Zac Olivadese

It’s easier than people think, to become a profitable content thief. The average user holds about six active social media accounts across different platforms [1]. Not every content creator can spread their success throughout every platform evenly, and it’s safe to assume their fans still engage with other platforms. Therefore, some of the easiest ways to steal content is to “clip” someone’s videos, Tik Toks, or posts, and host them on a “ghost account”. As for me, I do not have a TikTok account, but I am terminally on Youtube, which is funnily how I consume the most of my TikTok content. My personal reason is quite ironic; which is that I feel that another video streaming app on my phone would be too distracting, even though the content still makes its way to me. 

To better explain what a “clipped” video is, they are essentially a downloaded video that is edited to a different format, whether longer or maybe with watermarks, then re-uploaded by someone else. These ghost accounts are typically where clipped and stolen content are hosted. They may also be called fan accounts, but I have heard them being called ghost accounts, referring to their generic or copied branding with non-accredited reloaded content. Most people are at least peripherally aware of  these accounts, if one were to come across a TikTok on Youtube,or  a Youtube Video on Facebook. A fan account is a more accurate term, when someone who isn’t working with a creator, reuploads a clip of a live stream to an archival playlist with some informal approval from the creator. I would like to bring to attention a situation that happened recently, but I have seen these scenarios increase since roughly 2015. 

This example begins with HasanAbi, a commentary Twitch streamer, reacting to another creator’s Youtube video [2]. The video at the time was recommended by a viewer of Hasan, to react to Pinely’s (otherwise known as Orr)[3] about radicalized celebrities. Hasan being a political commentary streamer, this was a normal occurrence, however there are more moving parts to these streams than one may think. For example, Hasan has a Youtube present but it is exclusively clips from his streams, where he is usually reacting to some kind of internet content. The commentary Hasan provides is valid under fair-use copyright laws, as it is considered transformative. Like many streamers, there are smaller independent fan accounts who archive clips from his streams that are not always uploaded by his paid editor to his official account [1]. Most of the time, these streamers overlook these accounts because they ultimately create more exposure, and streamers are more invested in their twitch earnings. Even if a streamer were to file copyright takedowns on these accounts, another one would quickly take its place, taking in ad revenue and views. Youtube has been under criticism for their frankly patchwork copyright rules, unfortunately these are some of these most extensive among social media sites. There are so many videos uploaded a minute, let alone a single day, that copyright claims are often mishandled by Youtube’s AI based systems [4]. 

These systems are very abuseable but every year they attempt to become more refined, and if I had the opportunity to, I would love to become more informed about this process. For example, a false copyright claim can hold the individual accountable by suspending their account temporarily. This is the point of contention for most creators, because it is just too easy to disregard the punishment for maliciously striking someone’s video. When these videos get taken down, or possibly demonetized, they are often reuploaded by ghost accounts who theoretically steal views the original video was most likely going to receive. This now brings the situation of Pinely’s most viewed video, being incidentally sabotaged by Hasan’s satellite “fan” accounts clipping the entirety of Hasan’s review of the video. In this situation, Pinely’s video was not falsely copyright striked, but even worse, it leeched views away from Pinely during what would have been the video's peak for viewers. Video essays that are almost a half hour long are not likely to be watched twice, so the viewers who clicked on the fan account’s reupload were not likely to return to Pinely’s original video. 

For those who may have a hard time following this sequence, this would be as if an article written about another author’s opinion on a book, took away sales from the book it was originally viewing in the first place! This situation has become a Russian nesting doll of content stealing. Not only did the account fail to credit Pinely’s channel in the description or comments, but the reupload used Pinely’s original thumbnail, with Hasan’s face edited over Pinely’s. Hasan responded very quickly to the situation [5], and used his platform to work with youtube to correct the situation, however the damage has been done. If I could have any input on Youtube’s content theft issue, it would be to restore the metrics that have been taken from the original video. This would mean crediting Pinely for views he would have been potentially earning, and prosecuting the person who uploaded his content without permission. Being that this is often how copyright laws work outside of internet videos, but I suspect there may be a reason for this. 

This solution brings with it more complications though, like; how would youtube be able to effectively track down the content thief, when part of Youtube’s success is that anybody can upload content under any alias? In theory if someone has taken in money from Youtube ad revenue, then that would be the place to start, essentially following the papertrail to identify the individual. The more I develop as a communications major, the more I am interested in the social media platforms we use everyday. These platforms operate on rules and policies like any company, and these rules should be held to a high ethical standard. Outside of the interest for Youtube to make a profit, investigating their copyright policies is paramount for the platform’s projected growth and reputation. 

