YouTube UK Blog
Seasons Greetings YouTube UK
Tuesday, 25 December 2007
Here we are, knee-deep in Christmas and bracing ourselves for 2008… so this seems as good a time as any to reflect on the past year (which has been an eventful one).
Since June 19, YouTube has had a dedicated presence in the UK: we quietly corrected the US spellings, a front page was born and browse pages were populated with locally uploaded content. Hopefully, among other things, this has led to UK users a) being able to find the videos they want more easily, and b) enjoying an enhanced profile on YouTube as a whole. Since then we’ve added this blog, launched the
YouTube UK User Panel
and have even had a few T-shirts printed up to distribute at gatherings…
But there’s still a lot more we can do, and we thought we’d kick off 2008 with one of these: Guest Editors. Several of you have already requested the opportunity to feature videos and now’s your chance:
contact us
with five selections, the reasoning behind them and a short explanation of why you should be the first ever Guest Editor in the UK. Read
our guidelines
closely and get cracking – deadline for applications is the stroke of New Year.
Talking of which, what better way to celebrate the coming of 2008 than with a video? Together with the good people at Samsung, YouTube is offering you the opportunity to tell the world your plans for the coming year or re-enact a key moment from the last – the cool thing being that you get to literally put yourself on the map in the process. Head
here
to find out more.
But to return to the Christmas theme, here’s wishing you all a fine festive period and we look forward to seeing what you come up with in 2008. We’ll leave you with a video that pretty much sums up both the spirit of the season and of YouTube.
Have fun,
Jamie D.
aka
Clipsniffer
YouTube UK & Ireland
The Davos Question
Friday, 21 December 2007
Every year, the world's top leaders meet in Davos, Switzerland, at the World Economic Forum to grapple with global problems. This year, we get to join them via video.
Here's how it works: First, upload your video to YouTube answering The Davos Question: "What one thing do countries, companies, or individuals need to do in 2008 to make the world a better place?" Then, submit your video to the Davos channel on YouTube.
You can watch and rank other YouTuber's ideas, and the highest-rated videos will be screened at the
World Economic Forum
in Davos on January 23-27. World leaders will see your videos and respond with their thoughts right here on YouTube.
So get cracking with your answers. By connecting with each other and our leaders, we can build support around ideas that may serve to make our world a better one in 2008.
Yours,
Steve aka
Citizentube
YouTube News & Politics
Site Update
Wednesday, 19 December 2007
You may have noticed that we've made some updates to YouTube – we held off detailing the differences until they worked through the site and settled down, but we're ready to share the good news. This list is jam-packed with greatness and some improvements that many of you have been requesting. Enjoy!
NEW VIDEOS TAB
We've merged the Categories and
Video
browse pages into one new, easier-to-navigate home for video search. All the old search options can be found there, along with a new "Spotlight" section that enables you to scroll through featured videos. You'll find some design improvements on the
Channels
and
Community
tabs as well.
MOST ACTIVE & PREVIOUSLY POPULAR
The Videos tab now includes two new viewing options. Click
"Most Active Today"
and you'll see the current day's most buzz-worthy titles, which can then be filtered by category. Click
"Previously Popular"
to find the most-viewed videos from one week ago or one month ago.
CHANNEL RESULTS IN SEARCH
YouTube search results now include videos and channels, making it easier for you to access the content you're looking for. When you enter a search term, particularly relevant channels will be returned at the top of the results page.
RSS LINKS ON VIDEO BROWSE PAGES
To stay up to date on the searches you check frequently, subscribe to our video browse pages by clicking the
RSS link
located beneath the categories list.
PROFILE PICTURE
You can choose any image you want to represent your channel, instead of a video still. Just click the "Upload an image" option on your
Account
page.
SUBSCRIPTIONS UPDATE
Closed and suspended accounts will now be automatically removed from your subscriptions. If you were subscribed to several closed/suspended accounts, you will notice a one-time large drop in numbers as your list is updated.
