YouTube CEO, Susan Wojcicki, has apologized to creators on the platform for the company’s sudden and highly unpopular decision to revoke their ‘Verified’ badges. In a tweet a few hours earlier, Wojcicki said: “I’m sorry for the frustration [and] hurt that we caused with our new approach to verification. While trying to make improvements, we missed the mark. As I write this, we’re working to address your concerns & we’ll have more updates soon”.
To our creators & users–I’m sorry for the frustration & hurt that we caused with our new approach to verification. While trying to make improvements, we missed the mark. As I write this, we're working to address your concerns & we’ll have more updates soon.
— Susan Wojcicki (@SusanWojcicki) September 20, 2019
The apology follows the recent announcement of YouTube’s now-revoked verification policy that the company said will help users more easily identify the YouTube channels of popular websites, blogs and personalities. However, the proposed policy change was met with a massive outcry from many creators on the platform, forcing the company to roll back the changes almost entirely.
In case you don’t know it already, YouTube’s (short-lived) policy change resulted in many popular channels losing their ‘Verified’ status, with the company suggesting that it will limit its verification badges to only the biggest brands and the most famous personalities. The company also took away the badges from creators who it believed were not under any threat of being impersonated, unlike more established entities.
YouTube’s decision created a massive furor among creators, many of whom, understandably, see the badge as a status symbol and a matter of pride. That being the case, it was only natural that the ill-conceived plan would face a massive backlash. Thankfully, though, YouTube has admitted its fault and decided to allow creators to keep their badges, which should, hopefully, cool down frayed tempers.
