You, too, can be on YouTube
By Kim Komando
YouTube is one of the hottest sites on the Net. Millions of people flock to the site to watch videos created by amateurs.
You may be considering uploading your own videos. But before you do, there are some things you should know:
Want to share a video only with family and friends? No problem. There are two steps to uploading a video to YouTube. On the first page, you enter information about the video, like the title and category.
On the next page, choose the video to upload. Then, specify if you want it to be public or private. For private videos, you can opt to send it to a group of contacts immediately.
Why wait to share your videos? All you need to upload videos to YouTube is a video-enabled cell phone.
But first you must set up a mobile phone profile from your account page. Just click Mobile Upload Profiles under Account Settings. Click Create Mobile Profile.
You can add information such as tags, categories and descriptions. You can also specify whether the video should be private or public. These settings apply to all videos you send via your phone. You can also enter e-mail addresses to send notifications of new posts.
When you upload a video, you get code to embed it in your site. Visitors won't need to leave your site to view the video.
And private videos remain private, even on your blog. To see a private video, visitors must be logged in to YouTube. Only authorized viewers will see the video.
Or, you can also share your videos by sending a link to them.
YouTube places a 10-minute limit on the length of videos, but you can post longer videos with a Director account. Additionally, you can place a logo, Web address and company description on your video pages.
There are other perks to Director accounts, too. You must apply for a Director account. But it is free for video bloggers, amateur filmmakers, musicians and professional content producers. You'll find more information in YouTube's help section.
YouTube also offers special accounts for musicians and comedians.
When you sign up with YouTube, you get your own profile page, or channel. It shows the videos you've posted. Your subscriptions and favorites also appear on this page.
You can customize the colors of your channel page. Plus, you can add a title, description and information about yourself. You can also add a link to your own Web site.
Your channel will also list your subscribers. And you can broadcast messages to your friends and read comments others have left for you.
Finally, you can request a customized address for your channel. Your account must be at least a week old. You must also have a confirmed e-mail address and one video uploaded.
Contact Kim Komando at gnstech@gns.gannett.com.
