What's special about YouTube

[DT Chris]

All I know about YouTube is that in the end, the more moronic and stupid your video is, the more hits, comments and favorites.

I think the majority of users are just on there to watch some dog eat it's own vomit; 3,000,000 views, 15000 comments, 34000 favorited.

Noone's on there to see a new band develop. Hell, even my own friends who apparently like my music don't have my videos favorited, but I'm at their house and they're showing me all these stupid videos that they have.

I must admit, I've been wasting a lot of time viewing YouTubes lately - I must be really bored lately. The thing that strikes me most though about YouTube is the amount of people that are conceited, especially the so-called YouTube 'celebrities'.

This is just another bastion of human depravity and appealing to the lowest common denominator.

It does have it's uses, but you have to wade through a lot of shit to get to anything good.

[brandondrury]

Noone's on there to see a new band develop.

Most of us don't find the process of watching another band "develop" all that entertaining. It's about like watching a headache develop. However, we all want to be entertained by "great" music.

I think there are a lot of people who do watch "good" music and music videos with Youtube. I don't think people say "Let's find new music" on Youtube, but I do think they check out what their favorite bands (major label, indie, and local).

Brandon

[TAlderson]

Well, back in the day, everyone went to Myspace to find 13-year-old girls they could stalk and rape (didn't you?). Now, people look up bands and such. I'm not saying Youtube will go in that direction, but it seems like they're trying to move there (I think there's some kind of musician's or band account).

-Tyler

[brandondrury]

Well, back in the day, everyone went to Myspace to find 13-year-old girls they could stalk and rape (didn't you?).

I'm not saying Youtube will go in that direction, but it seems like they're trying to move there

Which direction? The bands or the rape?

[DT Chris]

I would now like to revise my opinion of YouTube.

True there is a lot of shit, and stupidness on it, but I am also surprised to find a multitude of videos on many topics I have been researching lately and have found it quite a great tool for doing so. I've learned a lot on a variety of subjects by watching some videos and their series, and have gone from there to find out more info on interesting things on the internet.

I think in the end it's all how you use it. If you want to use it for your base desires, you'll find plenty of that, if you want to waste time you can. However, if you want to learn about something, there are plenty of videos there to help you along.

Overall, I'm glad it exists.

[brandondrury]

Good point, DT_Chris. There are tons and tons of complete crap on Youtube, but there is also tons and tons of useful stuff on there. I'm finding more and more tutorials for everything from web programming to web marketing.

There seams to be a large proportion of useful stuff on Youtube than there is on TV for example.

Brandon

[TAlderson]

Originally Posted by brandondrury

There seams to be a large proportion of useful stuff on Youtube than there is on TV for example.

I'm not so sure about that. I think maybe it seems like that because unlike TV, you can only look at stuff you think is useful on Youtube, and on your own time, whereas TV has someone else's schedule in mind.

-Tyler

[siski]

There's some really rare musical footage that you'd be hard pressed to find anywhere else.

[brandondrury]

I'm not so sure about that. I think maybe it seems like that because unlike TV, you can only look at stuff you think is useful on Youtube, and on your own time, whereas TV has someone else's schedule in mind.

Be that as it may, I've never seen a guide to search engine optimization or how to use regular expressions with php scripts on TV and I don't think I ever will. The time / scheduling thing is a huge part of it, but the little niches on the web that can't support a TV show are what really make the web useful, in my opinion.

Brandon

[thesilentdrummer]

Originally Posted by brandondrury

the little niches on the web that can't support a TV show are what really make the web useful, in my opinion.

I completely agree on this point. For example, I watched some audio engineering videos on the internet, anywhere from mic placement to proper use of certain plugins. Without the internet, I would not have become involved in audio engineering and recording the way I am today. I am yet to see a TV show that explains anything worthwhile about recording. I could have read Recording or EQ magazine (I still read them anyways), but that is from the perspective of a rich studio dude who has millions of dollars of the world's best gear at his disposal. All the TV stations and the magazine people have to cater to the masses in order to make any money. Like Brandon said, the internet allows small niches to survive, even thrive, because of the cost effectiveness.