YouTube version of video
Hi Everyone,
This is my final video on DTube. I have decided to go back and use YouTube as my main website for uploading my videos. I will still be using Steemit to create posts that introduce and describe the content in my videos.
Why move away from DTube?
I was planning to move from DTube to DLive. Unfortunately, I encountered some technical problems uploading my videos. I exchanged several emails with the DLive help service; this problem was unable to be resolved. I therefore continued uploading videos to DTube. A few weeks later, DLive announced they would be migrating to the Lino. I therefore decided to remain on DTube. This also prompted me to do some digging into DTube. What I found was quite disappointing.
Removing older videos
Most of my video content remains relevant for a long time. Unfortunately, DTube removes or disables videos within a few months of them being uploaded. Understandably, videos take up a lot of space. In addition, Steem content only earns rewards in the first seven days, therefore removing videos may not be a huge loss to many other video creators. I still share my older videos; therefore, I need them to work.
Beneficiary rewards
DTube previously claimed 25% of the rewards of content posted on their website. Some of the rewards would be redistributed to curators of content. This was a potentially good initiative to attract people to upvote DTube content. Unfortunately, DTube did a very poor job of informing their users of the beneficiary rewards as well as the redistribution to curators. My DTube videos were getting less upvotes and comments as well as lower payouts.
DTube have now lowered their beneficiary rewards to 10%, I do not believe they redistribute any rewards to curators anymore. The combination of beneficiary rewards as well as delegated Steem power should enable them to grow their platform.
Unprofessional behaviour
Some of the members of the DTube team have been getting involved in conflicts with several other users on the platform. These conflicts have not been dealt with professionally. From my own observations, many disagreements have broken down into childish name-calling and prejudice remarks. Unprofessional behaviour in engaging with people reflects very poorly on DTube.
Overall quality of DTube
DTube has been around well over a year. Unfortunately, the quality of the website has improved very little. Videos can be difficult to upload. I upload my videos to YouTube first and then download them before uploading to DTube. If I do not do that, sometimes the videos will not upload at all. This annoying step should not be necessary. If I am uploading to YouTube to begin with, I might as well as just keep the videos on YouTube. All my DTube videos are currently backed up on YouTube.
The DTube website is very basic, it does not have anywhere near the level of customisation of YouTube or the level of in-depth information to analysis data regarding viewership. I understand DTube is new but I would have expected more progress by now.
Voting for the same users
I have been on DTube close to when it first started. I initially got a few upvotes from DTube but that has dropped considerably in 2018. I have only received 1 upvote from them this year. Therefore, I had a look at how DTube distribute their votes. I was very frustrated to find that they continuously upvote the same group of authors. Compare 30 days of upvote data with 14 days of upvote data below.
Dtube only upvoted another 108 accounts over a period of 16 days. The 50 accounts that received the most upvotes remained unchanged.
I dug further into DTubes upvoting habits using the Steemfriends.org website. This is what I found.
DTube upvoting data for 2018
Reseller upvotes
That is a lot of money and many upvotes going to just a few accounts. The @reseller account stands out because of the bot upvotes getting it onto the Trending page. @DTube has over 2 million in delegated Steem Power. That should be quite an incentive to attract to new users to DTube and Steem. It is not an incentive to attract or keep new users, if the upvotes are focused on just a few accounts. I don’t know if the problem is favouritism or just lazy upvoting through auto-upvotes.
End on a positive
On a positive note, most of DTube’s favourite customers do not use bots. DTube could have focused their upvotes on the bot abusers; this would have given them more revenue. This gives me some hope that the DTube team are not all about making as much money as possible, which gives us some hope for the future.
Next steps for me
I will be using YouTube as my main website for uploading videos. I will be sharing these videos on Steemit as I did prior to the arrival of DTube. I will also go back into my older posts and edit them to include the YouTube version of my video instead of the DTube version. There is very little point keeping links to videos that no longer work.
I feel sad about leaving DTube, I really wanted to support to them. I certainly feel I cannot do that at this time. If Dtube can sort themselves out, I would like to return. If an alternative video sharing website were developed, I would consider moving to them. I do not intend to make YouTube my permanent home but it appears the best option available for now.
I wish the DTube team all the best. I certainly hope they can learn from their mistakes. I would suggest that Steemit Inc reduces DTube delegation until they show signs of improvement.
▶️ DTube
▶️ IPFS