Last updated January 2, 2023
Hello Friends,
Do you like to watch videos worth watching? I sure do. That is why I created mBlip. Basically mBlip follows various YouTube channels that cover a variety of topics. About once an hour, mBlip checks for new videos and embeds them so that you can watch them here.
“Couldn’t you just… you know… use YouTube?”
Well, yes, and I often do. The problem with YouTube is how the algorithm funnels you into wasting your time on videos not worth watching. Sometimes it even tries to lead you down a disinformation rabbit hole. Meanwhile mBlip is checking for new videos from high quality content creators every hour. When you visit mBlip, you will see those videos listed in reverse chronology with no annoying notifications or endless rabbit holes.
“So who is mBlip targeted at?”
I made mBlip for myself. I use it to watch videos almost every day when I want to relax, and I work on it as a hobby. So the numero uno target audience member is me. I also regularly check the server logs to see how many actual visitors mBlip is getting, and after filtering out the thousands of bot requests, it looks like hundreds of other people like it too! I don’t know who any of you people are, but I’m glad you like it. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to make you visit more enjoyable. 🙂
“Why do some of the channels appear to be less accessible?”
The front page is where you will find a variety of high quality videos, but certain channels get excluded for various reasons. The most common of which is “channel flooding” where they would dominate in sheer quantity. Another reason the channel might not be on the front page is because it’s part of another “major category” like news or network talk shows. Sometimes the channel might just be a tad bit too offensive for the front page. It may also be the case where the channel was manually added by request though it doesn’t really fit in with the spirit of mBlip. In any case, you can easily find all the channels picked up by mBlip on the “Categories and Channels” page.
“Wait a second… What about copyrights? How can this be legal?”
mBlip is absolutely 100% legal. Although constantly updating, YouTube’s terms of service are on generally on mBlip’s side. No one is exploiting any “loopholes” or doing anything shady. YouTube content providers agree to those terms, and they have the option to prevent embedded videos from playing their content on sites other than YouTube. Everything is legit.
“But what are the moral implications of mBlip?”
It is true that mBlip creates a couple of cons for the YouTuber. People can’t like or subscribe directly from mBlip, video ads don’t show (but banner ads do), and the comment section is absent. It is also a case that if a YouTuber takes down a video, an echo of the video’s description might still remain on mBlip until the site is reset.
I don’t really like to play the “I’m doing them a favor”, or “I’m giving YouTubers ‘exposure'” cards, but mBlip provides a safer place for people with objections to some of YouTube’s practices. It gives people a way to watch regularly updated content while mitigating some of their exposure to the YouTube platform. When watching a video on mBlip, you are still using YouTube, just without all the distractions.
Morally, I can see some YouTubers not wanting their content featured on mBlip, because none of them have ever explicitly given consent for mBlip to feature their videos. I just want to reiterate that YouTube’s terms of service tells them up front that this is sort of thing is OK, but I understand if they still feel like it is not.
So why don’t I just ask their permission first? Because no one would ever say yes. Giving a stranger they have never met consent to use their stuff for free just feels like a bad idea. By not seeking explicit consent, YouTubers don’t owe me anything, and I don’t owe them anything either. Everyone is free to walk away.
“What is the link to EVsoup about?”
A while back I became a bit of an electric vehicle (EV) enthusiast. These cars are quiet, fast, reliable, fun to drive, and so long as you charge them at home, their energy cost per mile is astonishingly low. I own a couple of EV’s now and really love the driving experience. After adding a few EV channels to mBlip, I realized there was actually a lot more content out there, and it was more than enough to merit its own website.
And so I built EVsoup. It’s essentially mBlip, but for electric cars. If you like mBlip and you like EV’s, you’re gonna love EVsoup!
“Why aren’t videos posting in a timely manner anymore?”
Basically it is “glitch control”. mBlip started glitching because it has limited processing power, and because it was trying to check over 250 YouTube channels every single hour. This task took so long that the operation would frequently time-out, but what was worse was when it took so long a second instance started before a previous instance finished. That is when you might have seen “doubles” appear in the line-up.
News channels are still being checked hourly. MSM channels are staggered and checked every other hour. The various “Edutubers” are checked at custom intervals based on when the YouTuber typically publishes. Hopefully this will allow mBlip to keep expanding without being overloaded. Sadly, it may sometimes result in a video not posting for several hours even after it appears on YouTube.
