First, here's a link to why the advertisements on YouTube (that most viewers find annoying) actually turn out to be successful for those advertising companies. It's a playlist called YouTube Case Studies.
There's even a page on YouTube telling potential advertisers Why It Works. YouTube only charges when people watch your ad. It provides a targeted audience for companies looking to advertise. It's not just ads on television where someone can change the screen, but it provides videos across the internet which means people with access to computers, phones, tablets, etc can see the ad. There are analytic tools that give stats on who's viewing a company's ad and these companies can build a following by making their own channel.
Of course YouTube also has their Partnership Program to help their creators. And of course here's the list of the top 100 most subscribed channels where every day people are making it on the internet (just ignore the music channels like Rihanna and One Direction). To check out success stories just type in Draw My Life and there will be plenty of youtubers who talk about how they ended up making videos and how this channel changed their life. This video is long, but it incorporates a lot of how collaboration, crowdsourcing, and just using the things available to you will get you to where you want to be:
(sWooZie's Draw My Life video)
Of course there is the academic side of YouTube that I'd like to explore too. Having plays up to watch in parts (which I do for my Shakespeare class), watching PBS or Discovery, or even uploading AP Literature projects or class projects is a fun way to get information out there. In class we discussed how sometimes we search online how to do things for a visual on what to do. So I suppose one of the questions I'll have to look into more is what makes the source qualified or authoritative?
I'm still working on getting more information and everything, but. I'm really excited to explore this more.
