VidLii: Difference between revisions
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'''VidLii''' (formerly '''VidBit''') is a video sharing site that was launched by [[Jan]] in 2015. Since mid-2017, it has a used a remake of YouTube's late 2008 design with some degree of layout customization; it originally used a remake of the late 2005 layout. One could argue that this website kickstarted the modern iteration of the ''Old YouTube Community'', and was the most popular of its kind for a long time, but it has possibly been surpassed by [[BitView]] since 2023. | '''VidLii''' (formerly '''VidBit''') is a video sharing site that was launched by [[Jan]] in 2015. Since mid-2017, it has a used a remake of YouTube's late 2008 design with some degree of layout customization; it originally used a remake of the late 2005 layout. One could argue that this website kickstarted the modern iteration of the ''Old YouTube Community'', and was the most popular of its kind for a long time, but it has possibly been surpassed by [[BitView]] since 2023. | ||
Latest revision as of 17:19, 29 April 2025
This page contains content from the following pages:
aniki
VidLii (formerly VidBit) is a video sharing site that was launched by Jan in 2015. Since mid-2017, it has a used a remake of YouTube's late 2008 design with some degree of layout customization; it originally used a remake of the late 2005 layout. One could argue that this website kickstarted the modern iteration of the Old YouTube Community, and was the most popular of its kind for a long time, but it has possibly been surpassed by BitView since 2023.
History[edit]
Early Years (2015-2018)[edit]
The first version of what would become VidLii was created in 2015 by Jan under the name ClipBits. The site looked identical to the 2005 interface of YouTube, without having many features on the main page. In August, the site's look was updated to the September 2005 layout of YouTube. Sometime around 2016, the name of the website changed to VidBit with a corresponding UI change to the late 2008-early 2009 design of YouTube until Jan decided to briefly take it down which led to the short lived VidBitFuture.
Due to legal issues, VidBit changed its name to VidLii in 2017. For most of the year, it received many new updates, such as:
- A password recovery feature
- A new program for testing and experimenting with new features, appropriately named TestLii
- Playlist features for channels
- Inbox sections
- A page for uploading fan-made themes
- Awards
- Featured video selection for channels
- The option to switch to the Cosmic Panda channel layout (a.k.a the YouTube Layout from 2011-2013)
- Other new social features and user account management settings.
VidLii gained attention and exposure thanks to a popular Russian YouTuber known as NFKRZ, who made a video featuring the site. More features were announced, including annotations, groups, and a possible mobile app. During NFKRZ's very short time on VidLii, some people in the community criticized him for "ruining VidLii" for bringing a toxic userbase to the site.
Vlare, VidLii Remake, and departure of Jan (2018-2022)[edit]
In May 2019, Vlare, a site originally starting as a custom theme for VidLii in 2018 before it was decided to spin it off into it's own site, was launched and most of the VidLii community moved to the new site or left the community in general. Even though VidLii remained up its future was in question as Vlare began to become bigger than VidLii, particularly during the COPPA scare on YouTube in late 2019 that led to many channels fleeing to many YouTube alternatives and rocketing Vlare's userbase up significantly for a few months. However, Vlare's abrupt shutdown in August 2020 and the subsequent failure to revive the site caused a lot of the userbase that came from VidLii to return. However, the drama on the site caused several users to leave to other alternative sites or just leave the community altogether.
Throughout 2020 and 2021, Jan began a project to remake all of VidLii with a better code which would allow him to modernize the site and add more features without as much difficulty as he did previously. But after assessing the situation, Jan decided he would repurpose the VidLii remake to being a revival of VidBit instead. This came shortly after VidLii was banned off Adsense around January 2022 not long after it was reported to Google along with an unknown third party finding a massive exploit that would let them to access the admin panel of VidLii.
A week before the sites were scheduled to merge with each other, Lolwut and Kuz of the Russian-based Kolyma Network joined the VidBit Discord server, wanting to speak with Jan about buying VidLii and its sister site, BitView. After Jan spoke to Lolwut and Kuz about it, Jan accepted the offer for VidLii and its sister site BitView for €1.7k in cryptocurrency. While the sale was pending, ex-VidLii user and later co-owner of Bittoco, Hush, warned Jan to pull out of the deal, mainly due to her concern over Kuz's sketchy behavior; by the time that these warnings were given, however, it was too late as the sale was nearly finalized. An argument ensued between Kuz and Hush, which led to Kuz telling Hush to kill herself and getting banned off the VidBit Discord server.
On February 10th, 2022. VidLii went down for a short amount of time as a result of the transfer of servers to the new owners; not long after, Jan endorsed VidLii and its new owners, along with announcing the discontinuation of the VidBit remake project, but withdrew his endorsement later that year after what happened to the site afterwards.
Kolyma ownership, decline, terror attack (2022-2024)[edit]
In the aftermath of the buyout, the site was once again flooded with a wave of users posting videos containing Neo-Nazism, white supremacy, racism, and pro-Russia propaganda in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, more than ever seen before on the site. Many users fled to other alternative sites or left the community for good.
On January 18th, 2023, Lolwut announced on the VidLii site blog that Kuz had stepped down and left the site after a decline in overall involvement in 2022, and that lolwut was now sole owner of VidLii moving forward; in spite of this announcement, however, some in the alt community speculated that Kuz was still an administrator or otherwise continued to take part in VidLii some other capacity. In early 2023, rumors started popping up on the internet that Kuz had died from HIV/AIDS, which later turned out to be false, as Kuz was allegedly fleeing Russia to avoid dealing with legal issues.
On August 12th, 2024, Arda Küçükyetim, a VidLii user under the alias Skreewie, entered a tea garden in the Tepebasi district of Eskişehir, Turkey, and streamed himself randomly stabbing people in his vicinity;[1] a total of seven people were injured, one critically. On his channel, Skreewie had uploaded content related to Nazism, racism, and glorification of real world tragedies.[2] Some Turkish outlets called for VidLii to be deplatformed and for people who use it to be put on a terror watchlist, further jeopardizing VidLii's future.
New Management (2024-present)[edit]
A user named aniki believed that VidLii and its reputation were rapidly stagnating and decided to fix it. With approval from lolwut, he removed many videos relating to gore and terrorism and banned many users who had uploaded said content. Alongside this, new developers and moderators have been hired, giving a promising future for VidLii. He is promising that annotations and groups will be added soon, along with a multitude of other features and bug fixes.