2012 Was the Year YouTube Went Professional

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Obama-vs-Romeny-in-an-Epic-Rap-Battle

In previous years the ‘top 10’ lists of most viewed YouTube clips would always contain amateur videos such as ‘Charli Bit My Finger’, cat videos, and so on … but this past year saw YouTube move fully to a professional video channel, reflecting the mainstream adoption of internet video as a primary source of entertainment. As kids have known for years, it is often easier to simply grab a YouTube video for a song you want to hear than fiddle around on iTunes, Spotify or Slacker.

As noted here, “Almost everything on the list this year was created by professional or creative talent for an online audience., which is “different from years ago, when homemade videos or random, funny stuff from smartphone cameras were the hits.”

Here is the list of Top Trending YouTube Videos:

1.PSY – GANGNAM STYLE (?????) M/V
2.Somebody That I Used to Know – Walk off the Earth (Gotye – Cover)
3.KONY 2012
4.”Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen – Feat. Justin Bieber, Selena, Ashley Tisdale & MORE!
5.Barack Obama vs Mitt Romney. Epic Rap Battles Of History Season 2.
6.A DRAMATIC SURPRISE ON A QUIET SQUARE
7.WHY YOU ASKING ALL THEM QUESTIONS? .. #FCHW
8.Dubstep Violin- Lindsey Stirling- Crystallize
9.Facebook Parenting: For the troubled teen.
10.Felix Baumgartner’s supersonic freefall from 128k’ – Mission Highlights

YouTube notes that more than 800 million unique users consumed more than 4 BILLION hours of video per month … which is simply staggering. Grab the links and more details at the YouTube Blog. Or you can just watch the whole list here. What do you think about the transition of YouTube from a user-based medium to a professional ‘channel’? And where do you see it going from here?

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About the Author

Michael Anderson
I have loved technology for as long as I can remember - and have been a computer gamer since the PDP-10! Mobile Technology has played a major role in my life - I have used an electronic companion since the HP95LX more than 20 years ago, and have been a 'Laptop First' person since my Compaq LTE Lite 3/20 and Powerbook 170 back in 1991! As an avid gamer and gadget-junkie I was constantly asked for my opinions on new technology, which led to writing small blurbs ... and eventually becoming a reviewer many years ago. My family is my biggest priority in life, and they alternate between loving and tolerating my gaming and gadget hobbies ... but ultimately benefits from the addition of technology to our lives!