The Death of Youtube

A theme that I've been following in my last few posts has been the degradation of New Media as more and more of it becomes controlled by corporate media. In the previous post I mentioned how the internet savior of Google has begun selling itself out for the good its stock. This trend is spreading onto other new media platforms. One of which will greatly affect all of us is Youtube.

When YouTube came about, it solved all of our video problems. Remember that episode of Seinfeld where George created the false personality of the importer-exporter Art Vandaley? No? Then go look on YouTube. You’ll love it.

No longer were we forced to watch our music videos at 3 AM on MTV because they weren’t ever played during regular hours anymore.

No longer did we have to only try to remember the magic that was the Dwight Clark-Joe Montana touchdown (otherwise known as “The Catch.”) We could simply go to YouTube and search it.

There was no wait except for a short buffering period. The entire world was at our fingertips.

Then Google bought YouTube and started to try to find a way to turn a profit. What came of it? VEVO; the menace to the streaming video industry. Now we have to sit through thirty second advertisements in order to watch a fifteen second clip. This is just one example of our New Media saviors selling out, but it is definitely one of the most prominent.