SubscribeEnd of an Era: Personal Account Signups Closed
It has been quite a while since I’ve graced the blog with my presence. Today, I sent out a newsletter to our Personal users that signed up prior to 2010. I’d like to share it with everyone else, so we’re all on the same page.
Discount offer omitted as it’s exclusive for those that received the email.
Howdy Viddlers,
Many of you are the reason Viddler has risen to where it is today. You are the ones that dedicated hours everyday creating videos, viewing and commenting on the videos of others, and participating in the many community adventures. There’s been countless smiles, tears, frolics, artworks, deep thoughts, kids, birthdays, unboxings, and marvelous accents.
Gosh, this is looking like one of those farewell letters you receive from a company that got acquired and then gathers dust (*ahem* Jaiku). This is certainly not the case.
It’s no secret that Viddler’s community of free users hasn’t been as active in the past couple of years. You guys and gals have grown up, changed hobbies, switched jobs, fallen in love, or just miss iJustine. That’s understandable, but we still love you, so we’re giving away a return trip to AUSTRALIA if you login and upload a video.
Okay, not really. Maybe one day. 
In all seriousness, we do love you, and we just want to let you know that we’ve decided to remove the option to sign up for a Personal/Free account. This will not affect any of you, but it will mean that new users will be required to sign up for a Pro, Business, or Enterprise account.
This decision was made because a good portion of new user sign-ups are spam or businesses wanting to trial our service without using the free business trial (which previously required a credit card, but now don’t).
Since this is a fairly significant change, there will be changes to the website which might confuse some of you who haven’t been back in a while. Rest assured, your videos, comments, tags, and more will stay intact.
If you have any questions or handy feedback, then you’re welcome to contact me via email, @viddler, or leaving a comment on this post.
I look forward to seeing you around Viddler, and the next time we meet in person.
Huge thanks and many hugs,
Derek Steen
Community Participant since 2007
Community Leader since 2008
P.s. This message was shown to several of our Personal users and they approved of its contents. I hope you all feel as accepting as they did.
Daniel Nicolas says
October 18, 2011 - 6:59 pmPrivileged Old School Viddler User Account
Scott says
October 19, 2011 - 1:24 amI don't think disabling free vidler accounts is a step in the right direction. You need to become better known in the community. Maybe create a linked in relationship to connect with professionals.
Shaded Spriter says
October 19, 2011 - 6:16 pmTwo things.
1) Will downloads be accessible to people without an account? I usually download videos for offline viewing and I currently only can do this when signed in on my account.
2) Will this also stop new people from commenting on videos? A lifeblood of a video series is feedback from fans and it seems with you not allowing new accounts – no new people will be able to comment on videos.
twohawks says
October 24, 2011 - 2:15 pmHey Derek, thank you, and your group, for the thoughtful contact and support. Viddler is cooler than some may think. I first came here for some streaming underground news feeds by peers in grass-roots energy interests, and also have had great pleasure tuning into live wildlife feeds from some of our 'green' members.
This is a far cry from youtube (of course).
I was glad to receive your email recently… Just wanted to shout out my appreciation for the hard work and nice service you provide here, and wish you good luck on the new changes you all are embracing.
Best of luck,
TwoHawks
plasitcpipeextrudermachine says
October 25, 2011 - 4:22 amIt's a bad news, I guess a lot of potential members will loss
Dave Frank says
October 26, 2011 - 6:00 pmbye-bye!
CarsonGallo says
November 28, 2011 - 2:36 amMight as well have put a bullet through your forehead, YouTube will completely obliterate u now.
Triactol says
January 4, 2012 - 2:58 amUseful info, thanks for making our life simple:) Keep it up.
John Rako says
January 4, 2012 - 1:13 pmI signed up for a Viddler account some time ago because the platform was just more professional and inviting than the competition with all their length and content restrictions. Besides, I wandered into your office in the Lehigh Valley one day so I had to become a fan. Sadly, life delayed me getting projects up so I haven't been using my account. But that will change shortly, like in a few days.
However, because I want to support you I went to see about a Pro account and I just can't afford it for the few videos I'll produce every year. Can't there be a lower cost plan for videographers who produce just a couple projects a year? Maybe a total annual time limit of 1 hour or something would work.
John Rako says
January 5, 2012 - 10:45 pmI signed up for a Viddler account some time ago because the platform was just more professional and inviting than the competition with all their length and content restrictions. Besides, I wandered into your office in the Lehigh Valley one day so I had to become a fan. Sadly, life delayed me getting projects up so I haven't been using my account. But that will change shortly, like in a few days.