COMMENTS VOTING OPTIONAL
Now you can choose whether or not you want to allow users to vote on comments made on your videos (thumbs-up/thumbs-down feature). You can select this under a new "Comment Voting" section for both
Upload
and
Edit Video
and sharing options.
Your local correspondent now presents another installment of YouTube News! Take it away
pzottolo
...
Don't forget to comment here,
email
us or vlog and tell us what you think after exploring these new features.
Take it easy,
The YouTube Team
YouTube User Panel
Friday, 14 December 2007
UK YouTube: come speak your mind. This week marks the launch of the YouTube User Panel, a new initiative aimed at giving you a say in how YouTube develops. We are very excited by the prospect of finding out how you use the site, what you think about YouTube as it stands and how you envisage it developing in future.
Our aim is to develop a better understanding of what you feel works and what doesn't, in the course of which panel members will be given the opportunity to try new features first and join other users at YouTube HQ. If the sound of that appeals – and we sincerely hope it does – then head
here
to learn more and apply to become a panellist. And remember: we're hoping to attract a broad spectrum of users to the panel, so if you're the most addicted of YouTube addicts or the newest of newbies, we want to hear from you…
Have fun,
Jamie D.
aka
Clipsniffer
YouTube UK
Partner Programme Expands
Monday, 10 December 2007
Recognising YouTube users for their creativity and their role in building YouTube is of the utmost importance to our team. That's why earlier this year we launched a pilot of the
YouTube Partner Programme
, our way of enabling some of the most popular and prolific original content creators within the YouTube community to earn money from their videos. These partners decide which of their videos they would like to generate revenue on YouTube, and in turn, they receive a portion of the revenue generated from ads that run next to those videos. Even in this limited release, the programme has been an amazing success – already, millions of video views each week are earning revenue for our partners.
But we're just getting warmed up. Today we're announcing that we are expanding the YouTube Partner Programme. Now, anyone living in the United States or Canada can apply to become a partner at
www.youtube.com/partners
. (We're looking forward to rolling out the program to additional international markets soon.)
We feel it's important to reward our most dedicated community members: those who are regularly uploading original content to YouTube. In evaluating applications, we will focus on the users who have built a significant audience on YouTube (as measured by video views, subscribers, etc.) and who consistently comply with the
YouTube Terms of Use
.
We previewed this new application process to a select group of users who previously expressed interest in becoming partners -- over 100 of these users have already been added to the program, such as
tayzonday
,
hotforwords
,
apauledtv
, and
peteandbrian
.
As always, our goal is to provide a forum for people to connect, inform and inspire others across the globe. We hope that by expanding the YouTube Partner Programme, more content creators will reap rewards from their work and be able to produce even more of the original videos that have made YouTube so successful.
The YouTube Team
Project Direct: And The Winners Are...
Thursday, 6 December 2007
Over the past week, many of you viewed and voted on the 20 films that Jason Reitman, the award-winning director of
Thank You For Smoking
and
Juno
, and a panel of industry experts selected as finalists in YouTube
Project Direct
.
Your votes have been counted and it’s time to announce the winners…
While we want to congratulate the talented filmmakers behind
Lacos (Ties)
,
Gone in a Flash
and
My Name is Lisa
on their achievement, we also want to congratulate and thank all of you who entered Project Direct and made YouTube’s inaugural short film competition such a success.
Be sure to check out the top 20 (and many more of the excellent contest submissions shortly!) in the dedicated
Project Direct gallery
!
Impressed and appreciative,
Sara P. aka
TheStoryBoard
YouTube Film
Project Direct: Go Vote!
Monday, 26 November 2007
In October, we announced
Project Direct
, YouTube's first film competition for aspiring directors.
The response was overwhelming. We were blown away by the number of exceptional films that were submitted – both from experienced filmmakers and first-timers.
