It may seem simple to watch a video (just click the play button), but when you view a video on YouTube there’s a lot of technology involved behind the scenes.

It all starts with the uploading of video files. Users upload videos to YouTube in QuickTime, AVI, MPEG, or Windows Media Video (WMV) file formats. YouTube then converts these video files into Flash format— which is how the videos are served to YouTube users. (To view YouTube videos in your web browser, you must have Macromedia Flash Player 7 installed.) All the videos are stored on YouTube’s servers and served via streaming video to viewers’ web browsers.

Since YouTube utilizes streaming video technology, video files are not saved to your hard disk. That’s because streaming video is different from downloading a complete video file. When you download a file, you can’t start playing that file until it is completely downloaded to your PC. With streaming video, however, playback can start before an entire file is downloaded; the first part of the file is present on your PC while the last part is still downloading. It makes for almost-immediate video playback, especially if you have a broadband Internet connection—which means immediate gratification for YouTube viewers!


Navigating YouTube’s Home Page
When you first access YouTube (www.youtube.com), you see the home page. This is your home base for the entire site; from here you can browse videos, search for videos, access your favorite videos, and even upload your own videos.

There are a lot of items on this home page, including the following:
• At the very top of the page, links to your YouTube email inbox, videos you’re sharing, your YouTube account, a QuickList of videos you’ve tagged for future viewing, and YouTube’s help system.

• Also at the top of the page (when you click your account name), links to videos you’ve uploaded (My Videos), along with links to your favorite videos, playlists, videos you’ve subscribed to, your email inbox, and more.

• A toolbar that includes a search box, Upload button (for uploading your own videos) and buttons that link to important parts of the YouTube site—the Home page, your Subscriptions, Videos by category, commercial TV Shows for viewing, and Channels for all YouTube users.

• An Inbox box that displays messages, comments, friend invites, and the like.

• A What’s New box that tells you all about YouTube’s latest features.

• Spotlight—videos that YouTube is highlighting at the moment.

• Subscriptions—videos from users to whom you’ve subscribed.

• Recommended for You—videos that YouTube thinks you might like, based on your past viewing.

• Friends—the most recent videos from your YouTube friends.

• Featured Videos—the hottest or coolest videos on YouTube today.

• Videos Being Watched Now—what other viewers are watching at this moment.

• Finally, at the very bottom of the home page, you’ll find links to other essential site features—including help and company information.

To move to a different part of the YouTube site, just click the appropriate button or link. For example, to manage your account information, click the Account link at the top of the page. To browse through videos by category, click the Videos button. Or to view the videos you yourself have uploaded, click the right arrow next to your user name at the top of the page, then click My Videos.

To view a video displayed on YouTube’s home page, just click the thumbnail for that video. That will open that video’s viewing page and start playback of the video.

Source of Information : Sams Teach Yourself Facebook in 10 Minutes (2009)

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YouTube is a video sharing community. That means that YouTube users can both upload and view all sorts of video clips online, using any web browser.

As the largest video sharing community on the web, YouTube has become a repository for literally millions of movie clips, TV clips (both current and classic), music videos, and home videos. The most popular YouTube videos quickly become “viral,” getting passed around from person to person via email and linked to from other sites and from other blogs on the web. If a YouTube video is particularly interesting, you’ll see it pop up virtually everywhere, from TV’s The Daily Show to the front page of your favorite website.

Part of YouTube’s appeal is its ease of use. Finding a video is as easy as performing a keyword search; watching a video requires nothing more than the click of a Play button; and uploading a video is also pretty much a one-button operation. The YouTube site itself does all the heavy lifting in terms of technology, including file conversion, hosting, and serving. YouTube even lets you send video links to your friends and family via email, and you can host those links on your own website or blog. So whether you like to watch or like to share, YouTube gives you what you want, the way you want it. That’s why it’s been so successful.

What can you find on the YouTube site? It’s safe to say that just about any kind of video you’re interested in, YouTube has it—or something like it. Most of the videos on YouTube come from individuals, just like you and me. Many of these videos are simple home movies, of everything from birthday parties to school plays. Others are so-called video blogs (dubbedvlogs), where users talk about anything and everything that’s on their minds. Anybody with a video camera can easily upload their home movies to YouTube and make them available for the whole world to see.

Other videos on YouTube are decidedly more professional. Budding film professionals can post their work on YouTube, which essentially converts the site into a giant repository of filmmakers’ resumés. Student films, spec videos, acting and directing tryouts—they’re all there.

YouTube is also a repository for “historical” items. We’re talking old television commercials, music videos, clips from classic television shows, you name it. Want to revisit your childhood and watch an old Maypo commercial? There are several on YouTube. How about a clip of the Ronettes performing on the old Shindig! show? Or the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show? Or the opening credits to the old Astro Boy cartoon?
They’re all there, believe it or not. YouTube is a great site for nostalgia buffs, collectors, and the like.

Speaking of music videos, there is no better site on the web to find your favorite video clips. YouTube offers music videos from all manner of artists, in every conceivable genre. For record labels, YouTube is a great place to promote hot new music and bands. If you’re a music lover, you’ll love YouTube.

There’s even a lot of television shows and movies on YouTube. The site’s Shows categories features television programming from ABC, CBS, PBS, the BBC, Discovery Channel, National Geographic, TLC, Showtime, Starz, and more; the Movies category features current and classic movies. And it’s all free.

Source of Information : Sams Teach Yourself YouTube in 10 Minutes (2009)

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