Category: youtube

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Quibi quick to blame Covid for short-form streaming fail

Now, Katzenberg is nearly 70, so maybe we should cut him some slack, but short-form video content? That can be watched on the go? There’s another niche platform that already serves that purpose and if he’d done a little research maybe he would have come across it: it’s called YouTube.

YouTube is now 15 years old with the financial backing of Google – arguably the internet’s biggest player -propping it up should it not make a profit (yes, it’s still not entirely clear whether YouTube is actually a profitable business in its own right). YouTube also serves an incredibly broad range of niches and, most importantly, is free.

Quibi (a portmanteau word derived from ‘QUIck-BItes’) on the other hand was asking viewers to cough up $7.99 a month to watch such delights as ‘Fierce Queens’, which bizarrely tried to present an animal documentary through the lens of the #metoo movement, as if feminism is a concept relevant to animals; ‘Nikki Fre$h’, a comedy, hip-hop version of Gwyneth Paltrow’s ‘Goop’ that no one was asking for; ‘Gayme Show’, which you can figure out from the name; ‘Thanks a Million’, where self-congratulating celebrities give (despite the title) $100,000 to someone in need; and a reboot of early noughties show ‘Punk’d’, where Chance the Rapper (replacing Ashton Kutcher) once again pulls “hilarious” pranks on “celebrities”.

Katzenberg clearly had the cash to get Quibi off the ground – Reese Witherspoon was reportedly paid $6m dollars for approximately one day’s work in her role narrating ‘Fierce Queens’. ‘Thanks a Million’ surely didn’t come cheap either with its bevvy of stars including Jennifer Lopez, Kevin Hart and Kristen Bell.

Even with all the money in the world, Quibi would never be able to compete with YouTube, which already has stars flocking to it for free to promote their own careers and a pre-existing audience of around 1.3bn.

YouTube wasn’t the only platform Quibi had to compete with either. TikTok also fills a similar niche, with even shorter videos that require an even shorter concentration span than Quibi’s 10-minute vignettes.

There was also the ever-present risk that if Quibi found even a modicum of success, Netflix, Disney+ or Apple TV would likely eat Quibi’s lunch by creating their own short-form content platforms to directly compete, serving their pre-existing audiences numbering in the millions.

Unfortunately, Quibi also launched at possibly the worst moment in history for such a service. Its USP as a platform to entertain people during their commutes was completely wiped out when Covid-19 hit and everyone stopped going to work. The firm also prevented its programmes from being watched on anything but smartphones when in reality its subscribers were sitting around at home all day wondering why they couldn’t use the service on their massive TVs.

Quibi finally saw the error of their ways and launched apps on Apple TV, Android TV and Fire TV… on Tuesday (20 October), just one day before they announced the shutdown of the entire platform. Very helpful.

In May, following Quibi’s rough start, Katzenberg said: “I attribute everything that has gone wrong to coronavirus.”

While Covid surely played a part, his inability to take ownership for any failure that the platform might face is surely emblematic of the hubristic thought process that led to its very creation in the first place.

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One in four popular Covid-19 YouTube videos contains misleading information

Researchers analysed the contents of 69 of the most-watched coronavirus-related videos as of 21 March. They found that 19 of the videos (27.5 per cent) contained inaccuracies; these videos had been watched more than 62 million times.

Inaccuracies in these videos varied from misleading advice, which could cause social disruption, to absurd conspiracy theories. Some of the false claims being made are that pharmaceutical companies are withholding a cure; that there is a stronger strain of the virus in Iran and Italy, and that the pandemic is a conspiracy by a “cult” to destroy small businesses and control the economy. These videos also included discriminatory terms such as “Chinese virus”.

“The proliferation and spread of misinformation can exacerbate racism and fear and result in unconstructive and dangerous behaviour, such as toilet paper hoarding and mask-stealing behaviours seen so far in the Covid-19 pandemic,” the paper said. “Consequently, this misinformation impedes the delivery of accurate pandemic-related information, thus hindering efforts by public health officials and healthcare professionals to fight the pandemic.”

