YouTube as Social Media
After I posted my report on the Pew Internet Research (2018) study two weeks ago, which found that the top Social Media Site for teens today is YouTube, I decided to do some research of my own and learn more about YouTube. Here are some quick and interesting facts that I found.
YouTube began as a free video-sharing platform in 2005. Its first video was 19 seconds long entitled “Meet Me at the [San Diego] Zoo.” Google purchased YouTube for $1.65 billion in 2006. YouTube Ads began in 2007. YouTube began live broadcasts in 2011. Congress and the Vatican have YouTube Channels as do many celebrities, organizations, news outlets and ordinary people.
Click here for more details about these and other YouTube milestones
A few current stats for YouTube:
- 1.57 billion monthly active users
- 30+ million daily active users
- 5 billion videos are watched per day
- 50 million users are creating content to be shared on YouTube
Click here for more stats and other fun facts about YouTube.
How is YouTube Considered a Social Media Platform?
Like other social media platforms:
- YouTube is free to join.
- Users provide the content.
- Users can comment on, rate and share YouTube content with others.
- YouTube is supported by ads.
Reference: Quora
You Tube is Expanding
YouTube is also expanding its business model with YouTube Red (you pay a monthly fee for uninterrupted music, ad free videos and original YouTube content); YouTube TV: you pay a monthly fee to be able to view via your TV or other device a package of TV channels.
Why does this all matter for ministry?
On March 1 of this year, the Pew Research Center released a report on Social Media Use by U.S. Adults. They found that the majority of Americans use Facebook (68%) and YouTube (73%). From another 2018 PRC report we learned that 85% of teens (13-17) use YouTube. Read my blog post about these two reports here
YouTube is a popular resource for video content in this visually-driven culture. We need faith-based content on YouTube and whether we create it ourselves or find content created by others we can reach a larger audience by sharing it on our websites and social media sites. Do you agree? How do you use YouTube personally or for ministry?
Your comments are always welcome!