In its short existence, YouTube has become a classic example of a modern internet phenomenon. It is a video-sharing website that is used on a daily basis by people all over the world. It has been used to embarrass celebrities, to cause political storms, for entertainment, for self-promotion and for thousands of other reasons.
YouTube was founded in a garage, by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Karid Jarem in February 2005, and was officially launched to the world in December of that year from offices in San Franciso. YouTube is an online portal through which users can watch and share video content.
The initial vision for YouTube was that is would be a vehicle whereby young people in particular would have the facility to show off their talents as home movie makers, building on the increasing popularity of 'reality television' at the time.
A key to YouTube's early success was that viewers had the facility to send a link via email to their friends, which enabled the creation of a community of users. YouTube's technology also made it easier for bloggers and others to 'grab' a video segment and place it at their website extending the reach of its content to a wider target audience. It also let user decide which videos were worth watching by providing the facility to rate and recommend videos.
YouTube then benefited from the network effects that allow many companies to grow rapidly on the internet. In other words, the bigger a site's audience gets, the more success will feed off itself. Users can watch video without even registering. Its like shopping, but Window Shopping! You can find anything imaginable from the funny, to the weird to the sad that is available on the site.
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