 Finally have an update about the situation regarding monetization on this channel And I am very happy and relieved to report that as of today Monetization is back on this channel and you might have even seen an ad before this YouTube video Which is very very annoying because ads are annoying but nonetheless vital to the survival of this channel I wanted to give you all that update on video because after so many of you responded With words of encouragement and advice. I can't just tweet about this I can't just provide you with an update in a comment on the last video like I need to actually explain How overwhelming the response from this community was after I posted that video of me distraught on Friday because I Was distraught that was that was kind of like my last resort I did not want to make a YouTube video About how YouTube was potentially screwing me over and to be clear. I still don't have answers I don't know if my application just fell behind someone's desk. I don't know if they hate me Doesn't matter though because what matters is that monetization is back and now I have this renewed love for the channel and Now I can confirm. I'm never going anywhere never ever going anywhere now So first and foremost, let me just give a couple of thank yous to people Because if I did not sound the alarm about this I don't know if anything would have been accomplished and I was hesitant to speak up because one I didn't think that anyone would care but boy was I wrong and Second of all, you know, if I spoke up I was worried that that might hurt my chances of getting demonetized just because if you piss off YouTube if you bite the hand that feeds you then You know, not necessarily the smartest idea So I was quiet for more than a month, but the cavernacle convinced me You've got to sound the alarms otherwise Nothing is gonna get accomplished because he explained to me how he was in a similar situation a couple of years ago I'll be at worse where he was purposefully demonetized and he raised the alarms on Twitter and YouTube restored his monetization status and He was right to convince me and I honestly don't know that I would have tweeted about this or made that video if He didn't tell me to do that. So Cav thank you so much. I really appreciate your advice. You were right, man. Everybody go subscribe to the cavernacle Second of all, I've got to thank the people who helped me behind the scenes I did not ask for anyone's help behind the scenes But everybody just is so kind and went out of their way to help that includes crystal ball Kyle Kalinsky as soon as they found out they immediately started sending on messages on my behalf again did not ask But out of the kindness of their hearts, they used their resources and connections To help get me in touch with a YouTube rep also got to thank Aaron Weisackie of TYT network This has been one of the most pleasant Helpful people I have ever had the pleasure of working with and he also put me in contact with the YouTube rep and this YouTube rep I'm not gonna say his name, but you are amazing You are absolutely amazing and I hope that when I am finally large enough to be assigned a YouTube representative that I get you because I Did not think that somebody would respond to multiple emails within like 10 minutes But this YouTube rep was on it and he got shit done. I don't know what he did. I don't know if he cracked skulls I don't know But whatever he did it worked. Thank you so much to that YouTube rep on top of that Thank you so much to people who reached out behind the scenes like Sam Cedar Who also offered to put me in touch with his YouTube rep? Thank you to Zed Tabadi who explained how this works given his employment with social media companies trying to reassure me that They're not purposefully fucking with you here. This is probably just something that is Unfortunate, but it will get restored be confident in that. Thank you to mr. Anderson says who behind the scenes was also contacting YouTube Thank you to every single person like I can't possibly thank all of you one by one But the amounts of people who tweeted at team YouTube who use the hashtag monetize Mike and it just sent out a kind message to me Saying hang in there. I cannot tell you how much that means and just in general The response has been so overwhelming that it actually made me tear up and let me just say that is very very difficult to do because With the amount of antidepressants I'm on I am functionally a robot who feels minimal emotions But you all did it you got me to feel emotional because holy shit the amounts of people who cared when I didn't think anyone would care is just mind-blowing to me and Here's even the best part so When I made my video I instructed everybody who was a pre-existing member on YouTube to consider switching to patreon like I plugged my patreon, but I didn't push it too hard because There's so there's so many more worthy causes that people can Donate their money to so giving it to a youtuber not necessarily the best use of your funds, but despite me Arguably discouraging people from donating The amount of people who signed up on Friday and over the weekend to be new members on patreon Just mind-boggling and there were so many people who signed up So many people who sent in one-time donations Here's the best news that all of the damage that was done to this channel the irreparable damage done to this channel all Because of a month and some change of no monetization was completely reversed by every single person Completely reversed so let me tell you what I mean so on Friday I explained how the hundreds of YouTube memberships were automatically canceled because if I don't have monetization and Your membership is up for renewal Well, it gets automatically canceled not the time that I record this video just checked We still have nine memberships, which is a bit weird because every single membership should have been up for renewal So I don't know how those nine memberships still exist, but What matters is that so many people signed up on patreon that the amount of members on patreon now outnumber The members that we lost on YouTube I'll say that again the amount of new members on patreon out Numbers the amounts of members that we had