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by Jon H. - Created 7/4/2020 - Last updated 7/13/2020
As of today in the Eastern Time Zone, it is July 4, Independence Day. But today's more than just barbecues and fireworks - today is also the day I am officially declaring independence from YouTube.
Now, I understand some of you may be confused, so I'll try my best to explain why I'm doing this and what you should expect in the future. But first, let me take you back to the beginning.
It all started in the summer of 2015...
("Baba O'Reily" plays)
I had no intention of ever staring a YouTube channel. At 12 years old, I didn't have a smartphone yet, so if I wanted to browse the Web, the only way to do so was either with the family iPad (1st gen) or the family desktop computer running Windows 7. You can probably guess which one I prefered.
One day, I was searching up my friend's names online. (don't ask, because I don't remember why). Then, I saw one of my friend's faces in a YouTube video. I remember being so amazed that one of my friend's faces was actually in a YouTube video! (Remember, I was 12 and didn't have a smartphone or any socal media accounts.) So I clicked on the link, and sure enough, there he was, talking in front of the camera! And then I thought, "Well, if he can have a YouTube channel, so can I."
And that's how I started my YouTube channel. If you're wondering how on God's green Earth I cam up with the name "TheJonGlasses3245", please refer to my About page.
At first, my YouTube channel was private. Again, with no intention to open up to the public. That year at summer camp, I told my friend from school about my channel and he became my first subscriber.
Soon, I started getting into GoAnimate, and made a few videos with the program, which proved to be very popular. in fact, some of my most viewed videos were made in GoAnimate.
In September of 2016, I met and befriended ShadeZ 4 Lyfe. He would become a great influence to this channel in many ways. Among other people at my school who had YouTube channels were All-Around Video Gamer (now known as A-A Studios) and NYPD_83. Along the way, I had also met other YouTubers like me, such as PowerPoint Master and BoredMarker (now known as verix).
I had noticed something strange happening. It seemed ever since I made GoAnimate videos, my subscriber count had only grown. At first I had grown to reach 50 subscribers. I thought that was a great accomplishment. But then that turned into 100. Which turned into 300. Which turned into 500, 750, and eventually...one thousand. I had honestly never expected to go this far, and for that I will forever be grateful.
In August 2019, my YouTube channel was terminated.
I remember that day. I was checking my phone, and decided to check my channel's statistics (I had hit 1,000 subscribers a few months prior to this). Then I wondered why my channel wasn't showing up at all on the page. My Gmail account was there, but my actual channel was...gone. It was then I realized what might have happened. I quickly went to my inbox as my heart was racing, praying and hoping that what I realized wasn't true. And there was an email from Team YouTube in my inbox saying my channel was terminated due to "hate speech" (my channel was reinstated a few hours later, though).
As you can imagine, I was crushed. 4 years of videos, of history...all gone, just like that. (Coincidentally, that same day I accidentally cracked my phone screen for the first time, which could represent how my hope in YouTube was shattered.)
My dad tried to console me later that day. He said that I should start my own website, so I have complete control over my content. As you can probably tell, I took his advice.
Around that same time, I had gotten into DeGoogling, and I found the process extremely liberating. I started using DuckDuckGo, ProtonMail, Firefox, and other FOSS alternatives to Google's products. Slowly but surely, I began to cease using Google-related products in my life, and it made me realize how much Google controls the Web. Soon I got into the topic of Internet privacy, and started to cut out Facebook, Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft out of my life, too. I started using Linux and LibreOffice, and I found it to be so much better than Windows and Microsoft Office.
Still, I had trouble finding a proper alternative to YouTube. Everyone in the r/privacy sub kept recommending PeerTube. I tried it out, but it just wasn't what I was looking for (I have since changed my mind, it's awesome! You should really try it out even if you aren't planning to use it at all). I had also tried BitChute and Vlare, but BitChute had too much political content, and everyone on Vlare just keeps making videos about how awesome Vlare is. Eventually I decided to start my own personal website, and, well, here I am.
Now, you're probably wondering, "Why would you want to start a blog when you can just get a social media account"? Here's why you should start your own blog:
Now, it's not all sunshine and roses when it comes down to this, but take it from me - the Pros far outweigh the Cons.
So, let me explain what I plan to do in the future in regards to my YouTube channel.
I do not plan to outright delete my YouTube channel, I'm just gonna abandon it. However, I think YouTube deletes inactive accounts after a year or so, so just in case, download my videos using this tool. I'll explain how to use it in a later blog post.
Second, I plan to upload newer cartoons here, on this very website. Maybe some webcomics too.
Third, no, I will not be coming back to YouTube anytime soon. The only way I'd even consider going back is if Google seriously fixed a lot of their privacy concerns, or if Google somehow lost ownership of YouTube and it was now owned by someone else. Neither of those scenarios are likely to happen anytime soon.
Lastly, I am seriously considering deleting my Twitter account too. I initially joined Twitter in an attempt to give my viewers updates, but it has been a time-waster for me and I regret joining. However, I will be staying on Newgrounds and DeviantArt, since I don't consider those places to be too harmful to me.
Thank you all for being with me on YouTube for the past 5 years! It's truly been an experience and an adventure, but don't think of this as the end. Think of this as a new chapter.This is TheJonGlasses3245, signing out of YouTube for the last time. Peace out.