In the last couple of years, no other popular website seems to have grown and changed as much as YouTube. The kind of high budget production involved in the making of these YouTube videos was unimaginable in the 2000s. Back then, it was just a bunch of people shooting in their own rooms. Who would've thought that it would become the superpower that it is today, gradually becoming indistinguishable from television?

I remember the people I used to follow and still follow, in fact. I have actually seen this guy just sit on his chair and shoot himself in a bad wig, lip-syncing to 'Barbie Girl' in poor lighting. Now he makes videos every other week and they're all HD quality with tons of visual effects. YouTube actually gave him an entire career. He goes on tours all over the world. That is the extent to which this small website has grown and that is the kind of opportunity it has the capability of offering.


Now that it has turned into this giant video-sharing application with no real competition, there are a few problems that have raised their ugly heads.

A lot of people speculate that this new brand of celebrities called "YouTubers" are people who just chose a really good time to open a YouTube account and start uploading videos. Sure, no one is denying that they've got talent and a flair for creating unique and interesting content that millions across the globe love to watch. However, it is also true that if today, someone were to grab a wig and simply lip-sync to a song in their room and upload the same, they can rest assured that no one is going to waste their time watching it.

So what's the difference between then and now? The most crucial point here is that these YouTubers as a community did not really exist even a few years ago. They were uploading videos, yes. They were still people just like you and me. They weren't touring around the world, they did not have official pages on Twitter or Facebook, they did not have a billion subscribers and they were certainly not collaborating with other non-existent YouTube stars.

In short, they weren't celebrities. What happens now is that even if you are shooting yourself in the bedroom, it is a complete production process, just like television.
So now we have these YouTubers who are well known and who rule the homepage of the website. You can't find anybody else or you are just not interested in finding anybody else. These people have their flashy channels and they're basically all over the place. They're collaborating with one another, a move that can gain them both subscribers. They're all established and they've made this a standard that you need to reach if you want to be a successful YouTuber.



Now that we've got this huge brand of celebrities ruling the platform, what happens to the newbies who want to make it big too? The challenges are much harder for them now. First of all, they need to come up with absolutely unique and interesting content. They cannot choose to simply rant over something while sitting in their bedroom. Secondly, they've got to increase their views, which becomes easier when you know someone more famous who agrees to promote your channel. If you don't, too bad for you.

The website itself has its own issues. Since they're a gigantic corporation of their own now, they don't need to cater to everybody's needs. So, if some trolls decide to report your channel, which had ten subscribers anyway, YouTube won't look into the matter. Your channel will simply go poof, with no explanation whatsoever, and all your hard work along with it.

One of the most well known channels on YouTube is TheFineBros hosted by Benny and Rafi Fine. The basic concept of their show is having guests react to various popular videos, mostly current trends. They have branched their show into categories like Kids React, Teens React and so on. The problem arose when these guys released a video saying that they would launch a licensing scheme called React World where they would allow other creators to use the term 'React' in their titles and other features such as their music or graphics.

This was not taken well by the audience. It turns out that these guys actually applied to trademark the word 'React' as well as phrases such as 'Kids React', 'Teens React' and so forth. Naturally, the internet exploded. What we must understand is that these phrases cover a very broad spectrum of content, some of which might be completely different from what the Fine brothers create. There was no denying that this was an especially greedy move on their part and since the announcement, they have lost more than 170,000 subscribers.

These kind of moves are making YouTube just another money hungry entity, taking away the sense of familiarity that used to be such an integral part of it. All I'd like to say is, chill out guys. It's understandable if you're looking to make a fair bit of money but I'm sure you can do that without duping others, especially on a free platform that is still pretty amazing despite the problems.