What They're Not Telling You about YouTube

We all use YouTube even we if don’t upload our own videos. It’s the most dominate video sharing website online right now. It remains popular even if the website has gone through some drastic changes since it was bought out by Google. The format has been repeatedly changed, advertisements are now everywhere and most controversial of all, users were forced to sign in with a Google+ account. A decision that exposed everyone’s turn identity for the entire online world to see. Although most users seem to hate the new changes when they first happen, they will eventually stomach them due to a lack of satisfying alternatives. So we keep watching YouTube videos in spite of all the times we grumble under our breath.

But what if you were told that most of the users on the site are not real? That a big chunk of what you see going on YouTube is not authentic at all and that some of the most popular users don’t even exist? This may sound strange at first but keep listening. Since Google bought the website they have proven time and time again that they don’t care for their users. They harassed YouTube users until they agreed to sign up for Google+ or eventually just force them to do it against their will. They also cater to the needs of big industries, which resulted in them overly commercializing the site. Since Google came along users have had to deal with constant advertisements on the website and have their videos censored over ridiculous copyright rules: such as having a pop song playing in the background of their videos or making a short fan film. What most people don’t realize is how far Google is willing to go to keep some level of control over the users. To help influences and manipulate the real users, Google secretly created fake users and has them pretending to be real.

Some of the people on the site are real, or at least use to be. These include the people who signed up before the Google buyout and the users whose channels stand little chance of being noticed (or at least becoming a mainstream hit on the site). But those who are popular on the site are all really fake users, even the people who claim to be honest bloggers at home. These also include people that may have their own website or podcast outside of YouTube. Many of them are actors hired by Google following a script written for them. Their interaction with each other are all planned and rehearsed. If they have their own popular website or podcast, then it’s highly likely that it’s secretly being paid for by Google. Some pre-Google buyout bloggers and undiscovered users who show potential of becoming popular are offered a chance to join Google. If they do so, they must follow a script written for them and never upload a video without getting permission first. In exchange Google will promote them all over online and make their videos easy to find. If they turn down the offer, then Google will make sure their videos will never be seen again. All their videos will be removed under false clams and eventually the user will be banned from YouTube.

Believe it or not that’s not even strange part. Here is where things start to getting weird. Some of the fake users you’re seeing are actually CG characters. They are computer generated people made by Google using technology that they have kept for themselves. Google has access to some of the most advance technology in the world and connection to major special effect industries. They are looking for bloggers who will simply follow orders and are appealing to social media. This can be hard to do seeing how some people might betray them and leak information. So they started literally creating their own people who will only do what they want and that they can never fear being portrayed by. Their voice is actually from a computer, the room they are sitting in is just a digital background and the person is just a perfected CG character. It’s confirmed that marketing industries have used computers to create unrealistic people before. Most of the models you see in magazines have been digitally altered and exaggerated to the point that they couldn't possibly exist in the real world. Digital voices are known to the public as well. For example in Japan there have been virtual pop stars whose voices are sung by a computer. The bloggers who are talking to you through a video are simply using a more advance version of this technology. These bloggers are all products created by Google. Created to be attractive, funny, and appealing to the average user. Their purpose is to attract users to the site, sell them things and sway public opinion. Both the actors and virtual users are meant to keep people online distracted and in the dark without even realizing it.

The weirdness doesn’t end here. A big chunk of the people in the comment sections are also fake. This is not to say there are no real internet trolls, but there are less of them then you think. Most of you know of those scam bots that appear in the comment sections, offering a link to a suspicious website that will most likely give you a virus. It’s no secret that those people are just bots programmed to leave random links, but what is a secret is that Google has access to A.I. technology. A while ago Google bought Boston Dynamics, a robotics company that was originally working with US defenses department. In reality the two had been working closely together long before the buyout and many backroom deals had been made between the two. What was never revealed to the public was that Boston Dynamics was successful in creating A.I. software that can perfectly mimic a real human mind. This A.I. program can exist on the internet as its own online entity. They can read and understand comments and articles as well as watch videos. They can talk to online users as if they are real commentators. They can look up information faster than a real user and download it all into their memories. This may make them seem like skilled debaters at first, but they process the information so quickly that as a malfunction they sometimes have a hard time grasping what they had just processed. Google uploaded the A.I. software into both YouTube and their own search engine, which is part of the reason why they made it a requirement to use Google+ to login to YouTube.