Approximately one-third of these videos originated from entertainment news; network and internet news sources each accounted for approximately a quarter; consumer videos made up the final 13 per cent. Videos from entertainment and internet news sources were significantly more likely to contain inaccurate information compared with professional and government videos.

The reliability and quality of the information in each video were assessed with a scoring system: professional and government agency videos scored significantly higher for accuracy, usability and quality across all measures, but did not attract as many views, suggesting that they could be difficult to understand and lack popular appeal.

This is a “missed opportunity for dissemination of high-quality content,” the authors wrote, calling for professional and government organisations to strategise to increase the reach and impact of their more factually accurate and reliable YouTube videos, such as by working with popular YouTube creators to disseminate information.

A YouTube spokesperson said that any content that contradicts information and guidance about Covid-19 as laid out by the WHO is not permitted under YouTube’s policies. “Borderline” content which could misinform users in harmful ways is demoted, such as by reducing recommendations.

“We’re committed to providing timely and helpful information at this critical time, including raising authoritative content, reducing the spread of harmful misinformation and showing information panels, using NHS and WHO data, to help combat misinformation,” the spokesperson said. “We have clear policies that prohibit videos promoting medically unsubstantiated methods to prevent the coronavirus in place of seeking medical treatment and we quickly remove videos violating these policies when flagged to us.”

In relation to this atmosphere of misinformation, YouTube has recently found itself compelled to place a ban on material which makes unsubstantiated claims linking 5G technology to the coronavirus pandemic.

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YouTube bans content that contradicts WHO’s Covid-19 advice

In her first interview since the world went into lockdown in an effort to contain the coronavirus pandemic, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki said that the platform would stamp out “problematic” claims on the platform, including anything “medically unsubstantiated”.

“People saying “Take Vitamin C, take turmeric we’ll cure you”, those are the examples of things that would be a violation of our policy,” Wojcicki said, speaking on CNN’s Reliable Sources. “Anything that would go against [WHO] recommendations would be a violation of our policy.”

The decision to base judgements on WHO recommendations could cause some confusion and controversy, given inconsistencies in public health advice between the WHO and national governments. For instance, while the WHO has said that there is little evidence that non-medical masks act as a useful preventive measure to infection, some American and German citizens are required to wear masks in public places. The WHO has also faced accusations of geopolitical bias after a top WHO official appeared to avoid questions about the self-governing state of Taiwan in a television interview. Taiwan – which is locked out of the WHO on account of China’s membership – is widely acknowledged as one of the few places which successfully contained the spread of Covid-19.

Social media platforms have been promoting authoritative information from generally trusted organisations like the WHO, NHS, and Centre for Disease Control. Wojcicki said that YouTube had seen a 75 per cent increase in demand for news from “authoritative sources”.

Social media platforms including YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook are under increased pressure to clamp down on misinformation and disinformation amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has so far resulted in more than 185,000 confirmed deaths around the world. The pandemic has led to an “infodemic” of false – sometimes dangerous or incendiary – claims spread by various groups.

For instance, a recent spate of attacks on mobile masts and telecommunications engineers in the UK – including at least 20 arson attacks against mobile masts during the four-day Easter weekend – forced YouTube to slap a ban on all videos promoting unfounded conspiracies linking 5G technology with the pandemic. An interview with conspiracy theorist David Icke, livestreamed on YouTube, in which he linked Covid-19 with the rollout of the next-generation wireless technology, was credited with fuelling interest in the 5G theory.

Facebook has also made efforts to prevent the spread of 5G conspiracies and other disinformation by promoting WHO information about Covid-19 to users who have interacted with deceptive content about the disease, and by limiting message forwarding on encrypted messaging app WhatsApp.

The culture secretary Oliver Dowden has welcomed the efforts of social media platforms: “I pay tribute to the work they have done,” he commented, addressing the Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport Select Committee this week. However, he called on the companies to speed up their response to false information during evenings and weekends in order to “nip this kind of stuff in the bud”.

During his appearance before the committee, Dowden said that the Cabinet Office is rebutting approximately 70 false claims about the coronavirus pandemic every week.

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