By Esther Ho
Overview
Prosumers have become a significant player in the media landscape due to the developments of social media. It has provided an accessible platform for these Prosumers to produce and share their own contents. It is perhaps one of the most popular social networking sites that served as a media platform for consumers to broadcast the content they have created. Content that is created by prosumers (non professional media producers) is called User Generated Content or Consumer Generated Media(CGM). “CGM is not precisely defined, and generally refers to “…just about any website powered by the user on a constant and mandatory basis.”” (Levy and Stone 2006, p. 22). Content that we watch in YouTube is mostly CGM. To help the readers to understand how has the Prosumer Culture is changing and affecting the mainstream media, we decided to include YouTube as one of our case studies to let the readers explore how this media platform and service works.
History
YouTube was founded by three former PayPal employees- Jawed Karim, Chad Hurley and Steve Chen (Lastufka & Dean 2009). YouTube is apparently the most popular video-sharing website in the world. The reason for these founders to create YouTube is share videos amongst themselves. So they assumed others had experienced the same problems (Lastufka & Dean 2009). They wanted to create a video sharing service that would be accessible to almost every single computer with an Internet connection (Lastufka & Dean 2009).
The very first video that was uploaded to YouTube was a short clip of Jawed at the zoo (Lastufka & Dean 2009). At the very beginning, YouTube wasn’t popular enough to attract people to use it. So in the early days, YouTube used a lot of promotional strategies such as giving away free gifts to active users (Lastufka & Dean 2009). However, YouTube was still unable to keep people for longer time.
YouTube only started to get popular when a group of users started to upload personal videos to the site. Founders of YouTube had not thought about this at all, all they assumed the users to do on YouTube were sharing videos to the users’ relatives who were far away from them . Users who uploaded videos that simply sharing their lives and thoughts soon to be known as vloggers which stands for video bloggers (Lastufka & Dean 2009). Instead of using words to write diaries, these people are using video to “write” diaries.
As time passed by, the number of YouTube visitors continued to grow. Each day around 35,000 videos were added to Youtube with about 30,000 daily visitors to the site, viewing millions of videos. (Levy and Stone 2006, p. 23). In 2006, Time Magazine named 'You' the Person of the Year (Lastufka & Dean 2009). YouTube has then secured its title as the top video sharing website (Lastufka & Dean 2009). Google purchased YouTube for more than $1.6 billion dollars in the same year and it had offered the users with faster services on YouTube (Lastufka & Dean 2009). As we all know now, YouTube is purely a vloggers community. Its uss also used by the majority of the population around the world, ranging from large media producers and right owners to media literate fans, non-professional and amateur media producers (Burgess & Green 2009). Anyone can use YouTube to broadcast himself or herself just like what the YouTube slogan states- Broadcasting Yourself.
The very first video that was uploaded to YouTube was a short clip of Jawed at the zoo (Lastufka & Dean 2009). At the very beginning, YouTube wasn’t popular enough to attract people to use it. So in the early days, YouTube used a lot of promotional strategies such as giving away free gifts to active users (Lastufka & Dean 2009). However, YouTube was still unable to keep people for longer time.
YouTube only started to get popular when a group of users started to upload personal videos to the site. Founders of YouTube had not thought about this at all, all they assumed the users to do on YouTube were sharing videos to the users’ relatives who were far away from them . Users who uploaded videos that simply sharing their lives and thoughts soon to be known as vloggers which stands for video bloggers (Lastufka & Dean 2009). Instead of using words to write diaries, these people are using video to “write” diaries.
As time passed by, the number of YouTube visitors continued to grow. Each day around 35,000 videos were added to Youtube with about 30,000 daily visitors to the site, viewing millions of videos. (Levy and Stone 2006, p. 23). In 2006, Time Magazine named 'You' the Person of the Year (Lastufka & Dean 2009). YouTube has then secured its title as the top video sharing website (Lastufka & Dean 2009). Google purchased YouTube for more than $1.6 billion dollars in the same year and it had offered the users with faster services on YouTube (Lastufka & Dean 2009). As we all know now, YouTube is purely a vloggers community. Its uss also used by the majority of the population around the world, ranging from large media producers and right owners to media literate fans, non-professional and amateur media producers (Burgess & Green 2009). Anyone can use YouTube to broadcast himself or herself just like what the YouTube slogan states- Broadcasting Yourself.
