The end of an era: the termination of my YouTube channel - part 1.
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After almost four years of sharing uncensored naturist content that was a true and genuine (and rare!) representation of the naturist lifestyle…a chapter has been closed with the termination of my popular and beloved YouTube channel.
I posted my very first YouTube video in February 2020 (‘Introducing The Nude Blogger - my first ever YouTube video!’) and, over the course of 3.5 years, I had amassed 280,000 subscribers on my channel! Having posted 35 videos, I’d also accumulated a total of over 40 million views across my channel…that’s an average of over 1 million views per video! What a feat!
The content I shared was, not only an authentic representation of the naturist lifestyle, but an empowering conduit for providing education about the naturist lifestyle, its values and what it actually looks like to be a naturist. It truly gave viewers (the closet nudist, the curious, the critics, and textiles alike) an unambiguous understanding of what the naturist lifestyle is and stands for.
The dreaded email…
On Saturday 16 September 2023, I woke up to the below email from YouTube:
Completely shocked and bamboozled by the situation, and with only one active strike against my channel at the time of its termination, I couldn’t understand how the sudden termination of my channel had happened and why. Next, the influx of emails from followers and subscribers confused as to where my channel had gone and what had happened to all of my videos. It all happened so fast. So many emotions bubbling to the surface…confusion, sadness, anger, frustration, indifference, surprised but not surprised, calm, frantic…
I decided to sit on it for the weekend. Plus, I had my belated birthday celebrations at the nude beach that same day that I received the news. At least being naked with my friends at the nude beach would lift my spirits, right? Right.
A few days had passed and I knew it was time to tackle this beast. So, on the evening of 19 September 2023, I submitted an appeal to have my channel reinstated…and with high hopes too. Whilst submitting an appeal to have my channel reinstated was a first in my YouTube history…submitting an appeal to YouTube was something I had done and had success with many times (albeit for content that had been taken down, not an entire channel). Still, I had hoped that, as was the case with much of my content that had been previously and ‘mistakenly’ taken down, the termination was just another one of those ‘mistakes’ that YouTube would soon rectify by reinstating it…like they had done with much of my content previously.
So, with the same 1000 characters that you’re limited to when appealing the removal of your content, I took my best shot…only this time at saving my entire channel.
Come the morning of 20 September 2023 and I saw the email that would seal the fate of my YouTube channel once and for all.
Alas, my appeal had been rejected. An impersonal, templated response that just so casually dismissed and diminished 3.5 years of hard work, community building and memory-making.
Not even a heads up. Not a moment to let my community of 280,000 know what was about to happen and where to go next. No opportunity to download my videos, my stats…nothing…not even for memory’s sake.
Isn’t it ‘3 strikes and you’re out?’
Nope. Not according to YouTube…even though this is what they claim (as pictured below).
An excerpt from their ‘Community Guidelines strike basics on YouTube’ page in their Help Center.
At the time of my channel’s termination, it only had one active strike against it.
You see, what many people don’t realise is that, I was somewhat regularly having my videos taken down only moments after I had uploaded them (due to what I understand was automated systems flagging my content).
I would instantly appeal the decision and, majority of the time, YouTube would actually reinstate the content that was, according to them, ‘mistakenly’ taken down. Below are some examples of their emails in response to some of my previously successful appeals.
It was for this same reason that I had high hopes for the reinstatement of my channel. Because, up until this point and in my personal experience, YouTube had actually been one of the more reasonable, gracious and seemingly and relatively more progressive mainstream platforms (just in the fact that they allow nudity in the first place!). Unfortunately, and to my utter disappointment (and I’m sure yours too), it is just not the case. It was all but a dream…but one that gratefully lasted 3.5 years.
Because, yes, you’re allowed to post uncensored nudity on YouTube - a closer look at the ‘Sex and Nudity Policy’ within their Community Guidelines.
Rewind to my first YouTube video and, initially, I had no idea that uncensored nudity was actually allowed on YouTube…and this was according to their very own Community Guidelines! Specifically, their ‘Sex and Nudity Policy’.
This completely changed the game for me and the direction I would take my YouTube channel in…
Cue 3.5 years of fully uncensored quality naturist content!
The only catch? You can’t monetise your channel should you choose to show uncensored nudity.
Yep, it’s true. I never made a cent on YouTube - a surprising reality.
I went down the path of choosing not to monetise my channel so that I could publicly and authentically showcase the naturist lifestyle in all of its glory. Why? Because how amazing that I actually could, right? For my community and for the general public! And, all along, one of the most important aspects of my mission here at TNB has been to normalise non-sexual nudity. And how do we do this? By actually showing it, without censoring it. Because (and surprise surprise), the more people are exposed to it, and the more often they see it, the more normal and less taboo it becomes. So, I did exactly that.
For 3.5 years, I was one of the very few naturist content creators that candidly, authentically and genuinely showcased the naturist lifestyle, completely uncensored, for the world to see…and all for free…in video format, on a mainstream platform and with a very large audience. I frequently gave a rare glimpse into what it actually looks like to be involved in the naturist lifestyle. I gave the public an opportunity to grasp the concept of ‘non-sexual nudity’ and help make it more tangible…because they were actually able to see what that concept looked like with their very own eyes. A young woman, completely naked, around other men and women, doing everyday things, interacting with other people, visiting different locations and destinations…and doing it all in the nude! Nothing sexual. Nothing sinister. Nothing that a clothed person wouldn’t do.
The repercussions of losing my YouTube channel.
So, whilst I never made a cent on YouTube, with 280,000 subscribers, it was, by far, my largest platform.
The next largest audience I have is 190,000 followers on my Instagram - which is severely shadow banned to the point that my account is undiscoverable on the platform; meaning that it does not grow. If anything, it goes backwards.
So, you have to imagine that, whilst I didn’t make money on YouTube, I relied heavily on the traffic I received through viewership as potential income via potential sign ups to my Patreon. It was, essentially, my largest funnel of traffic of which, every time viewers watched my videos, I had the opportunity to direct them to my Patreon…which is where I actually make my living…contrary to the very common assumption that I’ve been making a living from my YouTube.
So, given I rely solely on voluntary contributions via a subscription-based platform that competes with all of my other free resources, that traffic and exposure from what was my YouTube channel is a HUGE loss. Huge!
And with the very abrupt and unexpected termination of my channel, that was 280,000 people I wasn’t able to give a warning to…and that’s now potentially 280,000 people I don’t even have a means of communicating with. No way of telling them what’s next, where to go and what to do. But, this is where I’m hoping you can help…
Stay tuned for my next blog for an exciting announcement and to find out how you can help…
With love,
Jessa
Xx