: An Artefact

By Sharon SimcoxStudent 591373

A Quick History

URL: WWW.YOUTUBE.COM

YouTube was founded in 2005, and soon became the world’s largest online video sharing community.

YouTube was created to allow users around the world to share their videos online easily and quickly – in real time.

In November 2006, Google purchased YouTube, and made it into a Google product. YouTube is now a subsidiary company of Google Inc.

YouTube has joined forces with several major media companies to be come an onlineSource of entertainment including: CBS, BBC, Universal Music Group, Sony Music Group, Warner Music Group etc…

A Quick History

Anyone can search the site’s content and view videos on the site – using keyword searching to locate videos titled or tagged with words matching the search words.

Anyone can upload videos onto the site, but they must firstly register with the site either by setting up a Google account or using an existing Google account.

YouTube now streams live events; the first series of events to be streamed live on the site were Indian Premier League Cricket matches.

Access to the YouTube website is banned in some countries such as China, as it contains content that their governments do not wish their citizens to have access to, although the citizens are constantly finding ways around this to allow them to upload and watch content on the YouTube website.

Statistics

YouTube receives more than 2 billion views per day.

24 hours of video are uploaded onto the site every minute.

The audience demographic of YouTube is very broad – 18-54 Years old.

YouTube has more HD content than any other website.

Over 4 million people share links to videos on You Tube via at least one social network.

More than 50% of the videos on YouTube have been either rated or commented on by the YouTube Community.

YouTube Mobile receives more than 100 million views per day.

Rules of

Videos uploaded must adhere to the strict rules, designed to keep content clean and within the laws of copyright throughout the world.

Videos are not allowed on the site if they show any of the following:

Sexually explicit contentAbuse of AnimalsGory content, including showing dead bodiesViolenceHate Speech (speech inciting hate against religions, races etc)Bomb MakingDrug Abuse

YouTube also do not allow any behaviour on the site that is:Spam – using misleading tags or titles to direct users to a videoStalking or harassment of YouTube community members.

Copyright on YouTube take Copyright very seriously.

YouTube’s current copyright rules are:

You may only upload videos you are authorised to use.If you didn’t make the video, don’t upload the video unless you have authorisation from the owner.Don’t use any content within a video which some else may own the copyright on, e.g. Music tracks, without their permission.If you infringe the YouTube copyright rules, YouTube are allowed to and will take down your video without prior notice.

If a video infringes your copyright, you must send a copyright notice to YouTube requesting to have the video taken down. They will assess your request and take down the video if they find that it does infringe your copyright.

Flag as Inappropriate!

YouTube have a self administering system where users are allowed to flag uploaded videos as inappropriate, if they feel that the video is unsuitable or infringes the YouTube rules.

A button is placed on each video’s page, which the user must click on. This will then flag the video to the YouTube Staff, who will review the content of the video and whether or not it should be removed from the site.

Channels

Channels are used to hold collections of videos, uploaded by one user/organisation.

This is an example of a channel page.

Users can subscribe to channels and receive alerts when new videos are uploaded.

Examples of organisations using channels to store and present videos online include Channel 4, using YouTube to upload videos of their televisions programmes that have been recently broadcast as an extension of their on demand service.

Channels cont.

Channels can be set up by anyone.

The videos stored within channel don’t have to be about the same subject or genre.

You must have an account registered with Google to enable you to set up a channel.

Users can subscribe to channels, and can also post comments about videos in the channel and the channel itself.

The contents of channels can be made private to only specified users and websites, as set by the channel owner.

Channels can be designed and displayed according to the channel owner’s requirements and customisations.

Subjects and GenresWhen uploading a video, the user must select with subject or genre category the video fits into. For example, a funny video should be placed under the Comedy genre.

Genres currently available to select or browse:

EntertainmentSportGamingShows (TV)EducationScience & TechnologyComedyHow to & StyleTravel & EventsMusicFilm & AnimationPeople & Blogs

The uses of

YouTube has many applications:

• Personal• Business• Political• Music• News

Uses - Personal

YouTube was initially designed for personal use; to share videos with others online.

There are now many ‘personal’ applications of YouTube, developed over the time since the site launched, by the website owners and by the YouTube Community through popular demand.

