Community websites are in, and leading the pack is YouTube. Founded in February 2005 by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim, YouTube allows users to upload, view, and share video clips. About seven months after, it gained popularity when it hosted Lazy Sunday clip from a Saturday Night Live broadcast.

YouTube’s rise since then has been phenomenal. Last month, for example, Guardian Unlimited Technology reported that YouTube has overtaken MySpace in terms of global internet visits or reach. For the past three months, YouTube has grown by 155% while MySpace only 9%.

Despite controversies on copyrights and other video issues, I believe YouTube is becoming a powerful media on the Internet. A few months ago, I read about a comedy duo whose movie was rejected but found venue through YouTube. A recent controversy happening on YouTube involves Sen. George Allen calling his opponent’s Indian-American campaign worker “Macaca.” The term “Macaca” turned out to be a racial slur. The video clip of that incident ended on YouTube, and has been passed on to explode on the Net. I’m sure Sen. Allen didn’t know what hit him with that incident, which many thought would hound him throughout his political life.

It seems like the Internet is giving the movie, the TV, the radio, the print media a run for their money. In time, I’m sure this will influence the direction of global business. That is, if it’s not doing that already.

Related story:
British Government Adopts YouTube



ORIGINAL ARTICLE SOURCE:
http://www.gbwatch.com/?p=207

Ma. Merdekah "Meikah" Ybanez-Delid majored in BA English at the University of the Philippines where she was president of The Language Society, an academic organization of the College of Arts and Letters. She had been writing and doing research both for the education-community and IT fields, particularly for websites maintained by foreign organizations. Read her blog at http://custserv.gbwatch.com/

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