The problem with a decentralized video platform as compared to forum/microblogging (lemmy, mastodon) is that it takes a ton more resources to host videos. While anyone can host a lemmy or mastodon instance in their bedroom, hosting videos requires more bandwidth and storage that costs money. Sure there will eventually be bigger instances that will emerge that are professionally maintained, but they will still rely on donations and the instance admin’s own time and effort to do so. I would love for this to happen and actually make a dent on youtube’s monopoly, but it’s not as easy as it looks.
this post was submitted on 04 Nov 2023
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Sharing video is such a big problem that even Google couldn't solve it when it was their time. They just bought their biggest competitor when their own platform didn't get traction. And then operated at a loss for years and years.
I'd love to see descentralized video platforms as the next guy but there are serious barriers that come with the medium
And the only other way that a bigger platform would grow is by ads being displayed on the Instance that brings you back to square one.
What about bandwidth? Video is huge. Not everyone can handle P2P video.
Yeah that’s the big thing that I think is gonna hold this back for the time being.
I'm not sure the fediverse is really developed to the point of hosting a large scale video platform
Yeah I totally agree. I think right now it's fairly up to the challenge of stuff like reddit and twitter sorta platforms though it definitely remains to be seen how well it would presently scale up to userbases as large as reddit or twitter.
A video platform anywhere near as popular as YouTube is an entirely different beast.
I think the torrents will be fine
the issue is the cost of storage. I hope Google and their services burn to the ground already, but I just don't see Peertube instances being able to handle the amount of videos that gets constantly uploaded on Youtube. hell, Mastodon instances were having issue with the first big waves, and that's mostly a text-based platform.
I don't think that peertube can offer the same amount of video storage to newcomers, that yt does. But it should be easy to host peertube with a fraction of the income (from patreon, in video adverts) that big creators have.
But maybe we're wrong and it will work, there's plenty of servers out there that anyone can upload to.
It just puts smaller creators into a part that they won't be able to upload and that's the great thing about YouTube or most other Video Platforms is anyone can create. If the only people that can release content are the Elites then how will they be replaced in the future when they get burnt out, die or just want to move on?
I don't have a perfect solution. They either have to find a server that gives them a home or they have to figure something else out. At the moment there are lots of servers and not a lot of uploaders.
Also it is possible to host peertube from home. With yunohost, it's pretty easy. New people will only get a couple of views which is doable with a home connection.
They could still start on yt, like today. But if they have a following, they might not like all the YT restrictions.
This isn't as much a reply to you as it is to everybody:
The fediverse isn't meant to be centralized with big instances bearing the brunt of the load.
It costs less than 5€ a month for a cheap VPS, as you say it's pretty easy to set up (If you can reformat a computer, you have the skills to set up a plethora of federated platform). That includes 200GB storage and 32TB of outbound traffic, and one could even set up a home "CDN" PeerTube to share the load.
I don't want big creators making clickbaity content just to make money. I don't want the fediverse to be commersialized. I want enthusiasts and those willing to make an effort to be more free.
For some that means setting up their own systems. For some that merely means making a Mastodon account (big step for some people, believe it or not).
It takes some effort, it takes some learning. It might even mean that people won't get disgustingly rich. But we can make a new internet.
Let's not being the old ways there.
Thank you I was surprised by the negative reaction here. I thought people on lemmy were interested in alternative solutions to big tech
YouTube ads might frustrate some viewers, but have you ever tried using peertube? I think videos just not working at all would frustrate viewers more than some ads.
Sure, I use PT "a lot" (compared to the average lemming it seems). Sometimes there's a small wait. I think it's worth it. I've never experienced it not working at all, though I can understand if people think something isn't working if it's not as fast as the #1 video content platform in the world - YouTube.
Even know I wish to see PeerTube grow especially with people at minimum cross-posting, without a way for instances to find content easily without having to know about the creator before hand discoverability will be shockingly bad. Along with this decentralised platforms need to get easier for people to create themselves, as most people who know a bit about computers still don't know the first step of creating a PeerTube or other Fediverse Instance (I'd love to run my own Instances in the future).
PeerTube is a really great idea but without some way of people finding the content and or having more space to upload that content (As most PeerTube Instances have like a 5GB limit) then it sadly won't get there.
without a way for instances to find content easily without having to know about the creator before hand discoverability will be shockingly bad.
Instances index videos from all instances that they follow. So if a big creator uploads to a server that's already "friends" with yours, it will show up!
That's what I'm saying, someone already has to follow, you are then relying on the other people on your instance. It's one of the downsides of the Fediverse in general but it's made even worse with Video as video takes up a lot of space making each instance has limitations on the users stopping them from releasing so many videos.
Like Imagine if someone like Casey Neistat was still releasing daily videos but they where limited due to the possible instance they where using it would suck as it would stop them from uploading there latest video. Hopefully this gets solved in the future with better storage solutions but still it costs a lot to host Video files and that's why most people go to YouTube over anywhere else ATM.
I would love to see PeerTube as well as other Fediverse Video platforms to grow, it's just quite hard for it to grow unless each instance has easily over 100GB per user that uploads.
That’s what I’m saying, someone already has to follow, you are then relying on the other people on your instance.
No it is a different system on peertube compared to lemmy and mastodon. The server admin has to "follow" a server and then all content from that server will be listed in search and the timelines.
I am not saying this is ideal though ^^
That sounds even worse, as the admin of PeerTube will have 100% control who they connect with and will have to know every instance in existence to be able to connect with the ones that the content that is good is on.
I've always thought of PeerTube as a content delivery platform ala Plume for blogging. Consuming cross-platform content works much better from Lemmy, Friendica or Mastodon-type platforms.
PeerTube channels looks beautiful in Lemmy and once a user pulls a channel it shows up as a regular community
So Lemmy as Video Support, Good to know.
Just subscribe to any PeerTube channel like you would a remote community, search for the channel/community URL and there you go.
IMO the interface is much better on Lemmy and the whole thing is more aligned with the Fedi mindset, one account subscribing to anything.
Yeah I use Mbin as of the moment and it can do most things just not Video ATM, Might have to check my lemmy account to see if I can actually watch content from PeerTube on there.
I agree it might not be a good solution long-term.
Two tings it needs:
- Support for third party peering clients: if somebody wants to help out a server with bandwidth, currently the only option is to install peertube
- Monetisation: content creators need to get paid somehow. The only instance (I know of) that does so uses crypto and it's https://beetoons.tv/
Maybe if content creators themselves decide to invest in peertube and/or its plugins to implement the parts that they need, then they'll switch and peertube will suddenly become popular, but at the moment I just don't see it.
How much do you tube contributors actually make though?
Whats the average payout to the top 10%,20%,30%,40%,50%,70%?
My guess is 80%+ of contributors make a pittance, perhaps a few dollars a month if Pareto is consistent across most subjects, which it seems to be.
But youtube still makes a lot from them because it makes it seem like there's gobs of content. I really don't use YouTube, because most of the videos that show up as "you may like this" that are 30 minutes to explain 2 sentences worth of info. There are specific video producers who I go to watch, and pretty much nothing else.
The lack of ads is beneficial to viewers, but I also think it's worth noting that a disproportionate amount of people creating videos are doing so to hopefully monetize it.
With the fediverse, that seems much more abstract and so I think there might also be a disconnect for some content to make its way over.
Some alternative youtube frontend are pretty good like freetube