Though it feels like longer, YouTube began in 2005 so it’s been around for 13 years. In that time, it went from a place where people could upload their blurry home videos to a place where companies can produce full budgeted shows. So many people can live off of money they made from YouTube and kids today dream of being YouTuber the way others dream of becoming a movie star.
YouTube is one of the most popular sites and it definitely is the biggest video site with hours and hours of content being uploaded every second. So where does it go from here? What will the platform look like in the next few years? These are purely my guesses, but here’s what I think.
I think YouTube will get less popular in the next few years. 13 years is a long time for a site to last, so eventually it will die down a little. As more and more current YouTubers move away from video production to have families, try other things, or just move on from the once-hobby, and as viewers continue to get bored with the content or lack of fresh videos, the site will cease to be as popular. Not to mention that there are other ways to be seen now. YouTubers and influencers alike use Snapchat and Instagram to broadcast themselves, maybe because it involves little to no editing and a large reach.
In terms of YouTube as a platform, it’s really not even making itself out to be a good home. So often there’s news of YouTube unfairly demonetizing content or YouTube making it harder for smaller YouTubers to make money or YouTube not taking proper action against YouTubers who break rules. It’s left a lot of people, YouTubers or otherwise, unhappy. But there isn’t yet anywhere else to go. I think that may change one day as people continue to get fed up and want to have better control of their content. I also think that YouTube’s hype regarding its paid subscription service YouTube Premium (aka YouTube Red) will die off considering that a) the shows on there are largely just cringy kiddie shows with stiff acting, b) as better streaming services like Disney’s or DC’s become available on top of the myriad that already exist, people won’t want to pay for YouTube on top of these, and c) its target audience is almost solely children, who probably don’t pay for this stuff themselves. YouTube may not be able to compete with this changing TV landscape. I also think that parents may take a deeper look at the YouTube content their kids are watching and reevaluate their levels of comfort, and likely not favour the platform in the end.
As for YouTube’s content, I think it’ll change too. Unfortunately, if someone wants to make it big, they’ll need to hit the ground running with decent content to stand out from the masses. This means better audio, better picture, and better ideas from the start because they won’t have a chance to catch up otherwise as people move on without them. I also think people are getting really fed up with clickbait that eventually that’ll die off a bit too. To counteract this, the only videos that will succeed, I think, will be the ones that actually have substance. No longer will people be able to do mindless vlogs or just film things for the sake of it, they’ll need to actually have something worthwhile to show. This means that LA and other big cities like New York or London will continue to be a YouTuber hub as that’s where things are and will be at their wildest, though I think there will also be more harsher lines as to what is and is not okay to do/film. Furthermore, I think that the YouTubers who are constantly flexing and are in it for the money will move to Instagram, where there is more of that unrealistic level of life and beauty.
As for YouTubers, they’ll change too, but not a lot. They’ll still need an entertaining personality to keep people watching. But they’ll be more aware of what they say and do. Because the YouTubers of the future will have grown up in this Me Too era and have seen many peoples’ careers fall because of their pasts, they’ll be more careful and politically correct. They will also be more honest and real, so I think we’ll see less ‘characters’ and clickbait and more openness. We’ve seen people as wild as Jake and Logan Paul, and I don’t think anyone wants to be like that. As for other types of videos in other niches, they will have similar changes. Drama videos will still exist but with less speculation and more facts, Beauty Guru videos will be more honest about products and their routines, reaction videos will be less forced, and anything else will just be more down to earth and fun. Look at Jenna Marbles, for example. She’s been on YouTube for years, and now she just has fun with her videos.
Lastly, I think that there’ll be a whole bunch more YouTube controversies. From YouTuber drama to YouTube making bad calls as a platform to YouTube affecting pop-culture in a different way. YouTube and YouTubers as celebrities is still a fairly new concept that a lot of people have yet to learn about. YouTube may die one day, but there’ll be a lot more big things to happen first.
What do you make of my predictions? Do you figure any of it will come true, or do you have other ideas about the platform and its people?
Next up next week: some thoughts from YouTubers themselves.
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Coolbeans4 
This is such an interesting discussion post and now that I’ve thought about it more, I do agree with your predictions for the site in the long run. Youtube as a platform really shot itself in the foot when they made it harder for smaller pages to make money from the content they produced and it’s only a matter of time before another platform emerges that will provide a better platform for these smaller channels.
Even when considering my own use of Youtube I’ve found that I’ve not been as active on the site as I once was. I mainly use the site to watch trailers or do a random at home work out, which is a stark contrast to how I use to spend hours mindlessly scrolling through random videos.
I definitely think there are more controversies to come, and I think they’re likely to come from their need to rejuvenate interest and beliefe in the site as a hub for creators.
I’m glad people agree with me! You mention that you watch trailers on YouTube still, but I find myself watching more on Twitter now that Twitter is able to have longer videos, but I know what you mean. YouTube still serves some purposes, but as you said, it’s only a matter of time.
Thanks for commenting!
Wow this is really interesting. I think we can all agree that YouTube will lose popularity in future but what really intrigues me is what will take over next. Looking forward to read part 2 of this!
I don’t know what will take over next. I think people may be a little tired of keeping up so many platforms so perhaps the next big thing will be a combo of several. Thanks for commenting, and I hope you enjoy my next part!