on YouTube amazing just incredibly amazing you all are so kind I had a bunch of people reach out saying hey I'm just gonna up my you know monthly pledge for one month two months until this gets sorted out So many people saying hey Mike I'm just joining temporarily, but I want you to know that I've got your back You all are the kindest people the best community ever and I just my mind is blown and on top of that Something that was just so crazy to see is that a lot of people donated through PayPal as well They submitted one-time donations and we got so many donations that you all replaced the income we lost From that month of monetization. So any damage that was done to the channel has been completely flipped and reversed because of all of you I can't even begin to thank you all enough you all literally saved this channel because I actually believed that this might be the end But you all you all saved it like I don't know what else to say you saved this channel Holy shit, you fucking did it that is incredible. That is amazing Even the folks who couldn't donate just your messages were so heartwarming like hey Mike I can't donate, but I just want you to know that I'm tweeting at team YouTube on your behalf And I want you to hang in there and I got just the sweetest message from an elderly trans woman Just letting me know your videos mean so much to me you have to keep going and It just my heart it touched my heart, you know, I'm like the Grinch where you know He had the small little cynical heart But on Christmas his heart grew my heart grew a little bit because you all are just the kindest people on The internet and the internet is a very mean place and let me just say there were many people who were celebrating The turmoil that the channel was going through people saying hey This is a rare YouTube win never monetize them YouTube couldn't have happened to a better bastard but Because of all of the love and partially because of the hate I now I'm never gonna stop I am never going anywhere even if we permanently lost monetization I'm not going anywhere because you all have just given me the fuel to keep me going in Imperperatuity and I'm not gonna stop and I say this because on Friday I talked about how I was burnt out and Yeah, still feel burnt out because of the news cycle But just to hear from so many people how much the channel means to them was something that I did not anticipate I mean my My tenure on YouTube has been long But over time I just kind of begin to feel more and more like the channel Doesn't make a difference like what's the point of the channel? We're not really making a political impact What is my role in the grand scheme of things because I don't want to just be political entertainment? Like I want to make a difference in the world and you all kind of let me know that this channel does have a purpose And maybe it's not gonna make a change on the macro level, but on the micro level to individuals. I really feel so Happy to know that you all feel so strongly about the channel just Knowing that this channel means so much to you all Man, that's just such a good feeling and I really thank you all for reaching out and letting me know That you love the channel So now that I have your attention, I think that there's some important things that we need to do going forward so as Weird as this sounds I do think it's a good opportunity to double down on YouTube So I haven't really promoted it a lot, but I do have a second channel the Mike figurado channel I'm gonna link to that down below go subscribe because in the event something bad happens where this channel Goes down even if it's temporarily. I need to have a platform to Sound the alarms and that second channel is gonna be it also I'm gonna start posting more regularly there I want to anyways and I want to Gradually shift the twitch highlights over to that channel because I really want this channel to be like the best Work that I possibly produce but on that channel It's gonna be more low-effort stuff not making a good pitch for it, but you know what I mean, right? And I think that having that alternative is gonna be important going forward because I now know that having a large platform is very Important and I hope to help smaller creators in the same way that creators larger than me helped me So the more that you build up your platform the better off you will be long-term also on top of that Because this community is so incredible. I want to encourage you all to go and subscribe to our subreddit that I just created last week It's called r slash humanist report And I think that because you all are such good people you need to know that there are good people in the world Like I want you all to see what I saw over the weekend Just so many people caring about a stranger who they've never met caring about a channel that they watch every single day I want you all to know each other I want all the good people to meet because you know, it feels lonely like it this time This political era it feels draining and lonely. So I want you all to understand What having a real community feels like and it's just an online community, right? But having that is really important and there are other communities online But having seen firsthand how kind and compassionate you all are I'm plugging the subreddit Go on the subreddit one last thing one last announcement Hopefully sometime today. I'm gonna put up a video for patrons thanking each and every single one of you by name I went through the list and there were literally hundreds of you that signed up over the weekend I've got to add more that signed up since I made that list So I'm gonna update that and hopefully today that video will go up for patrons where I'm just thanking you all by name One by one because you all are just so kind and even though that can't even begin to Do justice to like the amount of help that you you've been it's just my small way of saying thank you This is me recognizing you because you helped me to feel seen when I felt unheard and that matters So thank you all so much From the bottom of my heart. I Really cannot say how much I appreciate this community and value every single one of you who watch Thank you all so much. I am never going to stop