UPDATE: Shortly after the release of this article and our already very popular video on the subject, YouTube has put its 'Most Viewed' back as default Videos page. We're cautiously optimistic but it seems that YouTube IS listening to its community. Let's hope they stick to keeping YouTube a powerful platform for a free and open exchange of ideas. Spread the word, Digg it, Reddit it, make videos, let YouTube realize that we love them because of the platform they've always given to its community.

12/06/08 (updated) Two days ago YouTube replaced its list of 'Most Viewed' videos on the site's 'Videos' section with a varied selection of sponsor-friendly videos that the site called 'Most Popular'. Where users normally see videos with high view-counts that have become popular due to viral spreading and community activity, we now saw videos like the new MacBook commercial that gets showcased on the 'Most Popular' #1 spot while having very low view-counts and even lower ratings. YouTube would no longer give massive exposure to its community's video productions and instead had begun tightly controlling its Videos pages to attract more sponsors and a more mainstream audience. However, hundreds of thousands of users responded and YouTube listened...

The consequences would have been drastic, YouTube's 'Videos' front page used to give its community so much exposure that it allowed the instant birth of global grassroots movements such as Anonymous and that it was even a deciding factor in the 2008 US presidential elections as it was constantly being flooded by Obama speeches and fan videos. After the massive outcry from YouTube users, they quickly switched back to the old system, giving a default view on what's being made popular by the site's visitors. It would have been a great loss for (what then used to be) Internet celebrities, online communities and activists around the globe who find YouTube to be the only platform for such massive exposure at no cost but of their own creativity. And since this is the very essence of what made YouTube popular to begin with, such a change could have very well marked the beginning of the end for the video-streaming giant. It's great to see that YouTube still cares deeply for its community and will go out of its way to give it the exposure it deserves.

Show YouTube some love for reacting quickly to the community's outcry, digg it!

Some reactions from the YouTube community: