YouTube Looks To The Future Of Social Video
Posted: Friday 02 December, 2011
Colin Miller
As the world’s largest repository of online video content, YouTube is an incredibly valuable resource as well as a source of entertainment for millions of users. YouTube has just rolled out its latest design of the service, which includes a number of new features and functions.
The latest iteration of the service is geared more towards social sharing and dedicated channels of content. Users are now able to choose from millions of channels sorted into categories ranging from automotive to science and education. The changes are geared towards a more focused and customisable experience when using the service along with increased social integration and sharing functions.
Google acquired YouTube in late 2006 and with Google’s latest foray into the social networking sphere with Google+, a deeper level of integration between the two platforms has been created. Google+ recently received an integrated YouTube widget, which provided users with a simpler means of sharing and discovering YouTube content from within Google+. In reciprocation, YouTube now features Google+ in a much more prominent way, allowing G+ users to see any videos that have been shared by their contacts directly from their YouTube profile.
The social elements of YouTube are continually being improved with this latest makeover offering the most integrated social experience to date, with improved sharing functions for Google+, Facebook and Twitter. Video has become a hugely important aspect of social networking, with footage being shared virally across many social networks for everything ranging from Justin Bieber to the London riots. The importance of YouTube as a hub for all internet-based video is becoming increasingly obvious as over 500 million users rack up around 90 billion page views a month, with over 35 hours of video being uploaded every minute.
YouTube and social video will only become more important as more of the population gains access to the internet and creates social profiles for themselves. Greater integration between all platforms, networks and technologies will mean that content will be more accessible than ever before, so in many respects this latest version of YouTube is only the beginning for the future of social video and its global impact.
