Youtube

Youtube was founded in 2005 by three former PayPal employees and is based in San Bruno, California. The website allows users to sign up for a free account and post videos they have created themselves for the world to see, they can also rate, like and comment on other's videos. Youtube is now the third most visited site on the web, trailing behind Yahoo and Google respectively. It accumulates over 500,000,000 hits per day and there are over 20 billion videos uploaded; it would take over 1000 years for a person to watch each video on Youtube (but by the time you'd finish they'd be a billion new ones).

Signing up to Youtube takes only a few minutes; registration is necessary to view videos online however it gives the user extra privileges such as uploading videos, commenting and if they are over 18 they can watch restricted content videos; signing up is also free. When Google took over Youtube in 2006, and as Google accounts became more popular, users were required in 2010 to use their Google password if they were signed up to both Youtube and Google with the same email address. Once connected to your Youtube account you can update your profile with information such as 'interests', 'music preferences' and 'about me'. This makes your profile seem a little more personal and allows you to find and subscribe to people with similar interests as you. There are over 500,000,000 registered accounts on Youtube today.

Youtube is the biggest and most used entertainment site in the world; it is worth over 315 billion pounds and uses the same amount of bandwidth as the whole Internet did in 2000. It has the biggest collection of videos on the net, and allows people to become famous in their own right via posting videos on there; for example Charlie bit me, The evolution of dance and The laughing baby (aka hahahaha) are all well known videos all around the globe, accumulating over 500,000,000 views. Youtube is also a good place to start for aspiring musicians and recording artists who want to be seen online, and the comments section allows for constructive criticism and praise, and is also a good place for music companies to look for fresh talent that's already proved popular with the public. A good example of a Youtube celebrity is Justin Bieber; only 12 years old when he began posting videos of himself singing so that his family could see him perform. He was later signed by Usher and given a recording deal, all thanks to his videos on Youtube becoming huge. Now the 16 year old pop star is not only one of the most recognised faces in the music industry, but holds the record for the most views of a video on Youtube, ever. An astounding 323,497,084 views (as of 14/09/10). 


Youtube is by far the most popular video sharing site in the world; this popularity means that you are almost certain to find any video you need somewhere on the site. If you are interested in a particular hobby or want to keep up to date with the latest news then you can find everything you need on this one site. Often 'channels' can be created; these can be for a band or a News station, if you subscribe to this channel then you can be notified every time they post a new video so you are also kept up to date with the latest videos. Video news is one of the fastest growing examples of video viewing online as the most popular news stories are released on to the site to ensure the widest audience possible can view them. Not only are news stories available on Youtube now, but popular TV stations have created channels on the site (such as Channel 4) that allow people to watch TV shows legally and for free via Youtube; this minimises the risk of people breaching copyright to post the show on the site. 


However Youtube has had issues in the past with it's copyright policy, although when uploading a video you are prompted to agree that the video contains no footage of music concerts, companies, TV shows or films etc, almost 16% of all videos on Youtube are violating copyright terms. Youtube does not check each video before it is uploaded so the footage may not be found (unless reported by many users) or it may take a while for the Youtube team to take down the offending videos. As Youtube videos can generally not exceed 10 minutes in length, movies that are illegally posted on the site are often split into many parts; allowing viewers to watch for free, something which they should have purchased. Also, songs that are used in videos must be mentioned by the poster, and often a link to purchasing the song on iTunes appears to ensure the artist receives full recognition for their song and to encourage legal music downloading. As you are watching the video advertisements often appear; these are featured and often relate either to the subject of the video or similar content that may appeal to the general audience. These advertisements are one of the main reasons that the website remains free; Youtube would prove popular with companies wishing to advertise as their popularity worldwide would place them top of the list due to page views and the variety of users found there. 


























































Advantages:

• Good chances of finding the video you want due to the variety available
• Quick streaming
• Makes it easy to see things such as music videos whenever you want and new videos
• News stories and TV shows are now available to be viewed legally via Youtube
• Allows you to comment and like to spread your opinion on the videos
• Allows people to connect from all over the world

Disadvantages:

• Copyright is frequently breached in millions of videos posted on the site
• Traffic is extremely high, sometimes causing the site to crash or take a long time to load videos
• If watching on a bad connection it can take a long time for a video to buffer, or else the video is constantly stopped and started
• Excessive advertisements 
• a 10.59 time limit on videos unless you're an official partner of Youtube

News Stories:


19 year old American college student creates 'Youtube Instant' which allows users to search Youtube in real time, getting immediate results.
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/web/09/14/cnet.youtube.instant.creator/




17 year old Finnish student posted threatening videos saying: "I am prepared to fight and die for my cause. I, as a natural selector, will eliminate all who I see unfit, disgraces of the human race and failures of natural selection,"
He went on to massacre 7 students and the headmistress of a school in Helsinki.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/11/08/2084826.htm?section=justin