The Social Media Juggernaut: Contextualizing YouTube
I chose YouTube as the site for analysis for a couple of reasons: it is a social media juggernaut grossing high amounts of users and revenue and because of its popularly used within the composition classroom. Compounding the two reasons is also a personal one—I was remarkably unsuccessful with my early attempts to incorporate YouTube into the composition curriculum. Recently I seized an opportunity for redemption by integrating the organizing systems framework with the assignment of the development of "viral" video clips. I was pleased with the noticeable difference between my earlier and more recent experiences using YouTube. I will be expounding upon the specific differences later in the analysis, but before doing so, I want to historically situate YouTube as an organizing system. This framework will help to propel the analysis of its organizational features forward.
YouTube was founded in 2005 by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim before it was sold to Google in 2006 (“YouTube Statistics” 2014). As stated in Google’s company site, the company’s driving mission for itself and its constituents is to “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful” (“About Google” 2014). Google is a global leader in search capabilities by delivering a web experience based on speeds and the intuitive organization of the web’s information. YouTube takes on the organizational qualities of its parent, Google, by giving users the autonomy to organize the media they upload into the site. YouTube allows users to watch, share, and create videos to cultivate social connections among users across the globe (“YouTube Statistics” 2014). The premise founding YouTube ’s operation is rather simple: create videos, upload them onto the site, “tag” them for appropriate site organization, and share with as many users as possible. The site functions on many levels as a host site for videos, as a space for advertisers, and as a social media outlet for users around the earth. YouTube’s simple design structure has contributed to its incredible growth.
YouTube was founded in 2005 by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim before it was sold to Google in 2006 (“YouTube Statistics” 2014). As stated in Google’s company site, the company’s driving mission for itself and its constituents is to “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful” (“About Google” 2014). Google is a global leader in search capabilities by delivering a web experience based on speeds and the intuitive organization of the web’s information. YouTube takes on the organizational qualities of its parent, Google, by giving users the autonomy to organize the media they upload into the site. YouTube allows users to watch, share, and create videos to cultivate social connections among users across the globe (“YouTube Statistics” 2014). The premise founding YouTube ’s operation is rather simple: create videos, upload them onto the site, “tag” them for appropriate site organization, and share with as many users as possible. The site functions on many levels as a host site for videos, as a space for advertisers, and as a social media outlet for users around the earth. YouTube’s simple design structure has contributed to its incredible growth.
Since inception, YouTube has experienced notable growth and popularity (I want to note YouTube’s growth to situate its ubiquity while also providing the space to introduce the site to readers unfamiliar with the site). In 2008 YouTube’s site traffic posed a major concern for Internet users in the United Kingdom. The high levels of site traffic caused significant strain, causing “congestion” on the physical infrastrucute (the copper wiring) supporting Internet operations; the strain revealed the need for high-speed fiber optics to be used as an alternative to the overworked copper wiring (Carter 2008). YouTube continued to expand, globally and eventually hit the billion-user (all unique users) mark in March 2013: it was studied that approximately half of internet users visit the site (“YouTube Reaches 1 Billion Users Milestone” 2013). It is without surprise that the popular website permeates various social institutions from the workplace, to the home, and increasingly into the classroom. The history of YouTube continues to be one of growth and evolvement—a narrative further fleshed out with the exploration of its organization structures in place. To further advance the analysis, now that YouTube has been historicized contextually, we will be begin examining the features of YouTube.