Monday, April 11, 2011

Blog 6-Farrell

For this blog I chose to watch two clips about puppies. Why? WHY NOT?! I love puppies!!!

I chose the youtube video about a husky named Mishka who can say "I love you." I have to say, this was about the 100th time I've watched the clip and I can't get enough of it. After watching the clip, i watched a few more "Mishka videos" because youtube linked me right to them. This was one of the biggest differences I noticed between youtube and Hulu. Once the youtube clip is over, it offers an array of other options to watch similar to the clip previously viewed. This is smart because it keeps people on youtube. I call them "youtube kicks." Whenever I have a lot of free time, i start to watch some old favorites on youtube, knowing eventually I will stumble upon new favorites. With Hulu, it was a different story.

After typing "puppies" into the search bar, many television clips popped up about puppies. I clicked on the most interesting looking clip based on the picture it gave and found a Today Show story about a batch of puppies named after those who had lost their lives in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The clip was about two and a half minutes long, but it was adorable none the less. After the clip was shown, it was done and there were no links to other videos. I believe after the clip had ended, after a short time the clip started up again automatically.

Previous to this assignment I had only used Hulu a few times to watch television shows like "One Tree Hill" and movies like "Twilight." I had no idea Hulu offered short clips. However, these clips are only TV and film based. Hulu actually has contracts with companies to air shows, which makes the shows on Hulu legal. Companies either put the clips on the site or sign contracts to allow others to put clips on the site. Unlike Hulu, Youtube offers an array of different clips whether they be home videos, music videos, educational videos, and TV/Film clips; however youtube offers illegal videos. For example, I once watched a whole movie on youtube in 5 parts. In no way was this passed by the company that owns the rights of the movie. No TV/film companies have contracts with youtube, meaning clips on youtube can be taken down if found illegal.

Hulu is a form of advertisement through companies that have contracts with the site. Youtube is audience based where the audience offers the videos and the site is the medium; however through the years youtube has been adding more and more advertisements before clips such as movie trailers and other products. it seems as though youtube is moving in the direction of Hulu, but is still more audience produced than Hulu.

I find youtube to be a more popular site because it gives the viewers more control and more options, but the options are limited where Hulu offers full versions of film and television. It is no wonder why youtube is more popular however. Youtube offers more interaction like comments and profiles. Hulu is tied down by contracts, but is this good or bad for business? It seems youtube is doing better, but i could be wrong... am I?


2 comments:

  1. I think it's great that you pointed out Youtube's ability to link you to similar videos after you are finished watching your clip. I cannot tell you how many times I have procrastinated and gotten preoccupied with watching youtube videos that I have found from "linking" to them. It's a great strategy for them - it helps keep us glued to their website and view more of their advertisements!

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  2. I agree with the relevant video observation. I just wish they would find a more effective manner for playlist integration. As it is, its difficult to queue up multiple videos at once. I actually know of no way to add to the queue any videos listed at the end as "you may also like..." to an existing queue either.

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