Opening a YouTube account is relatively easy since no financial requirements are involved. The site requires you to specify your user name. This has to be distinctive to avoid redundancy. In addition to the name, one is required to indicate the date you were born, gender, a nation where you reside and indicate that you agree to their terms of service (Fahs, 175). You will be required to give your email address and set a password of your choice. Once you are done with this, you receive an email with a hyperlink that allows you to verify your account. On completion of this, you will be notified about your mail contacts with YouTube accounts, and given the option of subscribing to them or not.
A wide variety of companies may benefit from this website since it has provisions for users to upload advertisements. The level of suitability varies with every organization depending on their operations. Media houses, publicity agencies, recording studios, politicians, and celebrity figures in the society are best placed to enjoy and fully utilize the provisions of this website. The ability to upload information allows them to communicate quickly and efficiently with their target audience. They also have the option of uploading universal resource locator (URL) links, to direct their audience to other websites (Qualman, 45).
This website is superior to other social networking sites because it is tailor-made to handle large data volumes. This website is different from other networking sites since it allows one the luxury of reaching an unlimited audience with a single post (Fahs, 179). In most social sites, other users have to be in your network of friends or fans before gaining access to your feeds. YouTube simultaneously relays information directly to those in your network and to those who are not, by displaying links on their home page (Qualman, 46). A search box is also available for different users to interrogate the database for any information they require.
Organizations, doing formal business may be slightly disadvantaged if they rely solely on YouTube to propagate their ideas. This happens because most of the messages and videos uploaded here are social. A large majority of users are relatively young, hence may tend to get distracted with material on entertainment. To use this site for business, respective organizations need to rethink their branding and advertising strategies. It is will be necessary for their message to appeal to the young generation. Endorsements by popular celebrities or sportsmen may be handy for them.
I would give YouTube a rating of 4 out of 5. This is so because they have failed to guarantee total user data security. Cases have been reported of user accounts being hacked into (Qualman, 49). This portends real threats to user security and the integrity of the data they post. It would be to their advantage if they found methods of improving the privacy of the data their subscriber’s relay. This network is recommended for business because it has proved to be reliable both for advertising and vending incase of software and music. Some of the notable organizations which have employed this website for marketing include Apple Inc and Microsoft. Given that these are among the most successful American companies in terms of sales volumes, we can conclude that this website promotes role satisfaction. It is noteworthy that Microsoft has set up links that allow users to download their applications at a cost. This helps to shore up their revenue base and saves subscribers the inconvenience of long queues at stores. This is an indication of both social and task satisfaction for both organization and the network (Fahs, 180).
Lastly, YouTube can be used to mitigate conflict, coordinate disaster management, and perform many other charity responsibilities (Fahs, 185). An example is the Middle East crisis, pitting Israel against Palestine. This site can be used to relay messages encouraging peace and harmony among the neighboring nations.
Works Cited
Fahs, Chad. How to do everything with YouTube. Illustrated. New York: McGraw-Hill Professional. 2007 175 – 185.
Qualman, Erik. Socialnommics: How Social Media Transform the Way We Live and do Business. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons. 2009 45 – 49.