YouTube is addictive. You click on a G3 music video that features guitar legends, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, and John Petrucci, next thing you know, you’re watching a D-I-Y clip on how to frost mason jars! The video-sharing website celebrated its tenth anniversary earlier this month.
From video and TV clips to music videos, and other content including video blogging, short original videos, and educational videos, YouTube offers viewers and subscribers a plethora of options, and fans who use the platform to reach out to their target audience, are especially thankful for its existence.
Music artiste Wilbur Sargunaraj, who rose to fame thanks to the site, feels: “YouTube has revolutionised the way independent artistes perform. How else would we get our content out to the world? Having YouTube to get content out for free (let’s hope it stays that way!) is priceless in this day and age. Just don’t get caught up in the viewership game. Creativity, art and music is more than just the number of views you get.”
“YouTube has cut across geographical boundaries and has played a big role in bridging the gap between artistes and their fans,” says Prashanth Wesley, a guitarist. “I watch guitar videos, music concerts of all kinds, for inspiration. As a guitar instructor, I have often used the platform to upload videos for some of my students’ benefit and learning.”
Varun Agarwal, author and co-founder of Alma Mater whose INK Talk video on YouTube crossed a whopping 1 million views in a fortnight, says: “YouTube has played a significant role in our branding. You reach out to millions with very little spend. Also the level of engagement post the video is high. The best feature about YouTube is that it's breaking the conventional norms.”
Manveen Kaur, co-founder of Hobby in a Box, a DIY e-store, also has a YouTube channel on which they create various crafts with their hobby boxes. “YouTube has helped us directly communicate with our audience. People are sceptical whether they can use our DIY kits. With YouTube videos, we show them how easy it really is and hand out tips too. I like the video editor. It is so simple and anyone can cut, join, and modify videos.”
YouTube is often credited with preserving the classics. “I used to be addicted to shows such as Sarabhai versus Sarabhai and was really sad when the show ended but now with videos of it available on YouTube, I get to watch my favourite episodes whenever I want to,” says Rani Mathew, a homemaker. “And with other ongoing serials, in case I miss an episode, I go watch it online as soon as it’s uploaded.”
The education sector too has largely benefitted from the medium. School counsellor, Shireen Sait, says: “Children love stories, music, and videos. And with like skills coaching becoming an integral part of school and college curriculum, over the past few years, I use educational videos on YouTube in class, to create awareness on topics ranging from good and bad touch to mental health issues, and they have proven beneficial.”
And while YouTube will be lauded and celebrated for all the good that’s come out of it, parents have expressed concern over appropriateness of available content. However, Rani says: “We are thankful for the safety mode feature it comes with. To a large extent, it weeds out stuff we wouldn’t want our kids to watch, and of course with parental vigilance and control, it is not the hardest thing to monitor what your child views online.”
Like they say, ‘you never get bored with YouTube’, it sure looks like the education and the entertainment will go on for a long time to come!
