Why Hank Green can’t quit YouTube for TikTok

Decoder with Nilay Patel

Vox Media Podcast Network

Technology, Business

4.3 • 3.2K Ratings

🗓️ 2 August 2022

⏱️ 70 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Today I’m talking to Hank Green. Hank doesn’t need much introduction. In fact, he invited himself on Decoder to talk about YouTube's partner program, which shares ad revenue between YouTube and the people making videos. The split is 55/45 in favor of creators. But other platforms don't have this. There is no revenue share on Instagram. There is no revenue share on Twitter. There’s no revenue on Twitter at all, really. And importantly there is no revenue share on TikTok: instead there’s something called a creator fund, which shares fixed pool of money, about a billion dollars, among all the creators on the platform. That means as more and more creators join TikTok, everyone gets paid. You might understand this concept as: basic division. This episode is long, and it’s weedsy. Honestly, it’s pretty deep in our feelings about participating in the internet culture economy, and the relationship between huge platform companies and the communities that build on them. But it’s a good one, and it’s not really something any of us talk about enough. Links: Vlogbrothers Decoder interview with YouTube Chief Product Officer Neal Mohan Viacom Has Officially Acquired VidCon, A Global Online Video Convention Series Patreon Acquires Subbable, Aligning the YouTube Stars The Verge EMAILS t-shirt Crash Course SciShow Eons The medium is the message The Kardashians hate the new Instagram Hank Green: So… TikTok Sucks Waveform: The MKBHD Podcast, “TikTok vs YouTube with Hank Green” Decoder: The videos that don’t work on YouTube and the future of the creator business with Nebula CEO Dave Wiskus Awesome Socks Club Awesome Coffee Club Transcript: https://www.theverge.com/e/23051537 Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Today’s episode was produced by Creighton DeSimone and Jackie McDermott and it was edited by Callie Wright. The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Sr Audio Director is Andrew Marino. Our Editorial Director is Brooke Minters. And our Executive Producer is Eleanor Donovan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to Decoder. I'm Neil Ipatelle, editor and chief of the Verge and Decoder
0:06.2	is my show about big ideas and other problems. Today I'm talking to Hank Green, who, you know,
0:12.8	Hank doesn't need an introduction. In fact, he invited himself on Decoder. Let's do some
0:16.9	history instead. In October 2006, Google bought YouTube for $1.65 billion. January 1, 2007,
0:26.2	the brothers Hank and John Green started making videos for each other and shared them publicly
0:30.7	on YouTube. That's the same year YouTube rolled out its partner program, which shares ad revenue
0:36.4	between YouTube and the people who make videos. The split is 55-45 in favor of the creators.
0:43.3	The partner program basically launched the Creator Economy as we know it today, and there
0:48.2	are tons of businesses that have sprung up on YouTube. We've talked to a number of YouTubers
0:52.6	on the show. They will tell you that being a YouTuber is a very specific kind of job. And while
0:58.0	some YouTubers make serious additional revenue on the platform by doing branded and sponsored videos,
1:03.8	a lot of creators can stay small and sustain themselves on ad money they get directly from the YouTube
1:10.4	partner program. There's just enough money flowing through that system to let that happen. Because
1:16.7	of all that money, YouTube is the gold standard for creators. It's something we've heard in every
1:22.6	creator conversation we've ever had on the Coder. If you can make it big on YouTube, you can make
1:28.1	something of a career. That's not the case on other platforms. There's no revenue share on
1:32.5	Instagram, there's no revenue share on Twitter, there's no revenue at all on Twitter. And most
1:36.4	importantly, there's no revenue share on TikTok. Instead, there's something called a creator fund,
1:42.2	which shares a fixed pool of money, about a billion dollars, among all the creators on the platform.
1:47.7	That means as more and more creators join TikTok, everyone gets paid less. You might understand
1:53.2	this concept. It's basic division. Now, as you'd expect from one of the original and most successful
1:59.4	YouTubers and creators out there, Hank has very strong opinions about platforms and how they pay
	...

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