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This post is written as part of AOL Money & Finance's Best & Worst of 2006. Vote for YouTube as the up and comer of 2006, or check out the other nominees in the category.
My six year old and I share a fascination for YouTube, the viral video-sharing site that Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) recently acquired for $1.65 billion. I got interested in the site last April after I read an article in Slate about the lip-syncing phenomenon on YouTube and then shared a few videos mentioned with my daughter.
We quickly became fans of the Two Chinese Boys and then went on to look at other Chinese music videos (this is a really catchy tune). I've been able to introduce her to Elvis in all his Las Vegas glory, early R.E.M., and just today, Donny and Marie. That reminds me, I bet there are some Captain and Tennille videos I should dig up to show her as well ...
Just in writing this post, we've ended up yet again as a family gathering around the computer viewing choice items found on YouTube. My husband just walked away frustrated once more that we wouldn't spend more time searching out game-winning shots from famous basketball games from the 1970s.
Suffice it to say, YouTube is both addictive, fun and truly enlightening. It's not a mysterious Web phenomenon that leaves 40-somethings shaking their heads wondering about the future of the country (think MySpace). It is breathtaking in size and scope. YouTube still reports on its press site that 20 million unique users per month watch 100 million videos daily. (I wouldn't be surprised if numbers are quite a bit higher than that now since that page doesn't even mention the Google acquisition.)
YouTube officially launched only in December 2005, so it literally came out of nowhere in 2006 to take the Web by storm. The question going forward is what YouTube will do for Google, which is already grappling with troublesome copyright issues due to its expensive purchase. Most pressingly, Google will need to figure out how to make money from YouTube. To date, the site generates no revenues to speak of and advertising no doubt will play a big role in its future.
Will ads hinder the site's popularity? Perhaps with the most die-hard members of its community. But for more casual fans like me, I'll hardly notice the ads and keep coming back to find more unique, and dare I say educational, experiences to share with my family and friends.
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