After all that drama, PewDiePie was trolling us all along. After reaching 50 million subscribers on his YouTube channel, PewDiePie actually only deleted secondary account Jack septiceye2 – which had only ever posted two videos.
In a latest vlog, PewDiePie explains that this was a lesson to teach the media how influential he really is – but it’s also being called one big troll by others. Watch his explanation below and decide for yourself:
Kjellberg has, by far, the biggest number of subscribers of any channel on the platform. Will he actually do it? We’ll have to wait and see.
Original story: Felix Kjellberg, also known as YouTube’s biggest star, PewDiePie, has threatened to delete his channel in protest over alleged changes to the platform.
The man of video games has suggested that changes YouTube’s algorithms are hampering his channels discoverability. According to Kjellberg, traffic to his latest vidoes from the “suggested videos” feed, which suggests more content a user may want to watch based on what they are currently viewing, has collapsed from 30% to less than 1%.
This accusation is just the beginning. In a pair of videos posted in the last week, Kjellberg accuses YouTube of recommending videos which users aren’t interested in, giving priority to high-performing clickbait (including pornographic content), and removing channels from user’s subscriber lists.
Kjellberg isn’t along in his complaints. YouTube content creators have long been shouting about changes to the platforms monetisation and discoverability tools, many stating that their position i becoming financially untenable.
Comic Book Girl 19 is one such creator who doesn’t possess followers in the endless throngs of PewDiePie. She published a video in September calling the viability of her YouTube activities into question.
When questioned by the BBC, YouTube has denied that under-the-hood changes are to blame for Kjellberg’s malady.”Some creators have expressed concerns around a drop in their subscriber numbers,” a spokesperson said. “We’ve done an extensive review and found there have been no decreases in creators’ subscriber numbers beyond what normally happens when viewers either unsubscribe from a creator’s channel or when YouTube removes spammed subscribers.”
In spite of YouTube’s denials, Kjellberg has threatened to delete his YouTube channel when it reaches 50 million subscribers. The number currently stands at 49,900,000, and is poised to beach the barrier in a matter of days.
Kjellberg recently topped the Forbes list of highest-paid YouTube star for a second consecutive year. He may delete his YouTube channel, but this is unlikely to stop his continued presence as a prominent figure in the online community.
