Social Updates
Social Updates
Oh, the joys of being a full-time content creator...
Hello, dear ones!
I hope your week has been going well! I wanted to give an update on a couple of things so you don't miss out on any of the content!
As some of you might know, I recently had a massive issue pop up on Facebook. I don't use Facebook very often, mostly for family and connecting with old friends. It was brought to my attention that a fake page had been circulating that managed to gather 32k followers and even fool some of my own family into thinking that the account belonged to me. I was shocked and angry, to say the least. Since I am verified on Instagram and my Facebook is attached to it, I at least had a direct line to speak to an account manager and get the fake Facebook page taken down. They suggested I also get my Facebook account verified and set up an official page for myself, which I did.
You can follow the OFFICIAL page here.
I'm trying to keep it updated regularly and honestly, I find the meta dashboard horribly complicated and not well designed at all, but... I'm learning things slowly and feel like at this point I should probably have an official page anyway.
Now... on to YouTube!
It's no secret that content creators get their work stolen all the time. Fake accounts pop up so much that I've had to hire a legal team to handle most of it. To date, they have managed to get over 60k incidences of copyright infringement taken down 🙌🏻 However, even with spending $400 a month on their services, getting verified across Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, the only platform that refuses to verify me is TikTok. They use my content in ads, and I've done brand deals through their creator portal which gives them a large cut of the profits, and yet even as a published author, researcher, and media personality, my work appearing in documentaries, textbooks, scholarly journals, and magazines, they still say the sources are not good enough. They state on the application for verification that they only verify people who have a high likelihood of impersonation and have a large media presence. I've been impersonated more than 50 times in the last 6 months alone, which requires me to submit lengthy reports showing my driver's license, and passport, and screenshotting EVERY piece of content that I am the copyright owner of from the analytics side of the posts. In cases where a fake account has stolen and uploaded 10-100+ pieces of my content, this is a LONG process for me to deal with and I spend more time taking fakes down than I do making content.
I hit the end of my rope when I posted a story on my TikTok calling out a fake and it was flagged for community guidelines violation. I appealed it and won the appeal (yay for small victories) but even though I won the appeal and my account is "clean", my algorithm has tanked. This means a loss in income for me and frankly, I'm sick of being at the mercy of TikTok's algorithm.
I'm tired. I'm angry. I'm frustrated. I work hard to cultivate unique content, and it's difficult to create when you are getting kicked in the teeth by fakes and not supported by the very platform that you help to build.
I decided to stop giving a flying f*<k about TikTok. Yes, I will continue to post there now and then and keep the account active, but I'm done trying to push that account. TikTok is where I got my start in 2019 and is my biggest platform to date with over 420k+ followers on my main account alone. I sincerely loved being there and without it, I never would have been able to make a solid living doing what I love and creating provocative content of all sorts for people that truly enjoy it.
But... the platform is changing in ways that I'm not ok with. The app feels more like a giant infomercial with every post being about a product in the TikTok shop. They are pushing 1-30 minute videos, and are now asking creators to start posting videos in landscape (which makes little to no sense to me since landscape mode is meant largely for desktop viewing and their app is mobile optimized, not desktop optimized). The app was originally intended to be what I like to call "the potato chip app" with bursts of short-form content (5-30 seconds with 10-15 being the sweet spot). It was where you went for fun and entertainment, not to be marketed to 24/7.
Given the fact I have ZERO help and support from an app that uses my content to make money while simultaneously taking away opportunities for me to earn from my own content whenever I get nailed for a violation even when I win the appeal, and how the app itself is changing, I've chosen to focus my efforts on my YouTube channel.
And I'm not the only one. Several large creators are also shifting gears. They aren't up and leaving TikTok, but they are shifting their focus to building their YouTube community where they have much more ability to not only be supported, but the features allow for a more "community" feel while providing their creators with streamlined options for monetization.
For example, the community tab on a creator's channel allows for posting regular pictures, updates, and polls. Shorts have a better ability to get seen in their discovery pages, and I like the segmentation of long-form vs. short-form content. I can directly upload my Twitch streams to YouTube as well, making my life a LOT easier.
As I said, I'm not necessarily leaving TikTok (yet), but I am shifting my efforts and focus.
And for those curious about the educational and video podcast content, there is a separate channel for that on YouTube that I've used for years. However, due to the nature of content on that channel on the topics of k!nk and s3xology, and they banned my educator blog from being linked in any of the posts or content, I've been slowly making the content posted on that channel private and primarily use Vimeo for housing those videos for posting here on Patreon and my blog. Yes, YouTube has its issues like any other platform, but it's still a far better option these days than TikTok.
Ok... that's all for today my loves! Thank you for understanding and I appreciate all your support! Please subscribe to my That Lit Witch YouTube channel and I can't wait to start posting never-before-seen content there starting this week!
P.S. - Twitch Live Streams start Monday, Feb. 12th! You can subscribe here . Not ALL my livestreams will be posted on my YouTube because sometimes the topics get a little spicy lol. But most of the time, the streams will be posted :)
- Tiffany