YouTube.com
YouTube.com, a video sharing website, is on its way of getting recognized as a form of mass media. YouTube was created in 2005 by former employees of a well-known internet company. The developers of YouTube, Chad Hurley and Steven Chen, had experienced difficulty sharing videos and such experience led to an idea that created YouTube. Since its launch in 2005, YouTube became one of most popular website, and as a result, YouTube began to have huge social impacts in many societies.
An example of social impact of YouTube was the success of the video called “Bus Uncle”. The video shows an animated conversation between a youth and an older man on bus in Hong Kong, and it was widely discussed in the mainstream media, such as traditional television news and newspapers. During recent presidential election, the candidates extensively used YouTube as an outlet for advertising their candidacies. Even CNN’s election coverage featured YouTube as a way of “regular” people asking questions to the candidates. Recently, Queen Rania of Jordan used YouTube to launch a five month video conversation with viewers about Muslim stereotypes. YouTube became a tool of mass communication. Covering such important issues, YouTube can be called and educational website where people who do not watch news on the regular bases can get their information and be more acknowledged of what is happening in the world. In comparison to my country where YouTube is not as popular as in US, I can certainly see the difference of how well young people are informed in two different countries. YouTube has an enormous impact on people’s knowledge and extent of involvement in things that are happening to various nations. Besides providing information, YouTube gives the possibility of expressing personal opinions and thoughts on different issues. People take advantage of that and post their videos in hopes of communicating their message with other people.
YouTube was viewed as an entertainment website in its early days. But since then, YouTube has become much bigger than just another entertainment website. Now, it is substantial enough to cause a big social impact on society. Some countries, like China, have blocked its citizens from accessing YouTube, because of the website’s impact on society. Because YouTube can be used as a form of communication and its impact on society, now many considers YouTube as a form of mass media.
