YouTube is the world’s largest video sharing network; any videos that are upload to YouTube have maximum exposure to the largest audience.
There are a number of communities established on YouTube, these range from various teen communities to people with interests in niche topics.
More recently bigger companies have started adding their content to YouTube as a way of advertising who they are and what they do. Channel4 have come to realise that its target audience are very web savvy, and spending more time online than watching TV, therefore by migrating some of their content online there is a greater chance that they can attract their audience’s attention.
Also it is interesting to see that both the UK Monarch (http://www.youtube.com/theroyalchannel) and the UK Prime Minister (http://www.youtube.com/10downingstreet) both have channels on YouTube, allowing them to engage with younger audiences, who perhaps they would not normally appeal to when using traditional/formal types of media.
YouTube users are able to rate and comment on videos, rating and commenting allows videos to climb the YouTube charts and help them gain more exposure to a larger audience.
YouTube allows creators of video content, who are creating engaging video and who have a large persistent audience to apply to be part of the “Partner Program” The partner program allows user to share the revenue YouTube makes from adding adverts to their videos
YouTube also allows users to post videos directly from their mobile phone to their channel via e-mail. If you already have a YouTube Channel and are signed in to your account you can visit http://www.youtube.com/mobile to find your unique e-mail address.
YouTube also has a version of their website especially for use on mobile devices this can be viewed at http://www.m.youtube.com
For small businesses YouTube is a cost effective way to host online video. This not only saves on server space storage, but also on bandwidth, as bandwidth to deliver the video comes directly from YouTube. This is particularly useful if a video you own becomes popular as you don’t have to worry about crashing your server and having your whole website becoming unavailable.
By correctly tagging videos and having them on YouTube there is a far greater chance of people discovering your videos and thus discovering your business. If you also consider that videos on YouTube are grouped with similar videos, people watching videos on YouTube are more likely to be pointed to your videos.
Access to broadcast television either to have an advertisement or entertainment show is very expensive, however, by having your videos on YouTube you can build up an audience very quickly who you can “broadcast” your content to.
Individuals, who are not businesses, such as families may share videos as a way to communicate with each other if they are based in different locations. The barrier to entry is a lot lower on YouTube in comparison with setting up your own video web server.
How to Create a YouTube Account
How to Upload a Video to YouTube
Viddler
A community of video bloggers and people who produce series of videos as ‘web shows’ primarily use Viddler
A unique feature of Viddler is that the user can leave a video reply directly in the timeline, which can be played back as the main video is played. This allows for any comments made to have more meaning as they can be viewed at the point that is appropriate to the main video, unlike text comments that are usually read after the video has played. This makes text comments much more difficult to reference to a certain time within the main video
Viddler allows for groups, when uploading a video if a user selects for it to be part of a specific group it is added to a pool of videos for that group.
Viddler has a unique tagging system, there are three different types of tags that can be used to help users find content on Viddler:
The first is “user tags.” User Tags describe a user and their profile.
The second type of tag is a “global tag.” A global tag describes actions or events in the video as a whole. You may use tags that relate to where the video is filmed or who appeared in the video.
The third type of tag is the “timed tag.” A timed tag relates to a specific moment in the video
Viddler has a 500MB (per video) upload limit, with no length limit and no limit to how many videos a user can upload
Users can currently not upload video from their phones to Viddler.
The demographics of Viddler users can be seen here http://www.quantcast.com/viddler.com#demographics
Revver
A unique feature of Revver is that it shares advertising revenue with its users; this allows the user to yield revenue from any videos uploaded. A user much reach $10 in revenue before they can claim what they have earned
A limiting feature of Revver is that they restrict users to an upload a maximum of 100MB per video
Revver has a much smaller number of users compared to many of the bigger, more popular websites
One problem that many users have expressed when uploading is the amount of time it can take to encode and process a video. This is due to the fact that every video is reviewed by a person to check that the video does not contain any copyrighted or illegal content. This can lead to a two-day delay between video being uploaded and actually appearing online for viewing.
Vimeo is making a name for itself as the video-sharing tool of the professional world. There seems to be two professional groups using Vimeo. The first is commercial companies wishing to showcase their product or service. The other group of people is video professionals and semi professionals wishing to showcase their work, or show casing their video C.Vs. You can see that Vimeo takes a much more professional approach to video on the web by looking at their community guidelines http://vimeo.com/guidelines#uploading_guidelines
In many instances Vimeo is different to other web video players. Vimeo hides the video controls when playing back a video, which at first can feel confusing, but once you get used to this way of doing things, it gives any embedded video a more cleaner, less distracted feel.
Vimeo was one of the first video sharing web sites to allow High Definition video to be uploaded, and while many other video sharing websites have caught up, Vimeo still seems to encode the video to a better standard, giving a clear crisper output.
