YouTube,
like other big technology companies, has made several decisions over the past
few days aimed, first, to reduce the visibility and monetization of Russian
public media channels. But she later chose to block access to it from
Europe.
Motivated
by this sudden loss of access to their audience, RT TV channel and digital
newspaper Sputnik decided to switch from YouTube to Odysee, a video platform
that defines itself as a "pro-freedom of speech". But where does
this platform come from and what does it offer to its users?
Its
CEO, Jeremy Kaufman, is an American who actually launched the decentralized protocol
LBRY in 2015, which applies blockchain technology to share and publish files.
In
keeping with what they promise, Odysee has already amassed over 8 million users
worldwide. Few, of course, if we compare them to YouTube numbers. Yet
it is a platform full of tutorials on all kinds of everyday topics, gameplay,
and entertainment videos i.e. typical things that we will find when browsing
YouTube.
The
aesthetic similarities with the Google-owned video portal are obvious, but it
offers much more than just an "alternative version" of
YouTube. There is a specific factor that distinguishes Odysee from its big
commercial competitors: it not only allows content creators to monetize their
videos, but also users who watch the videos. Where Odysee pays you to watch
videos (invite other users, follow creators, create a channel, etc.).
Once a
certain amount of LBRY tokens (also called LBC) have been accumulated, users
can choose to withdraw them from their Odysee account to a crypto wallet, and
exchange them for cryptocurrencies or other cryptocurrencies.
Do you already have a YouTube channel that you want to repeat on Odysee? Well, if your original channel has at least 1,000 followers, there is an option to link it to the new channel in Odysee and keep it synced automatically (in addition to collecting its tokens).
Link: Odysee
