Top Video Sharing Sites Compared
Video is a powerful tool that connects people who are geographically separated from one another. It is also a great aggregator of people; whether we are a random group of people who support the same cause, find the same kind of thing funny, or simply because we all love J-Lo, video groups us together. This is the socializing effect of video.
Think of the movie theatre experience, where people in the community group together around an item of entertainment. The same thing happens virtually online, but around shared video content. It’s just that online it’s a looser, more amorphous, displaced kind of cluster.
Video is meant to be shared. No matter where you find it, video connects us together. Let’s take a look at the top video sharing sites online…
TOP VIDEO SHARING SITES
Not sure where to share videos you create? Maybe you’re not a budding videographer and would prefer to watch videos shared online in hopes of finding the latest viral video. Either way this list of top video sharing sites is a great place to start.
1. YouTube
Owned by Google, YouTube is the “big daddy” of all video-sharing sites online. YouTube is everywhere, almost omnipresent in the way that it integrates into websites, blogs, Facebook, and even e-mail. While the best part about YouTube may be that you can watch any video without being forced into becoming a member of the site, the real strength of YouTube lies in the large communities that are formed around special interest videos.
YouTube has become such a video sharing powerhouse that it has created overnight sensations like LonelyGirl15, a video series that takes place in the fictional LG15 universe, and Star Wars Kid, a guy who shows off his light saber moves. The United States presidential candidates used YouTube to stream their debates and speeches to a wider and younger audience. Most recently, the video sharing site has been instrumental in bringing the “Gangnam Style” video to the masses.
2. Metacafe
If YouTube is the big daddy of video sharing sites then Metacafe is the strict mommy. Metacafe goes to great lengths to ensure its library of shared videos are of the highest quality and that there are no multiple copies of the same content. By comparison, you may find 23 different versions of the same event on YouTube. With a dedicated content review system, you can be sure that there is a lot less clutter on Metacafe since a panel of 80,000 members reviews each video. Talk about videos being social.
Interestingly, one of the main reasons for Metacafe’s popularity is that it was one of the first video sharing sites to pay people for posting videos. The site created a Producer Rewards program that essentially stated that once 20,000 people have viewed your video, Metacafe would give you $5 (reduced to $2) for every 1,000 views after that. Imagine your video went viral and was viewed 20 million times? That video would earn you just under $100K! Unfortunately, the company ended that program in 2009. That said, it is still a top video-sharing site with tons of great content.
3. Dailymotion
This is an international video sharing site with a worldwide audience. Dailymotion flag markers interface pinpoints exactly where in the world a video originated, which is a super slick and unique feature. Most of the videos on this site tend to be professional in nature, with newscasts, commercials, and short films that are extremely popular. It has an “audience first platform” so it offers a number of viewer related features such as picture previews of videos and the ability to easily share videos on Facebook or Twitter.
4. Vimeo
Catering to professional video makers, Vimeo assumes the video is self contained and doesn’t need any special attention once its uploaded. It’s the posh child of video sharing sites. Vimeo is the place that filmmakers often go to showcase short films and original videos to other enthusiasts. The result is that Vimeo’s library contains a high percentage of original polished content. One of the best things about Vimeo is that it is fast becoming a social network site with a tight knit community of video enthusiasts and the ability to browse, rate, and comment on videos.
Video quality on the site is high, with tons of videos available in high-definition (HD). Unlike other video sharing sites, Vimeo does not limit the file size of a particular video and there are no ads. Vimeo Plus users can upload up to 5GB of video/week for a fee of $9.95 a month. You can still create a free account on Vimeo that provides 500MB of upload space a week. Of course, all the videos shared on the site are free to watch.
THE FUTURE OF VIDEO SHARING SITES
As our online world and our mobile world become more and more “video-centric,” we may rightfully expect that video sharing sites will become an increasingly social place to hang out. This is why we can expect video-sharing sites to be even further integrated into social networking sites. As we gather around video and discuss, pontificate, and enjoy these visual moments together we become more connected.
What video sharing website do you most often visit and why? Let us know in the comments below.
Related Posts
About The Author
11 Comments
Add a Comment
Cancel reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
dailymotion is what i’ve used so far. and i was so amazed as my videos ranked so fast as early as 5 days and i am on google page 1 already…
irackit is recently launched.. can upload video up to to 3GB
picykite is recently launched.. .its a very big and sharing site with videos, sound, text, message friends, page ,video channel,groups , clubs, articles, blog, as call every thing at just once…..
YouTube is one of the best video sharing websites ever and it’s no surprise it tops your list at #1. Here’s a couple more to consider: Revver & Fliggo.
As an Ad Agency we use both Vimeo (b2b) and YouTube (b2c). Curious to see what other businesses use.
I thought Revver and Fliggo both shut down? Or did they get bought. It’s so hard to keep track of video sharing sites these days. Hey Brian, at my business we use YouTube and Wistia. We wanted to self host, but to be seen we had to post our videos on YouTube as well. What do you get by sharing your videos on Vimeo?
I mostly visit youtube. I do video marketing myself but apart from Vimeo, all the other sites you mention on here aren’t accessible to those of us who have a vision impairment and you screen-reading technology on our computers. Shame 🙁
Thanks for letting us know about the vision impairment issues on some of the video sites mentioned.
Thank you for sharing some of the video sites. But aside from the listed video sites, anyone knows other video sites that allow to upload videos for free? Because I need 30 video submission sites. I would highly appreciate if someone can give me some video submission sites. The video that I will going to submit is offering a service for internet marketing solutions. Looking forward for any reply. Thank you.
Real player will not play anything that I down load from you tube. That is a recent
situation. Do you have any explanation?
Sorry. RealNetworks released RealPlayer Cloud in English worldwide for Windows 7 and higher operating systems. This latest version will fix the “download incomplete” issue with YouTube and supports Chrome 32 and Internet Explorer 11. If you are on Win 7 or higher, please go to http://www.real.com and download the free version RealPlayer Cloud. If you purchased RealPlayer Plus version 16, you can login using your email address and password to access your premium features.
Customers that are on Win XP or Vista, we will be working on a similar fix for RealPlayer v16 and hope to release that soon but do not have a date yet.
If you still have any additional questions, please send an email to help@real.com