Production tools
YouTube has the similar function as traditional TV but the way people produce media content on YouTube is very different from traditional TV. The cost of producing media content for YouTube is so much cheaper and the way of producing is a lot easier. Basically, everyone can produce content for YouTube. No matter you are a media degree holder or just a person that does not know anything about media. According to Willett, video camcorder has become very common, over 45 % of household in US own camcorders (2009, p. 1). Technology has made people’s life easier in making amateur videos. People do not have to spend a lot of money in buying equipment to make a video, people can now use their digital camera or even mobile phone to record a video. Furthermore, basic video editing software is normally included in the standard computer purchase. “With falling prices of compact and easy-to-use camcorders and other video recording devices, the means of producing video is increasingly coming with reach of the everyday consumer” (Willett 2009, p. 1). Almost every content that we watch on YouTube are videos based. And according to Wesch, between 150,000-200,000 videos are published each day on YouTube and 80% of those are user-generated, it would take 412.3 years to watch everything on YouTube. (2008, cited in Willett 2009, p. 11). Below are some brief histories about the development of the video recorders and this will help to understand better when do the amateur video production become so common and why.
Brief history of the development of camcorders/ video recorders:
1923: Home movies became widely available with the development of the 16mm Cine Kodak and Kodascope Projector.
1936: Kodachrome colour film was developed.
1963: Ampex ‘home video’ system (A large camera, a TV monitor and a video recorder, worth $30,000)
1965: Launch of Kodak’s Super 8 (East-load cartridge system) and first affordable portable video recording system by Sony.
1967: Launch of Sony DV-2400 Video Rover, which is the first truly portable video recording system.
1970s: Portapaks were widely used
1971: Invention of video cassette
Mid-1970s: Launch of VCR (video cassette recorder)
1982: Launch of Betacam by Sony (for professional use)
1983: Launch of Betamovie BMC-100 by Sony (for domestic consumers use)
1984: Launch of first JVC camcorder
1985: First low-budget camcorder- VMC100 by Amstrad
1987: Launch of Fisher-Price PXL-2000 camcorder for children use
1995: First digital camcorders were introduced (aimed at professionals)
1996: Digital camcorder hit the amateur market with miniDV tapes
1999: Handheld camcorders were used by professional film-makers
2000: First-ever videoblog entry was posted online by Adrian Miles and launch of Jackass TV programmes by MTV. The first mobile phones with built-in cameras were launched in the same year.
2005: Disposable camcorders were available (For only $30)
(Sourced from Wilett 2009)
From the brief history, it is not hard to realise that the video production equipments are becoming cheaper and cheaper. Almost everyone affords to buy one.
Some other devices that are able to record videos are:
- Computer with build-in webcam (PC/Mac)
- DSLR such as Canon, Nikon, Sony and etc. Big advanatge: interchangeble lens. Easy to create filmic look.
- Flip video cameras (very portable and affordable)
These tecnhological developments have undoubtedly made video production available to more people and helped to encourage the prosumer culture.
Besides using camcorders to record video, prosumers can also use screen recorder to record the videos, these videos are mostly tutorial based. There are numerous software for people to do screen recording:
- Windows Media Encoder
- BB FlashBack Express
- CaptureFox
- uTIPu TipCam
- Krut
- Wink
- Webineria
- Jing
- CamStudio
(Sourced from http://www.webresourcesdepot.com/10-free-screen-recording-softwares-for-creating-attractive-screencasts/)
*Of course, there are other available software out there as well.
Here we have one successful example who uses cheap devices to produce video in order to make great impact.
Shawn Ahmed who is a graduate student at the University of Notre Dame, he put grad school on hold and do charity works in Bangladesh (Lastufka & Dean 2009). His project for this charity called Uncultured Project. He broadcast the process on YouTube. All he uses for creating the videos that he uploaded to YouTube are his laptop, camcorder and mobile phone. Shawn puts the videos on YouTube because he realised that his generation tends to watch YouTube more than TV or movies and he also realised that YouTube are lack of videos talking social issues such as global poverty (Lastufka & Dean 2009). Shawn has obviously proved to everyone that YouTube can be used as a tool to help solving social issues. In Shawn’s YouTube Channel, he states that:
“In over three years, the YouTube community has helped me rebuild a school, help over 10,000 kids through a community health worker program, award scholarships, build a clean water system for an entire village, provide disaster relief, give food, deliver school supplies, and much more in both Bangladesh and around the world. This isn't a formal charity - I just do this as an individual with the support of the YouTube community.”
Shawn Ahmed has successfully used cheap devices such as his laptop, camcorder and mobile phone to record videos for charity purposes.
Link to his project channel 1: http://www.youtube.com/user/UnculturedProject
Link to his project channel 2: http://www.youtube.com/up
Link to his own channel: http://www.youtube.com/shawn
Of course, there are other people who make videos only for their own pleasure and fun. Check out YouTube to see what other YouTuber have created so far.
Brief history of the development of camcorders/ video recorders:
1923: Home movies became widely available with the development of the 16mm Cine Kodak and Kodascope Projector.
1936: Kodachrome colour film was developed.
1963: Ampex ‘home video’ system (A large camera, a TV monitor and a video recorder, worth $30,000)
1965: Launch of Kodak’s Super 8 (East-load cartridge system) and first affordable portable video recording system by Sony.
1967: Launch of Sony DV-2400 Video Rover, which is the first truly portable video recording system.
1970s: Portapaks were widely used
1971: Invention of video cassette
Mid-1970s: Launch of VCR (video cassette recorder)
1982: Launch of Betacam by Sony (for professional use)
1983: Launch of Betamovie BMC-100 by Sony (for domestic consumers use)
1984: Launch of first JVC camcorder
1985: First low-budget camcorder- VMC100 by Amstrad
1987: Launch of Fisher-Price PXL-2000 camcorder for children use
1995: First digital camcorders were introduced (aimed at professionals)
1996: Digital camcorder hit the amateur market with miniDV tapes
1999: Handheld camcorders were used by professional film-makers
2000: First-ever videoblog entry was posted online by Adrian Miles and launch of Jackass TV programmes by MTV. The first mobile phones with built-in cameras were launched in the same year.
2005: Disposable camcorders were available (For only $30)
(Sourced from Wilett 2009)
From the brief history, it is not hard to realise that the video production equipments are becoming cheaper and cheaper. Almost everyone affords to buy one.
Some other devices that are able to record videos are:
- Computer with build-in webcam (PC/Mac)
- DSLR such as Canon, Nikon, Sony and etc. Big advanatge: interchangeble lens. Easy to create filmic look.
- Flip video cameras (very portable and affordable)
These tecnhological developments have undoubtedly made video production available to more people and helped to encourage the prosumer culture.
Besides using camcorders to record video, prosumers can also use screen recorder to record the videos, these videos are mostly tutorial based. There are numerous software for people to do screen recording:
- Windows Media Encoder
- BB FlashBack Express
- CaptureFox
- uTIPu TipCam
- Krut
- Wink
- Webineria
- Jing
- CamStudio
(Sourced from http://www.webresourcesdepot.com/10-free-screen-recording-softwares-for-creating-attractive-screencasts/)
*Of course, there are other available software out there as well.
Here we have one successful example who uses cheap devices to produce video in order to make great impact.
Shawn Ahmed who is a graduate student at the University of Notre Dame, he put grad school on hold and do charity works in Bangladesh (Lastufka & Dean 2009). His project for this charity called Uncultured Project. He broadcast the process on YouTube. All he uses for creating the videos that he uploaded to YouTube are his laptop, camcorder and mobile phone. Shawn puts the videos on YouTube because he realised that his generation tends to watch YouTube more than TV or movies and he also realised that YouTube are lack of videos talking social issues such as global poverty (Lastufka & Dean 2009). Shawn has obviously proved to everyone that YouTube can be used as a tool to help solving social issues. In Shawn’s YouTube Channel, he states that:
“In over three years, the YouTube community has helped me rebuild a school, help over 10,000 kids through a community health worker program, award scholarships, build a clean water system for an entire village, provide disaster relief, give food, deliver school supplies, and much more in both Bangladesh and around the world. This isn't a formal charity - I just do this as an individual with the support of the YouTube community.”
Shawn Ahmed has successfully used cheap devices such as his laptop, camcorder and mobile phone to record videos for charity purposes.
Link to his project channel 1: http://www.youtube.com/user/UnculturedProject
Link to his project channel 2: http://www.youtube.com/up
Link to his own channel: http://www.youtube.com/shawn
Of course, there are other people who make videos only for their own pleasure and fun. Check out YouTube to see what other YouTuber have created so far.
Communities
YouTube is not only a platform for people to share videos for fun but also offer consumers/prosumers to exchange ideas and knowledge. There are different kinds of YouTuber out there. Below are the types of YouTuber you might or might not have seen in YouTube (the names of different types of YouTuber are sourced from Miller 2007):
- The Recorder/ Sharer
These are the people who record clips from TV and then share them on YouTube. They do not create the content, they basically just transfer the content from TV to YouTube so that more people can watch it. These YouTubers will chose their favourite parts of the TV programs then record it and post it on YouTube. However, anything recorded from TV is copyrighted material so these YouTubers do not own the content. According to Miller, most large media companies do not oppose the idea of transferring the clips from TV to YouTube, except Viacom. In 2007, Viacom demanded YouTube to pull more than 100,000 unauthorised clips from Viacom (Miller 2007, p. 77). These YouTubers ARE NOT considered as prosumers because they DO NOT create the content nor own the content. They are playing as a role on YouTube to share something they are interested in to some others who might feel interesting or interested in watching.
- The Historian/ Enthusiast
The previous type of YouTubers are sharing current TV shows. As for historian/enthusiast, they are sharing classic television programs and commercials. Those clips could be traced back to 50’s (Miller 2007). Miller states that YouTubers who have got this kind of clips would atrract a lot of viewers because they are classic and hard to find. “Classic TV show and commercial clips are some of the most popular categories of videos on Youtube” (Miller 2007, p. 79) Again, these YouTubers ARE ALSO NOT considered as prosumer because they DO NOT create the content nor own them.
