Youtube decided to give themselves a new logo and everybody, including me, hates it. They also changed the interface of their website, but I won't talk about that now. In this post I will only write about the logo change, because it is deemed as the stupidest thing they have done in a while (and also because you can revert back to the old interface if you want to, but you still have to look at that ugly blood orange thing at the top left wherever you go).





I found out about the new logo yesterday when I was trying to have a fun time on Twitter, laughing at memes, while stuffing my face with some not-so-healthy snacks when I saw a response regarding Youtube's new logo. I first thought it was just a joke so I went over to Youtube's twitter where they announced that they FINALLY could bless us with their new logo.

When I saw the new logo I was confused at first "Wait, what? What exactly changed?". Because, initially, I didn't really see what was changed with the logo. When the Youtube website finally updated for me I was met with this ugly blood orange red thing and I actually realized the small change Youtube made to their logo. Immediately I tried to force myself to have flashbacks about my marketing classes, because I wanted to rationalize exactly why this was a horrible move on Youtube's side. Since the flashbacks held no merit and only brought its unnecessary agitation my way, I decided to do some research. And well... I guess the pros agree with most of us: Youtube made a mistake.


So, Youtube is owned by Google right? Well, maybe they should learn to use their parent company's website before making big decisions like changing their logo. I literally typed into Google "should i change my logo" and I was immediately met with an article from Business Insider: It's Almost NEVER A Good Idea To Change Your Company's Logo. Sigh. It was literally that easy, Youtube.

What scientists have found is the brain takes short cuts when it processes information. The more it recognizes a symbol with which it is comfortable, such as the logo of a preferred brand, the quicker it makes a decision with less anxiety. Making changes disrupt the comfort zone.

I started reading some of the replies on their announcement tweet and saw how disappointed and confused most people were with this sudden change. A lot of people called the "old" logo "iconic" which just shows how much people valued the old logo. It daunted on me right there and then that what Youtube was doing with this small change was disrespectful towards their users.

I mean, Youtube has been under fire for a while now, especially after the whole adpocalypse thing (which is still kind of going on). It seems as if Youtube is trying to distract users from a problem that is bigger than their visual identity and that is disrespectful in my opinion. Changing your logo always brings costs with it. Even if it is just a small change. Because Youtube has been under fire for months now, it seems unreasonable that they are spending time and money on something as seemingly unimportant as their visual identity while much bigger things are going on.

People could argue that the department in charge of the logo change (the marketing department probably) can't fix most of the broken parts of Youtube. But am I insane or does this department live in a cave without electricity? Of course they know about Youtube being in a bad spot right now. Shouldn't they do some damage control? Not only towards big companies who bring in the big bucks, but towards their users (mainly the content creators)? Isn't this the job of the marketing department? Instead, users get a stupid visual identity update, which more seems like a visual identity crisis since Youtube isn't acting like itself anymore, and I doubt that they know who they are anymore.

Besides that, it doesn't look like they put much thought nor effort in the new logo. Which is why I was confused at first sight; cause what the heck changed (it's a small, but horrible change). Also, the new blood orange color is an abomination. It hurts my eyes. It's just simply not pleasant to look at. Give me back the old proper red color please.



So yeah, to me it is clear that Youtube is trying to do some type of damage control to cover up all the problems they are having, but unfortunately for them they are failing hard. Maybe it is time for them to be more transparent towards their users (both viewers and uploaders) and stop treating them like illiterate children, which they have been doing for a while now if I may add. Just stop being dumb, Youtube. And learn how to use Google for crying out loud.

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There is also something else I would like to address. A Youtuber called 1791L made an amazing video with in-depth research that shows that big traditional media companies are going after Youtube, which, more or less, resulted in the adpocalypse: