Twenty years ago – exactly Valentine’s Day – was born, At the hands of three young former Paypal employees, YouTube. The initial idea of the founders was to give life to a platform of appointments within which users could upload short presentation videos. But within a few weeks that project failed miserably. Still, those twenty -five immediately understood that they had created an exceptional service to upload videos.
Today YouTube is positioned in first place in front of all streaming platforms, Including Netflix, first videos and Disney. YouTube also dominates in Italy. The Nova Lectio dissemination channel, for example, has almost one and a half million subscribers. Interviewed by AGI, Mauro Indelicato, author and collaborator of Nova Lectio, reflects on the strengths of the platform. “YouTube is now conceived almost like a social network, to which you often access in moments of pause, when you want to see something that is not necessarily a film – he explains -. You can choose between a few minutes content or more complex videos. In a nutshell, it is always within reach of smartphones and this is also reflected in the choices that users make at home. For us today is the means that allows you to reach a larger audience of users and audiences “, assures.
On the extraordinary numbers that youtube has been reaching for twenty years, it also affects the not indifferent topic linked to costs. According to Indelicato, “many users prefer to take advertisements – which would also find a traditional TV channel – and access free of charge and without paying subscriptions”. While “on the other platforms, to see content, almost always interrupted by advertising, you have to pay. On YouTube it’s all for free “. Even in a period now inflated by Podcast, affirmed realities such as Nova Lectio continue to focus on YouTube: “The tastes of the spectators change, based on the events or curiosities. We must always look at the behaviors of those who ask for our service, without however distorting oneself completely “clarifies Indelicato, on” YouTube it is easier to impose yourself with your own style, while on TV you are constantly chased by the obsession of Auditel “. So even if Nova Lectio is present on Spotify, the strength always remains YouTube. “Absolutely and I believe that the difference is made by the videos: the viewer also wants to see, is attracted to the graphics, Spotify, in this sense, is more used to listen to music”, he marks indelicate.
On how revenues work, a very frequent and discussed theme, Indelicato explains that “there are rules dictated by Google, but in addition to this there are the sponsors and there is a community that supports. Often it is said that it is earned only in based on the views, in reality The views are used to retain a patron of patrons and to create the foundations for a real community that contributes to supporting the costs of work “. And then the role of dissemination, on which this platform has been playing a primary role for some time, especially for the youngest. Today there is a culture Digital diffuse, which allows creators to fill the sidereal gap of the past.
“Trying to make information on these platforms is not only possible, but it is a duty – underlines Indelicato – people use social media and, if you do not intervene there, you risk leaving the public at the mercy only of those who see the platforms as a means on which to speculate “. On the future of YouTube, and consequently of the channels that inside ‘live’ there, the Nova Lectio team explains: “Twenty years ago there were no smartphones, there were no smart TVs, we were surprised by the first cell phones with video-key. Nobody knew to where he had headed, not even those who physically invented YouTube. And today it is impossible to predict what will be there again in a couple of years. In today’s world, there is a risk of becoming antiquated even in twenty days if you don’t constantly update ourselves “. So, he concludes,” you move around a key point: update yourself without distorting yourself “.