- The Home Movie Maker
Besides those recorded clips, most of the videos on YouTube are original and created by so called PROSUMERS. Thanks to those cheap production tools, anyone can record anything and then post them up on YouTube. Home movies originally are recorded for sharing with family and friends but once you posted on YouTube, everyone in the world can watch them. These videos could be something silly like what we have watched in America's Funniest Home Videos. The most famous home movie in YouTube should be Charlie bit my finger- again! It has more than 300 million views and it is ranked as number 5 in top 10 YouTube videos of all time (MacManus 2011). YouTubers who create home movie is considered as prosumers because they CREATE the content. These YouTubers are similar to the producers of reality TV shows.
- The Video Blogger
Video blogger is person who use video to record his/her daily life. “A video blog is like a regular text-based blog, except that your personal comments are recorded on video” (Miller 2007, p. 81) These videos does not need to be in high quality so the production tools can be anything that is able to record video. Content is more important. According to Miller, video bloggers are also called videographers. There is a famous example: Hand and John Green (vlogbrothers). They are just using YouTube as a platform for them to communicate with each other. They use daily video blogs to replace letters, email, instant message and text message. They are talking about their lives in their videos, making each other laugh and sometimes trying to get something more important across. But eventually they just get famous and everyone seem to enjoy what they are doing. They made daily video blogs in 2007 and after that they continue to upload video blogs but only once a week. The vlogbrothers’ YouTube channel has been featured on NPR and in the Wall Street Journal (Lastufka & Dean 2009, p.259).
-The Instructor
As mentioned before, YouTube is not only a platform for people to share interesting videos but also a platform for people to learn things. Some prosumers would create channels to demonstrate how to build certain things or install certain things such as installing TV sets (Miller 2007). Besides demonstrating how to build/install things, YouTube has also become a portable media school. Some YouTubers who are experienced in making films or using Photoshop are making how-to videos to teach beginners of how to use certain hardware and software. Prosumer culture is definitely changing the way people learn as media creators. To become a media practioner, a professional degree is not so important. People can learn from other by watching tutorials on YouTube and then use the skill to create media content by using own creativity. These YouTubers (the instructor) might not be a formal teacher but they are teaching people something they are good at. IceflowStudios is one of the YouTubers who mostly uses his channel for tutorials (Lastufka & Dean 2009).
- The Reporter
With a mobile phone with built-in video recorder (any video recording device) on hand, everyone can become a news reporter. Anyone can capture breaking events if he/she has a video recording device when he/she is in the scene. Some YouTubers are survivers of some major disasters such as tsunami, they captured some newsworthy videos and then posted up on YouTube. They are playing the roles as citizen journalist (to know more about citizen journalism, you could refer to here). Some videos were even picked and broadcasted in major TV channels.
- The Performer
Youtube is also a platform for people to show their gifted talent. There are many talented musicians ,comedians and other performers who use YouTube as their personal stage to perform in front of the world. According to Miller, more than thousands local musicians upload their performance video to YouTube for their fans to view or most of them would actually hope to get noticed by major record label (2007). The same can also be applied on comedians (Miller 2007). YouTube has created two unique membership for both musicians and comedians and these membership allow the holders customise their channel page by adding own logo/background, tour/show date information and CD purchase links (Miller 2007, p. 84). Performers can use YouTube as their band’s home.
- The Aspiring Film director
Like the performers, film directors can use YouTube as a platform to display their talents as well. “If you have a Youtube Director account, you can upload videos longer than the standard 10-minite limit” (Miller 2007, p. 85). So uploading whole film to YouTube is posible.
- The Online Business
YouTube can also be used for advertising purposes. Many business use YouTube to promote their brands and products (Miller 2007).
There are so many different YouTubers out there, no matter what is your purpose of using YouTube, you will definitely find a community that you belong to. You can learn from them by watching their videos or message them your questions or you can learn with them by critiquing or commenting on each other works. YouTube is considered a social networking sites because it is not only a platform for people to share videos but also a space for people from different backgrounds, races or countries to meet each other and learn with/from each other.
Sometimes, YouTubers do not only work on their own. They will collaborate with others too. For example, Kevin Nalty,Nalts.
An interview in the book 15 Minutes of Fame by Frederick Levy (2008, p. 132)
Nalty is a consumer marketing director for a Fortune 100 company. Apparently, making video for YouTube is only his part time job or even just an interest.
Frederick Levy: FL, Kevin Nalty: KN
FL: You tend to collaborate with a lot of your fellow YouTube users. I particularly like the cameos in your video "YouTube Viral Broker", not to mention the message that you are disseminating. Please talk to me about the community aspects of YouTube.
