Pros and Cons of the Internet’s Top Video Sharing Site
An IntroductionCreated in 2005 as an
alternative to paid services already in existence.
Purchased by Google in 2007.
According to Alexa, it is currently the third most visited site in the world (fourth in the US).
What YouTube Does For YouYouTube offers free hosting of short user
generated content in the form of short video clips
Allows for users to post almost anything with a few exceptionsNo copyrighted materialNo ‘offensive’ materialNo pornographic material2gb maximum per clip10 minute maximum length per clip
DemographicThird most visited website in the worldAlmost a quarter of all internet users will
visit YouTube at some point in a given monthGenerates 100 million unique visits in the
U.S. alone in a given monthUsers will watch close to 10 billion videos in
a given monthEncompasses all demographics; most
prominent are males 18-24 years of age.
Pros of UsageExtremely easy to use
No technical training neededNo special equipment needed
Free bandwidth for video streamingAllows for videos to be embedded into a
personal website or blogMassive audience potential
100 million unique visits in the U.S.A.400 million unique visits worldwide (est)
Cons of UsageMassive website that could cause video to be
lost in the crowdHosts millions of videosThousands of active channelsDifficult to generate page views
Immature content and viewershipYoung demographicMost popular videos all time and monthly best
labeled as entertainment videosYouTube video is almost synonymous with
funny video in internet searches
Ways to Mitigate ConsEffective Promotion
Proper “Tagging”Descriptive video captionsCreation of a YouTube channel
Target the proper audienceTailor YouTube messages towards 18-24
demographic if possibleUse in conjunction with more traditional forms
of media.“See more videos at YouTube.com” advertisementsEmbed video in an established website or blog
How to Upload a VideoSign into your
YouTube accountIf you don’t have an
account create oneIt is freeIt allows control
over posted content
How to Upload a Video (cont’)Once signed in the
username will appear.
Click “Upload”
How to Upload a Video (cont’)Select “Browse” and
find the video you wish to upload
Once selected the video’s location will appear in the text box
Click “Upload Video”Multiple videos can
be uploaded at once
How to Upload a Video (cont’)Once uploaded some
descriptors need to be addedTitleDescriptionTagsCategoryPrivacy
These help promote the video
How to Upload a Video (cont’)Once everything is
complete, verify the upload by going to your profile
Video will appear with all information pertaining to it
ConclusionYouTube offers an almost zero risk opportunity for
advertisement of a causeEffective tool if used properly
Must play to YouTube’s weaknessesNot an effective replacement for traditional media
Should be used in conjunction with traditional mediaYouTube messages can be supplemental
advertisement for costly broadcast messagesTo ignore YouTube would be wasting a golden
opportunity
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