After reviewing the entries, Jason Reitman, the award-winning director of
Thank You For Smoking
and the upcoming film
Juno
, and a panel of industry experts selected
20 finalists
.
Now it's up to you to decide which filmmaker is ready for the big time. Check out this video to see exactly what's at stake (well, almost exactly -- our first, second and third place winners also walk away with cash prizes).
We hope you enjoy these entertaining and thought-provoking films as much as we have. And stay tuned to YouTube's
Film & Animation category
to see spotlights on some of the excellent entries that may not have made the top 20 but certainly deserve your attention.
Happy voting,
Sara P. aka
TheStoryBoard
YouTube Film
YouTube: A Game Of Two Halves
Friday, 23 November 2007
Fear not, football fans, for while Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Ireland and – say it ain’t so! – England are very much out of Euro 2008, YouTube is on hand to provide you with more than enough 11-a-side action to dull the pain.
Not only do we have direct lines into clubs like
Chelsea
,
Barcelona
,
Real Madrid
,
Bayern Munich
,
Ajax
and
PSV Eindhoven
, thanks to the likes of
The Daily Mirror
,
The Sun
and
ITN
, you’ll never go short of professional punditry. But this being YouTube, we also have channels that add whole new dimensions to sports talk.
Exhibit A: Zoe The Hot Spur…
Exhibit B: The Gaffer, a football-mad Welshman based in Florida…
On top of all this
Videosport
offers YouTube UK users the ability watch highlights from the qualifying games of all the teams who actually made it to Euro 2008, so you can revisit your national failure over and over again. Don't say we never give you anything...
Finally, if we've neglected to mention your favourite football channel (or maybe you run one yourself), then send it our way. There’s nothing we enjoy more than hearing a fresh take on the Beautiful Game.
Have fun,
Jamie D.
aka
Clipsniffer
YouTube UK & Ireland
New Video Category and Tag Choices
Thursday, 15 November 2007
Just a quick post to update you on some new choices available for "Video Category" and "Tags" on the video
uploading
and
editing
pages in your account.
SUGGESTED TAGS
You can choose from a set of new "suggested tags" when you upload or edit a video, in case you need some ideas for how to best represent your content. The more descriptive your tags, the easier it will be for folks interested in your videos to find them.
Just choose the best Category for your video, then click on any of the suggested tags to automatically add them to the "Tags" field.
EDITED CATEGORIES
A few changes made to existing video categories:
- Travel & Events (previously "Travel & Places")
- Howto & Style (was "Howto + DIY")
- Gadgets and Games (now part of "Entertainment")
NEW CATEGORIES
The following new categories are now available when you upload or edit your videos:
- Education
- Nonprofits & Activism
- Science & Technology
Since these categories are brand new, we need your help to populate them by uploading new videos or editing any of your current videos which are relevant to these topics. Once these categories fill up with all of your awesome content they'll be searchable on the
Videos tab
(a few of the above changes are already reflected on the Videos page).
More categories changes are on the way, so stay tuned!
The YouTube Team
Meet the Inaugural Community Council
Tuesday, 6 November 2007
This week marks the launch of a new project aimed at better
understanding the needs and wants of our users. The "YouTube Community
Council" consists of a handful of volunteers (who will rotate every
six months) eager to share their opinions about the site and the
community with us on a consistent basis. They're kicking off their
tenure by visiting us in San Bruno over the next few days, giving
feedback directly to the team that makes it happen behind the scenes.
You can approach any of our councilors with your thoughts, gripes --
anything at all -- over the next six months, and they will fast-track
your feedback to us. Here's a quick video to introduce you to the
team…
…and their channels:
bgirl5
bradofarrell
sarrycrey
tlg847
visiblemode
As with anything new to YouTube, we are open to your feedback on this
endeavor, and don't forget to let us know if you're interested in
being on future editions of the Council.