As anyone can upload videos, many people upload videos to ‘speak to the world’; giving their personal views on various issues or subjects. Some users upload videos of them singing or dancing or doing anything!

People post videos for a variety of reasons;To share with friends or family or, To entertain or speak to the general public.

Uses - PersonalHere is an example of a social interaction video – Someone giving their point of view on a subject:

If you cannot view this video above, please view it on YouTube, by clicking here.

Uses - PersonalOther examples of the personal applications of YouTube are:

Educational – instructional videos on how to do almost anything!

If you cannot view this video above, please view it on YouTube, by clicking here.

Uses - Personal

And finally Entertainment: Funny videosSingingDancingSportetc …

The list is endless!

This is an example of a ‘funny’ video which has been posted for the general public to watch.

If you cannot view this video above, please view it on YouTube, by clicking here.

Uses - BusinessBusinesses and organisations use YouTube to reach several different types of audience:

Customers/Clients (existing and potential)EmployeesOther businesses and organisations

Businesses post adverts or create viral videos (detailed explanation to follow) as a source of ‘free’ advertising; it is free to post the video onto YouTube, but there may be costs involved in the video production.

If you cannot view this video above, please view it on YouTube, by clicking here.

Uses - BusinessBusinesses and organisations also use YouTube to post instructional videos to help their customers use their products

If you cannot view this video above, please view it on YouTube, by clicking here.

Uses - BusinessBusinesses and organisations use the social and community features of YouTube to their advantage: - Asking customers to post videos showing them using their products or services.

-Allowing the general public to watch videos and adverts online and to then rate them and leave comments (see example, right, of a channel set up by Audi).

- Allowing the downloading of their videos so that they can be shared via various electronic methods, such as email, social network sites etc…

Uses - PoliticalPolitical parties now have YouTube channels and use these to reach the electorate; posting videos on the party’s policies, current events views and election promises.

YouTube is used by political parties as a quick and easy way to reach the general public, without being limited on the amount of time they use to demonstrate their point as they are when creating a TV party political broadcast video.

But any videos that are uploaded by a party onto YouTube must still adhere to the rules of what can and cannot be said, including any videos containing hate speech.

Uses - News

YouTube has become a valuable source of news and current events coinciding with the popularity mobile phones with cameras and digital cameras and camcorders. Whereas in the past news footage was only filmed by television crews, now any member of the general public can film an event as it happens, then upload the video in almost ‘real time’.

Some news organisations post copies of their news reports onto YouTube for the public to view, creating an alternative to accessing the news via their news programme on television.

Uses - News

Members of the public use YouTube to share their ‘amateur’ news videos; if they were at the scene of a news event and filmed it at the time, they may want to share this with the rest of the world. Some of these videos are used by news agencies and other organisations to complete their news broadcast if they don’t have footage themselves or if the video shows the event from a different view or better angle.

As with all video uploads onto YouTube, the videos must adhere with the rules such as not showing violence or dead bodies.

Uses - NewsExample of Television company news video and YouTube channel:

If you cannot view this video above, please view it on YouTube, by clicking here.

Uses - NewsExample of amateur news video:

If you cannot view this video above, please view it on YouTube, by clicking here.

Uses - MusicYouTube is a source of all types and styles of music; from professional singers, bands and artists and official music company videos to amateur ‘karaoke’ singers – members of the general pubic, and unsigned artists. All mentioned above use YouTube for the same reasons – to reach a wide audience using a ‘free’ service to promote themselves.

Music companies upload artists and bands official videos to promote them; the videos can then be shared via social networking and so the companies hope that more people will then buy the artist’s single/album etc.

Any videos posted must adhere to the copyright rules, so the person uploading must have permission to use the music track in their video. As artists and the music companies recognise that members of the public posting videos of them performing their artist’s song can be a source of advertising, most videos of this type aren’t removed, even though the ‘uploader’ may not have requested permission to use the music track.

Uses - MusicAmateur artists, bands and members of the general public upload videos onto YouTube to show the general public their performance.

Some unsigned music acts use YouTube for promotional purposes; to showcase their music to new and existing fans and to try to attract music companies with a view to being signed up.

This has happened in the past; the band Straight no Chaser posted an old video of them performing ‘12 days of Christmas’ which became a viral video, shared around the world and the web.

They were signed by Atlantic Records to a 5 year album deal because of their YouTube video (1).

