What’s so great about YouTube?

Bob Garfield, “YouTube vs. Boob Tube”

As we enter into an increasingly ‘uploadable’ world, people have become more apt to spend time watching content according to their own interests on the Internet instead of choosing from the content provided for them by the mainstream television and film industries.  Short films and clips made at low costs by unknown citizens have gained the recognition amongst the population nation-wide as well as world-wide.  These kinds of successes, no doubt, have infuriated television and film companies who resort to expensive, high-tech visual extravaganzas as ways of targeting today’s younger demographic.  Although it is not just today’s youth who is taking part in this increasing interaction with online videos.  Internet users of all ages take advantage of what can be accessed online.  Due to this ongoing escalation, the industries have now found ways to make use of a resource that was previously burdening their usual practices.  More recently, most big network channels like NBC, ABC, CBS, TBS and others that follow suit have been posting whole episodes online from the series they run on their networks.  Now people can catch the shows they like without having to confine to a schedule that conflicts with their own.  Some networks have even been trying to cash in on drawing and even larger internet audience by posting extras, videos made exclusively for the Internet pertaining to one of their network shows that can only be found on their websites.   In an attempt to gain more visitors through exclusive website materials, such as extra scenes from popular shows, some networks, like CBS have begun posting original series as well that are only available online.  For example, last year CBS had produced an online series staring Michael Cera and Clark Duke that was only available on their site, although it began to become one of the more popular videos watched.  In time, with the further popularizing of websites like YouTube combined with the current network practices, the Internet has the potential of drawing in just as large a viewing audience as television.