I would highly recommend watching Hasan’s video on the resolution of this issue, because it boils down both his perspective on the situation, and Pinely’s view on Hasan. The two resolved  the issue like professionals, displaying their values in recognition and respect. The conclusion of these events serve as a crash course to fair-use and transformative media. Content creators who wish to use others' work as talking points in their own content must practice these ethical practices.

1. Crediting the original creator- Whether you’re reviewing indie films, or using stock drone shot footage that is not your own, credit is always due. Outside of the legality of it, without crediting the original creator, you could be labeling yourself as a mistrustful. Crediting someone for their work shows that you understand their work also has merit and deserves recognition just as yours would. [5]

2. Is it transformative- You must be completely honest with yourself, is it truly transformative. Are the things you're adding to the original media note worthy and valuable. Whether it be praise or criticism, there must be some artistic value added to the original content, or else it is just theft. [4]

3. If it isn’t yours, don’t touch it!- If you want to show your favorite creator some love and download their video to move it to your facebook page, you must ask permission. Perhaps they have the video on their page and you trying to share their work, good intentioned or not, is not your right. 

4. Check content for sources- This is very easily overlooked. If there is any content you see on the internet, and there are pieces taken from others without credit, feel free to reach out. This may have been an oversight by the creator, but it is the professional way of informing others. A well constructed email or comment can quickly resolve the error and may improve someone’s ethical practices on the internet. 

5. Diversify your platforms, be flexible with your approach to content formats- Lastly, if you are in a position as some sort of internet personality, how do you adjust to this system? Unfortunately, if you want to be able to support yourself, you cannot compete with these content thieves for ad revenue and watch time. It may be more effective to focus on other revenue streams, or even streaming platforms. Youtube and twitch operate as the most robust video hosting sites on the internet, and they have some of the most intensive copyright rules out there. However these rules can sometimes only do so much. Seeking alternative ad revenue is key, and measuring your influence cannot just stop at your own viewer metrics. How many times does someone mention you in a tweet? How many people reply to your original tweets and youtube videos? How many twitch watchers do you reach during peak streams? The law of averages can work against, selling you short among the sea of content thieves. 

I hope to begin a small amount of content creation myself, and Pinely’s content theft situation is so well documented, and it highlights issues creators face navigating the current state of the internet. Before exploring this topic, I did not consider these idiosyncrasies of Youtube, but seeing it through a professional's perspective helped me see the underlying ethical values of one's intellectual properties.

References

Backlinko. (2021). Social Network Usage & Growth Statistics: How Many People Use Social Media in 2022? Backlinko. Social Network Usage & Growth Statistics: How Many People Use Social Media in 2022?

Copyright and rights management (Google, Compiler). (2023). Google. https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2807622

Hasan Responds to Pinely Tweet about Clip Channels (Youtube, Compiler). (2023). HasanabiCult. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UeoDBjBRN8&t=369s

Twitch.tv. (n.d.). HasanAbi. Twitch.tv. https://www.twitch.tv/hasanabi

Zac Olivadese

CCRI COMM 1400-601: Social Media Communication

When I share my photography, I hope to show someone a world they’ve never seen before. The immersive world of insects and all things small, is rich with things to discover. You could read a book or have someone give you a lecture on the goings-on of these ecosystems, however with the right equipment, you can step right into it. I am deeply inspired by the nature documentaries I watched on repeat as a kid, over and over again. PBS Studios, a non-profit broadcasting organization, is a stranger to none. For many, PBS Studios brings back memories of grade school, with an encumbering CRT Television mounted atop a thin and rickety cart. 

The aim of a documentary is to be informational, and it can be easy to think this is a simple medium. Speaking from experience, if someone has decided they don’t like, for example spiders, you can’t just show them slide shows of spider anatomy and expect them to learn something. If the director or writer of a project truly believes that what they are showing is worth showing, it will come through. The knowledge gained from documentaries is almost tangible, and no knowledge is ever wasted. A viewer may walk away with a new perspective on the world around them, forever changing how they interact with their environment, and this feeling can be addicting!  With education in one hand and entertainment in one hand, the internet has dubbed this brand of media as “edutainment”. 

PBS Studios is a non-commercial and free to access library of multimedia education, this means they host several education focused projects. I would love to share my absolute favorite of these; DeepLook. 

