Madhavi Guttikonda aka Mad Gardner who is a gardener from Vishakapatnam, Andhra Pradesh has 717K subscribers currently on YouTube. Guttikonda is amongst the regional content creators on who has been able to bridge linguistic and regional barriers and connect with audiences with the help of the video sharing platform. “My message to the upcoming creators of regional languages is there will always be a space for regional language content which cannot be filled by English or Hindi as local audiences own their mother language to other languages. Though the content appeals to smaller sections, we could make a remarkable recognition,” says Guttikonda.
Poulami Nag who goes by the moniker Hothat Jodi Uthlo Kotha on YouTube says, “While the map on the wall may say that a language is native to certain boundaries in the traditionalist sense, the scope is much wider as people who leave the nest, carry their language, their core values with them, and so you may have a listener quite eager to hear from you sitting in Wisconsin or Georgia, or Ontario, even Lithuania of all places. This has been made possible because of the platform provided by YouTube. The idea of reaching out to a wider audience, and having a robust system that aids in your work, is the bedrock of the journey I have been so far.”
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Another regional content creator Seetharaman aka Tech Satire who makes content in Tamil says, “YouTube gives equal opportunity to content creators from different genres and languages to express themselves and create content based on what they like. The platform allows anyone to build a career doing what they are passionate about. Reaching the audience who speak our language is easier on YouTube and if the content is strong, we can reach our audience no matter where they live across the world.”
Revenue on YouTube
The creators also talk about generating revenue from YouTube. YouTuber Aishwarya Patekar who makes English accessible to farmers through her YouTube channel Speak English with Aishwarya says, “YouTube offers various ad formats, each with its own revenue sharing rate. For example, creators typically earn 55% of the revenue from ads displayed on their videos through the Watch Page Monetization Module, while they earn 70% of the revenue from features like Super Chat and Channel Memberships. The location of their viewers also matters. Advertisers may pay different rates depending on the viewer’s location.”
Nag shares her views and says, “While many may think that the only way to attain revenue through the YouTube ad revenue; however, in truth the spectrum is bigger. Over the time, YouTube has opened up possibilities for creators to earn money through different avenues, for example, YouTube Shorts, channel membership and ‘Thanks’ option. It may surprise a lot of readers that ‘Thanks’ and ‘Membership’ have actually helped a lot and became a steady source of revenue for creators, while the ad revenue fluctuates.”