Annie Collins
Mrs. Straub
AP Economics
13 December 2015
Increasing Popularity of YouTube
Almost everyone is aware of the website YouTube. YouTube is a website or app that allows people to upload and watch others videos. These videos can range from music videos, informative videos, comedy videos to chatty style videos. Depending on the age of the viewer will depend on the likely style of videos they are interested in. Also, the majority of viewers are female. The table below more specifically breaks up the types of videos that interest different age groups. A trend that can be seen is the younger aged groups tend to watch more, entertainment and trending videos while the older age groups tend to watch more informative videos (Fitzgerald). With technology advancing the older generation desire and demand the education to be able to keep up and YouTube videos supply the videos that help. 
YouTube was founded by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim. The founders previously worked at PayPal and in February 2005 activated the domain YouTube. The intent for this website was for people to share and upload videos for the world to see; which is still the use of YouTube today. The website was then bought by google in November 2006 by Google for $1.65 billion (YouTube). 
Since YouTube is a free website and app, the way that google gets revenue is through different ads. These ads can range from trailers to new movies, commercials that could be seen on tv or famous YouTubers that have many subscribers showing tutorials or reviews about different products or services. Also, although being a YouTuber is not really considered being a real job because it is a newer idea, there are many ways to earn money on YouTube. First, the channel needs at least 1,000 views and or subscribers. The YouTuber will receive $1.50 for every 1,000 views and subscribers (MAYA KACHROO-LEVINE). Although, this does not seem like much money, there are many people that have several million subscribers and view. One can imagine how that $1.50 per 1,000 subscribers can add up quickly.
YouTube is a one stop app, where there is news, information, relaxing and comedy videos. There are not really any close substitutes that have all of these videos in one place and are easy to navigate. YouTube is a website and app that has lots to offer and helps supply jobs that were never thought to have previously.
Sources
Fitzgerald, Toni. "Who’s Watching What on YouTube." Media Life. Media Life Magazine, 17 Mar. 2015. Web. 14 Dec. 2015.
LEVINE, MAYA KACHROO. "How Do YouTubers Make Money? A Pro YouTuber Explains Just How The Whole System Works." Bustle. Np, 10 Aug. 2015. Web. 14 Dec. 2015.
"YouTube." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Dec. 2015. Web. 14 Dec. 2015.
Based on the statistics presented in the image, it is apparent the people above the age of about 55 tend to watch a good majority of cooking videos. I was curious at first when the statistics showed that 13.71% of kids aged 13-17 were targeted through lifestyle videos. However, this does make sense if the majority of the viewers are female. I found it very interesting that an account earns $1.50 for every one thousand views. This seems as if it would be highly beneficial to videos, such as the most popular music videos, that can earn well over a million dollars for a single video. Although this does seem like a lot, I’m sure YouTube is basking in the wealth from the money they earn from their advertisers. Overall, this was a good piece in the sense of providing statistics and connecting to economics.
ReplyDeleteOverall, I though that your blog post was very insightful and interesting. I had no idea how popular it has gotten in just a short time. However, I do feel that it would have been better had you included data for both genders. It would have greatly added to your analysis of the economics of Youtube, as it is currently very one-sided. I did like the chart you included, but it would have been better if both genders were included in the study. Also, it could have been interesting to study of the economics of other sites like Youtube at the time of its introduction to the market as a form of comparison over time. Overall, I thought that you did a nice job analyzing the economics of Youtube, and that your blog post was well written. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting that a majority of youtube viewers are women, and I am curious where you got that fact? Based on what I personally have witnessed it seems to be the opposite and by a sizable margin. However, if it is true, it is intriguing that cooking presents the #1 video choice for females when they reach the age of 45. Just based on common knowledge, a majority of women become mothers in their late 20's to mid 30's so how come that age group isn't more into the cooking videos? That part was questioning for me but you can also take away that women at those younger ages may have more jobs and less time to watch cooking videos. I thought it was a very insightful piece with some statistics that many people probably aren't aware of. Overall, job well done.
ReplyDeleteHaving YouTube ads is a great investment for certain industries because it allows their consumer awareness and sales of products to increase. Prior to reading this article, I was unaware that individuals could get paid by having a certain number of subscribers on YouTube. Based on this, I have a feeling that there will be an increase in demand for YouTuber's as time goes on because more and more people are figuring out how beneficial and useful it is. In fact, it could potentially become a direct competitor with Pandora since it is now offering pre-made playlists to listen to. Google is also a potential direct competitor of YouTube because of the easy-to-follow tutorials and informative videos it contains opposed to written documents and websites that Google offers. Lastly, I was very surprised to see that the majority of YouTube viewers are women, since I know a lot of men watch sports-related videos or listen to music on YouTube.
