Official Blog
Context Is King: Share Your Story
Monday, February 25, 2013
From artists to activists, teachers to students, kids to grandparents, YouTube is a place for people all over the globe to share their stories. YouTube’s
Community Guidelines
represent the rules of the road for all of them. They state that, in general, YouTube is not a place for shocking or violent content. When material of this nature is flagged by our community, our teams work around the clock to remove anything that breaks the rules.
That said, YouTube is an important global platform for news and information, and we realize that sometimes graphic material is vital to our understanding of the world. It can be posted to document wars or revolutions, to expose an injustice, or to ensure local events are seen globally. Because of this, we take great care when reviewing flagged videos, and allow graphic videos that are intended to have news or documentary value. This is where we need your help.
Why adding context to your video is so important
For all types of content you share on YouTube, but particularly with graphic content, adding context is very important. The information you add in the title and description is what helps other people find and understand your video. It will also help the YouTube team review your video if it does get flagged.
Take a look at the following examples.
Example 1:
Example 2:
While the content of these videos is similar, the experience of viewing them is quite different. In the first example, the user provides very little information. In the second, we understand what we see, and see that the user’s intent is to educate and tell a story.
How to contextualize your videos: some tips to follow
Provide an
informative and relevant title
--you can pack in a lot of information here, even if you’re on the move on a mobile device
Fill your description with information:
who
,
what
,
when
,
where
and
why
did it occur?
Think about
narrating what you see as you film
, or add detail later using our
annotations tool
Feel free to link to relevant websites, such as a related news story or artist statement
Organizations such as
Witness
and
Small World News
also produce great tip sheets
Remember YouTube’s tools--if your footage is sensitive and requires visual anonymity, check out
YouTube’s blurring tool
. If you feel your content was removed in error, you can
appeal
the decision.
Our goal at YouTube is to allow as much content as possible on the site, and still ensure that our Community Guidelines are followed. It is a delicate balancing act, and we depend on our uploaders to help. So whether you’re a performance artist, a citizen journalist or a human rights activist, remember: context is king. The information you add to your video helps tell your story, find an audience, and make an impact--it could even help your video be an important part of history.
Ali Glenesk, Policy Associate, recently watched
“Grandma’s Advice.”
YouTube Just Got Hotter: Views Added to Billboard’s Charts
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Billboard and Nielsen have shaped the core measures of success for entertainers around the world. These institutions created the standard we all look to when assessing the popularity of an artist, an album or that song you just can’t stop playing. Each week, their rankings are eagerly awaited by budding musicians, bona fide rock stars and music executives alike.
Of course, the music industry has changed dramatically in recent years. We’ve seen artists become stars through channels that simply didn’t exist a decade or two ago. From
Gangnam Style
and
grandpa style
to
the Alabama Shakes
and
the Harlem Shake
, YouTube has become a place where artists connect with new audiences, and music fans are finding songs, bands and genres they never knew they loved.
That’s why we’re partnering with Billboard and Nielsen to include our U.S. data into their “Hot” charts--the Hot 100 List, Hot Country Songs, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, R&B Songs, Rap Songs, Hot Latin Songs, Hot Rock Songs and Dance/Electronic Songs. Meaning, all official videos on YouTube, including user-generated clips that utilize authorized audio, will now factor into how a song’s popularity is determined.
This announcement marks a big step in accurately reflecting how music lovers are finding their new favorite songs. And it builds upon our efforts to share this kind of data with key industry analytical tools like Next Big Sound and BigChampagne, which also help artists succeed both on and offline. Most importantly, we hope this news will excite our users, who have helped us discover some of
the biggest stars
and
songs
of the past seven years.
AJ Frank, New Business Development, recently watched
“Harlem Shake (Matt and Kim Edition).”
A-Pop Channel Brings the Best Pop From Asia to You
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Over the past seven years, YouTube has become a global stage where music lovers can follow their top bands and find new favorite artists. After all, it wasn't so long ago that K-Pop exploded with PSY's "Gangnam Style" becoming
the first YouTube video to hit 1 billion views
. Similar music movements have continued to cross borders with legendary Taiwanese rock band Mayday live streaming a
concert
from the YouTube headquarters and Japanese singer Kyary Pamyu Pamyu starring in a
new channel
about Tokyo's ultra-cute Harajuku fashion neighborhood.
