What Is YouTube?

Youtube is a popular video-sharing platform that allows registered users to upload videos of their own as well as to watch videos posted by other users.

There is a wide range of videos available to watch provided by people from all around the world with different backgrounds. Some examples include music videos, beginner films, movie trailers, how-to tutorials of any kind, instructional videos, sports bloopers, and even funny videos caught on tape. You have a lot to choose from.

How YouTube works

Due to the nature of Youtube, this service was mainly created for ordinary people who want to share and publish videos that they have created.

However, there are still several companies and organizations that use this platform to promote and further advertise their business. They create their own channel, add an SEO-friendly description, set up the basics, and then they just go ahead and share content. 

Since Google offers revenue sharing, Youtube has also implemented advertisement clicks which are generated on certain video pages, therefore some YouTubers have been able to turn what once started purely out of fun into a profitable enterprise.

The majority of the videos are free to watch, except for the ones that are subscription-based premium channels like Youtube Premium which submits add-free access to all content and music videos including even content that is commissioned by notable personalities.

More events are captured on video now more than ever before. While this creates a myriad of entertaining videos, it also means that people should be very careful about the content they choose to virtually share and upload. Once they upload it and ends up on Youtube, it’s there for the whole world to see.

Fun facts

This online video sharing platform started as a venture capital-funded technology startup back in February 2005, by three former PayPal employees. It is headquartered in San Bruno, California.

As of May 2019, an estimated 500 hundred hours of video content/minute are uploaded to Youtube. Based on the reported advertising revenue, Youtube is predicted to have a US$15 billion in annual revenues.