Created by three former employees of PayPal, YouTube.com was officially launched in November of 2005. The trio activated the domain name, YouTube, in February of 2005 and started the company on a shoestring budget. Seeing promise in the fledgling dot-com, Sequoia Capital invested $3.5 million in YouTube at start up and another $8 million in April of 2006. In October of 2006, the Internet giant Google purchased YouTube for a reported $1.65 billion.

What's it All About?

The main purpose of YouTube is to view, share, discuss, and provide commentary on user-submitted video content. This includes clips from popular television shows, music videos, movie trailers, and amateur video. Unregistered users are only able to view the site content; those who take the time to register can upload their own files to the site. An estimated 65,000 video files are uploaded every day, generating 100 million views every 24 hours.

Joining the YouTube community is easy. Visitors choose a user name and password, then provide a few basic pieces of information. Users can peruse the different content categories (there are 12 categories in all), search by keyword, or view the day’s most popular videos. After viewing the content, the user's also able to provide feedback by posting comments on the videos and rating them. In addition, people can subscribe to the videos from their favorite content providers so that they'll automatically receive notifications of future submissions.

How To Add Content

For individuals who want to include their videos on YouTube, the process is simple. The site accepts WMV, AVI, MOV, MPEG, and MP4 video formats. However, the first rule of submission is that videos cannot be longer than 10 minutes. This prevents the uploading of feature-length movies to the site. However, some users get around this by submitting content in a series.

Example: A multi-video masterpiece...

To upload a video, click on the “upload videos” icon in the upper right hand corner of the page. Submissions can be given a title and description at this point. After the user locates the video on their hard drive, a click on “upload video” will send their masterpiece into cyberspace for the entire world to enjoy. It's important to point out, however, that content can also be shared with just a select group of individuals. By choosing “public” or “private” when uploading, you can control who sees your video.

Example: Public, but probably should have been private...

From Preteens to Politicians

According to Nielsen Ratings, the main demographic for YouTube is from 12 to 17 years of age. Approximately 44% of visitors are female, while 56% are male. Because of this (and for general site decency), YouTube has very strict rules on the types of content allowed on its site. Videos that are sexually explicit or violent are quickly removed—along with the user.

Example: Explicit, but in a whole different way...

YouTube's become an outlet for rising musicians, independent filmmakers, and even political candidates to share their messages with the world. Several hopefuls for the 2008 United States Presidential campaign have numerous videos on YouTube, providing viewers with platform and candidacy messages.

Example: 2008 presidential political debate...

Television networks and movie studios are also using YouTube, as it's proven to be a valuable tool for promoting their programming.

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