Recently, my friend Ross Brand (Live Stream Universe) asked me to submit my predictions for Live Streaming / Digital Media in 2020. He also compiled 159 other peoples predictions for 2020, and I highly recommend you check it out; I will link the article below. However, I wanted to elaborate on my prediction.

There’s no denying that 2019 was a rocky year for content creators. There has been an increased push to censor unpopular opinions, there have been advertiser boycotts, there have been campaigns to get certain creators deplatformed, and there has been an increased amount of regulation against popular social media sites. Therefore, my prediction is that creators will begin to develop websites that they own and control to post their content to.

I do not believe that these creators will stop posting everywhere else, but rather that they will cross post their content on YouTube and their website, or on Twitter and their website, all while informing their audience that this hub that they own exists. For example: “Here’s my review of product X. If you want even more information on it check out www.podcastage.com”.

The reason I think that this is important is because there seems to be an increased push to deplatform people that certain groups disagree with, and there’s no telling if tomorrow you will be the target of a campaign to get you kicked off twitter or youtube (if you’re not controversial, it is highly unlikely, but there’s always the possibility). But there’s also the increase in regulation on social media platforms which can place a corporation in a very difficult operational or financial position. We don’t know if these platforms that we are building our audiences on will continue to exist tomorrow. If we only develop a following on platform X, but platform X shuts down tomorrow, we’re completely out of luck, and all that hard work will have been in vain. Think of all the people who built massive followings and careers on MySpace. Who do you remember from that Era? Jeffree Star is the only person I can think of.

So my advice is to create a website that you own and control. Then next time someone asks you where they can find what you work on, direct them to your own domain as opposed to your youtube channel or your twitter handle. On your domain definitely have links to your social media accounts, but also host the content on your own website (with supplemental information if you want an added incentive for people to check it out).

Read all 160 Predictions: https://livestreamuniverse.com/160-predictions-for-live-streaming-and-digital-media-in-2020/