By the end of 2011, we can expect some changes to begin filtering its way through YouTube. According to an article posted by the Wall Street Journal, some of these changes include reorganizing the site around channels in an effort to prepare for the rising number of televisions with online video viewing capabilities. The goal here seems to be turning television viewers into habitual YouTube viewers. In addition to capturing YouTube viewers watching from a television, the site is also striving to increase the amount of time spent on the site of each individual user. By doing so, YouTube site owner, Google, hopes to draw more advertising dollars from the television ad market. Paid full length content could also soon be part of the site.
YouTube currently has more than four times the number of unique visitors of Netflix and Hulu. However, the distinct difference between those sites and YouTube is the amount of time spent by each user. A site comparison conducted by The Nielsen Company and comScore revealed that Hulu users spend almost twice the amount of time on their sites than users of YouTube. For Netflix, the time spent per user is four times more. Advertisers aside, YouTube was once a site centered around user-generated content. It will be interesting to see what impact, if any, this has on their user base.
For now, people like Rebecca Black, love her or hate her, will continue going viral. (Note the number of video dislikes to likes) But then again, I guess it is the views that actually count!
