Is YouTube a Social Media

Is Youtube Social Media?

There’s no mistrustfulness that YouTube is the most popular videotape hosting point on the whole internet, and it’s held that position for quite some time. But what if I asked you to guess the most popular social media point in the United States? 

Would you say Facebook? Would you say Instagram or Twitter? Well, you’d be wrong. 
YouTube has forcefully established itself as a social media point over time, where people regularly partake in vids with others and make connections. And, according to a Pew Research check conducted at the launch of 2021, YouTube is now the most popular social media point in the nation. 
That’s right! It’s not indeed by a slim periphery — around 81% of Americans report using YouTube, while only around 69 reports using Facebook. The study also shows that YouTube is at the top of the list for fastest growing social media spots, while Facebook and utmost other social media spots have stayed stagnant since 2019. 
That means the most popular videotape-sharing point in the world has now officially edged out Facebook to come to the most popular social media point, too! And that’s not indeed all. YouTube is ALSO one of the most popular hunt machines in the whole world, second only to its parent company Google. 
Whew! That’s a lot of effects for one point to be to a lot of people. And, if YouTube doesn’t figure into your social media marketing plan, also you’re missing out on commodity BIG.

What is Social Media

Social media is any site that provides a network of people with a place to make connections. And, as we are talking about YouTube as a social media site, what better way to show you how social media works than this popular YouTube video describing social media in easy-to-understand terms

Before the invention of the web age, the term "social network" mainly referred to a group of people with a common affinity or interest. This is also called a social circle. To define platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, we talk about social media.

In the virtual world, a social network is a website that allows users, professionals, and/or individuals, to share information. Each user must create a profile to publish and consult different content: text, photos, videos, links... These are large spaces of sharing that offer the possibility to millions of people to be interconnected, regardless of their geographical location. There are many social media.

Social media is a broad term that encompasses many types of platforms. Thus, the question "What matters as a social media platform?" May be harder to answer than you think. In its most basic form, a social media platform can be defined as an online service that allows users to share information or interests with other users interactively. There are generally accepted social media platforms. They range from social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to niche networks for photo sharing, such as Artful.

Now that you understand social media—and, if you don't, please ask—we will cover the best ways to use YouTube as a social media platform.

• Online profiles: In most social media sites, users must create a profile, which usually includes their name, email address, date of birth, interests, and a photo.
• Friends: Depending on the platform used, users "follow" or "find" friends, who are people they know, such as classmates or family members. They can also use it to find new friends.
• Text messages or chat: Instant messages over the Internet or between smartphones can be used to transmit messages (e.g., Messenger on Facebook, iMessage, WhatsApp, Hangouts).
• Walls: Social media sites allow you to post or send messages in a variety of ways. On Facebook, for example, the information is displayed on a "wall". Depending on the privacy settings, some messages are seen by the entire audience, while others are reserved for friends or subscribers.
• Sharing photos and videos: Many sites and apps allow users to upload personal photos and videos or share live videos. This content can also be public or private, depending on the user's privacy settings.
• Vlogs: Combining the words "video blog", vlogs are regularly displayed in a video sharing platform (such as YouTube) by people called "vloggers" who can be followed by a phenomenal number of subscribers.
• Groups: Many applications allow users to create groups. People join, "like" or follow these groups to access information and have conversations with other members.
• Games: Children and teens visit sites to play games, alone or with their friends. Some apps contain free gambling, and many contain promotions or advertising.
• Dating sites: Multiple apps or websites help strangers meet for romantic or sexual relationships.

Social Media - YouTube

Social networks have become an essential part of our daily lives, especially in our private lives, but also increasingly in the professional context. Indeed, social networks can be used for professional purposes and have huge potential to improve your brand image as well as acquire new customers.

However, it is not easy to keep an overview of the different existing platforms and all the features they offer. To guide you in your choices of digitalization on social networks, we offer a series of articles on the most popular and useful platforms for your business. Each article will lead to a particular platform (social network or social network management tool) and will give you a general definition, some basic as well as more advanced features, tips, and miscellaneous facts, advantages, and disadvantages, then to finish some examples by way of illustration.

 YouTube: General definition

YouTube is an online video streaming and hosting service that integrates social features for sharing and commenting on content. It is one of the most visited websites in the world, including 376,000 users in Luxembourg (62% of the population).

• More than 2 billion users worldwide log in at least once a month.
• 500 hours of videos are added to the platform every minute (720,000 hours per day).
• More than 70% of videos are viewed on smartphones.
• Available in 80 languages (representing 95% of the world's population that has access to the internet).
• 90% of users say they find new products and services on YouTube.

