YouTube as a Mass Medium

When YouTube launched in 2005 it was just an Internet site that provided a simple interface for people to house and share amateur videos (Grosswiler, 2012). In less than two years YouTube had grown larger than its competitors and was purchased by Google, making it the world’s leading online video community (Grosswiler, 2012). YouTube started to become a place for creatives to showcase their talents and educators to reach mass audiences. After smartphones and tablets started to become popular devices, YouTube was accessible to users everywhere. Unlike traditional channels such as television, YouTube became a mass medium that already had a social component built in. Amateur and professional brands realized the value and started investing resources into developing viral content. Today, YouTube is more than a hub for funny home videos. It has become an integral part of our global culture.

There are many ways that YouTube is used to inform, educate, entertain and bring awareness to social issues. The It Gets Better project started as a YouTube video aimed at helping discouraged and suicidal LGBT teens. Political candidates use the network to announce their candidacy and make endorsements. Educators post lesson plans, science experiments, classroom ideas and lectures for the development of other teachers and professionals. Anyone wanting to learn how to make frittatas or need basic lessons on using a sewing machine can turn to YouTube for how-to videos. The website is also a place for companies to increase brand awareness, show new products and promote events. Producers that create viral content end up with a large amount of social currency to influence others. This influence results in a massive group of followers and a nice stream of income.

The value of YouTube has increased to a point that is now competitive with television for ad dollars (Garrahan, 2013). Total video viewing continues to grow and it is being driven by sites like YouTube (Garrahan, 2013). A new generation of online video production has sprung up to cater to a younger audience that watches most of its television programming online (Garrahan, 2013). YouTube is a technological advancement that is taking over traditional media and becoming part of the mainstream.

References

Garrahan, M. (2013). YouTube advertising revenue surges 50% to $5.6bn. FT.Com, Retrieved from http://ezproxy.snhu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1476443005?accountid=3783

Grosswiler, P. (2012). YouTube. In Encyclopedia of Gender in Media. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.