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What's happening on YouTube
Peek inside our Friday afternoon mini “film fests”
Friday, October 1, 2010
When you work here, one of the most frequently asked questions from friends and acquaintances is, “So, do you get to watch YouTube videos all day at work?”
Unfortunately, the answer’s no, but we do gobble up latest memes and must-see videos just as much as anyone else in the YouTube community. And every couple weeks, we do this gobbling (
nom nom nom
!) together, during our mini “YouTube Film Fest.”
We start with a fresh
Google Moderator
to collect and rank staff submissions. Employees add and vote on all their favorite videos until the date of the next film fest. As with YouTube itself, our fests draw from a diverse array of tastes and experiences. At any given showing, you might expect to see
weird science
,
feats of endurance
,
shocking optical illusions
and, of course,
adorable pets
.
If it’s a busy couple weeks and the Moderator’s looking slim, no problem. I just search company
Buzz
to find out what people are watching, liking and sharing. I curate these YouTube videos to create
the Film Fest playlist
. Then, come Friday afternoon, I cook up some popcorn, fill a cooler with drinks, draw the shades and hit “Play All.” The new
playlist bar
streamlines the viewing experience, so videos play continuously and/or we can quickly and easily jump ahead to the next clip.
What about you? Do you ever host YouTube viewing parties? How do they work? What tools do you use, and where do you archive your playlists? Tell us in the comments below (though please note comments are moderated due to spam).
John McCallen, User Experience, recently watched “
Curious Stroboscopic Effect
.”
It’s official: YouTube is more popular than music ;)
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Today our
Facebook page
hit an important milestone: over 10 million of you have clicked that “Like” button, making us more popular than
Cristiano Ronaldo
and -- whoa --
music
?! Here’s a special message to anyone who’s ever clicked the thumb’s up button on
our page
:
Now, that’s pretty awesome, but honestly we won’t rest until we
rock those vampires
,
sweep by the Prez
and
topple Lady Gaga
. Help us get there by liking
this page
, writing on our Wall and sharing the videos and news we post daily. And, of course, a huge thanks to anyone and everyone who’s already said they "Like" us. It's most definitely mutual!
Mia Quagliarelly, Community Manager, recently posted “
Jane Austen’s Fight Club
” to
Facebook
.
YouTube answers your questions about partnerships (and next topic announced)
Monday, June 7, 2010
YouTube is a big place, but we’re trying to make it feel a little bit smaller. That’s why in April, we
announced a new initiative
in which you submit questions on a broad topic and then several employees who work in that area answer the most popular questions on video. It’s an opportunity to ask us anything you like relating to the subject at hand and to get to know many of the faces working at YouTube.
Our first topic was partnerships, and there were
2,017 votes on 96 questions
from 223 people. After reviewing your questions, rehearsing, applying a little more makeup than usual, and rehearsing some more (because we’re not naturals at this like you are!), two members of our partnerships team -- Shenaz Zack, Product Manager, and Camille Hearst, Product Marketing Manager -- made this video response:
We hope the video helps to demystify any burning questions you may have had about being a YouTube partner.
Next up, head over to our
YouTube channel
where we’re using the
nifty new Moderator tool
to collect questions on the next topic: “YouTube Worldwide.” This is a good opportunity to ask about what goes into localizing the site, how to find cool content in your language, translation features, and lots more. We’ll be taking questions until Sunday, June 13, and then we’ll be back as soon as possible afterward with two new staffers in the hot seat.
Mia Quagliarello, Product Marketing Manager, Community, recently watched “
Mike Tyson’s Tea Time
.”
At five years, two billion views per day and counting
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Five years ago, after months of late nights, testing and preparation, YouTube’s founders launched the first beta version of YouTube.com in May, with a simple mission: give anyone a place to easily upload their videos and share them with the world. Whether you were an aspiring filmmaker, a politician, a proud parent, or someone who just wanted to connect with something bigger, YouTube became the place where you could broadcast yourself.
Over time, these aspirations have created a vibrant and inspiring community that helped transform a murmur of interest into something far greater than any of us ever could have imagined. Today, thanks to you, our site has crossed another milestone: YouTube exceeds over two billion views a day. That’s
nearly double the prime-time audience of all three major U.S. television networks combined
.
What started as a site for bedroom vloggers and viral videos has evolved into a global platform that supports HD and 3D, broadcasts entire sports seasons live to 200+ countries. We bring feature films from Hollywood studios and independent filmmakers to far-flung audiences. Activists document social unrest seeking to transform societies, and leading civic and political figures stream interviews to the world.
To celebrate our birthday, today we’re launching the
YouTube Five Year channel
. There, you’ll find the “My YouTube Story” project which features people from all over describing how YouTube has changed or shaped their lives.
Please add your own story to the mix! You can upload your video
here
-- and it may be selected to appear on the channel’s video wall or map.
The channel also hosts an interactive timeline containing some of the most important moments and memes in our short history. It was tough to pick -- and just scratches the surface of all the amazing things that have happened on YouTube over the years. What else? We’ve asked a handful of luminaries like
Conan O’Brien
,
Vint Cerf
and
Katie Couric
to curate playlists showcasing their favorite videos on the subjects they know best. You can also check out
our Infographic here
; it contains lots of neat facts and figures.
Since we never could have predicted all that happened in YouTube’s first five years, we certainly can’t imagine what the future will look like. But we do know there’s a lot more to be done. For instance, we want to make it even easier for you to sort through and find the videos that matter to you. Although the average user spends 15 minutes a day on YouTube, that’s tiny compared to the five hours a day people spend watching TV. Clearly, we need to give you more reason to watch more videos! And we want to give you all the tools and support to make YouTube both your career and your community. After all, this is only the beginning of the video revolution. We’re just getting started.
The YouTube Team
YouTube team to respond to your questions about...partnerships
Thursday, April 8, 2010
We’re launching a new video series on the
YouTube channel
that brings you closer to the people and processes behind YouTube. It’s part of a larger effort to
lift the veil
, so you can ensure your voice is heard by the staff here and come to know the friendly faces that are as devoted to YouTube as you are.
This is how it works: each month, we’ll announce a topic of general interest, such as partnerships, ads, the future of YouTube, international, and engineering/innovation. (Feel free to suggest other ideas in the comments below.) We’ll open up a Google Moderator page, where you can submit questions related to the subject at hand and vote on questions asked by others. We’ll give you about a week to submit your questions; then we’ll put one or more employees who can best address them on camera, to respond to you in a video which we’ll then post to the YouTube channel.
First up, we wanted to focus on the
YouTube Partnership Program
, because we’ve heard from you that there’s some mystique around how it all works. This could include questions about
Individual Video Partnership
. Please submit your questions about partnerships
here
and vote on others’ until Tuesday, April 13, at 5 p.m. PT. Then, subscribe to the
YouTube channel
(if you're not already) to be sure to see the response video uploaded about a week later. We’ll also post it to
this blog
and send it out on
Twitter
and
Facebook
.
Sound good?
Mia Quagliarello, Community Manager, recently watched “
Pink Terror
.”
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