The online video sharing service YouTube is now starting to pay its customers using a new partnership program that will surely encourage users to upload their stuff. As usual, the parent company Google wants more homemade content and announced today that a new special program is about to start and that it will bring some considerable revenues for the uploaders. At this time, Google selected only some of the most popular YouTube uploaders, but the campaign will be expanded soon. The procedure is quite simple: the online video sharing service selects some of the uploaders and sends their clips to be published on the YouTube partners’ channels. After the company introduces some adverts, the revenue will be shared with the user depending on the clip’s settings.

“Participating user-partners will be treated as other content partners and will have the ability to control the monetization of the videos they create. Once they’ve selected a video to be monetized, we’ll place advertising adjacent to their content so participating user-partners can reap the rewards from their work,” the YouTube team announced today.

At this time, the new program is available only to the selected users but the company plans to expand the offer very soon. However, this is another sign that YouTube wants more user-generated content and encourages the members to upload their own clips. In the past, the YouTubers helped Google survive just after the Viacom removal was confirmed when the search giant removed no more than 100.000 clips from the database. At that time, the Mountain View company sustained its number of visitors was boosted by the homemade content that attracts the majority of users.

Source: softpedia

As I said today, YouTube released a major update for the video service that brings a lot of new features to the product, improving the functionality of the page. Among several features recently introduced, YouTube also debuted a new ability, codenamed Active Sharing that is currently a part of TestTube. Active Sharing was built with a single purpose: that of allowing other members of the page to see who is watching a certain clip. “Are you a video trendsetter, an expert at finding the cool stuff on YouTube? Now you can share what you find immediately by Active Sharing with other YouTube users. Click the “Start Active Sharing” button, then go watch some videos. Your username will show up on the page of the videos as you watch them, and a list of the latest ones you’ve seen will appear in your profile,” the employees describe the feature.

Your username will appear on a certain clip’s page if you enable the feature from the TestTube page, but it is displayed only for 30 minutes. A list of the clips you’ve viewed is also created on your profile page, helping you to organize the videos easier than before.

I have no idea if this major update was designed to make YouTube more competitive for the other similar services on the Internet but it brings an impressive new functionality to the users. Recently, YouTube was threatened from all around, no matter if it was a company that sued Google for copyright infringement or a rival that prepares a new solution. On Friday, Google’s online video sharing service recorded the first major hit after Sony debuted eyeVio, a similar service that is currently available only for the Japanese users.

Source: softpedia

Ryan Fitzgerald is unemployed, lives with his father and so, he decided to offer his ear, to anyone who wants to call. After posting a video with his cell phone number on YouTube on Friday, the 20-year-old told The Boston Globe he has received more than 5,000 calls and text messages.

Fitzgerald said he wanted to “be there,” for anyone who needed to talk. “I never met you, but I do care,” a spiky-haired Fitzgerald said into the camera on his YouTube posting.

He planned to take and return as many calls he could, but on Monday at 5 a.m., his T-Mobile cell phone payment will begin charging him for his generosity when he is no longer eligible for free weekend minutes.

“I haven’t quite figured out what I’m going to do about it,” he said. “Come Monday, no way I’m going to just hang up on people and say, ‘I don’t have the minutes.’”

Fitzgerald, who said people consider him “easy to talk to,” was inspired by Juan Mann. YouTube video clips of Mann offering “Free Hugs” to strangers became wildly popular on the user-controlled Internet site.

“Some people’s own mothers won’t take the time to sit down and talk with them and have a conversation,” Fitzgerald said. “But some stranger on YouTube will. After six seconds, you’re not a stranger anymore, you’re a new kid I just met.”

Its your turn, upload a video. Who knows you may get your future girl/boy friend this way!

Source: yahoo news

You can also check for some Swatch watches.

YouTube is opening up the programming of their home page to guest editors. They will pick one user a month to take over as editor for homepage for a few days.

Requirements:
All you’ll have to do is send them 10 videos you would like to place on home (make sure they adhere to the terms of service!) along with a short video about why you chose, what you did and how you found the experience.

Source: YouTube