Bear in mind mBlip always orders the posts according to the timestamp on YouTube, and not when mBlip actually found a new video. This can result in videos randomly popping in further down the list as the day goes on. Just something to keep in mind.
“I represent or own a YouTube channel that you’re putting on your site, and I don’t like it.”
I am sorry if you feel this way. Please send me an email, and I will remove all references to your channel and the embedded videos from this site without complaint, and again, my most humble apologies.
Please understand, I am not featuring your videos to take advantage of you. I am featuring your videos so YouTube doesn’t take advantage of me. If that bothers you, I will delete you from this site and stop watching your videos.
“A lot of the YouTubers you feature are also on Nebula. Have you seen Nebula? What do you think of it?”
So imagine a site with a curated collection of videos from the best in YouTube edutainment. No, not mBlip. This is “Nebula“.
Just so you know, mBlip started at end of 2016 while Nebula came along sometime after. Let me be clear: mBlip was definitely here first. I find it interesting that several creators that I featured on mBlip ended up over there. Although it’s probably just an unrelated coincidence, I’d like to think that mBlip had a hand in inspiring that platform’s creation… But I highly doubt it.
For those who don’t know, a bunch of YouTubers felt disgruntled over the overzealous demonetization practices on YouTube. They went on to create “Nebula“, a subscription video streaming service where the creators get compensated based on viewer watch time, and without fear of unfair demonetizations. For the most part they feature various “edutainment” YouTubers, but I feel their lineup is a bit more exclusive compared to mBlip’s.
I have personally bought a membership, and I like Nebula a lot. Their platform has a lot of potential, and I hope they get more YouTuber’s on board. It would be nice if the “Nebulized” YouTubers would also include a direct link at the top of their YouTube video descriptions. That way it would make it easier for people to opt into watching the Nebula versions, which would allow the creators to get paid more.
“You seem to only embed YouTube Videos, right?”
Pretty much. mBlip is running a sophisticated automated feed reader. It can embed YouTube videos from many YouTube feeds. Technically it can embed content from any website that has feeds, but it cannot link to just any website or web page. I have tried using other sites, but I think I will just stick to YouTube.
Got a request? It never hurts to ask!
mBlip is always evolving! If you have a favorite YouTube channel that regularly presents decent content, please visit mBlip’s “Suggest a Channel” page. Thanks to people just like you, mBlip will always have something new in the lineup!
What do you like to watch? I really enjoy adding your personal favorites, so please keep sending in those requests!
Keep in mind that some channels cannot be added because they block embedding or use other tricks to thwart mBlip’s feed parser. I also want to mention that if your suggestion does not fit with the mBlip edutainment motif, I might still try to add it, but it won’t show up on the home page.
“Hey, where did that video that used to be here go?”
mBlip is not intended to be an archive. Left unchecked, the database will amass a disturbingly high number of videos. I will periodically purge mBlip of all its posts, so I strongly discourage linking to any videos on mBlip because sooner or later, everything here gets deleted. Please link to the actual YouTube page instead.
These purges are manually performed about once a month honestly it’s kind of random. If you ever visit mBlip and see the message: “There doesn’t seem to be anything here”, give it about an hour or so and check back. Please be patient! mBlip will slowly repopulate the content on its own, but it can take a day or so, and only the 15 most recent videos from any given YouTube channel will reappear.
I am always looking for suggestions!
I would love to hear your suggestions, so here is a “Suggestion Page!” Just type in which YouTube channels you would like to see, and I’ll see what I can do!
I also wanted to mention that mBlip.com never accepts donations, nor will mBlip seek any revenue through advertising. Sponsorships placed in the videos and the video descriptions are those of the video makers and do not financially benefit or enrich mBlip in any way. Visitor info will never be sold by mBlip, and there is no interest in making money with this site or improving its search engine ranking. This site is a personal hobby, not a business.
mBlip has been operating since December 29, 2016, and has complied with zero government requests for information. The canary is still alive and kicking. But seriously… Why would LEO ever be interested in mBlip’s server logs? There’s no hidden secret section here. What you see is what you get.