What is it?
- Video sharing site
- Users upload video in many formats
- youtube converts into flash video
- doesn't require specialized software on the client
- uses flash
- streams quickly
- video quality pretty low
- youtube pays for the bandwidth
- lets people embed / show clips on other sites
- puts code snippets by every video so people can post on myspace, blogs, etc
- tracks views
- uses folksonomy (tags)
- visitors comment and leave ratings
- not a full fledged social network on its own, but useful in social networking and has social features
Caveats
- Video quality quite low
- consider a competitor, like vimeo
- Youtube advertising
- Danger in putting content in other people's hands
- Not archival, longevity questionable
- Multiple accounts for museums? Does each person / blogger have their own?
- Unlike flickr, it's free, so no barrier to entry
Discussion
- Have you used youtube with content for your institution?
- What was the response?
- Did anyone notice?
- Was it a guerrilla action?
See also:
YouTube co-founder speaks on the origins of the video sharing site