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The people behind YouTube have worked hard to make the site
easy to navigate and use, so you won’t need much handholding. As
you can see from Figure 1-1, it’s not too hard to find a video that interests
you right from YouTube’s home page at www.youtube.com.
First, you’ll see a row of videos being watched right now. Next,
you’re offered a glimpse at the promoted videos, and finally a group
of featured videos take up a lot of that first page. If nothing there
entices you, and we’re betting that something will, you can click on
hyperlinks for More Featured Videos, Most Viewed, Most Discussed,
and Top Favorites. It may take a new user several sessions
just to move beyond the home page!
All the while, calling to you is the empty search box that just
begs you to put in your own topics of interest to locate videos that
will appeal just to you. Just about any keyword(s) you can think of
will pull up related videos. Through the pull-down menu you can
specify whether you want to search videos or channels. The featured
channels are like cable channels in the sense that their focus
is narrow and they’re devoted to a theme. For example, as we
mentioned, Michael Buckley, of the popular What the Buck?! show
has his own channel. So do record companies, political and news
organizations, conventional networks such as Comedy Central
and CBS, and a lot of YouTube born-and-bred stars besides
Michael.As you follow the tabs along the top of what YouTube calls the
watch page, you’ll find tabs for video, channels, and community.
The Video and Channel tabs are self-explanatory, but take a closer
look at the information that resides behind the Community tab.
Here you’ll find Contests that are mostly operated by businesses.
(We’ll look at those very closely in Chapter 5.) You’ll also find
Groups, where people of like tastes can gather and share. Finally,
you’ll find Community Help Forums. Here you can come to ask
questions, meet other YouTube users, and read about experiences
others have had with the site. This is a great place to stop as you
work to join the YouTube community.And now to the subject of signing up for YouTube. You can
spend countless hours browsing and enjoying YouTube without
registering with the site. But, if your goal is to become a member
of the YouTube community—and, for your purposes, it must be—
you need to sign up (or, as YouTube refers to it, “Create an Account”).
Once you do, you’ll be able to comment on videos,
subscribe to your favorite channels, and collect your favorite videos
into your own little corner of the site. Fortunately, signing up is
quick, painless, and free.
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