Pressing Pause

2019 has been an incredible year for TRG. In 2019, we buckled down and uploaded 75 videos onto our YouTube channel. We’ve seen subscriber count grow to over 100 new Deer Viewers this year. It’s been fun to provide new content for our Deer Listeners, and maybe even provide some content that’s safe for the whole family to enjoy.

Recently, news about the new COPPA legislation has come out and it’s left us here at TRG a bit wary. There are plenty of videos out there that detail this new legislation and how it affects content creators so we’ll direct you there for a more detailed analysis. The gist, however, is that YouTube has put out a new system where you have to mark your videos as “Made for Children” or “Not Made for Children”. While our demographic is primarily amongst those of 20-40 years old, we do recognize that a very small percentage of our demographic is under the age of 16. While this new system makes sense on the outside looking in, when inspected further is where it gets murky. If the FTC determines that a video is improperly categorized, or contains something they don’t like in a video marked as “made for children”, then they are able to sue the content creator upwards of $42,000 max. It even appears that marking a video as “not made for children” does not absolve the content creator of liability/issue. There is new information coming out that we have yet to sift through but at the moment, it all seems like a bit of a hot mess. Considering how unclear it all is, that possibility of the FTC filing a lawsuit on us just because they don’t like something we say in a video is a risk that we literally cannot afford.

So much so that, at the current time, we are suspending our YouTube channel for the time being in order to further decide if we are just going to take down our channel. We know that some of you were looking forward to our Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order video that was mentioned in our most recent episode but we do not see the point in putting in the work to edit and record the video if we are going to delete the channel. And, for the sake of transparency, I (Logan) have struggled with a clear direction for the channel, which is why the content has been all over the place. I plan on using the rest of the year to get caught up on this whole COPPA ordeal, talk with other creators, and decide what the future of that area of TRG looks like.

I want to thank all of you that have supported the content we have uploaded. As of right now, our Nintendo Switch Tour video has broken the 650 views mark, which still blows my mind. We are praying that this situation works out, that the FTC provides better and more clear parameters, and that YouTube implements better tools for creators while also providing better information to its community (I had to watch several other videos to get a grasp on the situation because YouTube didn’t provide enough information).

Thanks again for all the support. We’ve got two more episodes left for 2019 that we are excited to record and share with you all.

Below are some videos that I have found helpful in getting a better grasp on the whole situation.