Best,
The YouTube Team
YouTube UK Gatherings
Monday, 15 October 2007
London and Aberystwyth in September and now Glasgow in November… Gatherings seem to be in vogue across the UK, which is something that gives us here at YouTube the sort of warm, tingling feeling we usually reserve for
Pets & Animals
videos. This isn’t just because they represent our big chance to buy affection with YouTube freebies – oh no! – it’s also because Gatherings provide concrete proof that the YouTube community is alive and well.
The events in Wales and England offered a golden opportunity for YouTube users to meet likeminded people and, initially at least, talk about a shared interest. Trying to keep track of all the great ideas being bounced around about how to use the site or develop it in future was quite a task, but what was striking was learning the impact that YouTube has had on people’s lives – a theme echoed by this Domeyre79 video:
YouTube is lucky to have attracted such a creative, communicative and proactive group of people – not least in the individuals who organised the Gatherings – and this community is something that sets the YouTube experience apart from any other. So if you can, get yourself along to one of these meet-ups. At the very least you stand a chance of bagging a free T-shirt for your troubles.
Have fun,
Jamie D.
aka
Clipsniffer
YouTube UK & Ireland
YouTube + Google Earth
Friday, 12 October 2007
Now you can find YouTube videos based on where they were created! Google Earth has just launched a new browseable layer which populates geo-tagged YouTube videos when you click on a location. To access this feature, go to
Google Earth
and head over to the new 'Featured Content' folder on the left-hand side of the page. Click the 'YouTube' button and icons pointing to videos related to that area on the map will appear. The closer you zoom in, the more videos will display; you can then watch these videos via Google Earth or YouTube. You can also search for all videos attached to a specific location or just click around on the map as you please. This works best if you download the newest version of Google Earth, so be sure to get the latest version.
You can tag your video with a location during the upload process on YouTube. Simply click the "Date and Map Options" to display the maplet, then drag the marker or use the search browser to choose a specific location. Once your location is recorded, your video will appear on Google Earth.
Geo-tagging your videos is a great way to share your experiences with your viewers – they can literally peek in on that
scuba diving trip in the Pacific
, see what it's like to be
at the top of L'Arc de Triumph
in Paris, or feel like they're right there with you
in the park with your best friends
.
So go forth and geo-tag, 'Tubers!
The YouTube Team
Hey Directors! Ready to hit the big screen?
Monday, 1 October 2007
Welcome to YouTube
Project Direct
, our first film competition and – drumroll, please – our first international contest ever!
If you’re ready to turn your craft into your career, direct an original short film incorporating three key elements, outlined for you here by award-winning filmmaker, Jason Reitman, and you could get the exposure you need.
Submit your film by November 9th, and Jason and a panel of industry experts, including studio executives and Hollywood agents, will review your films and choose the top twenty. Starting November 24th, the YouTube community will vote for a final winner.
Check out the
Project Direct
channel to see what’s up for grabs!
Good luck!
Sara P. aka
TheStoryBoard
Hello, UK YouTubers!
Thursday, 27 September 2007
Hopefully you're as pleased to read those words as we are, as they mean our UK blog is up and running. This is the place where you'll be able to find all the latest YouTube news, including site updates, information about new features and promotions, trend reports, and a whole lot more. We'll also be asking for your feedback on all kinds of things, and we encourage you to use this blog – and the email address editor-uk@youtube.com – to tell us whatever's on your mind. (Don't forget to use
Help Centre
too, which contains answers to commonly asked questions as well as technical assistance.)
In developing territory-specific YouTube sites, we wanted to bring YouTube to you, in your language, while making local talent more visible and getting closer to our users around the world. So please get typing or pick up that video camera: tell us what our strengths are, draw our attention to any weaknesses, and give us an idea of how we can improve your YouTube experience. Videos like this are just what we're looking for:
Back soon,
Jamie D.
aka
Clipsniffer
YouTube UK & Ireland
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