Picture this: Will Ferrell living in an apartment, paying rent to a two-year old. She is his landlord and she comes to his front door, “drunk,” demanding her money from him. You can view this exact image if you search for it on YouTube.com.
Who would have thought that a site to post videos would have grown to be the fourth most popular website on the Internet. YouTube has gotten to this point because of the ability for anyone to view different kinds of videos. These videos range from people making their own music videos, athletic competition, television show episodes and random videos people at home make of anything. Because of the ability of anyone being able to access these videos, the popularity of YouTube is constantly increasing everyday.
YouTube was founded back in February 2005 and has been growing ever since. It is the leader in online video and the primary source to watch and share original videos worldwide. Anyone is able to get on this site and view the clips that are posted. These clips consist of all different things people could need or want to watch.
“It has any videos you need on there. You can use it to show anything,” Christina Romano, a junior elementary education major, said. “It’s also funny and can be educational. When you have a project like a PowerPoint, you can use a posted video at the end.”
Jen Burke, also a junior elementary education major, agreed with Romano about using YouTube for educational purposes. “It can be used for projects because it brings a different perspective to assignments. It shows enthusiasm and another way of visual information, not just text,” she said.
In November 2006, YouTube was bought by Google which continued the success of the website even more. It continued to strike numerous partnership deals with providers such as CBS, BBC, Universal Music Group, Sony Music Group, Warner Music Group and the NBA.
YouTube is viewed for many different reasons. Many college students use it mostly for pure entertainment. It is a very easy distraction in residence halls for procrastinating work because it is so addicting to watch the videos.
If you miss something big that happened on television, most likely you can find it on YouTube the very next day. Funny and embarrassing American Idol clips the day after a show are always popular videos to watch. Other popular clips are huge plays in a specific athletic event or a key moment in a television show. A lot of the clips though, are just random videos people made in their own home. That’s the wonderful thing about YouTube; there are so many different options to explore.