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Why Are YouTube Views Tanking?
Creators are complaining about YouTube views going down, yet more people are joining the platform. What’s going on?
I’m starting to hear an echo across many of the channels I subscribe to on YouTube. There’s a level of frustration because creators are still putting in the effort, but viewership seems to be going down.
I’ve listened to a number of upset YouTubers, and you have to wonder if people stopped caring about their videos rather than the platform as a whole. Then, you look at other forms of media like music videos and movie previews and it seems to confirm viewership has decreased.
Even if you’re not a creator, you need to wonder what’s happened. Is YouTube losing its steam, or is there another explanation behind the decline?
Are People Really Leaving YouTube?
As of 2022, the number of YouTube users in the US hovers around 200 million. This is an increase from prior years, and the number is expected to grow. So it really doesn’t seem people are abandoning the platform.
In fact, YouTube Premium has also been growing. In 2021, the platform reported having 50 million subscribers, an increase of 20 million from the prior year. This is an important sign of growth because it demonstrates that users aren’t just giving time, they’re spending money. So it will attract future creators and allow the existing ones to dip into the potential earnings.
With the demonstrated increases in viewership, YouTube is also observing how people watch content. It’s actually one of the platforms that isn’t exclusively looking at mobile devices for growth. YouTube is now a source of TV content, and more people are streaming videos on their televisions than ever before.
Most subjective data suggests YouTube is getting bigger and that will continue. For every minute YouTube exists, hundreds of hours of content are uploaded. Numbers tell us the platform is growing, so why does it feel like it’s shrinking?
