Linus Tech Tips has turned off YouTube’s new membership feature because they say it’s making viewers’ feeds messy, sending unwanted messages, and ultimately causing them to lose fans.
Linus Tech Tips is stopping its use of YouTube’s membership-only videos because of recent changes the platform made to the feature. In a video posted on October 7th, Linus Sebastian criticized the new system, calling it a manipulative tactic designed to create fear of missing out, and explaining that it’s cluttering recommendations and making YouTube difficult to use.
This feature started over six years ago as a straightforward way for fans to support the people who make their favorite videos. However, according to Sebastian, YouTube has recently changed how it operates. Now, it’s showing videos that require a subscription to users who don’t have one, even on their homepages, in search results, and in video suggestions.
He explained that they wouldn’t have made this change if they had a choice, and they wouldn’t have joined the program initially knowing it would happen this way.
What’s most annoying about this whole situation is how unaware YouTube appears to be of its own actions.
Linus suggested that YouTube could solve the problem by adding a settings menu. This would let viewers hide videos only available to channel members, and possibly limit this feature to those with a Premium subscription.
He explained that it would be reasonable if viewers could opt out of these promotions, similar to how they can with ads or content topics. He also suggested that people who already pay for YouTube Premium should be exempt.
Honestly, right now there’s no way for creators to really manage how YouTube promotes their videos. And I haven’t seen anything from YouTube to suggest they’re planning to give us that control back anytime soon, which is pretty frustrating.
Linus Tech Tips to remove all members-only videos
Sebastian announced that his team is taking down or making private all content previously available only to paying subscribers. Subscribers who paid for access will get a partial refund, but members who have badges or emojis won’t be impacted.
He also mentioned that YouTuber DankPods had similar issues with the program, explaining that YouTube’s system and limited control for creators have made the feature disorganized and annoying for people watching.
I’ve noticed a lot more people joining recently, but honestly, it doesn’t feel like a win. Sebastian says the changes have actually hurt how many people are watching, and the general feeling around the channel is really down. He even said it’s making people lose interest, which is super concerning!
Linus has criticized YouTube’s membership feature before. He recently shared on his podcast, the WAN Show, that they’d seen a significant drop in views, which he believes was caused by the feature taking away important opportunities to show their content to potential viewers.
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2025-10-09 19:49