Thing 19: YouTube

YouTube is a social networking site where you are encouraged to “Broadcast yourself” by uploading, tagging, and sharing your videos with the world at large. Currently the #4 most popular website in America and #3 in the world, YouTube was created in 2005 and purchased by Google in 2006. It is the most popular online video community the world has ever seen. Just about anything and everything can be found on YouTube – political debates, vlogs (video blogs), how-to videos, movie clips, even television shows.

On YouTube visitors can view these videos for free – you do not even have to create an account to watch. But those who wish to upload files do, and the videos they post can be favorited by viewers and can even develop subscriptions, so that every time a new piece is uploaded, the ‘fans’ will be alerted.

There are technical restrictions on YouTube, such as copyright laws, which is why movies and even some tv clips are often removed very soon after posting. Other restrictions to videos concern time (no longer than 10 minutes per video) and size (files must be less than 2 GB). But it is the user-friendly interface that makes this site so popular. You do not have to be a computer programmer to watch or upload videos on YouTube. All you need is a computer, Internet access, and Adobe Flash Player plug-in (a downloadable free program) and away you go!

Considering how strong YouTube’s impact has been not only in the online world but in everyday life, it is rare to find a person who has not been to YouTube before, let alone heard of it. Check out this video all about Web 2.0!

For this Thing, go to YouTube.com and search for videos about something we’ve learned so far (i.e., Web 2.0, social networking, etc.). Include your favorite video by embedding it into your blog for Thing 19:

1. Look for the embed button beneath the YouTube video.

1. Copy the HTML code given. It will look like similar to this –
   
   
2. In your blog entry, switch from Compose to Edit HTML.


3. Paste the code at the top of your blog entry.


4. Click back on Compose to continue writing your blog.

Next, play some more on YouTube. Find videos for a topic that interests you and share your favorite, but this time simply copy the URL in the address box and add the link in your blog.

Last, be sure to write what you think about YouTube. In what ways do you think it can be use to benefit society? Does it have a purpose beyond entertainment?