech and demonetization, some advertisers and content creators have moved from YouTube and Twitter to platforms like Patreon and Skylab, which allow content creators and other creatives to have more control over their content.
“These days, creators are realizing that they need to have more control to train, reward, and recognize their communities,” “But they also need to own the platform on which they exist.” – Dean Grey CEO of Skylab.
Social media should be a public square, where all opinions and perspectives are heard, welcomed, and encouraged. But, rather than blocking content that is offensive, why not encourage more and more voices of all different persuasions to drown out the offensive?
This is where free-market principles work as a free exchange of ideas. This is also great for your own branding initiatives because when you control your own platform, you can decide how to sell your brand on your own terms, not on the arbitrary terms and opinions of those who run a third-party platform.
So how can we avoid censorship in social media?
You can monetize through Skylab, Patreon, YouTube Red (as a subscription), plus there are other platforms that have started to make inroads (Vimeo comes to mind) thanks to the censorship at the largest platforms like YouTube, Twitter, and even Facebook to a lesser degree.
With your own platform, your brand can say what it wants and need it to say. No interference, maximum authenticity, and thus maximum opportunity to grab that cynical, yet fiercely loyal millennial audience. Which is what will monetize your bottom line for years to come.