KN: I began my YouTube uploads simply to distribute on a site that was more popular, and with hopes to draw them onto Revver or CubeBreak. Then I discovered the community aspect, and became intrigued. I liked that there was a way to respond to videos and message other creators, Soon I began collaborating with local amateurs, and that became very rewarding. I also discovered that viewers loved seeing other YouTubers in my video. It's like watching an episode of one television show and then seeing another actor from another show make a cameo. So I began actively pursue opportunities to collaborate and found those experiences highly gratifying, Generally I'd meet with a YouTuber with little idea of what we'd do and together we'd develop something was far funnier than I could have conceived on my own. Almost all of my collaborations are spontaneous concepts rather than planned.
- The Recorder/ Sharer
These are the people who record clips from TV and then share them on YouTube. They do not create the content, they basically just transfer the content from TV to YouTube so that more people can watch it. These YouTubers will chose their favourite parts of the TV programs then record it and post it on YouTube. However, anything recorded from TV is copyrighted material so these YouTubers do not own the content. According to Miller, most large media companies do not oppose the idea of transferring the clips from TV to YouTube, except Viacom. In 2007, Viacom demanded YouTube to pull more than 100,000 unauthorised clips from Viacom (Miller 2007, p. 77). These YouTubers ARE NOT considered as prosumers because they DO NOT create the content nor own the content. They are playing as a role on YouTube to share something they are interested in to some others who might feel interesting or interested in watching.
- The Historian/ Enthusiast
The previous type of YouTubers are sharing current TV shows. As for historian/enthusiast, they are sharing classic television programs and commercials. Those clips could be traced back to 50’s (Miller 2007). Miller states that YouTubers who have got this kind of clips would atrract a lot of viewers because they are classic and hard to find. “Classic TV show and commercial clips are some of the most popular categories of videos on Youtube” (Miller 2007, p. 79) Again, these YouTubers ARE ALSO NOT considered as prosumer because they DO NOT create the content nor own them.
- The Home Movie Maker
Besides those recorded clips, most of the videos on YouTube are original and created by so called PROSUMERS. Thanks to those cheap production tools, anyone can record anything and then post them up on YouTube. Home movies originally are recorded for sharing with family and friends but once you posted on YouTube, everyone in the world can watch them. These videos could be something silly like what we have watched in America's Funniest Home Videos. The most famous home movie in YouTube should be Charlie bit my finger- again! It has more than 300 million views and it is ranked as number 5 in top 10 YouTube videos of all time (MacManus 2011). YouTubers who create home movie is considered as prosumers because they CREATE the content. These YouTubers are similar to the producers of reality TV shows.
- The Video Blogger
Video blogger is person who use video to record his/her daily life. “A video blog is like a regular text-based blog, except that your personal comments are recorded on video” (Miller 2007, p. 81) These videos does not need to be in high quality so the production tools can be anything that is able to record video. Content is more important. According to Miller, video bloggers are also called videographers. There is a famous example: Hand and John Green (vlogbrothers). They are just using YouTube as a platform for them to communicate with each other. They use daily video blogs to replace letters, email, instant message and text message. They are talking about their lives in their videos, making each other laugh and sometimes trying to get something more important across. But eventually they just get famous and everyone seem to enjoy what they are doing. They made daily video blogs in 2007 and after that they continue to upload video blogs but only once a week. The vlogbrothers’ YouTube channel has been featured on NPR and in the Wall Street Journal (Lastufka & Dean 2009, p.259).
-The Instructor
As mentioned before, YouTube is not only a platform for people to share interesting videos but also a platform for people to learn things. Some prosumers would create channels to demonstrate how to build certain things or install certain things such as installing TV sets (Miller 2007). Besides demonstrating how to build/install things, YouTube has also become a portable media school. Some YouTubers who are experienced in making films or using Photoshop are making how-to videos to teach beginners of how to use certain hardware and software. Prosumer culture is definitely changing the way people learn as media creators. To become a media practioner, a professional degree is not so important. People can learn from other by watching tutorials on YouTube and then use the skill to create media content by using own creativity. These YouTubers (the instructor) might not be a formal teacher but they are teaching people something they are good at. IceflowStudios is one of the YouTubers who mostly uses his channel for tutorials (Lastufka & Dean 2009).
- The Reporter
With a mobile phone with built-in video recorder (any video recording device) on hand, everyone can become a news reporter. Anyone can capture breaking events if he/she has a video recording device when he/she is in the scene. Some YouTubers are survivers of some major disasters such as tsunami, they captured some newsworthy videos and then posted up on YouTube. They are playing the roles as citizen journalist (to know more about citizen journalism, you could refer to here). Some videos were even picked and broadcasted in major TV channels.
