I've been paying attention to youtube's policy against "inauthenticity" for a while because I suspected it would hit us. Well, it has. And, unsurprisingly, when a channel is demonetized, youtube has not been very clear in communicating why this happened. I believe this leads to people appealing with the wrong arguments, which means that nothing changes.
So here's what I know. The main issues our channels are getting flagged for are:
Reading publicly available texts without transforming them.
"slideshow" style videos — essentially, a static or mostly static image in the visual, or series of them.
Repetitive thumbnails/content.
It's NOT about whether it's legal to use the scripts! It's about whether our work is "low-effort." According to their policy, they are trying to weed out the slop, so we have to prove that what we make is NOT slop.
So, my suggestions:
MAKE YOUR WORK AS TRANSFORMATIVE AS POSSIBLE
• If a writer allows ad libs or changes, do them! Not because the script needs it, but because it makes your work more original.
• Go heavy on the sfx.
• Put a video or videos of some kind in the background. Search for things in the public domain that kind of relate to the story. If it takes place in a park, maybe you put in some trees in the wind. Heck, you could even take a walk in the park and film something.
• Find scripts from ASMRchives.com that aren't on reddit, because I doubt the bots are scraping there. Plus I believe (don't quote me) that the scripts there might not be technically public, as it's a private site.
• If the writer is on youtube, use the collaborator function to add them. They are now a co-creator, and the script is definitely their original work.
• Vary your content. If you only create yandere kidnapping audios, now is the time to branch out.
• Vary your thumbnails. If you always put a character on the left, sometimes put them on the right or in the middle. Don't use the same character all the time. Have some zoomed in on character faces and some zoomed out on the whole torso. Change background or background colors.
• Include some audios from exclusive scripts, not only public ones.
• Act with emotion! Make it really obvious that this is NOT just a reading of a written thing, it's a performance!
• Add information about your process to your video descriptions and about page, as these are some of the places youtube checks.
• Probably not a bad idea to think about setting up a patreon, in case none of this works.
IF YOUR CHANNEL IS DEMONETIZED
You can make a video to appeal it. In the video, you don't want to argue your right to use the script. That's not what they're looking for. You want to show them why watching your video is not the same thing as just reading the script straight from reddit.
What did you add? The sfx, the visuals, your acting. Show the work you put in. Make them see why your work IS unique.
Writers, you can help save public scripts by:
▪︎ leaving places for additions or ad libs in your scripts.
▪ considering allowing changes — it's up to you whether you're comfortable with that, and what kind of changes you'd be okay with.
▪︎ considering using asmrchives.com, which the bots are probably not searching, as an alternative to reddit.
▪︎ creating a YT account where you can be added as a collaborator through that function.
I have no idea how youtube will react to any of this. But I do believe that some changes can help us avoid getting flagged by the bots, and it's absolutely worth trying. I am absolutely not going down without a fight, and I hope you guys are with me. 💜💜💜
GOOD LUCK EVERYONE — LET'S SPREAD THE WORD
PS... share your suggestions if you have any?
PPS—you can see the exact phrasing of the inauthentic content policy on this page.