The Not so Great You Tube

The recent acquisition of You Tube by Google has caused quite a bit of media and news coverage of both Google and You Tube. The acquisition has also given You Tube a lot exposure to audiences who might not have been familiar with You Tube, thus expanding You Tube's popularity even more. I myself had recently discovered You Tube when the big news broke. As I read more and more newspaper articles stating just how incredibly genius the idea of You Tube was, I started to wonder what was so phenomenal about the site I had just discovered. Having just recently perused the site, I decided to take a closer and more in depth look at the You Tube. Despite all the positive press coverage, here's why I was not impressed.

1. Bad organization.
Despite now being able to search for You Tube videos on Google, the organization is awful. You really must know exactly what you are looking for if you want to find it. A recent search for the Fox show "Bones" turned up a random lot of rap music videos. I eventually gave up. Part of the problem with searching for videos on You Tube is that there is no guide for naming or categorizing videos. Up-loaders have free range to name their video whatever they'd like. In a sense this is good, it's freedom of expression. However, it makes searching for videos incredibly difficult and random. You Tube needs some serious re-structuring in order to become more easily navigable.

2. No quality.
While the beauty of You Tube lies in the fact that any Joe Schmoe can upload his video creation and share it with the world, that same premise is also You Tube's downfall. While there is the occasional Lonely Girl that provides a host of people with entertainment and a rare look into other's life, most of the videos that get uploaded on You Tube are pure crap. Any pre-teen guy can upload his version of Jackass stunts and you get stuck with them. A lot of people take popular shows from television, cut them up in pieces, rearrange them, and then put a copyrighted song to their rearranged creation, and then herald their own creative genius. There is a lot of quantity on You Tube at the sacrifice of quality video and artistry.

3. Itty- bitty clips.
You can only upload clips of a certain length. Which means that after about ten minutes of watching that CSI episode, it will end and you have to go through the torturous process of searching for the second half of that episode. You Tube could be significantly improved by allowing up-loaders to upload full episodes instead of five parts of one episode.

My final reason for disliking You Tube is more of a personal ethical and issue that one of quality. You Tube sold out. It seems that every big success by the little guy is being taken over by a major company. Of course, I can't say for certain that if I were offered millions or billions of dollars I wouldn't sell my company, however it saddens to see the internet becoming more and more consolidated just as television, magazines, and radio stations have. Myspace is now owned by News Corp, to the detriment of Myspace. Instead of simply being a way of connecting with people it has become an ad cluttered money making machine.

So here's a statement to all the major media companies out there who are considering snatching up the next big thing. Get your grubby greedy little fingers off of the little guy's creation.