- The Performer
Youtube is also a platform for people to show their gifted talent. There are many talented musicians ,comedians and other performers who use YouTube as their personal stage to perform in front of the world. According to Miller, more than thousands local musicians upload their performance video to YouTube for their fans to view or most of them would actually hope to get noticed by major record label (2007). The same can also be applied on comedians (Miller 2007). YouTube has created two unique membership for both musicians and comedians and these membership allow the holders customise their channel page by adding own logo/background, tour/show date information and CD purchase links (Miller 2007, p. 84). Performers can use YouTube as their band’s home.
- The Aspiring Film director
Like the performers, film directors can use YouTube as a platform to display their talents as well. “If you have a Youtube Director account, you can upload videos longer than the standard 10-minite limit” (Miller 2007, p. 85). So uploading whole film to YouTube is posible.
- The Online Business
YouTube can also be used for advertising purposes. Many business use YouTube to promote their brands and products (Miller 2007).
There are so many different YouTubers out there, no matter what is your purpose of using YouTube, you will definitely find a community that you belong to. You can learn from them by watching their videos or message them your questions or you can learn with them by critiquing or commenting on each other works. YouTube is considered a social networking sites because it is not only a platform for people to share videos but also a space for people from different backgrounds, races or countries to meet each other and learn with/from each other.
Sometimes, YouTubers do not only work on their own. They will collaborate with others too. For example, Kevin Nalty,Nalts.
An interview in the book 15 Minutes of Fame by Frederick Levy (2008, p. 132)
Nalty is a consumer marketing director for a Fortune 100 company. Apparently, making video for YouTube is only his part time job or even just an interest.
Frederick Levy: FL, Kevin Nalty: KN
FL: You tend to collaborate with a lot of your fellow YouTube users. I particularly like the cameos in your video "YouTube Viral Broker", not to mention the message that you are disseminating. Please talk to me about the community aspects of YouTube.
KN: I began my YouTube uploads simply to distribute on a site that was more popular, and with hopes to draw them onto Revver or CubeBreak. Then I discovered the community aspect, and became intrigued. I liked that there was a way to respond to videos and message other creators, Soon I began collaborating with local amateurs, and that became very rewarding. I also discovered that viewers loved seeing other YouTubers in my video. It's like watching an episode of one television show and then seeing another actor from another show make a cameo. So I began actively pursue opportunities to collaborate and found those experiences highly gratifying, Generally I'd meet with a YouTuber with little idea of what we'd do and together we'd develop something was far funnier than I could have conceived on my own. Almost all of my collaborations are spontaneous concepts rather than planned.
Distribution
YouTube itself is a
free distribution platform. Everyone can use it as long
as there is an internet connection. With YouTube, anyone can put anything on
YouTube (terms and conditions applied). It can become so successful because it
is so easy to use and users are almost facing zero problems when uploading
videos (if the users follow the guidelines). Not everyone is lucky enough to get
noticed and work in mainstream media company or famous major record label so
many media people or non-media people that enjoy doing media stuff use YouTube
to distribute their own media content. Also, the launch of Youtube has helped a
lot of ordinary people to reach their dreams. Once you upload the video on
YouTube, you are sharing the content worldwide. There must be someone out there
like your work (or even does not like). YouTube is also like a stepping stone
for some people. As mentioned in the communities, some users try to impress
some major media companies by uploading their content on YouTube and hope to
get noticed. For some people, they don’t even hope to get famous but they are
eventually. For some people, YouTube is the only distribution platform
for them, but for some people, YouTube is a stepping stone for them in order to
reach a further dream. For example, The Annoying Orange.
The Annoying Orange is a comedy web series on YouTube. The main character is an orange who is extremely annoying. This web series gets very popular. There are currently more than 1,800,000 subscribers to YouTube channel realannoyingorange (Wikipedia 2011). Distributing this web series on YouTube has not only helped the creators Dane Boedigheimer to become one of the top ten richest YouTube stars but also helped him to bring his creation on TV. Production company The Collective plans to make an animated TV series of The Annoying Orange (Matt 2011).
When prosumers distribute their content online such as YouTube, not only YouTube users could watch it but everyone with an internet connection because online video is both social and viral in nature. Based on the research, we found that 4 out of 10 viewers share the videos with others.
Ways of sharing:
37 percent: Email
36 percent: Facebook or MySpace
10 Percent: Twitter
(Sourced from YouTube, Next New Networks and Magid Release Research on Web Viewership)
Unlike TV, distribute media content online, YouTube in particular, can help the creators to reach more audiences both local and international.
Distributing media content on YouTube will not only help prosumers to reach their potential media consumers, but will also help them to earn extra income or even their main income.