Keeping up with the latest in Asian pop on YouTube will be even easier after today's official launch of
A-Pop
. The channel will be a hub for live-streaming concerts from Asian artists, directly hosting shows in progress or otherwise displaying a calendar of upcoming events. You can also find the newest videos from Asian pop artists and a playlist of the week's Top 20. There are also individual tabs for K-Pop, C-Pop or J-Pop if you want to narrow down to one of the three.
The A-Pop Channel already has a few big events planned. A-Pop Star Week kicks off on March 8 and fans will be able to connect with top A-Pop stars using
Google+ Hangouts
. Here's the lineup so far:
March 8
SHINee
(K-Pop)
March 9
Wang Leehom
(C-Pop)
March 10
Super Junior
(K-Pop)
March 11
Kyary Pamyu Pamyu
(J-Pop)
March 12
flumpool
(J-Pop)
March 13
2PM
(K-Pop)
March 14
Mayday
(C-Pop)
You can tune in to Hangouts from A-Pop and ask questions of the stars by submitting questions on Google+ via a special hashtag. Visit
www.google.com/+jpop
,
www.google.com/+kpop
, or
www.google.com/+cpop
for more information on how to participate. The stars will be hand-picking five lucky participants for each Hangout, so be sure to submit a creative question!
There are a lot of exciting things yet to come from the Asian pop explosion, so make sure you subscribe to the A-Pop channel to get the latest news and updates.
Sun Lee, YouTube Asia-Pacific Marketing Manager, recently watched
"Super Junior-M - Break Down."
2013 YouTube Ad Blitz Winners Revealed
Friday, February 15, 2013
This year’s game day was was full of action--both on and off the field. After Baltimore and San Francisco battled it out during the game, you went online to vote for your favorite game day commercial in our annual
YouTube Ad Blitz contest
. After a week of intense competition, we’ve tallied the final votes and
you chose Ram Truck brand’s
"Farmer"
commercial as your favorite ad
of the big game!
Rounding out the top five commercials of the big game are spots from Budweiser, Samsung, Jeep and Hyundai:
2. Budweiser
"The Clydesdales"
3. Samsung
"The Next Big Thing"
4. Jeep
"Whole Again"
5. Hyundai
"Team"
From celebrity cameos to poetic images, these commercials represent the game day ads that resonated most with viewers online. In addition to being the highest voted ads on Ad Blitz, the five spots combined generated more than 61 million views on YouTube in two weeks--making up more than 30 percent of all total views of game day ads and teasers on YouTube (as of February 14). And the
Ad Blitz channel
had more than 46 million interactions with this year’s new features such as "Call the Coach" and "Paper Football."
In a new addition to our yearly celebration of advertising excellence, we welcome you to join us Saturday, February 16, at 3 p.m. ET / noon PT as we host a
Google+ Hangout
with the creative heavyweights behind these winning ads, along with ADWEEK editors James Cooper and Tim Nudd.
Tune into the
YouTube homepage
today to check out the top five spots!
Sue McCauley, Ad Blitz Program Manager, recently watched DeStorm’s
"1 Pinky Pull Up."
Haters and Celebrators Unite: This Valentine’s Day, There’s Something for Everybody on YouTube
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Every year on February 14, we see endless pairings of pink and red, while our reactions remain pretty black and white. This polarizing holiday tends to inspire only one of two passionate responses: Valentine’s Day stinks--or it rocks. Depending on whom you ask, it’s a special day to shower your loved one with sweet nothings and gifts galore, or a saccharine minefield of prix fixe menus and overpriced chocolates.
Whether you’re toasting St. Valentine with champagne and long-stemmed roses, or fighting off nausea at the sight of every teddy bear and heart-shaped cupcake, YouTube is the place to be. This is all rather apropos given YouTube’s roots. A little known fact:
we registered our domain on Valentine's Day
.
This year, we canoodled with some of our partners and our
Trends Manager Kevin Allocca
to find the right videos for romantics and eye-rollers alike.
True romantics will swoon over the
most-viewed proposals of all time
while singing along to our
top cheesy love songs
.
All the single ladies (and gentlemen) may want to sharpen their A-game by studying our
worst pickup lines list
and the
science of love lessons
, which teach the essentials, such as
how to stay out of the "friend zone."
And for those who spend today counting the hours ‘til the 15th can play
our break-up ballads
at full blast and bask in some schadenfreude while taking in
marriage proposal fails
. On second thought, if you’re pondering the merits of popping The Question today, you might want to check that out, too (don’t say we didn’t warn you).
Enjoy hating or celebrating today and check out all of our Valentine’s Day playlists at
http://www.youtube.com/youtube
.
