Saturday, March 9, 2013

YouTube Phenomenon


     YouTube is something that I can easily relate to or talk about per say. I have been watching YouTube for years just for fun and I have grown to love some people on there. I remember I started watching YouTube when I was younger to learn how to do makeup and learn about fashion. Honestly, YouTube was a great way to do so because most beauty gurus give you step-by-step instructions on what to do and how to do it all the while showing you at the same time. Many of the beauty gurus have created a career or job out of YouTube. This is amazing to me because as time consuming as it is to film and edit a video, you can tell that they are passionate about what they are doing. Who could ask for a better job? You get work at home, film whenever you like and you get paid for it if you join the partnership program. Pay is based on the number of views, so the more popular you are, the more you get paid!

    Besides beauty, there are videos on YouTube about everything and anything. Prank videos, cooking videos, fashion videos, gardening videos, sports videos; whatever your poison, it is there. I once searched how to change a headlight on my car and figured it out just from watching a YouTube video.
However, YouTube isn’t perfect. There are things that get posted to YouTube that shouldn’t. Violence is one, along with overly personal things such as the divorce video mentioned in the article. There are videos that can be found of fights where someone in the crowd is filming the fight and hopes to bring attention to it by posting on YouTube.
     
     On the contrary, YouTube can be a positive thing for companies. They can post ads on there and bring   attention to new products. Many users agree to use Adsense, which aligns companies to particular videos of the same nature to run ads prior to the user’s video. The user gets paid in the process, and the new product or company gets recognized. The other option is for companies to sponsor a video where the user talks about a particular product.

     I have an account on YouTube and the only video I have ever posted was last semester for a class project. It was intimidating to put up a video and have the world, literally, be able to see it. I don’t think I received many views or comments but I have participated in the commenting on YouTube. The number one thing I have noticed is that there is a lot of trolling. People always have something negative to say about something or someone. Sometimes the user will respond, but most of the time it will be ignored. A lot of the time, another user will stand up on behalf of the user who put up the video. Sadly, there is not much that can be done. You can flag the comments or report them, but other than that, there is not much protection against negativity unless you disable comments. You definitely have to have a thick skin if you are filming videos or getting involved with YouTube.  

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