Deep Look - YouTube

“See the unseen at the very edge of our visible world!”, is the motto of this series. Although this link is tied to youtube, this series is also featured on PBS’s streaming service;

PBS 

I prefer scrolling through PBS content on youtube, mainly because of the comment section and Youtube Shorts. DeepLook's youtube channel alone, as of February 2023, has over two million subscribers. The videos on this channel are formatted to short and digestible content. This proves to be synergistic with one of DeepLook’s other sponsors KQED, who will connect their science education articles with DeepLook’s videos. I obviously am biased towards visual media, but these videos lead me into the articles associated with them in the comments. This content “loop” creates a closed circuit of easy to digest edutainment, for readers, listeners, and viewers. I may begin on video on silk moths just to find myself eventually on a ‘behind the scenes” article on mosquitos. 

In fact, here’s a video to begin an etymology rabbit hole.

Silkworms Spin Cocoons That Spell Their Own Doom | Deep Look

Filming a Silkworm Time-lapse | Behind the Scenes with Deep Look

With these two links, you’ll get an idea for the storytelling techniques of deeplook, as well as how they capture the footage.

Hello, my name is Zac Olivadese, and for as long as I could remember I have had a social media phobia. This is something I have only recently come to terms with, but it only really became relevant when I was about seventeen years old. I am twenty five now and after recently changing career paths, I am going back to school for film and media studies. When I was in my late teens and early twenties, I battled intense social anxiety and a psychosis disorder, this is where I believe my social media phobia began. However, I have long since recovered and put tremendous effort into living a healthy and happy life. During this time I began to exercise quite a bit, mainly bike riding. I couldn’t quite remember why it happened, but on these bike rides I would take pictures of any animal I came across. For me, it became a challenge to see how many individual species I could spot and identify. While doing this I would share these photos with my partner and friends. In one of my discord servers, a friend of mine made a channel just for me to post my weekend bike ride bug photos. In hindsight, this was a great way for me to regularly interact with my friends.

I’ve been with my partner for almost two years now, meeting when I worked at Syracuse University, and they were a student finishing their undergrad in studio arts. I’ve always loved learning about the world around me, especially when I was a kid. I used to lug around my five pound animal encyclopedia to school and parks. Mostly rereading the same pages over and over again, and often I would just stare at the pictures. 

My partner Frankie, is the one who pushed me into pursuing photography. I saved up money before we moved out of Syracuse, and used it to buy myself a nature photography setup, around the beginning of October. We moved to Providence the beginning of August of 2022, so Frankie could start their artist residency at the steelyard. Frankie’s work connects queerness to one’s childhood, and since meeting them I have been influenced greatly from their philosophy on life. I feel that I am enjoying hobbies and pursuing a path that I would have hoped for when I was eight. It seems odd, but I feel like an idiot for doing everything else up until now. 

I’ve mostly focused on insects, spiders, fungus, and plants in my photography but I hope to branch out eventually. This semester, outside of my CCRI curriculum, I hope to start building a portfolio. This portfolio will be focused on taking my nature photography and supplementing with demonstrations of functions in the natural world that are easy to overlook. I have recently become comfortable with adobe lightroom, photoshop, and premier. So with adobe under my belt, I hope to be more transformative with my photos, and take them beyond just throwing them aimlessly at social media. This approach to social media feels much more natural to me. I loathe being perceived unknowingly, and I feel as if social media puts pressure on maintaining an image. 

In truth social media is a broad term, that can plainly be any digital media platform in which one communicates. Although, communication features, like a chat option in a video game, wouldn’t necessarily fall under this colloquially. Which is quite interesting, because if anyone who’s played any MMORPG would tell you, anonymous digital communities can build quite naturally almost anywhere. One of the only video games I play is an MMORPG, and it’s known for its relaxed and friendly player base. If I were to carry on a lengthy conversation over chat, with a complete anonymous stranger, or even a known friend in the game, would this constitute as social media?. It’s certainly a gray area, but social media is often identified in reference to the most used monolithic social media platforms. This being facebook, twitter, tumblr, and instagram, the functions of social media are homogenous. Primarily social media is used to present someone’s identity in whatever format others in their social group also do. Returning to my question about video games functioning as pseudo-social media platforms, this could be evidence to support that video game chat functions can be an archetype of social media that only certain demographics find themselves.

The most used social media platforms are easy to identify because of their ubiquitousness. Where people who are more than likely already participating in the “core” social media sights, can also be interacting in a different way on other platforms. This could be as simple as a mother and son communicating on Facebook then parting ways to talk to their friends on League of Legends, and Scrabble for the Iphone, respectively. On these platforms, it is unlikely for them to interact with others in the same way they would together on a “core” social media platform.