If you cannot view this video above, please view it on YouTube, by clicking here.

Uses - TV and Film

As a new development, YouTube has partnered with several TV and film companies. YouTube allows the companies to upload videos that are longer than the 15 minutes regular users can upload, so that they can post a whole television programme or film onto the site, which the general public can then access.

This arrangement gives the companies another method of reaching their audience through the YouTube site and is a method of trying to stop users feeling the need to upload copyrighted material such as television programmes. It also allows the companies to create online ‘on demand’ facilities for their viewers.

Uses - TV and Film

A good example of the use of YouTube for hosting an ‘on demand’ service is the UK’s Channel 4’s YouTube channel. The television company has been quick to embrace the technology available on YouTube, using it as an alternative to the service they provide on their own website.

http://www.youtube.com/user/4oDEntertainment

Uses - TV and FilmChannel 4 also used the YouTube Channel function to create a fan’s channel for fans of Big Brother. Episodes of the programme, unseen footage and share videos across social networking sites.

Fans could also post comments on each of the Big Brother videos posted, so a ‘fan community’ was created on YouTube.

Users could subscribe to the channel so that they were alerted as and when new content was uploaded onto the channel.

What is a Viral Video?

Since the launch of the YouTube website, a new internet meme (something spread online via the internet) has been created – the Viral Video.

Viral videos are videos which are shared in various forms or methods, online, frequently, to become very popular, very quickly – in some cases almost over night!

Viral Video - Example

The video ‘Charlie bit my finger’ became a viral video. It was originally uploaded onto YouTube as a way to share the video showing the children with other members of the family who were in a different country.

But it was picked up by members of the public, who shared it online, viewed it many time to make it become very popular – one of the most popular viral videos of all time, with over 259,000,000 views to date.

If you cannot view this video above, please view it on YouTube, by clicking here.

How Viral Videos spread?

Viral Videos are called viral as they can spread across the internet like the common cold virus can spread amongst people in a room! Very fast!

How Viral Videos spread?1. Video is posted online (example site – YouTube)2. Someone finds the video during a search or via the suggested videos section of

the YouTube site front page.3. They decide that they like the video so much, they want to share it with their

friends and family.

This is where the process can differ, but the end result is the same.

4. They either:a. Download the video onto their computer.b. Copy the Video’s URL.c. Clicks on one of the sharing buttons on the video’s YouTube page to share the link via a social networking website or a link tagging website

5. Someone else receives the video in which ever format it has been sent to them – video file, link or tag.

6. They decide that they also like the video and so would like to share it with their friends and family.

How Viral Videos spread?7. They repeat the process.8. The process is repeated by many people, over and over again.

The video becomes viral as it becomes popular and is shared via the internet.

Some viral videos are so popular that they are used in other videos posted online,or are used in television programmes.

A good example of this is the OMG cat – a shocked looking cat video, that has nowbeen added to many other videos posted online.

Viral Videos - Advertising?Many companies have seen how quickly and how far viral videos can spread, so they now frequently use them as a method of advertising.

Example:A video is posted online, and is shared by members of the company.

The video (hopefully) is then shared again and again, meaning more and more people may have viewed it.

The viewers don’t initially realise that they are viewing an advertisement, as the videos are filmed in such a way as to try and hide this from the viewer until the end of the video or maybe not even disclose that it is an advert.

The video spreads around the world which means that the company has received worldwide advertising for the price of the video production.

Viral Videos – On TV

Viral videos have become so popular with the public that television programmes are now created to show the latest videos.

Channel 4 have created Rude Tube, which in each programme shows a countdown of the top videos posted online for a particular genre, such as funny, singing, advertising etc..

The Future?YouTube is constantly evolving and being developed to create enhanced features for the public to use.

Possible next developments, some of which are already being trialled could be:

Pay per view content – Content that must be paid for to be able to view it or download it. Films, Television programmes and adult content could all be distributed via YouTube in this way.

User created playlists – there is current functionality on the site which allows the user posting videos to do this, but allowing all users to create many different playlists and save them for others to view could allow for more videos to be shared by the YouTube Community.

Lifting of access bans – the most powerful development of all would be if all users throughout the world could view all videos posted onto the site; as everyone would be able to speak to everyone else via the YouTube website.

The End.