Coronavirus: The Impact on YouTube and YouTubers
Covid-19 impact to everyone and everything all over world business, including YouTube. Let's take a look at its impact on you, the creator. Coronavirus, COVID-19, whatever you want to call it. How do we tackle such a topic? As a YouTuber, or a viewer, what does Covid-19 impact on youtube?
This is a very rapidly changing news story, and what I say right now may not be relevant or accurate in a day or a week. This is the biggest global news story to hit in this new digital media age, and it is one that is impacting billions of lives. It's affecting everything we know and we have to take this topic very seriously. So, from one creator to another, if you are going to post videos on the coronavirus, please do it responsibly.
Coronavirus: How it Changed Everything in Less Than a Week
In the past few days, we've learned that all of the major North American sports leagues, such as NBA, NHL, MLS, have postponed their seasons to prevent large gatherings of people. Schools are closing everywhere and shops are running low on supplies. Essentially, in the real, physical world, authorities all over the globe are cautioning their citizens against social interaction, and, as a result, technology, the internet, the connected digital world, is going to be tested like it never has been before.
People are being forced into self-isolation or self-quarantine. And if there's nothing to do outside the four walls of their own house, they are naturally going to gravitate towards the Internet for entertainment, and that includes video. But that comes with an incredible amount of responsibility, especially on a platform such as YouTube, where creators are sharing their information with an audience hungry for answers.
So, YouTube, Coronavirus, creator, viewer. How does this all work? Well, let's start with this question that I do not want to ask, but YouTube must answer. As a creator, how can I get more views and more subscribers and grow my channel from coronavirus?
As I said earlier, in my opinion, I think this is the largest global event of the digital media age, and unavoidably, this creates opportunity.
Coronavirus didn't even register as a search term at the beginning of 2020. Today, it's seemingly the only thing that's searched for. Typing the word into the YouTube search bar, and into vidIQ's own research tools will tell you that it has massive search volume, but content to support that keyword hasn't yet quite caught up. Demand outstrips supply, and when that happens, those who have supply capitalize.
Coronavirus: One of the Most Searched For Keywords on YouTube
As I search for the term on YouTube and filter by livestreams only, there is one channel called Roylab Stats that began a livestream on the Coronavirus at the end of January, when the concern and the keyword interest was at a fraction of the size it is today.
Right now, there are over 40,000 people watching the numbers the stats, and the graph trends upwards. This channel had less than 1,000 subscribers at the end of January. It's now growing at a rate of over 5,000 subscribers a day.
Coronavirus, YouTube, & Late Night Content
So, it's fair to say that, currently, Coronavirus is a huge searchable topic on YouTube with channels of all sizes benefiting from it, whether rightly or wrongly. You could argue that we've looked at fairly safe styles of delivery, a factual livestream and an educational video on how to prevent catching Coronavirus. But what about when the lines get a little blurred?
The YouTube Trending Tab has always been a source of controversy, especially for creators who believe that it doesn't reflect what's really trending on the platform, and instead, favors certain channels, chief among those, North American late-night talk shows. "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" is one such channel, and a recent clip from his show found its way onto the trending page of YouTube.
Coronavirus and YouTube Monetization
Now, for those creators who are finding, I don't want to say success, more traction on their channel because of Coronavirus content, does that mean they are actually going to profit from it? Well, in this case, I think YouTube have definitely taken the right approach, and that is no. YouTube are adapting the self-certifications for Coronavirus content, and we’ll know more in the coming weeks. Clearly, there is a lot to talk about, and by no means are we or YouTube done with this topic.
