How to Do Everything with YouTube
In 2005, Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim launched what would become the most popular video sharing Web site ever created. In fact, until YouTube came along, there were few easy ways to share video on the Web - at least ways that were easy, free, and enjoyable, particularly for the average user. Apart from an inspired idea and creative coding, the success of YouTube was also made possible by the use of Adobe Flash (at that time Macromedia Flash), a plugin for Web browsers, which has become the de facto standard for delivering multimedia rich Web sites. With the efficient and ubiquitous FLV (Flash Video) file format as its standard for encoding movies uploaded by users, YouTube made millions of videos instantly accessible by the majority of people on the Internet. In addition to the technology that enabled it, YouTube enhanced the experience of watching videos with Web 2.0 -inspired social networking features, such as comments, groups, home pages for members, subscriptions, and other community based ideas made popular through Web sites like MySpace, Facebook, and Friendster, to name a few.
As a result of its simplicity and solid feature set (all free of charge), YouTube’s subscriber base quickly grew, and brought with it many talented people who were looking for a place to exhibit their creativity. For the first time, anyone could upload a short film they had made, a video diary, or other home movie and share it with the world. The popularity of a particular video and its creator was bolstered by word of mouth, networking features, and rankings on the site, such as the number of views that a video received. No longer was the success of an individual with a good idea limited to those who could secure corporate sponsorship or large marketing budgets. Professional producers caught on shortly there after, and YouTube has since become a major stopping point on the marketing circuit, even for traditional media outlets. In fact, with Google’s acquisition of YouTube in 2006, monetary considerations and corporate partnerships are sure to increase. However, YouTube still retains much of its democratic appeal, since the majority of its content is gleefully low-budget, high creativity material created by average citizens. Ironically, it’s this same aesthetic and do-it-yourself ethos that professional outlets have been trying to emulate, often with mixed results.
Since YouTube’s launch in 2005, hundreds of millions of users from around the world have used the site, watching videos that other people have posted or uploading videos of their own.The site’s popularity has expanded in ways that few could have anticipated (witness the 2008 presidential debates), and its community of users continues to grow and develop new genres of video making. As mentioned, even seasoned video professionals have jumped on board and made use of the cost savings and promotional possibilities of the site to host their product trailers, demos, and other content. However, despite its possibilities as a marketing tool, YouTube’s primary purpose is as a place for anyone (regardless of skill level) to upload and share their recorded experiences with other people. Hopefully, within the pages of this book, you will find something to improve your experience of this ever-evolving Web site, and even learn a few things about Web video in general.
What This Book Covers
This book addresses the interests and needs of the casual YouTube user as well as the serious Web enthusiast who is looking to explore YouTube in greater depth. The book begins by exploring the layout of the YouTube Web site and then progresses systematically through many of the features that allow users to create their own videos and upload them to the site. Included in this discussion is an introduction to creating and editing videos for YouTube. More experienced users may find the discussion of YouTube as a promotional tool of interest, sharing in the experience of popular YouTube creators, as discussed in the last chapter.