The software is programmed to create three new A.I. entities for every real YouTube user who creates an account. This way the A.I. users will always outnumber the real users. The A.I. are all programmed to share whatever opinion, beliefs and even personal taste in pop culture that Google wants them to. This way Google can sway the real users into accepting whatever they favor. Since there are more A.I. users then real users they can create a sense of online conformity and makes real people more hesitant to speak their opinions. Anyone who holds a view that’s in opposition to Googles agenda will be directly targeted by the A.I. commentators, which will begin harassing the real users with tactics such as cyber bullying, spamming and in some cases even hack in their computer to upload a virus. This also encourages reals users to join in with the A.I. to target unfortunate user who had spoken out. At the same the time the A.I.s are also are programmed to like and praise the fake video users by leaving positive comments and “liking” the video. Which in return will encouraging real people to do the same.

All of this is meant to help control the real users who are unaware how they are being manipulated. This way Google can guide people into buying certain products. For example if a movie comes out made by a studio that has asked Google for help with advertising, then Googles fake YouTube users will all react positively to the movie. The Actors and CG bloggers will promote the film on their channel or on their website and podcast if they have one. Why the A.I. commentators will like the same videos of the fake bloggers parsing the movie. The A.I. users will leave comments acting like if they had just seen the same movie claiming that they had loved it. They will also hit like button to the trailers or anything else that has to do with the movie, such as a parody video or a positive review. All of this will lead the real users on into wanting to see the movie for themselves. If a real YouTube user leaves a comment or video presenting the movie in a favorable light, the A.I. users will hit the like button so that more people will see the video or comment. If a real user didn't like the movie and express it through a comment or video on YouTube, then the A.I. user will thumb it down so it has less of a chance of being seen.

Google does not plan to just use this tactic for marketing. They are using this to help shape our political, religious and philosophical world views as well. For example if there is a candidate that is willing to work with Google, then they will have their fake users prompt him or her. The Actors and CG bloggers will praise him and begin to promote the candidate on their channel. At the same time the A.I. users will rally around the candidate, hitting the like button on anything that portrays him or her in a positive way. They will show intense hostility against anyone real who disagrees with them but like any comment that they are programmed to agree with. From that point on, the real users will be encouraged to follow the candidate and agree to things they normally wouldn't.

This doesn't just concern Googles attempt to influences public opinion but it’s also a matter of security and privacy. Say what you want about Edward Snowden or WikiLeaks, but they confirmed that for the past few years Google has been working with the NSA. The A.I. users don’t just act like YouTube users but can also keep track of real ones. Each time you unknowingly talk to an A.I. in the comment section, it shares what you had typed and how you acted to all the other A.I.s users. All this information is also sent and stored into files used by the NSA to keep a good track record of you. If you say anything that the NSA would deem you as a possible threat, then the A.I. will begin to monitor you. They will start replying to your comments and videos pretending to be other users trying to engage you. In reality they are testing you, trying to see if they can get anything else from you. If you think you can avoid them by simply not using YouTube, guess again. They can leave the site and tack you down else ware online. If you start talking on an online message boards, then they will follow you there and login with their own accounts. If you use Gmail, then they can just simply read your mail. They can even get into your phone and start texting you why pretending to be someone you know. The idea behind this is to figure out who maybe a real treat or not.

Now to be fair they have caught some real terrorist and pedophiles using this technology, but the NSA is not fully looking out for the public interest either. With this tactic they can also oppress free speech and online movements that are critical of both the Government and Google. Google and the NSA can simply respond to an outcry against them by switching their fake users on to oppose anyone who’s in opposition to them. If someone tries to start a movement to get the public aware of thing such as online privacy issues and corruption within the NSA, the NSA can just ask Google to have all the fake users portray the real ones who protest as uneducated conspiracy theorists. This will instantly create the illusion that the real people are a fanatical minority. They also will continue to record information on you even you’re not a real threat. Some people have gone missing or find themselves wrongful a target by law enforcement after saying the wrong thing online. The A.I. users that are watching you might confuse a troll comments or sarcasm for a real treat. In other cases they may target you just for holding views that people in power want to oppress. Also don’t be to shock if Google will start using escape goats and have their fake users blame everything on a selected group of people to distract you from their own corruption. This all leads to one final question. Will Google try take down this message? Anyone who shares this message may become a target of the fake users, but it doesn't matter. Google has already determined that you won’t do anything about it. They have seen how real users do little whenever they are mistreated by them in the past. They made notes on how real users hated having their identity exposed, but eventually accepted it. They remember when they enforce censorship rules on you or allowed the NSA to read your mail and that no one did anything about it. You just kept using their service. So they have rationalized to themselves that even if their fake users are fully exposed to the public that the reaction will be the same. People will be anger at first, maybe even threaten to use a different search engine and video site, but they will eventually accept everything fake about it and continue to use it in spite the risk.