YouTube > Reviews (106)

Youtube is a video uploading site where anyone and everyone can as they say 'Broadcast Yourself' to the entire world. Any video can be uploaded (as long as it is within the guidelines) and displayed to anyone around the world who wishes to view it. The site was created by two young fellows in a garage and was sold a few years ago to Google who purchased it for around $1.65 Billion, I assume those two fellows will never have to work again...When I first heard about Youtube I didn't really get excited, I thought to myself, why would I want to look at some homemade videos. Once I actually logged on however I realised some of the videos were well worth watching.

There is so much hidden talent out there and Youtube gives people the chance to show the world their work. I watched a 10 minute video where some guy had painted a story along walls throughout a city in white paint, it was speeded up so you didn't see him painting it, but it looked great, it must have taken months. The site however doesn't only include people's homemade work; it also has music videos, TV clips, film clips and many other videos to watch. I have been quite interested in the videos related to 7/11 and how it has been branded a conspiracy, very interesting; did you know THREE buildings collapsed? One next to the two towers that shouldn't have fallen did...check it out, it makes you wonder whether its all that it seems.

The site is actually very easy to use, you simply type in words associated with the subject you are searching for and hit the search button, straight away you are shown 20 videos relating to the search term with a small preview picture of each. It is also possible to write a review about the video based on how good you think it was. This actually turns out to be very useful, some users post videos with titles that are actually nothing to do with the subject at all; it will perhaps be a video of them doing a strip or something, very annoying. The trouble is they aren't actually breaking any rules, only videos that include full sex or violence are banned. Although some videos do include adult content, such as film clips, you can sign up to Youtube which takes a few minutes. If you declare yourself over the age of 18, it will allow you to watch them.

In terms of reliability the site seems very sound, I haven't yet visited that site and experienced the 'Closed due to maintenance' message that some sites insist on doing during peak web surfing time. The videos can also be displayed in small picture size or full screen. However, a lot of the videos are in a fairly low resolution, I guess to decrease uploading times, therefore I would suggest just watching them on the smaller size. Download times are obviously dependent on your connection, but I always seem to have a high connectivity, never had I had to wait more than 10 seconds for a video to load, especially if it is streaming.

The layout of the site is very simple, and the colours are simple and clean, there is a white background with small tabs along the top for easy navigation.

There is a small picture preview of each video and a small description of the movie beside it, to play the video simply click on the picture it will then load up. You can also add the video to your favourites or email it to a friend.

Youtube will continue to be the global leader in video broadcasting, its diversity is great and with the creators of Google behind them they surely cant go wrong. I would advise the site to anyone, although parents should keep an eye on what their children are looking at, some videos do involve violence or suggestive scenes that could give young influential minds bad ideas.