Here is the list of top 10 richest YouTube stars ($US):
1. Shane Dawson - $315,000
2. The Annoying Orange - $288,000
3. Philip DeFranco - $181,000
4. Ryan Higa - $151,000
5. Fred - $146,000
6. Shay Carl - $140,000
7. Mediocre Films - $116,000
8. Smosh - $113,000
9. The Young Turks - $112,000
10. Natalie Tran - $101,000
(Sourced from: Moses 2010, Top Ten Richest YouTube Stars, The Vine)
The Annoying Orange is a comedy web series on YouTube. The main character is an orange who is extremely annoying. This web series gets very popular. There are currently more than 1,800,000 subscribers to YouTube channel realannoyingorange (Wikipedia 2011). Distributing this web series on YouTube has not only helped the creators Dane Boedigheimer to become one of the top ten richest YouTube stars but also helped him to bring his creation on TV. Production company The Collective plans to make an animated TV series of The Annoying Orange (Matt 2011).
When prosumers distribute their content online such as YouTube, not only YouTube users could watch it but everyone with an internet connection because online video is both social and viral in nature. Based on the research, we found that 4 out of 10 viewers share the videos with others.
Ways of sharing:
37 percent: Email
36 percent: Facebook or MySpace
10 Percent: Twitter
(Sourced from YouTube, Next New Networks and Magid Release Research on Web Viewership)
Unlike TV, distribute media content online, YouTube in particular, can help the creators to reach more audiences both local and international.
Distributing media content on YouTube will not only help prosumers to reach their potential media consumers, but will also help them to earn extra income or even their main income.
Here is the list of top 10 richest YouTube stars ($US):
1. Shane Dawson - $315,000
2. The Annoying Orange - $288,000
3. Philip DeFranco - $181,000
4. Ryan Higa - $151,000
5. Fred - $146,000
6. Shay Carl - $140,000
7. Mediocre Films - $116,000
8. Smosh - $113,000
9. The Young Turks - $112,000
10. Natalie Tran - $101,000
(Sourced from: Moses 2010, Top Ten Richest YouTube Stars, The Vine)
People might be curious how these prosumers earn money from YouTube. From our research, we found that users can earn money from their online videos in different ways. In YouTube, YouTube Partners is one the ways for users to earn money. Users who have been accepted into the YouTube Partner Program are called YouTube Partners (Lastufka & Dean 2009). These users earn money from revenue sharing. The money is paid by advertisers to YouTube so that the ads can be run on Partner videos(Lastufka & Dean 2009). YouTube takes 45% of the revenue and the rest goes to YouTube Partner (Lastufka & Dean 2009).
To become YouTube Partners, users must meet the following requirements (Sourced from http://www.youtube.com/t/partnerships_benefits#qualifications):
All videos uploaded are subject to the YouTube Community Guidelines and Terms of Service.
To apply to become YouTube Partner, please follow this link: http://www.youtube.com/partners
Besides YouTube Partners, users could also use branding options, AdSense or sponsored videos to earn money from the online videos.
Branding options- It is a great way to advertise the users’ personal website or product they want to sell because branding options include image banners on both users’ video pages and channel pages and these banners are clickable (Lastufka & Dean 2009). When the links are clicked, they will lead the viewers to the sites the users want to promote (Lastufka & Dean 2009).
AdSense- It is a free program that allow users to earn revenue by displaying relevant ads on a wide variety of online content and it is run by google. Most Adsense ads are paid on a per-click basis (Lastufka & Dean 2009).
Sponsored Videos- The videos can be made and edited like any other videos that the users usually do but the products that are advertised must be included in somewhere in the videos (Lastufka & Dean 2009). Users could earn higher revenue than the ad revenue sharing that have been mentioned above. To earn revenue by using this method, the user must have more then thousand of views on his/her videos.
There is another way to earn money from creating online videos, however it is only exist in other video sharing websites which is called preroll and postroll (Lastufka & Dean 2009). “The term spreroll and postroll refer to short 10- or 15-second commercial advertisements that run before (pre) or after (post) your video” Lastufka & Dean 2009, p. 196). This method can’t be run in YouTube because there are more than 10 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute and YouTube is unable to screen it all (Lastufka & Dean 2009).
Earning money might be one of the key reasons that consumers are willing to spend time creating media content and distributing them on YouTube and make themselves a prosumer.
Distirbuting media content to YouTube has raise one common question: 'Who owns Your Videos?"
According to Miller, the video creator retains the copyright for any video that he/she creates even he/she uploads the video to YouTube (2007). However, any video that is uploaded can be used by YouTube and any users in an appropriate way. The creator owns the copyright, but YouTube and millions of users are allowed to access, use, reproduce and/or distribute the video (Miller 2007, p. 129). That means, when the user agrees to uplaoad video to YouTube, he/she grants YouTube and other users a liecnse to use the material (Miller 2007, p. 129). This explains why we always watch video that is created by someone but distributed by another and more people.
To become YouTube Partners, users must meet the following requirements (Sourced from http://www.youtube.com/t/partnerships_benefits#qualifications):
- You create original videos suitable for online streaming.
- You own or have express permission to use and monetise all audio and video content that you upload—no exceptions.
- You regularly upload videos that are viewed by thousands of YouTube users, or you publish popular or commercially successful videos in other ways (such as DVDs sold online).