The Pros and Cons of YouTube

Many companies integrate YouTube into their communication strategy to increase their visibility. The site has indeed become a leader in sharing video content with nearly 1.8 billion visitors each month (2017 figures). We take stock of the strengths and weaknesses of this platform when you are a self-entrepreneur (also called a micro-entrepreneur).

1. Create affinity

The main advantage of video is that it allows you to communicate about a company and its universe, in a much less formal way than through a long text or a simple image. It is therefore an excellent tool to humanize your communication. It also makes your products and services more tangible in the eyes of Internet users, which enhances the customer experience.

Thanks to this format, those who watch you enter the intimacy of your company and feel like they know you better. Thus, the video reassures, creates a sense of proximity, and legitimizes your message. The filmed testimonials of satisfied customers are for example a very good guarantee of trust for your future contacts.

Above all, by using video, you position yourself as a modern and dynamic company that is attentive to consumer preferences.

2. Find new customers

Every month in France, 81% of the connected population comes to the platform to:

• have fun and relax
• looking for solutions to a problem, learning, and training
• find out about products, services, or a brand

Knowing that many themes are represented and that the site is easy to use, the profile of users is very varied. There is therefore a good chance that your target, and by extension, potential customers, are among these 38 million French users.

3. Improve visibility and traffic

Compared to other social networks, YouTube has a major advantage: it significantly and positively influences your visibility on the Internet.

This is mainly due to Google's acquisition of YouTube in 2006. Since then, Google has continued to highlight in its results pages, the videos posted on YouTube.

In the same way, the mere fact of including a video of the platform in your pages sends a positive signal to Google which, in turn, will favor your positioning in the search pages.

Finally, it appears that video, by the feeling of trust it creates, is a format that boosts traffic on a website. After watching a quality video, the user is more likely to visit the page to which he is redirected, which increases his conversion potential.

YouTube is first and foremost a content network

YouTube has gone the other way to other social networks. We can place social networks on a demarcation:

• Relationship Networks: The primary function is to create links between members;
• Content Networks: The primary function is to publish content that can be consumed by members.

Facebook and Linkedin started with relationship networks (having university, friendly, family, professional contacts...) to go to content networks. They have evolved into content networks where everything is publishable (status, photos, articles, videos ...)

Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest started as content networks. Virtually all current networks are therefore content networks with a relationship layer. TikTok is no exception to this rule.

Is YouTube social media or not? Reasons why it matters

There are many aspects of YouTube that are worth considering as a social media platform. Let's talk about it below.

1. Subscriptions, comments, and likes

YouTube channel subscriptions provide a way for creators and viewers to interact. It resembles, in a sense, how the suite works on Facebook and Twitter. If you subscribe to a YouTube channel, it means you're following the creator's updates and want to stay informed about their content.

Likes and comments also serve as points of interaction between creators and their fans. Some users use the comments section to send messages to people on YouTube.

2. Community Messages

In the early years of YouTube, it was mainly used to view videos. But this is no longer the case as there is now a huge range of content offered on the platform.

The community publishing feature allows creators with more than 1,000 subscribers to post on traditional social networks such as images, text, GIFs, playlists, and polls on YouTube. If nothing else, the addition of this feature shows that the platform considers itself a social network platform.

3. User Generated Content

YouTube is often categorized with video streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu. However, YouTube is different from traditional video streaming services because its content is user-generated.

Registered users can upload videos to the platform. Meanwhile, anyone, registered or not, can watch them for free. This ability to share information in this case, videos with a wide audience is another reason why YouTube should be considered a social media platform.

4. Its revenue model

Another reason why YouTube is considered a social media platform is its revenue model. Users get a free platform to share and consume content, while the platform sells ads to generate revenue.

This is similar to how other social media platforms work. Instagram, for example, allows users to share photos and short videos for free and generates revenue by selling ads.

The initial version of YouTube may not have been designed to be a social media platform, however, with new features offering opportunities for interaction between users, it is now one.

Why Youtube is not considered a social network

Because in people's minds, it remains above all a network of content. Its real competitors are television and Netflix. And he has the codes.

YouTube is first and foremost a video distribution platform organized in a very vertical way. Channels, creators, themes, programs...

The consultation is done like a television. I search through the search engine for programs that interest me. I become a fan of certain programs. The platform brings me programs related to my research and my consumption. This is Google's SEO logic.

Conversely, on Facebook and Instagram, the video is rather recommended by the algorithm according to my social relationships.

What category of social media platforms does YouTube fit into?

YouTube is mainly used to watch videos and interact with creators, via comments and replies. This puts it more in the aisle of TikTok.

Therefore, YouTube can be considered as a platform for sharing videos on social networks.