Since when is the Internet as exclusive as the Playboy Mansion
or the backstage of a Radiohead concert?
Since now.
The popular video-sharing site YouTube.com, which began as a
completely public site, has recently decided to adopt the route of
more exclusive Internet communities ““ namely, colleges.
On Aug. 21, YouTube announced a new feature called YouTube
College, with UCLA as one of the first 30 schools to be part of the
beta experiment. The feature, which requires users to register a
public YouTube account and also register with a university-specific
e-mail address, allows college students to post videos and create
groups that are only available to others within the student’s
school.
“It’s a great idea in the sense that it creates more
of a tight-knit (online) environment,” said Julie Lanier, a
fourth-year English student and YouTube user.
According to a press release, UCLA was selected as part of the
Web site’s “effort to celebrate the college experience
““ music, comedy, sports, learning, adventure and events
““ through YouTube.”
Students are encouraged to post college-specific videos to
create a community through the YouTube site.
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As a member of the UCLA community ““ previously or
currently involved with Campus Tours, Dance Marathon, the UCLA
Orientation Program, Spirit Squad and the Student Alumni
Association ““ Lanier appreciates the exclusivity offered to
UCLA students to post UCLA-related material online.
“I think things associated with a specific university
““ such as sports or event footage ““ should be only
within the UCLA community, but something like a funny Britney
Spears video should still be open to anybody,” she said.
The attraction of a private Internet environment led many
college students to leave the explosive online community Facebook
after it went public in mid-September. The Facebook group
“All good things must end: I’m deleting my Facebook if
Facebook goes public,” for example, not surprisingly only has
59 members at the time of this writing (apparently, they all left
when Facebook did go public), most of whom are non-students.
Thus, just as Facebook moves away from its exclusive nature,
YouTube is capitalizing on students’ attraction to restricted
access.
“If (students) are able to make the decision between
private (within a college) and public access, students can more
easily ask their friends for feedback,” said Lanier.
Mirroring the construction and rise of Facebook, YouTube is
slowly adding colleges to its repertoire. The college feature
currently hosts 60 American colleges and universities. And
according to the site, dozens more are on the way.
Unlike Facebook though, schools have not simply been added in
order of campus prestige. For example, UCLA was added before
Harvard. And Yale is yet to be added. Colleges with social
environments more accepting of such a feature are being placed in
an even more exclusive group ““ those given the privilege of
exclusivity.
However, unlike the controversy surrounding Facebook, YouTube
simply hopes to offer opportunity.
Scattertones, a UCLA a capella group which recently released
their first album, uses YouTube College to post videos of their
concerts.
“With a capella it’s really hard to get a fan base.
A lot of people don’t know what a capella is and
they’re not willing to come out and see our
performances,” said Philip Luu, tenor and business manager
for Scattertones and a third-year communication studies student.
“But having the ability to post videos for students to watch
when they’re surfing the Web is a great way to introduce a
capella music to them.”
The YouTube College group encourages other UCLA students to
watch their peers because UCLA-related videos are more easily
accessible.
“We can see what other UCLA students are doing with video,
such as theater or film students, and what they’re up
to,” Lanier said.
Besides the Scattertones videos, the UCLA group hosts a parody
of the movie “Drumline” starring the UCLA Marching Band
and a short clip of an intramural softball game.
But despite humorous content, the new feature represents the
rising new technologies that have begun to take hold within the
college generation.
“The next-generation platform for social networks is yours
to shape,” the YouTube College press release proclaims. And
by creating a student-only area, the site asks for student input in
shaping the growing video-sharing capabilities.
YouTube College: UCLA has little more than 130 members, nine
videos and one exclusive group, but the exclusivity will continue
to attract those who can’t give up the dream of hanging at
the Grotto or shaking hands with Thom Yorke.
And at least YouTube College doesn’t have a
seven-foot-tall bodyguard standing at the door.