All videos uploaded are subject to the YouTube Community Guidelines and Terms of Service.
To apply to become YouTube Partner, please follow this link: http://www.youtube.com/partners
Besides YouTube Partners, users could also use branding options, AdSense or sponsored videos to earn money from the online videos.
Branding options- It is a great way to advertise the users’ personal website or product they want to sell because branding options include image banners on both users’ video pages and channel pages and these banners are clickable (Lastufka & Dean 2009). When the links are clicked, they will lead the viewers to the sites the users want to promote (Lastufka & Dean 2009).
AdSense- It is a free program that allow users to earn revenue by displaying relevant ads on a wide variety of online content and it is run by google. Most Adsense ads are paid on a per-click basis (Lastufka & Dean 2009).
Sponsored Videos- The videos can be made and edited like any other videos that the users usually do but the products that are advertised must be included in somewhere in the videos (Lastufka & Dean 2009). Users could earn higher revenue than the ad revenue sharing that have been mentioned above. To earn revenue by using this method, the user must have more then thousand of views on his/her videos.
There is another way to earn money from creating online videos, however it is only exist in other video sharing websites which is called preroll and postroll (Lastufka & Dean 2009). “The term spreroll and postroll refer to short 10- or 15-second commercial advertisements that run before (pre) or after (post) your video” Lastufka & Dean 2009, p. 196). This method can’t be run in YouTube because there are more than 10 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute and YouTube is unable to screen it all (Lastufka & Dean 2009).
Earning money might be one of the key reasons that consumers are willing to spend time creating media content and distributing them on YouTube and make themselves a prosumer.
Distirbuting media content to YouTube has raise one common question: 'Who owns Your Videos?"
According to Miller, the video creator retains the copyright for any video that he/she creates even he/she uploads the video to YouTube (2007). However, any video that is uploaded can be used by YouTube and any users in an appropriate way. The creator owns the copyright, but YouTube and millions of users are allowed to access, use, reproduce and/or distribute the video (Miller 2007, p. 129). That means, when the user agrees to uplaoad video to YouTube, he/she grants YouTube and other users a liecnse to use the material (Miller 2007, p. 129). This explains why we always watch video that is created by someone but distributed by another and more people.
Conclusion
From the process of researching YouTube as a case study, we found that YouTube is now
unambiguously part of the mainstream media landscape and contemporary popular
culture. According to Burgess and Green, each of these participants approaches
YouTube with their own purposes and aims and this has shaped YouTube as a
active cultural system (2009, preface: vii). “YouTube is a site of
participatory culture” (Burgess & Green 2009, preface: vii). Even though there
are many other video sharing websites on the internet, YouTube is still
considered number one because it has received significant press attention more
than any other sites.
Through YouTube, consumers who has turned to be prosumers, some of them has successfully become a formal media practioners who work in a proper media company or even become a celebrity. For media practioners, they can analyse what kind of videos are the most watched to find out what the audience nowadays like to watch so that media practioners could produce similar things on TV or in cinema or even bring the popular show from YouTube to TV. YouTube is changing how the media industry and media people should be working and how the people who want to be part of the media industry should be learning and get discovered.
Therefore, we believe this case study has helped us to understand more about how YouTube is used by the media industry to improve the media content because they can discover more talented media people and what are the current media content that audiences are more intrested in watching. YouTube is unambiguously the most famous video sharing website but there are lots of emerging video sharing websites nowadays such as Vimeo, Dailymotion and etc. To expand viewership, we would suggest prosumers to sign up for as many video sharing websites (credible and popular ones) as they could help prosumers to get more viewers to watch their videos. A famous YouTube blogger DigitalSoul- Frank Oaterson says in an interview with cNet News, "I think YouTube is the next television." (cited in Levy 2008, p. 169)
Through YouTube, consumers who has turned to be prosumers, some of them has successfully become a formal media practioners who work in a proper media company or even become a celebrity. For media practioners, they can analyse what kind of videos are the most watched to find out what the audience nowadays like to watch so that media practioners could produce similar things on TV or in cinema or even bring the popular show from YouTube to TV. YouTube is changing how the media industry and media people should be working and how the people who want to be part of the media industry should be learning and get discovered.
Therefore, we believe this case study has helped us to understand more about how YouTube is used by the media industry to improve the media content because they can discover more talented media people and what are the current media content that audiences are more intrested in watching. YouTube is unambiguously the most famous video sharing website but there are lots of emerging video sharing websites nowadays such as Vimeo, Dailymotion and etc. To expand viewership, we would suggest prosumers to sign up for as many video sharing websites (credible and popular ones) as they could help prosumers to get more viewers to watch their videos. A famous YouTube blogger DigitalSoul- Frank Oaterson says in an interview with cNet News, "I think YouTube is the next television." (cited in Levy 2008, p. 169)
