One Site can Lead a Cultural Shift
A website that revolutionizes the way we consume media occasionally comes around. Napster, for example, changed the way we think about how to monetize media, ownership, Copywrite laws, and file sharing. It resulted in a challenge to the status quo, which stripped power and influence over art from the few media conglomerates who run the world and returned it to the hands of consumers. This liberated media by presenting an alternate world in which it could be free.
But now, with the wealth of content that YouTube has to offer, we have a lot more options for what to watch.
Another site, which has had an equally crucial effect on our consumption of media, particularly video content, is YouTube. Prior to YouTube's launch, our options were rather limited for what kinds of videos we would have access to. People could basically choose from one of but a few choices. But now, with the wealth of content that YouTube has to offer, we have a lot more options for what to watch.
We could watch preprogrammed television shows whenever they happened to be on, go see a movie at the theater, rent a movie from Blockbuster, or use a file-sharing site like Napster.
However, YouTube rose up, seemingly out of nowhere, and offered us not only a new way to watch videos but also a new way to share our own content as well as a whole slew of previously impossible content for us to enjoy. I don't think that YouTube gets nearly as much credit as it deserves for putting a spotlight on video streaming, proving that a video streaming site could be both practical, scalable, and profitable.
Without YouTube, it seems plausible to say that there would be no Netflix, Hulu, HBO Go, or Amazon Prime Video. YouTube laid down the technological groundwork and thank goodness that they did. Because without it, many streaming sites like Netflix, Hulu, HBOGo and Amazon Prime Video might not exist.
YouTube was founded by three people who had worked together at PayPal. Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim created the video streaming service in February of 2005. Shortly thereafter, though, in November of 2006, Google bought YouTube for 1.6 billion US dollars. Today, YouTube is still owned and operated by Google as one of the company's subsidiaries.
More than Meets the Eye
Let's take a look at what YouTube has to offer its users. We are all familiar with how YouTube works, but in case you were unaware there are various features and types of content that exist on this massive streaming site. Let's go through everything YouTube allows its users to do and watch.
YouTube is a video streaming website where users can view, rate, share, and comment on videos. Additionally, users can create personalized playlists of video content that is unavailable on most other video streaming sites. Lastly, YouTube differs itself from its competitors by allowing users to upload an unlimited amount of videos, create live videos broadcasts, and regularly blog.
Thanks to YouTube, there's been an increased demand for content that is not just entertaining but informative and unique as well. This has led to the rise of "unboxing videos," where YouTubers will order a product and open it up on video to show how it works as well as give a review of their thoughts. This has also contributed to the "influencer" culture that dominates social media, where people with large followings on platforms like YouTube are paid to promote products.
Twitch was inspired by YouTube, which was the original place where people would upload videos of themselves playing video games. After Twitch realized that there was a huge opportunity in this burgeoning market, they capitalized on it quickly.
Since the launch of YouTube in 2005, there has been a more recent phenomenon on the site of people simply reacting to new music, stand up comedy, or movie trailers when they come out. People who do this sort of review are usually not experts in their field, but they can be highly entertaining to watch, especially if the YouTube user in question has an electric or quirky personality.
Many people have found that making a living through uploading videos to YouTube is possible, given the right strategy and effort. This new media content has prompted a more complex system of monetizing videos, so pro-level YouTubers can make a good living from their work.
While amateur videos are certainly still abundant on YouTube, professional content is also readily available. This includes movies and TV show episodes, which are no longer available on the site in their entirety.
But there are also whole corners of YouTube that you may not have even known about. YouTube is the home to a plethora of videos, some of which are music videos, documentaries, mini-series, short films, cartoons, and educational videos. Basically anything that falls within YouTube's strict Copywrite Policy can be found on the site.
A Staggeringly Large Video Streaming Phenomenon
YouTube has truly taken on a life of its own and has far outgrown anything that the three creators initially dreamt it would become. I mean, had they foreseen this, there's a good chance that they would have passed on the offer to sell YouTube to Google. Along with its rapid growth and continuing expansion, though, YouTube has seen a lot of backlash and degradation.
In its latest report, Merch Dope found that the total number of people who use YouTube - 1,300,000,000. 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute! Almost 5 billion videos are watched on YouTube every single day. In an average month, 8 out of 10 18-49-year-olds watch YouTube.
No other video streaming site has ever achieved those kinds of numbers.
Iconic Site Design
But, let's take a look at the site itself - is it well designed, easy to use? Let's take a look and see for ourselves. YouTube's website design is iconic - it has been copied by nearly every video streaming service. And for good reason, it is logical, effective and intuitive.
You will find the search bar at the top of the page. Below that, you will be given a bunch of videos to choose from, most of which will be based on your own viewing habits. They are separated into sections, starting with Recommended videos for you. Next, you will find news, latest posts, latest uploads by channels that you follow, YouTube mixes (popular playlists based on your viewing), and then even more recommended videos.
To the left of these thumbnail previews are all of your personalized user features. This is where you can access your library, history, watch later, liked videos, your playlists, subscriptions and a list of categories from which you can browse all of YouTube by tags like Fashion, Gaming, Sports etc. Clicking on a video keeps the viewing process streamlined.
Below the media player are all of the comments. You can participate in a never-ending dialogue here, and on the right-hand side of the screen are suggested videos for you to browse which are similar to this one. This website is just too convenient for its own good!
Too Many Ads Nearly Ruin an Otherwise Perfect Site
Some noteworthy problems with YouTube include the number of ads that users have to deal with, as well as their tendency to interrupt videos multiple times. The site is also full of ads, which can be very bothersome.
That being said, there is no other site like it on the web - at least not of the same size. Love it or hate it, YouTube is here to stay and it will remain one of the top free video streaming sites in the world.
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