Who Tubes on YouTube?

A great portion of my resources for this blog page comes from YouTube. YouTube has not only provided me with information but has also triggered some inspiration on what to blog in a few cases. So, I thought, why not blog something about YouTube itself. Perhaps before defining how YouTube operates, it would be interesting to view broadcast as a whole.

Contrary to traditional form of broadcast, YouTube is defined as post-broadcast medium. Traditional broadcast is airing through the airwaves. Only because it is traditional, it does not necessarily imply that it is an obsolete technology. Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT), commonly known as freeview in the UK, Satellite Transmission and Cable Transmission, are all traditional form of broadcast and employ of very high-tech technologies.

So, what is post-broadcast then? It is a term opposite of broadcast. Webcast and narrowcast are nearly synonymous terms used for post-broadcast. IPTV (Internet Protocol TV) Video on Demand (VoD) and user-generated video websites such as YouTube and Metacafe, are all forms of web-casting. Webcast is also narrowcast in the sense that it is aimed at a highly specific segment of the public. In other words, the 'broadcaster' does not intend to catch the entire viewing public, as is often the case with traditional form of broadcasting; but only a narrow segment of it.

Web based channels such as 4oD and iPlayer are pay channels. For instance in 4oD, users can select a programme or a movie from 4’s database, independent of when it was aired in the terrestrial channels. However, they also have to pay for the service. Now with the rising of Web2.0, the Internet is presently making a move towards user-generated content service. Such an example is YouTube itself. YouTube is much revolutionary in the way content is generated.

Google owns YouTube, but Google itself is not the content provider. Actually, there is no real 'broadcaster' as such on YouTube. YouTube’s audience produces content for its fellow audience. YouTube is a huge resource of shared media database, which is completely free for any user to access.

YouTube raises serious copyright issues as producing content is one thing and providing is yet another. Much of the website’s content are not the users’ own content but rather stuffs that they upload from other sources. Quoting from Kopytoff Verne, 2006,

YouTube, the popular video Web site, is facing the biggest challenge of its brief but gilded life: complaints about copyright infringement that could destroy its cool factor.

The proliferation of pirated video and music uploaded by users -- everything from concert footage of pop band Death Cab for Cutie to clips of "Gone With the Wind" -- has made the San Bruno startup a target of the entertainment industry, which fears that the illegal free-for-all will crimp its profits.

You Tube is today extremely popular especially amongst young web users. Every day, YouTube users watch more than 100 million clips ranging from "Star Trek" to the latest official music videos. The question that rises is, does YouTube, gaining popularity everyday, not pose a potential threat to other online channels like 4oD and iPlayer, or even terrestrial and satellite channels?

Despite being sued, YouTube seems to be still operating smoothly. The paradox behind this is that YouTube is at least for time being, not a potential threat to the entertainment industry. Instead, it is seen as an oasis for advertising. Once again, according to Verne,

For Hollywood, YouTube is a marketing dream. Already, a number of music acts and television shows -- by accident and through clever promotion -- have boosted their audience through videos and music posted on the Web site.

For example, the indie rock band OK Go got considerable exposure after it posted a music video on YouTube showing its members dancing on a treadmill.

Socio-political trends show that copyright holders are likely not to hinder YouTube’s smooth functioning any sooner as it doing more good than harm to entertainment providers.

As a final analysis, it would be good to end on this video.