The popular video platform YouTube unveiled earlier this week the latest initiative to create a better community: YouTube Heroes. The program grants users with the power to flag videos for inappropriate content, caption videos in different languages and more.
YouTube Heroes represents the latest efforts by Google’s AV division to create a better environment in its website. The video platform is home to thousands, if not millions, of content creators that make a life out of their channels. YouTube is also a significant window for renowned artists and companies to showcase their official work.
The announcement quickly sparked controversy among YouTubers and media outlets alike, since the comment section of the site is infamous for being somewhat distasteful at times and many of this user base would be the same one in charge of moderating YouTube.
How does YouTube Heroes work?
The first thing that users interested in applying to the program should know is that it is unpaid. YouTube considers the participants of the initiative as Heroes because they would be working voluntarily without any financial incentive.
Secondly, YouTube Heroes is designed as an escalating system, meaning that potential Heroes all start at ground level (Level 1 in this case) and then move up the ladder as they achieve established goals and contribute to the community.
There are five levels in the YouTube Heroes scheme, and each one rewards users with access to more sophisticated moderating tools, including mass video flagging, custom dashboards to track their progress, and early access to beta features of the platform as well as new content before it is published.
Community members can all apply to become a Hero and attend a mysterious event called a Heroes Summit.
The YouTube community is not happy with the Heroes initiative
At the moment of this article, the ‘Getting Started with YouTube Heroes’ announcement video sits at nearly 500,000 dislikes. The like-dislike ratio is drastically unbalanced since the piece has garnered less than 9,000 likes in contrast.
Furthermore, YouTube uploaded the video to the comment section disabled right from the start. This decision has made some people wonder about YouTube’s self-awareness and the direction they are taking towards making the platform’s environment a more civil one.
Some famous YouTubers have already posted videos with their reaction and thoughts on the YouTube Heroes program. They have quickly pointed out how, in recent times, content creators have had one too many accidents in which flagging abuse results in video removals and channel suspensions.
The Google video platform remains to comment on the mixed to negative reception its YouTube Heroes program has received.
Source: YouTube
