I think that most people of my generation are very familiar with YouTube. I use YouTube a lot to check out music videos, watch movie trailers, and I am constantly being sent "funny" videos by my friends to check out. I went on YouTube today and decided to go to the Most Viewed Today category. I often go on Youtube with a specific purpose, whether its to watch a certain music video or I have clicked on a link that someone has sent me. I have never really spent any time browsing YouTube for entertainment so today I decided to do just that. The first video that came up was the new Lebron James commercial for Nike. I decided it would be in my best interest to check out what all the buzz has been about. After watching the commercial I was extremely confused because the commercial made fun of Nike -- and then I realized I had watched a remake of the original commercial. Someone had taken clips from the original commercial and repurposed them to make an entirely different commercial. This commercial completely changed the message of the original commercial. While I was able to then watch the original commercial I think this other commercial best exemplifies the power of YouTube. It is possible for anyone to upload a video, and it is possible to get misinformation this way which should prompt people to be active viewers (and to pay a little bit more attention). I think that YouTube is a great platform for people with perhaps marginalized voices to get their message out there.
Hulu, while also a website that shares videos is very different in its nature than YouTube. Hulu provides viewers with the ability to watch full episodes of television and watch full movies. There is also the option to watch clips of certain shows, movie trailers and other short videos. Hulu is different than YouTube because there is a high barrier to entry here (amateurs can not upload videos) which makes the quality of videos exponentially better. While I usually watch Hulu to watch full television episodes I decided to check out the Most Popular page today. I checked out a behind the scenes look at the next episode of Glee. The clip, which was produced by Fox, is a good marketing technique (I now want to tune in to see the next episode). I think that Hulu is a website that benefits the producers of the television shows, and movies, etc. Hulu is used by the networks, and film companies to promote their products and it is done so in a professional and mature way that is not seen on YouTube. While clips can cross over between YouTube and Hulu, they both ultimately serve a different purpose.
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