Vimeo (unlike most other video sharing websites) does have restrictions on how much you are able to upload. As it currently stands a user is only able to upload 500MB and 1 HD Video per week. There is the option for users to upgrade to Vimeo Plus+. Some of the features of Vimeo Plus+ include 5GB upload, unlimited HD uploading, video undergoes two-pass encoding for higher quality output, customisable player banner adds are removed from the website. Vimeo Plus+ comes at a cost of $59.95 a year (which breaks down to a cost of 16 cents a day)
MySpace has two primary uses. The first is as a means of informal communication. It is widely used by young people in replacement of more traditional means of communication such as e-mail
Many companies and brands also use MySpace as a marketing tool.
One attractive feature of MySpace is that users are able to customise and skin profiles. MySpace allows for some HTML and CSS to be used as a way of customisation.
Although customisation is permitted, MySpace has many limitation as to what you are able to do with regards to layout, this has led to many of the profiles being badly designed and lack any kind of uniformity, as a result many people find MySpace hard to navigate.
The customisation of MySpace is attractive to both teen who wish to express themselves, as well as marketers who wish to add company logos and colours and branding,
Other features of MySpace include:
The ability to send a bulletin. The bulletin feature is a useful way of sending a message to your entire contact list without having to send the message to each individual person. Bulletins are deleted after 10 days.
Myspace users can create groups. When a user creates a group, they set up an individual page that lets members of the group have a common message and bulletin board as a way of sharing information
MySpace has a mobile compatible site that can be seen by visiting http://m.myspace.com/
MySpace has become the premier space for marketing to the youth market. As companies become more aware that people are spending more time online it is more important for them to be prominent in online spaces.
Bands are using MySpace as a way of distributing content (music and videos and news) to their fans. By having the content online this means it can be visited multiple times by people, also with this instant method of publishing it allows fans to have a closer relationship with the band.
By using the “top-friends” area bands are able to relate to and associate with other brands or people that complement their line, again this is just another method that allows for and promotes discovery of similar products.
FaceBook
FaceBook is currently the world’s most popular social network recently taking the title from MySpace. Originally it was created strictly for the use of college students but was recently opened up so that anyone could sign up and use the service. Since FaceBook opened up the service it has had an expoential growth. FaceBook is used by a very wide majority of the population ranging from young teens right through to people aged 70+
FaceBook’s success is down to its clean interface and easy to use navigation (something which MySpace is lacking)
However, FaceBook does not allow for any customisation of profiles, which can be seen as a negative or a positive depending on where you stand and what you want to use the service for.
As with most social networks FaceBook allows its user to share pictures and videos, ‘tagging’ is a big part of FaceBook. If you tag a friend in a picture or video, then that picture will also be shared with them allowing them to view it. The idea of pictures and videos being shared by tagging was an idea first seen within FaceBook, but now many social networks have caught up and allow for ‘tagging’
Another original and defining feature of FaceBook was the ‘status update’ this allowed for users to let their network of friends know what they were doing (or about to do) at any moment in time. This feature has now been added to many social networking sites, with one such website (Twitter) being developed with solely the purpose of status updates.
Built in to the FaceBook website is an instant messaging system, allowing user to see which of their friends are currently online. If a users friend is appearing online, then they are able to “chat” with them in a similar fashion to using a standalone instant message client.
FaceBook has a mobile compatible site that can be seen by visiting http://m.facebook.com/
The demographics of FaceBook users can be seen here http://www.quantcast.com/facebook.com#demographics
Practical Uses of FaceBook
The most practical use of FaceBook is as a place to communicate with friends. FaceBook acts as an area to share rich media with each other.
It allows users to update each other about recent events, or what is currently happening in their life.
FaceBook is also a practical tool to promote and organise events between friends, with the ability to invite and receive replies from guest letting you know if, are able to attend or not. Often this tool is used to organise birthday parties and other similar informal events between friends and family.
How to Create a FaceBook Profile
LinkedIn
LinkedIn is used as a strictly professional networking tool, enabling people to keep a list of contacts that they have made through work.
You can think of LinkedIn as your online C.V, it is your public facing window to the world to advertise the skills and talents that maybe attractive to a prospective employer. As such this means people generally have one profile picture of themselves, (rather than the vast amounts of pictures located in social settings that people tend to add to a services such as MySpace or FaceBook). It is advised to have a professional picture taken for your LinkedIn profile, however as long as you are presenting yourself in a professional manner, then you’re in safe territory on this social network.
As with most Web 2 apps, the first adopters of this social network were people who had specialist interests in technology and the Internet and those who worked freelance in digital media, who needed a way to promote themselves for a low cost and to a large amount of people. As this network is expanding more and more people from different professional backgrounds have began to join this network as well as many small companies who can see how valuable it is to make connections and build up positive relationships with other businesses
Linked in is most powerful when used a business-networking tool to build relationships with similar businesses, and between people that work in similar businesses. By being aware of what is happening with other business and people in similar industries you have an increased awareness. If you consider awareness gives more control and more control gives more choice, you can begin to see the power of this tool.
