Experiencing Youtube Part I
Posted on October 25, 2007
Found Inside the Life Box-> Miscellany, Computer and Internet |
In September, I began my journey of dedicating a whole month’s free time for Youtube. When I did that I got hooked and now every month seems to be dedicated to YouTube. Please help, I am hooked!
For about 4 hours everyday, I watch nothing but Youtube and upload one or two videos a month under the k6yarfilms channel (http://www.youtube.com/k6yardotcom).
Everyday is Youtube day. Just watch videos, and interact with other users but do nothing else such as blogging or updating web sites. Although my 4 hours a day is nothing compared to what most Youtubers would spend, I do have some interesting points to share with you.
Experiencing Youtube Part I…
- You’ll realize that time passes by fast and you slowly become addicted to watching videos and doing anything else. It sort of makes you lazy. Click to Play, Click to Browse and find the videos you want to watch. Nothing could be easier to entertain or educate oneself. So instead of couch-potato you become Youtube-Potato. You seem to add more pounds on your body.
- Youtube has both suitable and unsuitable contents; Sexually explicit contents and extreme violence. Unsuitable contents do still crowd many categories such as the Pets/Animals and People and Blog. When you are browsing and decided to open a video, just be aware. Kids could be in the room!
- Under People and Blog, more and more people are presenting videos of their babies.
- In September, my Car broke down. I found auto videos under HowTo & DIY which help me understand the problem so could talk better with a Mechanic.HowTo & DIY should be renamed “Answers” or “Q&A” something similar offered by Yahoo and Live/MSN.
- It’s much easier to win honors if you are using YouTube’s International Sites such as UK, Japan, Ireland. There aren’t many videos in that category and hence you have the chances of getting honors.
- I came across a video where the owner was selling his computer. You could watch a live operation of the computer before you could buy it, that was a very nice concept. The price of the computer was written on the description of the video. This looked rather odd but perhaps the future of Youtube might be headed in this direction where youtube would also be like ebay.com
- Finding the video you want to watch is still a hurdle in youtube. Youtube lacks Advanced Search Feature and that most of the front pages are made-up by youtube editors. Community driver site should offer contents created by the communities. Watching videos picked by editors makes you feel like *We* Youtubers aren’t enough, kind of makes you sad.
- The truth about getting subscribers for your channel is as simple as this : (1) Respect other users, (2) Watch their videos, rate and comment on videos genuinely. Some of them will appreciate your time and subscribe to you. Thanking users for sharing their video and showing your interest in their work have much greater affect. Respect the works by other users, and they might respect you back.
- Be prepared to get all kinds of comments on your video. I used to delete all bad comments and often disable commenting on videos. I felt sad for doing this, it made me feel like I was not letting people have their Freedom of Writing. If you get bad comments, just tell yourself, oh well… it’s just because of a video you made not because of who you are.
- The more subscribers you have the less freedom you seem to get. Without subscribes, you can please yourself to upload whatever category or content video you enjoyed making. As the number of subscribers grow, you seem to feel the pressure to please your subscribers. The freedom you once had seems to fade away! So in Youtube, “Subscribers are good to have” but “not important” is quiet true.
- One video I watched was very nice from beginning to.. well, almost near the end, it told me to call a toll-free number. Video made me feel like I had some mental problem! Had that video been under the Comedy category, it would have fit perfectly. Many people don’t seem to care picking the right category when uploading their video.
- I kept an eye on a video. The title of that video changed every now and then although the video content was the same. The video was called “Leave Britney Spear Alone… Bla Bla Bla at the end” in September now it says “Happy Halloween” in October. I guess some people change the title of the video to what’s popular in that month, etc. So, reading description of the video before opening it does save a-lot of time!
- When you comment on a video, it’s worth reading the description part of that video before commenting. Often the video owner may have written something extra not presented on the video. Title, Description and the Video itself are all related. Commenting by just watching a video doesn’t seem to work all the time.
- It’s extremely easy to lose your privacy on YouTube. Someone could become your friend, you could exchange messages, and then as time passes by you literally forget that he/she is a stranger. So, I decided to put-up a sticker on my monitor which reads : “Youtubers are Strangers, Don’t Give Out Anything!”
Well, That’s It for now.
You know, I Gotta watch more Youtube. I will share my Experience of October in coming November. Please post your comments / questions below.
See Part 2 : http://bhupen.k6yar.com/how-to-grow-your-channel-on-youtube
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