By now if you are frequent YouTube visitor you might have noticed that your favourite videos do not start playing in the ideal quality. Well, it’s not a glitch and you are not the only one as the Google-owned platform did announce that they will reduce streaming quality for users across the globe.

The decision comes just a week after the company revealed that the quality reduction would be affecting users in Europe alone. This, according to YouTube, is to help lessen broadband strain as more people are forced to stay home aka social distancing.

Your favourite tech or car review video will start in 480p default quality. That, however, does not mean that you cannot upgrade it on the video settings as you will have to do that manually.

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“We continue to work closely with governments and network operators around the globe to do our part to minimize stress on the system during this unprecedented situation,” the company said in a statement to Bloomberg.

Netflix And Facebook Follow Suit

YouTube would not be the only to make the tough decision as other networks and streaming platforms are seemingly disabling the auto-quality feature as well. Just yesterday, a Facebook spokesperson also revealed that they, together with Instagram will “temporarily reduce” video streaming bitrates.

This was followed by streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video who have also started doing the same. This will obviously have negative feedback with time but it is for the best, according to the companies. Reducing the quality collectively will make sure that each service can continue offering the best content without users in certain regions having to suffer more than others.

It is also a major bummer considering many celebrities had already started relying on their social media pages to put out content like online live concerts and talks.

As of now though, YouTube’s decision is the only one that has clearly been reflected in Kenya. But with the situation getting seemingly worse, it is almost inevitable for the other sites to do the same on the Kenyan side.