Chelsea Maughan, Communications Manager, recently watched
"I Swear (Official Music Video) - All 4 One."
Meet Our February “On The Rise” Nominees!
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
In our monthly
On The Rise
program, we identify four partners whose channels are seeing significant growth but haven’t yet reached the 100,000 subscriber mark. Thanks to
your suggestions
, this month we bring you four partners who are still relatively early on in the journey, but your support can help them make progress and build on their success. Our nominees for February use YouTube to share healthy recipes, demonstrate creative art projects, vlog about life in London, and share a family’s story.
Here’s where you come in - you actually have the chance to help push these partners even further on YouTube. Review their videos below, vote for your favorite
here
, and one of these candidates will have the opportunity to be featured across YouTube later this month. In addition to your votes, each channel will be evaluated on criteria such as viewer engagement and channel optimization techniques to decide which partner we’ll feature.
In past months, featured On The Rise partners like
polcan99
and
MyCupcakeaddiction
have gained many subscribers and seen their careers take off, in large part due to your support. This month’s poll will be open until
February 19, 5 p.m. PT
, so don’t forget to vote for your favorite channel. Check back to see which channel will be featured on
February 26
.
veggietorials
Cobi has been on a plant-based diet for more than 10 years and has created recipes that put a vegan twist on classic dishes. Her channel hosts a ton of these instructional videos as well as some reviews on vegan products and snacks.
SheSellsSeaShellscom
Debi started designing handmade crafts in college and thrives on turning everyday and vintage items into new treasures with her DIY and crafting skills. Watch her turn paint can lids into a funky mirror and other creative projects on her YouTube channel.
DevinandErica
Based in Charlotte, N.C., Devin and Erica began uploading to YouTube before their eldest daughter was born and they referred to her as "Baby Bug" more than three years ago. A self-described "reality and variety show," their channel content includes skits, vlogs and even original songs!
emmablackery
Emma posted her first vlog to YouTube a mere seven months ago, but has already developed a loyal YouTube following. This 21-year-old from London vlogs about school, family and relationships, and regularly hosts Q&As with her fans.
If you’re interested in participating or have suggestions for partners you think should be featured, you can
nominate a YouTube partner
to be considered for the “On The Rise” program. You can also check out some of our Google Hangouts with past featured partners on the
Partner Support channel
.
Devon Storbeck and Christine Wang, YouTube Partner Support, recently watched “
Caught Red (Sprinkle) Faced
.”
Turning the PSA on Its Head With YouTube
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Today’s guest post is from Water.org about an exciting campaign they’re working on to raise awareness about the water crisis. For more information on the YouTube Nonprofit Program visit
YouTube.com/nonprofits
.
While Water.org is known for our innovative approach to solving the world water crisis, we're less well known as YouTube stars. But every week we use YouTube to share the stories of the people we meet who don't have safe water to drink and to educate people about the water crisis.
With Matt Damon as our co-founder, Water.org can’t claim a lack of star power, but our experiences on YouTube have taught us that having a Hollywood celebrity in frame is not always a guarantee for viral online success.
Over the past few years we've included Matt in a variety of our videos, visiting our project sites, doing interviews, and in other cases "dressed up" for a specific role (like in
Damon Claus for a Cause
). From looking at our views, it is clear that "one-on-one" interviews with Matt and humorous videos are more popular than what people call traditional "public service announcement" (PSA) videos. It's not all that surprising since both humor and connectedness are key to the YouTube experience.
However, as interesting as this might be, our most successful YouTube moments happened when we invited established YouTube stars to visit our project sites and report back to their own audiences what they experienced. Cummulatively, these videos have nearly 3 million views - more than the lifetime views on our entire channel. Check them out:
So when we sat down and were brainstorming about new ways we could bring the water crisis to new audiences it made sense to integrate what we've learned and try something completely new: Matt Damon + YouTube Creators + humor + information = turning video views into awareness and action.
Today we are launching an online campaign of videos that feature Matt Damon and a collection of YouTube stars like
Wheezywaiter
,
Lisbug
,
Shaycarl
, and
LivePrudeGirls
. Check out these videos and watch out for more in the coming weeks.
Finally, support the campaign by signing up
here
and we'll keep you up to date. Collectively, we will be raising awareness for the water crisis that, in the end, will make the lives better for the millions of people who struggle each day to find a safe drink of water.
Mike McCamon, chief community officer at Water.org, recently watched “
When is Thanksgiving? Colonizing America: Crash Course US History #2
.”
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