YouTube Definition | The Interactive Glossary

Most of the videos you watch on blogs, social media, and just about anywhere else on the web are hosted by YouTube. Individuals and media corporations alike use YouTube to reach a global audience, provide a good streaming media experience, and make video sharing as easy as possible.

YouTube has also made it possible for people to achieve celebrity status without having to wait to be discovered. As a matter of fact, the most popular YouTubers pull down annual earnings that reach into seven-figure territory.

Founded in 2005 by three former PayPal employees, and acquired by Google in 2006, the reach and growth of YouTube today is staggering:

• Around 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute.
• In an average day, there are 4 billion video views on YouTube.
• More than one billion people – one-third of all Internet users – are YouTube users.
• PSY – Gangnam Style is the most viewed video in history and has been viewed more than 2.4 billion times on YouTube.
• YouTube is the third most popular website on the web, and would be second largest search engine if included in search engine rankings.

Also See: How to Use YouTube, Google, Streaming Media

Frequently Asked Questions

What kinds of videos will I find on YouTube?

You'll find videos on just about any topic on YouTube. Whether you want to watch the latest music videos, catch up on the news, learn about computer programming, pick up the latest Minecraft hacks, or watch a kitten fall sleep, you'll find it on YouTube.

Is YouTube safe for kids?

As we said before, you'll find videos on just about any topic on YouTube, and this includes videos you may not want your kids watching. Thankfully, YouTube offers a Restricted Mode which will keep adult content from showing up in the YouTube video search results. This setting is enabled for all YouTube users who aren't logged in, and must be manually turned off by users who wish to find and view mature content.

Keep in mind that YouTube is far from being the only place where your kids might find objectionable material. So it's important to implement a thoughtful strategy to keep your kids safe online.

Can you make money with YouTube?

While YouTube never pays for videos to uploaded to their site, they do make it possible for users who upload videos to make money by displaying ads while the video plays, and paying commissions based on the number of viewers who click on the ads. However, it should be noted that a video needs to viewed tens of thousands of times before it will produce a noteworthy commission. Most YouTubers who are making money with the platform supplement their earnings by using YouTube to drive customers to their website where they offer digital and physical products and services.