“asim Najafi Aghdam, the woman who attacked YouTube’s headquarters, was part of a sprawling ecosystem of “creators”—the hundreds of thousands of independent producers who upload material to the world’s largest video site. Police have said her bitterness over the company’s policies appeared to have motivated Tuesday’s shooting that left three YouTube employees wounded. She then killed herself. Ms. Aghdam in January had posted a video accusing YouTube of limiting viewer traffic to some of her videos and suggested on her personal website that the site paid her a lower amount of ad revenue than she deserved. Many fellow creators, while condemning Ms. Aghdam’s actions, say that there are underlying problems with how YouTube treats the people who make its videos. Thousands of independent video makers rely on the site and the ad revenue it generates for their income. Their concerns, broadcast regularly through videos, Instagram posts and tweets, highlight the challenge YouTube faces as it expands its business and finds the demands of its advertisers in conflict with the wishes of its video creators. ”
