What is it that really made YouTube different from other online video sharing websites?
It was the right site, at the right time. At a time when broadband internet is the norm and social networking was beginning to explode on the internet, YouTube gave users a new way to communicate. People now have an outlet for their creativity, any message they want to share, and a way to share information through video online. Combine that with the social networking sites like Myspace or Facebook -- that allow users to link to YouTube videos -- and YouTube is becoming a pioneer in the way people share information. For the first time, with a simple video camera, anyone can post videos of whatever they want for free.
Founded in 2005, YouTube quickly became one of the hottest sites on the internet. Today the site serves up over one hundred million videos a day. According to the research site HitWise, YouTube can claim over 46 percent of the entire online video market. Considering that site was started by three twenty something techies in Silicon Valley, and then sold to Google for $1.65 billion in late 2006, it is easy to see how the site has started a revolution in the world of online video.
Originally thought up as a video version of the website HotorNot (a pioneer in websites that allowed a user to upload content) YouTube's founders quickly realized that users were uploading whatever content they wanted. People were uploading videos and linking to them from their MySpace sites. YouTube piggybacked on the explosive growth of the social networking site to become the biggest online video site on the web today; MySpace continues to be the greatest source of hits for YouTube according to HitWise.
It was probably a number of factors, and smart decisions by it's founders that allowed YouTube such explosive growth. It was one of the first sites that allowed viewers to watch video from the site with no special software. The decision not to place ads before videos also contributed to the sites success. Probably the largest factor though was how easy the site is to use. A user can register, upload their videos, and it is so easy your grandmother could do it. The combination of the easy and edgy feel to the site fueled its growth to where it is today.
Today the site serves up 100 million videos to users worldwide each and every day. From simple messages uploaded by users to professionally produced videos, you can find almost anything on YouTube. Some users have found fame from their crazy antics in amateur skits. A couple of users have even garnered professional television contracts from their YouTube videos. The site really has become a phenomenon in the world of online video, and social networking.
It will be interesting to see how YouTube, and other sites like it, continue to change the way we communicate, the way we advertise, and mostly the way we share ourselves.
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I am a Long Beach resident and run the newly ...
By: tansel | 04-07-2008
I am a Long Beach resident and run the newly launched web site PoetryVisualized.com Unfortunately I did not know about this festival. I will digg into this and try to get in touch with Fried to see if there is a base to collaborate on future projects concerning poetry. PoetryVisualized.com is a new interactive social networking site about Visual Poetry which showcases hours of famous and not so famous Poetry in form of Video, Animations, Images and Audio. Check it out it is REALLY cool! Since you wrote about the festival I was wondering if you would be interested in covering PoetryVisualized.com and the film festival "The Festival Of Visualized poetry" as a story? Pleas contact me trough the web site's contact us form. thank you up front and best regards, Tansel
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I'm trying to capture a video from my video camera onto movie maker. I get excellent video images but no audie.
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By: rebbe | 01-07-2008
ok,trivia time-i know the answer although many disagree with me. Who recorded the very first rap video-name of song and artist!
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I connected my digital conversion set-top box to the tv, executed the setup sequence, and the tv is working fine. Now, though, the combination DVD player/VCR I have always used with the same tv (with an RF modulator) displays video, but the audio is not working. Anyone know what I did wrong with the setup? My instinct is that it 's something very simple that I overlooked. I tried shutting the set-top converter box off and operating the tv and peripheral the "old" way, but the DVD player/VCR is still not "talking." Thank you for any help you can provide.
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Hi, my sister lives in newzealand and I am in the uk. I have a dongle which allows me 2GB per month. I want to use skype to video call her but dont know how much say a 10 minute call would use up of my gb could anyone help me please. Thank you ps I have a mac does that make any difference?
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