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The Anti-Business Internet Culture
Chatting with my Dad, I was thinking about the Google purchase of YouTube and decided that it was a mistake. YouTube’s popularity will decline FOR THE VERY REASON that Google aquired it. I don’t know what else to call it but the “anti-business” culture that has been present for a long time.
The free-wheeling Internet culture has a built-in bias against significant business success. Look at how Microsoft has been treated online. Consider BitTorrents, Napster and the many ways that users exchange digital products.
The fact is that YouTube was popular in part because it was edgy and anti-establishment, including some content that had dubious intellectual property arrangements. As it becomes a part of a big company, the need to obey the Digital Rights laws becomes greater and the ability to seem a part of the counter culture is diminished. I can only guess that people will start looking for more under-the-radar sites that they are proud that they have discovered, but that not everyone else knows. Vimeo, started in part by RIT alumni Jakob Lodwick might be one beneficiary.
There are MANY things to admire about Google, especially the hard line they took against the government’s request for user information. However, I am afraid that in the not too distant future, people will start to resent Google’s ubiquity and YouTube’s joining the mainstream.
I see where you’re coming from and I agree to a certain extent – however whilst I think this might have a negative impact on a few users who are anti large organizations the large majority wont care so long as the ’service’ doesnt change. And who can blame the founders of youtube for selling out – instant retirement and small islands off of Dubai to follow no doubt. So long as Google doesnt do anything stupid to rile the millions using their services I think they’ll be fine. One only has to look as far as facebook to realise the damage to ones reputation that can be done overnight.
With their past acquisitions, Google has been known to quickly rebrand the acquired brand to something more “Google friendly” (just take a look at how they turned Writely into Google Docs & Spreadsheets, and Urchin into Google Analytics).
It seems as though Google is taking a different approach with YouTube this time to overcome the “anti-business” culture by announcing simultaneously, with the news of the acquisition, that YouTube will not be rebranded or merged with Google Video, rather YouTube will run as its own separate entity under the YouTube name.
It’ll sure be interesting to see how well YouTube is performing one year down the road, and whether the “anti-business” culture kicks in or if the love for Google by the online masses prevails and allows YouTube to reach new heights.
As soon as I posted this, I started noticing more people hinting at the same thing.
Here are two quotes from recent Wired articles:
“The fear that YouTube will lose much of what makes it great after these agreements is justified. It is hoped both sides (copyright holders and online distributors) learned the lesson of the original Napster — a potential golden goose for the record labels that was slaughtered before it could start laying golden eggs.” from: http://www.wired.com/news/columns/1,71943-0.html
Also,
The YouTube community is also very protective — including Richard Stern, better known as LazyDork, a rapping, dancing, opinion-spewing defender of the site’s grass-roots nature.
“The Wild West feel of YouTube is already slipping away, and within a few weeks it likely will be gone altogether,” says Stern.
from: http://www.wired.com/news/technology/internet/1,71937-0.html
Vic
[...] This course is a result of the Entrepreneurship in Digital Domains NCIIA grant awarded to Richard DeMartino, Clyde Hull and myself. PS: I told you so about Viacom and YouTube. [...]