ReplyDeleteAnnie, I found your article to be very interesting and provide good details about what YouTube is and how people use it! I do not go on YouTube often but when I do it is usually to listen to music or watch videos for school. As I can see from your chart, people my age are targeted by music about 11.4% which is large number considering people usually listen to music every day. Additionally, I did not know that people could be paid $1.50 for every 1,000 views they got on their videos. Making YouTube videos could potentially be someone’s job if they gain enough views. I thought you did a great job overall of showing us what people watch on YouTube and some facts about the site itself. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteI wasn't really surprised by the fact that a majority of views on Youtube came from women since a lot of the videos on there are vlogs and other similar videos which a majority of men are not interested in. Google buying Youtube was an extremely smart decision as anyone who has google searched knows that Youtube videos come up as one of the first results. So ultimately google is able to cheaply promote a website that makes them a lot of money, and since the two provide very different services they won't directly compete with each other. I was somewhat surprised by some of the categories that certain age ranges were viewing.
ReplyDeleteBefore reading this article, I had thought that Youtubers only made money when they were sponsored by a certain company in one of their videos by promoting one of their products. I had no clue that they made $1.50 for every 1,000 views that they get! Many people believe that Youtube isn't a "real job", but they're definitely making money, so I would totally consider it a real job. Youtube is a great invention, and it benefits a wide range of people. Not only are viewers able to access any type of video that they want, but the content creators are able to make a profit off of people watching their videos. When these Youtubers promote companies in their videos, both the Youtuber and the company benefit from this sponsorship. In the end, Youtube is an extremely versatile website, where a wide range of people are able to access the content that they are interested in. Very interesting article - nice job!
ReplyDeleteI was very surprised to learn that the majority of views comes from females. Growing up, I always saw guys on Youtube looking at videos of cars or videogames. Along with that, I did not know that a Youtuber gained money for having views on their video. If someone makes very good videos they could make a lot of money, but I do not think that this could be considered a real job because it might not always be very stable. Although your topic was very interesting, I think it would have been more useful to show why people are considering it be a real job, by finding someone who has a made a living making Youtube videos. All in all, I really enjoyed learning more about Youtube and how Youtubers can be considered having a real job!
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting topic to bring up, especially with the knowledge that being a part of the YouTube community is actually a hobby turned job for many people; and from there certain web stars even branch out to television (Grace Helbig). Although many people may not see this as a real job, or these web stars don't 'work' for their popularity and income; they actually do. These people are comedians and are more often than not highly educated; they just are doing a job they love. YouTube, believe it or not, is the future - we're already all on the internet 24/7 which is what creates more demand for this sort of thing.
ReplyDeleteYoutube is almost like a new way to watch television. Because you can only watch these videos on Youtube, Youtube is a monopoly. Although it seems like the amount of revenue Youtube is bringing in is very little, almost every famous youtuber has commercials on their videos and there are many famous youtubers. Nowadays, there are also conventions that youtubers go to probably bringing in money for youtube. In addition to actually getting paid by youtube, youtubers are also often asked to review or talk about different products in their videos which they get paid to do.
ReplyDeleteYou bring up a good point when you mention "YouTube" considering I watch it every single day. I have always watch the very famous channels such as PewDiePie, Markiplier, KSI, Mcjuggernuggets, WafflePwn, Vitalyzdtv, TheAngryGrandpaShow and many more. I have always enjoyed watching youtuber's whether it is in school or out of school. YouTube has been out for a while and now a days the older generation has no idea what YouTube is or understand why that person is filming when it is actually their job. Kind of like AJ when he mentioned that he quit school just to go for YouTube but you are making more money by doing this. It is hard to maintain funny or daily vlogs everyday and still have a lot of subscribers. However, it is very helpful when you mentioned about jobs, and information on to figure things out-even a simple prank. You did a very nice job with this topic and it was very exciting to read especially since it is dealing with income.
ReplyDeleteI found this really interesting because I have done a lot of research on YouTube and the effectiveness of advertising on it. I found that, although YouTube is becoming increasingly popular for people our age, not as many people use YouTube after they turn thirty. At that age they tend to use Pandora Radio and Spotify more regularly. As your table proves, at those older ages, people don't use YouTube for music anymore, but rather for things such as cooking and car shows. In all, I found this to be a very well written and well researched article.
ReplyDeleteI tend to use youtube a lot just because I watch a lot of youtube videos. Youtube is a great app for kids who need educational help or just want to watch funny videos. I have done a lot of research on youtube for school and it has helped me a lot. Surprisingly, youtube is becoming a lot more popular for kids.
ReplyDeleteDo you need free Instagram Followers and Likes?
ReplyDeleteDid you know you can get these ON AUTO-PILOT & TOTALLY FOR FREE by registering on Like 4 Like?