YouTube turns 15 | How YouTube changed the world forever
It started with a wardrobe malfunction. Fifteen years later, YouTube changed the world and is more relevant and influential today than ever before.
In honor of YouTube’s 15th birthday, I thought we’d take a look at how YouTube started, how it’s changed over the years, and how it’s impacted almost every corner of society.
A brief history
On Valentine’s Day 2005, Steve Chen, Chad Hurley and Jawed Karim activated the domain name www.youtube.com. As legend has it, the trio planned to create an online dating service called “Tune in, Hook up” — which failed spectacularly.
Still, the platform created by three PayPal employees was great for uploading and sharing videos, so when the co-founders realized they couldn’t find video of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami or Janet Jackson’s infamous wardrobe malfunction from the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show, they decided have launched their video sharing platform on April 23.
It only took a month for the site to see around 30,000 visitors a day. Six months later, that number rose to 2 million. In just under a year, YouTube had 25 million views and around 20,000 video uploads per day. In October 2006, Google bought YouTube for $1.65 billion in stock.
One of the earliest looks of the YouTube home page Image used with permission of the copyright holder
What YouTube tapped into was a younger generation that had no problem sharing themselves through video. Anyone could participate and post whatever they wanted. As you can imagine, this had some positive and negative effects. On the one hand, you have cute cat videos; on the other hand, there was extremist propaganda. YouTube has become the new MTV while simultaneously transforming campaigns for politicians. And in the background, the video-suggestion algorithm created addicts and, in some cases, radicalized them.
To say that YouTube has been incredibly influential would be an understatement. But I wanted to explore how and why YouTube changed society, how it works now, and what we might see from YouTube in the future.
The rise of the music scene
13-year-old Justin Bieber was discovered on YouTube after his mom uploaded a video of him singing. Three years later, Bieber sold out Madison Square Garden in minutes. Bieber’s instant discovery, connection with fans and meteoric rise to stardom were a foreshadowing of how YouTube would change music and the music industry.
By taking the power out of the hands of talent agents and record companies, YouTube has put control directly in the hands of artists. By going directly to the audience, previously unknown artists had a shot at celebrity. The “cool club” created by the record companies is not obsolete, but the presence of YouTube has certainly opened the door wide.
Look no further than South Korean singer Psy for an example. He produced five albums with varying degrees of success in the South Korean language, but it was his sixth album that brought him to the world stage and massive fame, when Gangnam style it went viral in 2012. That video was the most viewed video on YouTube for 4.5 years and has more than 3.5 billion views to date.
via Vevo
While the success of Psy and Bieber on YouTube are extreme examples, many other artists have become heroes from scratch thanks to the video platform. Examples include Carly Rae Jepsen, Tori Kelly, Shawn Mendes and Charlie Puth.
In parallel, there were parody videos that gained a new identity on YouTube. You may remember the comedy troupe The Lonely Island’s Lazy Sunday and A dick in a box went viral on YouTube.
These videos were recorded in one day Saturday night live shorts, but also went viral and helped popularize YouTube. NBC eventually pulled the videos because it shut down its YouTube channel in preparation to help launch Hulu, but Pandora’s Box was already open, leading to YouTube’s next impact on our culture.
Lo-pro, lo-fi
With YouTube, high video production value and high-fidelity audio didn’t matter — at least not right away. YouTube has proven that videos made with very little money not only have the potential to be popular, but are actually preferred.
These videos had an authenticity that viewers didn’t get from the polished productions seen on network and cable television. It was “really real” and this theme took off. To this day, authenticity is considered one of the most important aspects of a creator’s presentation on YouTube. YouTube viewers can smell a fake from a mile away and will let you know in the comments if they don’t buy what they see. Likewise, the most authentic content is voraciously devoured.
YouTube viewers run the show
We tend to look at YouTube creators and personalities as the driving force behind YouTube, but it’s really the viewers who make the decisions. The point of uploading a video to YouTube is in the hope that it will get views, along with all the benefits that come with those views. But unlike conventional television, which has prime time slots and Nielsen ratings to influence what gets made and watched and what doesn’t, the success of a YouTube video is directly related to what its viewers want to watch and share.
YouTube has proven that videos made with very little money not only have the potential to be popular, but are actually preferred.
