When, on Oct. 14, Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner jumped from a capsule hanging from the edge of space, he broke more than just the speed of sound. He also broke the record for the number of people watching a live stream on YouTube.

Felix Baumgartner

Baumgartner finally jumped from a height of 128,100 feet (2.4 km) after five years of preparing for the stunt. He became the first man to break the sound barrier, reaching a speed of 1342.8 km/h, as well as records for the highest manned balloon flight, the highest parachute jump, and the greatest freefall distance.

As reported by the Official YouTube Blog, Baumgartner also broke the record for the number of live streams on the Google-owned site, with more than 8 million people watching it happen concurrently. This is compared to the few hundred who usually watch live streams on YouTube.

Continue Reading…

Google’s experiment in turning YouTube from the prime destination for videos of funny cats into something more worthy has been successful in its first year. So more channels, including some for international audiences, are on the way.

Original YouTube Programming

This time last year Google announced it was bringing original content to YouTube in a big way, with 100 premium channels being given a budget and told to go away and produce quality shows. New media companies, YouTube stars, and bona fide celebrities were all involved.

A total sum of $100 was handed out, and once channels made the money back from advertising revenues, they then took their cut. Everyone was set to be a winner, and generally speaking that’s the way it has turned out.

According to a post on the Official YouTube Blog, the top 25 original channels are now averaging more than one million video views every week, while the number of people subscribing to these channels has double year-on-year.

Continue Reading…

PSY is not only a YouTube star and the creator of a viral video hit, he’s also now a world record holder. And all for singing strange lyrics and dancing in the Gangnam Style. Whatever that is.

Gangnam Style

You’ve probably heard of ‘Gangnam Style‘ by now, even if it’s just the term rather than the song itself which has entered your sphere of knowledge. The term has come to mean the style of dance exhibiting in the video, which has taken off as a meme on the InterWebs.

As for the song, well, that’s currently making waves around the world, despite the fact it’s by a South Korean artist called PSY, and features lyrics mostly sung in Korean. And it’s now broken the world record for the number of likes received on YouTube.

Continue Reading…

A short video uploaded to YouTube, as well as several other video sites on the Internet, has sparked a major crisis. But should a negative reaction to a video online ever justify its removal by Google and other denizens of the Web?

Innocence Of Muslims Video

The Innocence Of Muslims video has acted as a powder keg igniting violent protests across the Middle East. Four American diplomats, including the U.S. Ambassador to Libya, were killed in an attack on the consulate in Benghazi.

The 14-minute clip, which is taken from a longer film, is clearly offensive to Muslims with its mocking depiction of the Prophet Mohammad. Most right-thinking people wish the video had never seen the light of day, but now that’s it out there on the Internet there’s a moral question over how to proceed.

Continue Reading…

YouTube is testing what it’s labeled ‘Moodwall’ on random users of the online video site. As its name suggests Moodwall makes recommendations on the feelings associated with videos. Users aren’t happy with the fledgling feature.

YouTube Surfing

Most of us invariably head to YouTube for a specific reason. We’ll have a subject matter in mind that we want to find and watch a video about. But once you’re on YouTube and have watched the video(s) you were seeking out you’ll then likely be drawn to click on more videos, view a channel, or browse a whole category.

This is of benefit to YouTube for obvious reasons – more videos watched means more ads seen – and it has sought to offer up recommendations to keep users clicking and watching. Up to now these efforts have been mainly based on search terms, but Moodwall looks to be operate differently.

Continue Reading…

YouTube is now the largest depository of Creative Commons videos that are free to be reused or remixed for free by anyone with the desire to do so. This places it alongside Flickr, which is currently number one for CC photographs.

YouTube CC Video Library

This time last year saw YouTube unveil the Creative Commons video library, accessible right from within the YouTube Video Editor. At the time YouTube announced 10,000 videos were on offer under the CC BY license which allows anyone to reuse or remix a video as long as they give credit.

The library was conceived as being “ever-expanding,” and ordinary users were invited to also label their videos with the CC By license. This was alongside organizations such as C-SPAN, Al Jazeera, and Voice of America. This move now looks to have paid off in a big way.

Continue Reading…

YouTube Partners, the individuals or organizations who go that extra mile, are being rewarded by YouTube. Both in monetary terms and by being given actual prizes by the Google-owned video site.

YouTube Partners

It could be argued that YouTube Partners are now the lifeblood of the site. These are the channel owners who are producing original content deemed worthy of incorporating advertising against. The revenue is split between YouTube and the Partner.

YouTube Partners range from famous celebrities and musicians right through to amateurs at home creating content with their own video cameras or smartphones. What they all have in common is adding something to the site beyond another video of a cat acting stupid.

Continue Reading…