Tech

4 alternatives to YouTube to upload content

Youtube It has become a platform that enjoys a clear dominant position within its segment, to the extent that the only competitor that stands out is Twitch. However, Twitch is totally stream-oriented, while YouTube is more inclined towards posting recorded and edited videos despite supporting live streams as well (and many creators stream via Twitch and YouTube at the same time).

In other words, unless one focuses on the streaming and live content, a creator of content in video format does not exist de facto if he does not publish on YouTube, which leaves a rather bleak picture if we see that Google is the owner of said platform. But the worst thing is not the ownership of Google, but the feeling that many have that the rules on YouTube are applied arbitrarily, which is compounded by increasing restrictions, especially in terms of copyright and when dealing with certain issues.

Faced with a YouTube that in certain aspects behaves like a monopolistic empire, There are more and more creators, especially in the Anglo-Saxon scene, who are encouraged to diversify and publish their content on various platforms in order not to be tied to the well-known Google service. Aside from opening a door to at least get away from its restrictions, having a presence on other platforms is a safeguard to prevent YouTube from destroying a creator’s content in the event of taking down their channel.

Although it is true that YouTube still enjoys excessive force, little by little more alternatives are making their way. Here we can highlight those that are based on decentralized protocols, which open the door to reduce the power of the platforms themselves over the content. Would you like to know alternatives to YouTube in order to support or not be so constrained by its limitations? In this post we are going to mention four alternatives of different kinds that could be interesting depending on the purposes and needs of the creator.

odyssey

Odysee is being one of the most popular alternatives for publishing videos. It’s a platform created by the same people behind LBRY, an open source, decentralized file-sharing and payment network protocol. To function, it relies on the blockchain and is based on BitTorrent technology.

The fact that it is supported by the LBRY protocol makes Odysee work as a P2P data exchange network as opposed to the model of centralized servers such as that of YouTube. In this way, in case Odysee disappears, there is a possibility that the uploaded contents will continue to exist.

It has its own cryptocurrency, LBRY (LBC)which can be used as token to reward creators. It also supports paid videos for those creators who do not want to give away their content for free.

At the interface level, Odysee is very reminiscent of YouTube, with which it has obvious similarities despite the fact that its aesthetic appearance is clearly different. One of its most outstanding features is that it allows you to synchronize videos, so if you synchronize the Odysee channel with YouTube, every time a video is published on the second platform it will appear after a while on the first. Of course, this feature is not perfect and is limited depending on the number of subscribers on the YouTube channel, the duration and the amount of space that the video occupies.

odyssey

PeerTube

And here another alternative oriented to decentralization. PeerTube is a open, decentralized and federated video platform that relies on ActivityPub and WebTorrent. It is released as free software under the AGPLv3 license and uses P2P technology as a means of reducing the load on individual servers.

Each instance of PeerTube provides a website for viewing videos and which in terms of appearance, features and standards may be different from each other due to the free software nature of the platform. However, instances with common rules (such as having similar content or requiring registration) can form federations in which videos from one instance are followed, but each video is stored only on the instance it was published to. The federations are independent of each other and operate asymmetrically.

Videos are available over HTTP for download, but playback is supported on P2P with HLS and WebTorrent. This means that the users connected to the platform act as relay points capable of sending video clips to other users, thus reducing the bandwidth with the server and therefore the hardware needs and the costs for the users. responsible for the platform.

As we can see, PeerTube is another interesting alternative that moves away from the centralized scheme of YouTube and also contributes through P2P to reduce the resources needed to maintain a platform of this type.

PeerTube

D.Tube

And we continue with alternatives that are at least supported by a technology that allows decentralization. D.Tube is a decentralized video platform that uses its own cryptocurrency to pay users and its infrastructure is provided by the STEEM blockchain alongside the IPFS P2P network.

D.Tube incentivizes the use of its cryptocurrency by paying not only creators for each view, but also users for viewing, uploading, sharing, and commenting on videos through the STEEM blockchain. In addition, it is designed with the purpose of avoiding censorship because the platform does not have real means to carry out this task, which falls on the users, who decide which videos to censor or promote through upvotes and downvotes. As with Odysee, viewers can reward creators with cryptocurrency, so D.Tuve tries to provide a win-win environment.

At the interface level, it is quite reminiscent of YouTube, with which it shares many design elements. Plus, it makes it easy to browse and discover videos.

D.Tube

Vimeo

And after exposing some alternatives based on decentralization, we are now going to mention another one that follows the “classic formula”, that is, centralized platforms and over which the owner company has absolute power.

Vimeo is one of the best-known rivals of YouTube, although in recent times it seems to have lost some impact due to the push of platforms supported by decentralization. In front of the Google platform, tries to prioritize quality over quantity, which is especially noticeable in his player. It also has a greater focus on artistic content.

Of course, its focus on quality has a price, and it is that it would be advisable for creators to go through the box to obtain better features when publishing content, especially if the videos occupy several gigabytes, something that is currently not implausible if we talk about content at 4K resolution.

Vimeo

conclusion

As we can see, there are some alternatives to YouTube that are well positioned and whose use is a good idea to support content or even publish some that may not fit into the Google platform. Obviously, the number of visits is most likely to be lower, but if one is not obsessed with obtaining massive clicks, it is a good idea.

Seeing the apparent “danger” posed by centralized platforms, their thing would be to also publish on another platform that is decentralized if one wants to support their content. It’s not a panacea, but at least it’s a way to strip YouTube of absolute power over a creator’s content.

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