dailymotion.com
This is where other video streaming platforms come into play.
Other video streaming platforms, such as Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and CBS All Access, are all quite popular and have their own sets of advantages and disadvantages. It really depends on what you're looking for in a streaming service and which one suits your needs the best.
People really think that YouTube's ads are intrusive and annoying. They're everywhere, and they interferes with the user experience. Plus, it seems like YouTube is only going to increase them in the future, which is definitely not what people want.
Many people are concerned with YouTube's policies on censorship. Increasingly, over the last decade, YouTube has become almost draconian in the way that they deal with censoring content on their servers. All it takes is a single complaint about a video to be taken down, or if YouTube does not agree with what you say in your videos, well, they can simply demonetize your channel. This is very troubling for the matter of free speech, something that many people (understandably) take very seriously.
YouTube's slipups have allowed other video streaming platforms to rise up and amass hundreds of millions of unique monthly users. One such video streaming site that comes to mind is Vimeo, which has successfully managed to brand itself as a sort of anti-YouTube, with cooler censorship policies and absolutely zero ads. Unfortunately, though, Vimeo has not yet been able to even scratch the surface of engagement that YouTube has, which means that the range of videos available on Vimeo is going to be relatively very limited.
Another video streaming service that has been growing in popularity is Daily Motion. Although it hasn't rivaled YouTube's popularity, it has amassed 300 million active monthly users. This suggests that Daily Motion could be a viable alternative to YouTube if you're looking for a different streaming service. Let's dive into how this service works and see if it could be a worthy replacement for YouTube.
History
Benjamin Bejbaum and Olivier Poitrey founded Dailymotion in March of 2005. The website went live from the living room of Poitrey's Paris apartment. Between Bejbaum, Poitrey, and 4 others, a small group of 6 people was able to pool together ?6,000 in order to get the business started. These humble beginnings however saw as in September of the following year Dailymotion was able to raise investments from Atlas Ventures and Partech International to the tune of 7 million euros. According to French Web 2.0, Dailymotion received the most funds raised of any site in 2006. From there, the money just kept rolling in.
In October of 2009, the French government invested in Daily Motion via a federal Strategic Investment Fund. And on January 25th, 2011, Orange purchased a 49% stake in the company, evaluated at 62 million euros. The company then was worth a grand total of $120 million.
In 2013, Orange acquired the remaining 51% of Daily Motion for 61 million. And in May of that same year, the French government blocked an attempt from Yahoo to purchase the majority stock.
2014: In a press conference, Orange CEO Stephane Richard revealed that the company had been in negotiations with Microsoft to bring Daily Motion into the US market. Talks were also conducted with other potential partners.
2015: Vivendi purchased an 80% stake in Dailymotion, increasing it to 90% by September. The company remains largely France-based.
Design
Below this list is a horizontal list of channels, each one with its own thumbnail and description. The left sidebar features three tabs: Trending, Top 10, and New. To the right of these are five more tabs: Library, Comments, Tags, Likes, and Subscriptions.
Upon visiting the Daily Motion website for the first time, you may be taken aback by its professional appearance. It does not look nearly as flashy or as user-friendly as YouTube would. The home page features a vertically cascading list of Featured videos, subtitled 'top stories today,' to give you a better idea of what I mean. Beneath this list is a horizontal list of channels with their own thumbnails and descriptions. The left sidebar features three tabs: Trending, Top 10, and New. To the right of these are five more tabs: Library, Comments, Tags, Likes, and Subscriptions.
On the top of the page, there is a very subdued site menu bar. You can navigate Daily Motion by type of content: choose from the default home page, Featured, or browse the site by clicking on News, Sports, Entertainment, or Music. It is sparse and barebones, but it gives the page a very classy and minimalist feel.
Daily Motion is the first streaming site that I have visited that has made me think I could benefit from making it my home page. The fact that it is designed in the mold of popular news sites, perhaps, is where this instinct comes from. It is perfect for keeping up with current events, not just falling down a rabbit hole of potentially meaningless entertainment as one may be wont to do on YouTube. Maybe it could be said that Daily Motion is YouTube for the more serious or worldly viewer.
Content
Daily Motion seems to be striving for a more serious tone than most video streaming platforms, in part due to the site's focus on current events. The quality of the content on Daily Motion is usually higher than that of other platforms, likely because certified contributors are more likely to be featured. This emphasis on quality may also be why Daily Motion is becoming more popular among seasoned content consumers.
If you are the kind of person who prefers the latter, then you may find it harder to find what you are looking for.
That being said, Dailymotion will be a little more limited in terms of the scope of content available. So, it is the classic debate: quality or quantity? If you prefer quality over quantity, I think that you will be very happy with what Dailymotion has to offer. If you prefer quantity over quality, then you may find it harder to find what you are looking for.
Desktop and Mobile Experience
One thing to keep in mind when using Daily Motion is that there may be a delay on videos as well as page loading. Videos can also sometimes waver in and out of better resolution qualities, depending on what you are doing. On the other hand, the desktop experience is nice because as you scroll down a given page (below a playing video), the video will minimize itself into a toolbar above the content you are viewing, allowing you to keep browsing without missing out on what is happening.
It seems that the Daily Motion app provides a better overall user experience than the website's experience tends to provide, with less lag and better performance. This might be the best way to go in order to fully enjoy everything that Daily Motion has to offer. Others seem to agree - the app has an average rating of 4.5 stars on the Apple App Store.
Pricing and Plans
DailyMotion is a completely free website and app where you can browse and watch videos without any hidden charges. There are no subscriptions required, and there are no ads to interrupt your viewing experience.
Suggestions that I have for Daily Motion
A possible redesign of the desktop and mobile web browser version of Daily Motion could be in order. I don't necessarily mean from an aesthetic standpoint, because I think that the site actually looks very nice, I'm speaking more from a functionality standpoint. Perhaps there are some coding shortcuts to be looked into so as to avoid video playback lag and make pages load more quickly.
If you are looking for well-executed videos that will help keep you up to date on current events, Dailymotion is the site for you. There won't be as many videos as YouTube, but they will, on average, likely be of a higher caliber.
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