The storm that has formed around YouTube due to its demonetization of small channels, stricter restrictions on available content, and much more active moderation than in the past has led a growing number of users to search for alternatives to share and play videos online. One of them is DTube, based on the IPFS protocol and the Steem blockchain, whose reward system pays content creators according to their popularity, and also those who comment.
Beyond political disagreements, conspiracy theories, and monetization issues, some of YouTube's latest decisions have backfired. Personally, my complaints always lean toward the technical (for example, the interface), but those who have made YouTube a central part of their lives (whether to express their opinions or as their primary economic income) have few reasons to celebrate its current operation. Not a few voices point to the lack of competition as one of the main problems. In raw content volume, nothing out there approaches YouTube, but alternatives are slowly emerging, and that path leads us to DTube.
How DTube works
DTube presents itself as a video distribution platform built on the open source P2P protocol IPFS (InterPlanetary File System) and the Steem blockchain, so it works in a way very similar to SteemIt. In other words, each video has a dollar amount below it that represents what the creator has received so far. DTube's economy differs greatly from YouTube's since there are no traditional ads, and all payments are made through the Steem reward system. In addition, videos only receive cryptocurrencies for a maximum of seven days, a detail meant to break monopolies on rewards, which, by the way, also reach users and their comments.
Challenges and limitations
By not having an official moderation structure and using minimal censorship (which apparently is limited to NSFW), DTube has become an attractive option for a certain number of users who want to leave YouTube behind, but the site presents several challenges. The first is technical. I have noticed that most videos have loading problems, and there are no parameters to adjust streaming quality. The second is obviously content. You won't find everything you want on DTube, so you'll need to be patient.
