final essay

Ninoska Zarzuela

Prof. Jonah Bruckner

Final Project

In 2005, a time when the internet was still in its infancy stage was introduced to a creation that would help in molding the way we share videos and express ourselves. YouTube founded by 3 employees of PayPal, was a technology within the computer that would help shape the future of internet as we know it. The initial purpose of youtube was simply to upload videos of everyday things and people would watch them for majority entertainment purposes. Companies soon looked at this media as an opportunity to advertise and spread their message to viewers. Nike gaining the first video to reach 1 million views.

What I feel makes Youtube ultimately so unique is its ability to adapt with the way we use many other technologies. Once having a diary or writing a how-to instruction manual, has now transformed into blogging and instructional how to’s on practically how to do any and everything. This platform has also created enough revenue for these brave souls to create not only a persona but also serve as their main source of income. Using this platform essentially as the middleman people have seen success far greater than those we see on a day to TV. Giving people a sense of expressionism that has never been seen. This coupled with the potential of reaching out to over millions of people turned YouTube into a career for some as they were able to make a living purely off of their specific interest or hobbies.

The benefits of Youtube over the years far exceeds the ramifications it has also brought. With anything that gains overnight success people looked to Youtube to post videos ranging from real life events like children growing up, to videos of weddings, and people doing outrageous stunts to gain popularity.  In 2006, companies such as NBC took to this media early in its years as a way to bring their news not only to TV watchers but to the person who uses Youtube as a means to keep up with the news. This helped a traditional media company enter the digital age. Many companies were to follow. Youtube catching on to this attention decided. In 2006 Google saw the potential in what YouTube was and purchased the company for 1.65 billion dollars. Backed with about 65 employees, Youtube began paying people for videos going “Viral”. This was another influential moment in Youtube history as people began to really tap into their personal selves. Often most people who typical were introverts in the real world were able to tap into their alter ego and get paid for their uniqueness and individualities. In 2007 YouTube continued its success, we saw the first ever internet driven presidential debate where majority of the conversation around this was through the media outlet YouTube. Many people such as millenials took to this as a fresh take on what in the past was a very dull and mundane process. It gave a voice to the people allowing for them to speak out about what was going on. Within this year we also saw the first successful family who saw revenue of over $150,000, with their heart warming son expressing discomfort from his brother biting him (https://youtu.be/_OBlgSz8sSM). Rounding out what was a great year for Youtube backed by Google saw that allow for paid partnerships and integrated ads into their website was what would really take this up and coming start into the future and beyond.

With all good there is also the bad. With all the success of youtube many people also sought to take advantage of this to spread hate and propaganda. With everyday use of tablets, many kids took to Youtube to watch many videos of childhood cartoons, or shows catering to many characters they associate with when it comes to movies, games, etc. Videos that sought to frighten or excite children became the most viewed videos. Backed behind people who specialized in creating algorithms driven demand was able to embed their videos based on what kids watched. Youtube took a lot of backlash over the years as many stories such as the “MoMo Challenge” which was a video that would sneak in to the auto play rotation of a kids viewings told young  easily influenced kids to do harmful things such as put objects into the wall socket or turn on the stove gained immediate attention and many people sought for justice. YouTube has since vowed to better police what is posted on its site. This form of social media has also been characterized as what is preventing today’s youth of having a “real social life”. Caring more about how many views or likes their video gets rather than going out and enjoying life through their eyes and not the screens on their phone has slowly taken over. Many people feel we are slowly losing the art of human interaction as everything is now done with a swipe or like with little to no human interaction. And sadly Youtube is at the forefront of this. What has been since created to help overcome these ramifications is the ability to monitor the time spent watching videos within the settings. Youtubers can set time limits for their kids as to how long they can watch videos on a daily basis thus not making them feel consumed within their devices.  This along with tighter security measures continues to give YouTube the positive outlook that overshadows the darkness it brings.

Many of these innovations along with the expansion of Youtube across the world, where permitted, allowed for Youtubers innovations to be almost limitless. With the ability to live stream content such as what is projected from a drone camera while hiking, to for the first time ever in 2012, having the olympics live streamed through its own channel allowed for people all over the world to view as one. These inventions allows for many people across the world to be intuned with social and economical issues going on around the world. In best case scenarios helping aide in a cause for action to support. For example, many social issues such as anti-bullying has an even formidable foe, social media, as it has since gained alot of media attention with a call to action, Many people with huge notariety have used YouTube to band the world together against this. Along with this, while gaining insight on what a viewers history future Youtubers will have all content that interest them fed to them in a way that allows the service to essential pre plan what a viewer may be interested in. Thus making youtube essential a one stop destination for all your mainstream content both personal and professional. Going with the theme of tradeoffs with advanced technology such as this some feel this can also act as invasion of privacy as the viewer may feel this intrusive process bleeds the lindes of “big brother” watching their every step.  Today’s Youtube celebrities are also shaping up to be tomorrow’s moguls. By the year 2025 many YouTube celebrities, such as PewDiePie will see themselves in the upper echelon of the forbes list. (see youtube in 10 years).

As we continue to scratch the service of this technology and what its potential may bring. I feel we will only continue to see the benefits behind YouTube and its ability to spread information within a click throughout the world. With competition such as hulu, Netflix, and streaming services such as HBO and Showtime. We see more of a reason for Youtube to continue to reshape its platform as staying stagnant for the least bit of time could potentially make what we consider a power house to turn into a thing of the past, i.e. myspace. With earnings going up year over year it’s only helping YouTube promote more of its own specific content and services similar to Netflix. Youtube now with over 40 billion views per month is at the forefront of being able to put out content based on what their viewers interest are or what’s “trending”. With content that feels fresh, and current, especially with the attention spans of today’s viewers, Youtube can continue to leverage new and information in a quick less lengthy way also utilizing the personalities that have become so famous to convey whatever messages they wish so long as they comply with their regulations.   I see this only making us as a world more diverse and understanding the so many different walks of life. Youtube is a great way for us as people to be more self sufficient and also finds its way as an educational platform. Even mainstream america has since seen the benefits of streaming the Youtube TV giving viewers a space to socially watch live events with friends and family across the world regardless of travel and or time zone restrictions. As we continue down the path of future technology such as AR or augmented reality what’s most exciting is seeing how YouTube can integrate these forms of technology into what it still such a new source of information and entertainment. Youtube will continue to find its niche in mainstream america like its done over the past 14 years.

 

Works Cited

 

The History of YouTube – Ace X

 

https://www.engadget.com/2016/11/10/the-history-of-youtube/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAAq4A5zl99ouKkVh2hZlR-nOVfZ8F8IhG-nbTnOXNi-H6dD-VGXZqWcix4_O_WfNAYhBin1wWIN4T7TA8vlPFzJ_xLQECzJNATA3jaFLCJUMEvI7KUtdigTGhYJG36UeHu2Jp7mn8Q2f1VOKYm5EmM1BCT_R0W-uVTCjiD8KFJCv

 

The 22 Key Turning Points In The History Of YouTube – Megan Rose Dickey

 

https://www.businessinsider.com/key-turning-points-history-of-youtube-2013-2

 

What’s The Future Of YouTube – David Price

 

https://www.quora.com/Whats-the-future-of-YouTube

 

Social Impact Of YouTube – Wikipedia

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_impact_of_YouTube

 

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