YouTube has indeed provided people around the globe with an avenue to showcase their talents in share their knowledge and ideas. Gradually, YouTube has brought new opportunities in front of the Bangladeshi people in terms of creativity and business. But there are certain problems, which Bangladeshi YouTubers experience only, these problems may hold back them from reaching the much-desired success. In the following part of this blog, we will discuss these challenges and provide a deeper insight into each of these categories such as technical challenges, cultural issues, limitations in terms of monetization, and legal concerns.
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| Photo: NordWood Themes/Unsplash |
Technical and Infrastructure Challenges
Internet Connectivity
A major challenge that Bangladeshi YouTubers face is the availability of the Internet because the latter might be good at times and might be low in other instances. However, some areas still experience slow and erratic internet connectivity despite the communications improvements. It not only hinders the process of uploading videos but also restricts the audience from accessing the link to watch the desired videos without encountering streaming issues resulting in less viewership.
Equipment and Production Quality
Video production is an essential part of the contemporary business world and to create the high-quality videos necessary, proper equipment like cameras, microphones, lights, and video editing software is needed. This issue limits the production quality of numerous new YouTubers from Bangladesh as they do not have sufficient funds to purchase such equipment. This can also be viewed as a disadvantage as high production quality is typically required to appeal to audiences and grow viewership.
Financial Constraints and Monetization Issues
Limited Ad Revenue
Monetizing YouTube through AdSense is really popular as a way of making money among YouTubers. But there also remains the problem of relatively low ad revenue rates in Bangladesh as compared to the developed Western countries. As much as it would be easy to get lots of people to watch your video, this is not enough to earn you a decent income because YouTube relies a lot on ads, and sometimes even when you have many views your balance may show zero because of this disparity.
Sponsorship and Brand Deals
Another key source of income is the acquisition of sponsors and popular brands. In some cases, Bangladesh YouTubers struggle to initiate such opportunities since the digital marketing industry in Bangladesh is still in its growth phase. There is so much variety of brands, and while they may feel inclined to contribute to the channel, they may rather stick to the more standard forms of advertising.
Payment Gateway Issues
For online companies, receiving payments from international platforms can sometimes be a challenge due to the lack of easy and cheap ways to use payment gateways. [For instance] most of the YouTubers have an issue with PayPal, which partially working in Bangladesh and so they receive their earnings with delays and more cost.
Cultural and Social Barriers
Content Sensitivity
A place like Bangladesh has its own traditions of culture and civilization. The conflict between the local and the global media is sometimes prevalent, for content that is acceptable and popular in the international arena may be considered vulgar and undesirable in the given country. The boys must manage this accordingly to avoid any backlash and maintain a positive outlook at the same time. This often hinders creativity and prevents them from getting to the point where they prefer deciding what kind of movie they would like to make and what message they would like to deliver to the audience.
Family and Societal Expectations
This is because following YouTube as a course in life can be looked down on in Bangladesh's traditional society since other normal and standard career options are always preferred here. It also remains an issue of controversy that, due to the encouragement from family and society, many YouTubers seem to feel like becoming an engineer, a doctor, or a lawyer is why they should be on YouTube. This social pressure can positively influence the incidences where many potential creators may be dissuaded from fully investing in being YouTubers.
Legal and Regulatory Hurdles
Copyright Issues
Piracy is a major problem affecting YouTube communities all over the world; Bangladeshi copyrighted content is no exception to this. In Bangladesh, there is often no understanding of the copyright rules and international guidelines, which can lead to cases where content creators inadvertently infringe these rules resulting in receiving a strike or even a takedown or an action against them.
Content Regulation
Laws regarding content delivered through digital media are today tightening up as governments seek to control information that is circulating within their jurisdictions. On issues of misinformation and unwanted material, some measures may be all-encompassing and vague, in effect eradicating lawful content. Even though some of these regulations can be strict you have to make sure that you do not violate them in any way to avoid getting in trouble while at the same time ensuring that the content you are posting on your channel is allowed.
Competition and Market Saturation
Niche Saturation
This has also slowly led to a rise in the popularity of YouTube, meaning that many more people are joining creating room for competition. The competition is always high, meaning that identifying a gap in the market where no other products or services are being offered is becoming increasingly difficult. In the current generation, starting a YouTube channel may be a major challenge to new YouTubers to penetrate the market and get a large number of viewers.
Consistency and Content Quality
Sustaining a channel and growing a YouTube channel, in particular, demands frequently posting appealing content. Thus, the problem of the quality and quantity of information often approaches the border of conflict. The demand to constantly deliver videos that create value for their viewers, viewership, and engagement, can quickly become overwhelming for independent content creators who may not have a strong team to rely on and often have to single-handedly coordinate each shoot.
Mental Health and Well-being
Stress and Burnout
This, together with the constant pressure to generate exciting and popular content, relevant to the viewers, and random income and fluctuating viewers’ interest could cause major stress and blogger burnout. YouTubers are usually under a lot of pressure to come up with more content, content that is well received, and often at the cost of our time and wellbeing.
Negative Feedback and Trolling
Social media and other online establishments can indeed be arenas for shared hostility and abuse. These are the effects of hate speech, trolling, and the appearance of unnecessary criticism on the mental health of persons who make videos on the YouTube platform. From what happened to Cedric, one can learn to deal with such negativity, though it is not easy, especially for first-timers.
Lack of Professional Support and Networks
Absence of Agencies and Networks
It appears that creators from the more developed YouTube market have opportunities to work with companies such as multi-channel networks or talent agencies, that offer a variety of help, tools, and connections. In Bangladesh, institutions that provide such professional support are still emerging, and YouTubers are struggling to manage the structural challenges of the business by themselves.
Collaboration Opportunities
The fact is, that collaborations can greatly increase a YouTuber’s viewership and number of subscribers. However, finding suitable collaborators in Bangladesh might pose a problem as a result of the small size of the YouTube nation. Fewer opportunities for partnerships, which may be mutually advantageous, are established among cross-promotions.
Educational and Skill Development Gaps
Limited Access to Training
The key to making great content involves several skills depending on the content being developed, including video production, graphic arts, writing a captivating story, and marketing. Formal education and training in these fields is a major concern in Bangladesh hence would be challenging for individuals who want to pursue YouTube as a full-time job to get access to such training and adequate skills.
Digital Literacy
General knowledge of your own channel and the World Wide Web, algorithms, analytics, and SEO, are all essential in expanding a YouTube channel. Most creators may lack the knowledge or the necessary equipment to utilize such powers to the benefit of his/her channel hence acting as a hindrance to one channel.