Bebo
Bebo were one of the first social networks to emerge, and originally attracted teens from the London area of the UK. Bebo has less users than FaceBook or MySpace and remains to be mainly used by young teens as a way to communicate and share images and pictures with one another.
Bebo allows user to add “modules” to their profiles. Modules include a video box, a photo box, a box to display blog posts, a box for quizzes and polls
The lastest and newest feature of Bebo is “Life-Story”. Life-Story is a timeline that shows your events letting you and others easily view what happened in a particular period of their life.
Micro blogging is a relatively new idea, the benefits of microblogging are very vast.
Twitter
When twitter first surfaced it was many used by technology ‘geeks’ as a way to communicate with others who had an interest in technology. It quickly became adopted by bloggers who also wanted to communicate and share ideas or thoughts with other bloggers.
Twitter allows users to build up an extensive network of people in a relatively short amount of time. Your twitter contacts can be seen as an extensive network of people to share knowledge or ideas with. By being part of the twitter network you are able to share your knowledge with others, as well as calling on the expertise of other people in your network to answer questions or solve problems.
The barrier to entry to use twitter is very low with only 3 boxes needing to be filled out (username, password and e-mail adrdress) before you can start using the product
Twitter is used currently used by 3 main groups of people, but it is currently growing in popularity all the time
Bloggers and Tech Geeks – First started to use twitter as a way of communication ideas and small amounts of information with each other
Teens and Young Adults – Teens and young adults seem to primarily use twitter as an extension of Instant Messaging. Because users are able to see the conversation between all the people they follow this allows them to jump in and add value to conversations.
Celebrities - Celebrities are using twitter to communicate between themselves as well as enabling them to have a closer interaction and relationship between themselves and their “fans”.
Twitter can be used as a way to push information (such as hyperlinks to other electronic media (videos, pictures, music, blogposts) to a large number of people).
Twitter can be used as a way to deliver news and product information to your followers
Twitter can be considered a word of mouth marketing tool for the digital age.
Twitter can bring your followers’ attention to particular topics.
To drive traffic to your website/blog. If you regularly update your website with content, it is important to let your audience know there is new content, it becomes even more powerful
Networking with others who share similar interests and be able to share information
Twitter can also be used as a tool to establish yourself as an authority on a particular subject. This can be done by generating conversation and posting relevant links on a niche topic.
Twitter has also started to give inanimate objects a voice. Allowing for these objects to communicate with humans. One such example is a project by Tom Armitage, which allows for Tower Bridge in London to post a message letting people know when it is opening, what vessel is passing and when it is closing again
Twitter provides a great way to get instant feedback on a thought or idea by asking your network of followers there opinions
Twitter can be used as a news feed by subscribing to people who post about an area you are interested in.
Twitter can be used as a way to store notes or ideas that you can comeback to later, to investigate deeper.
Video streaming is different to that of a video sharing website. Video sharing websites allow for people to share pre-recorded and edited video, video streaming is a live video broadcast that does not allow for editing.
Justin.TV
Justin.TV was one of the first prominent websites to highlight the ability of being able to stream live video over the web. JustinTV came to prominence when a number of bloggers started the life-casting phenomenon by broadcasting their lives over the Internet 24/7.
One unique feature of Justin.TV is that it allows for the creation of private rooms that cannot be accessed by other users unless they have been given a password to access the room.
Justin.TV also allows users to add custom headers and wallpapers (backgrounds) to be added to a users channel, allowing users to build a personal brand. Justin.TV is currently used by a large number of American teens as a way to show off their interests, or as a way to communicate with friends.
People who stream on Justing.TV often stream their day-to-day lives in a form that is somewhat reminisant of life casting.
BlogTV was originally brought to light by a number of bloggers who switched to the service from Justin.TV. Since then it has a large teen user base, as well as a couple of amateur hosted shows.
It is also used by a number of YouTube personalities, who use it as a way of interacting and engaging with their audience.
Blog.TV allows for “co-hosting” which allows for two people in different locations to be in the same video stream.
BlogTV allows for users to customise their channel by adding a custom header and (background) wallpaper, this allows for each channel to be easily identifiable, as well as adding a sense of personal branding.
StickAM allows for 7 simultaneous broadcasts at the same time, there is one main broadcaster streaming video and the ability for up to 6 other viewers to stream at the same time
Ustream is another tool that has a professional feel about it. It is used by many influential people who engage with technology, as well as those who run regular, professionally hosted show from studios (rather than from bedrooms)
Many podcasters will stream live while recording their podcasts allowing the viewer to see and have an insight as to what goes in to making a podcast
Most notably Leo Laporte use UStream as a way of broadcasting while creating his weekly podcasts
Creating live broadcast that can be viewed globally was once the domain of television broadcast comapanies, online video streaming makes this a possibility for anyone with a computer and an internet connection.
