YouTube

Starring: YOU

Background• YouTube is a video-sharing website

on which users can upload, share, and view videos.

• Three former PayPal employees created YouTube in February 2005

• Uses Adobe Flash video to display content

• Mostly user-generated content, though traditional media corporations like CBS and BBC have official partnerships with YouTube to share content.

Background

• Unregistered users can view content

• Registered users can post content• For age-restricted video-content,

you must be a registered user, and over 18 years old

• In November 2006, YouTube, LLC was bought by Google Inc. for $1.65 billion, and now operates as a subsidiary of Google.

Facts & Figures

• YouTube was founded by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim, who were all early employees of PayPal.

• First YouTube video (2005)• July 2006: 65,000 new

videos uploaded daily; 100 million views daily

Facts & Figures

• May 2010: YouTube is the dominant provider of online video in the United States, with a market share of around 43% and more than 14 billion videos viewed

• YouTube says that 24 hours of new videos are uploaded to the site every minute, and that around three quarters of the material comes from outside the United States

• YouTube is the 3rd most visited website on the internet behind Google and Facebook

Social Impact

• Viral video: content that people share with one another. Spreads very quickly, like a virus.

• Guitar (2005)• Star Wars Kid (orig. 2003,

YouTube 2006)• NumaNuma (2005)• Charlie the Unicorn (2006)• Evolution of Dance (2006)

Social Impact• Lonelygirl15 (2006)• Charlie Bit My Finger (2007, the MOST watched clip on

YouTube, ever, until Justin Beiber broke the record)• Leave Britney Alone (2007)• Don’t Tase Me Bro (2007)• RickRoll (2008)• Dick in a Box (2008)• Susan Boyle (2009)• OK Go (2009)• 2010?????????????????????????

YouTube as Alternative Communication

• In elections?• Public awareness campaigns?• Advertising (viral video)?