Is this our way of telling the world about online community?
The past two weeks Sky News have requested me to be a social media commentator for YouTube/Google related news stories. Therefore I would leave my workplace on a construction site in dusty clothes, and then later be escorted in an S Class Mercedes to a London studio where makeup and hair assistance was waiting… It really shows the contrast my life consists of. And as you may know… I love contrast!
During my first visit, I wanted to ensure I just got my points across with clarity, and I like to think I succeeded in doing so. The issue was discussing Google Boss Eric Schmidt’s claim that people are likely to change their identities in the future due to broadcasting their embarressing pasts. And therefore with me being an immensely open book on the internet, I thought I would provide a worthy contribution to the discussion. However, you should make up your own minds about that by checking the interview here!
The fact I was recalled to speak again the following week can only mean I did something good though? Right? This second discussion was about the release of a ‘YouTube Top 10 Rich List‘, and thus I assumed I would only be required to talk about the different people on this list (many of whom I know personally)… How wrong was I!
What Sky News really looks like...
I’ll let you make up your own minds about this second interview too, but many people told me afterwards how they had been shouting at their television screens regarding Chris Dale ‘s (Youtube.com Spokesman) with his overly-optimistic view on the current ‘Revenue sharing scheme’. Further more, it seems that the program attempted to make me seem like a person who only cares about the money, even though I had expressed the contrary various times.
Unfortunately time was very limited, so many of my big points weren’t expressed – but let me give you one now: Shane Dawson is ranked No.1 on this ‘YouTube Rich List’. That is of course a fantastic achievement, with him earning approximately £200,000 ($315,000) in the past 12months. How many views did he get though? 430+ MILLION VIEWS!!!!!
So keeping in mind the more views you get on YouTube, the more you get paid per view/click by Google’s Adsense scheme. Does it therefore seem right that one of the highest paid YouTubers ‘Shane Dawson’ must obtain 2150 views for each £1 he receives? Chris Dale obviously approves!
Perhaps I was nieve assuming Google was the corporation, and YouTube.com spoke for the community which made it the website that it is today… but personally I just couldn’t believe what this spokesman was saying. He just seems so out of touch.
Two discussions in two weeks… and on both occasions I thought google/youtube have over-reacted. I’ve always believed in speaking the truth, and I’d like to think I’m on the right side of the community. But a community will always consist of different opinions, and I would love to hear yours!
Forgive this rushed blog post – but as some of you may know I have been working very hard on 20hour days the annual fundraiser event STICKAID 2010! Please do check it out this weekend if you get a chance!
)” was posed on my 
