YouTube

YouTube, created in February 2005, is a website where viewers can upload, view, and share video clips. The website is free to anyone wanting to access or upload videos. The site uses Adobe Flash technology for easy and quick viewing. The videos range from movie clips, television show clips, music videos, and "home-made" videos from virtually anyone. While most viewers can see a selection of video clips, becoming a registered member permits the viewer to the entire collection of videos. Registering only costs a few minutes of your time to fill out minor information, but there is no payment necessary. The most recent statistics show that there are over 73,000,000 videos and 2,750,000 users.
YouTube allows users from all over the world to access videos for multiple purposes. The website can be used as an educational medium for schools and universities. Many videos can be used as a learning module in classrooms or in businesses for a variety of reasons. The website has also sprouted Internet celebrities, these of which have uploaded there own video that became extremely popular and even controversial. These individuals, or more so there videos, have become so popular that they are featured all over the media including entertainment news programs and late night talk shows. Along with Internet celebrities, amateur bands and performers can be discovered on YouTube. The site gives outstanding media exposure and music promotion. The website's slogan "Broadcast Yourself" encourages the user to promote their ideas and creativity by creating their own video. Although many videos can be displayed to any user of the website, users can also set up there own private account so only specific viewers with the appropriate password can access their videos.
The website also encounters some disadvantages, one of these being explicit content. The website includes many controversial videos, displaying violence such as street fights and animal abuse. These are just a few of the many video clips that have maneuvered its way on the site. Although YouTube does not allow videos that are not permitted by the United States copyright law, there are still infringements with movie/television clips being broadcasted on the site. Another disadvantage is finding a specific video out of the 73 million. The search engine does not provide the viewer with easy access to specific videos, especially if the title or video provider is unknown. YouTube also allows for virtually any video to be uploaded, leading speakers or "actors" in the video to be displayed without consent.
I think that YouTube should be used within an organization to access appropriate videos for projects, media information, and media output. Organizations can share there videos with other organizations or branches to collect and distribute ideas that the employees can not only hear but also see.
On a 5 point scale, 1 being least useful and 5 the most useful, I would rate YouTube at a 5. It gives all users the ability to share videos for a variety of purposes. It also benefits as not only a form of entertainment but also a means of distributing information to anyone who has access to the Internet.