In creating and growing channels, creators get an opportunity that big network hosts never had: near-instant feedback. The best creators are highly engaged with their fans and will adapt to that. Creators fine-tune their channels based on the changing desires of their community, and the best ones can sustain themselves over the long term. YouTube gave birth to this kind of producer/viewer relationship, and it has since entered every corner of entertainment.
Viewers can decide what’s popular and help shape how content is created, but do they have any control over what’s seen on YouTube? To some extent, yes, but there is a much larger driving force at play here, and that force has not always been for the good.
Enter the YouTube algorithm
In 2010, Guillaume Chaslot got his dream job at Google. Armed with a PhD in artificial intelligence, Chaslot arrived at Google with no idea what project to work on. It turns out that he will be tasked with developing YouTube’s video engine.
Example of a YouTube channel performance metrics dashboard Image used with permission of the copyright holder
This engine would use machine learning to figure out what viewers like and serve them a video to watch right after the video they’ve already watched ends. The recommendation engine had a singular purpose: to maximize watch time and keep viewers hooked on YouTube.
According to Chaslot, the number of views a video received was not nearly as valuable an indicator as watch time. The longer viewers watched, the more engagement there was and the more revenue YouTube could generate. Chaslot had the incredible task of replacing humans — who manually edited recommended videos — with artificial intelligence. Its AI had to target the unique characteristics of each individual viewer, a monumental task. Chaslot was successful in building this platform, but it also had some unintended consequences.
Polarization and radicalization
If you are really into pranks, fail videos, drunk arrest videos, YouTube will provide you tons of such videos to watch. But AI takes its job so seriously that recommendations tend to polarize. As the New York Times reported in its Rabbit hole podcast, the AI takes a point of view into account and tends to stick to that point of view.
Paul Ellis/Getty Images
For example, if you watch videos of a protest shown from the side of a group of protesters, then you will continue to see the videos from the perspective of the protesters. But if you watch the video taken from the perspective of the police, you will still see the video from the perspective of the authorities. Not only can repeated exposure to polarizing videos shape viewers’ perceptions, but there is growing evidence that content recommendation algorithms contribute to radicalization.
Google patch
Google has taken several steps to address the negative effects that its open video platform allows. The company has established a trusted “flag program” that allows verified YouTube viewers to flag what they consider inappropriate content.
Google has also implemented interstitial warnings that tell viewers that the content they are about to watch may contain inflammatory religious or supremacist content.
There is growing evidence that suggested content algorithms contribute to radicalization.
It’s an uphill battle, though, because technologically speaking, it’s difficult to build a machine that can tell the difference between a video created by a terrorist and one created by a reputable media organization covering a terrorist organization.
Regardless, many groups continue to use YouTube to promote their causes. So while some people may be playing new music or watching the latest iPhone review, others are digging into controversial and potentially dangerous content.
The rise of the challenge
Another trend we’ve seen in YouTube history is challenge videos. And they are very positive or very dangerous. On the one hand, you have the Ice Bucket Challenge, which is designed to promote awareness and raise money for ALS. On the other hand, you have the infamous Tide Pod challenge, which is just plain dangerous and, many would say, stupid.
New income
Everyone gets paid. Without a doubt, one of the biggest impacts that YouTube has had is that it’s made a bunch of people a lot of money. Musicians, reviewers, comedians, pranksters, car mechanics – you name it. There’s probably a YouTube channel about it that makes both YouTube and the video creator a ton of money.
The barrier to entry is higher today than it was ten years ago, and YouTube doesn’t just hand out bags of cash – you have to build a business around your YouTube channel. But since it has democratized online video, almost anyone with some talent, a little luck, and a webcam can turn to YouTube and start pulling in some serious cash. Be entertaining, be thought-provoking, be useful, and you’ll likely reach your audience on YouTube. What you do with that audience will define success.
Top 5 on YouTube
Take a look at the top five YouTube videos of all time and you’ll see that it’s filled with one children’s program and four music videos. No wonder YouTube Music and YouTube TV were created.
And as for the future of YouTube? I think we are witnessing that right now. As more and more people are stuck at home, desperately looking for creative outlets, we’re seeing a flood of new content on the platform. Even late-night talk shows and comedians are turning to YouTube as their primary broadcast channels.
If the line between YouTube and traditional television used to fade, now it has almost disappeared. And I think it will stay that way.
Happy birthday, YouTube. It’s an interesting time to come of age. Good luck.
Editor’s recommendations
Categories: GAMING
Source: newstars.edu.vn