3 ms·

For the first 5 years videos were limited to 10 minutes. Clips of things were popular and there were things split between many videos, but that's not what I re

For the first 5 years videos were limited to 10 minutes. Clips of things were popular and there were things split between many videos, but that's not what I remember the people around me using youtube for.

jahnu 2y ago
It was filled with music uploads.
- emursebrian 2y ago
  It still is.
  - colechristensen 2y ago
    They have license and royalty agreements with labels now and takedown methods for rights holders who object to things as well as quite capable detection machinery.
    - janderland 2y ago
      I work in this space and there is still a ton of illegal content on YT. As stated earlier, the main difference is that YT complies when infringements are eventually found.
xnyan 2y ago
In my social groups at the time(late highschool, early college) it was exclusively used for watching TV shows. The 10min limit was only a minor annoyance, and more than made up for the fact that it was free fast video hosting at time when that was extremely rare. It was not just a nerd thing either, I remember someone I was dating in the mid 2000s bemoaning that YouTube had cracked down on TV content.
- znpy 2y ago
  As a former megavideo user… i watched many American tv shows I wouldn’t have watched otherwise. And i wouldn’t have paid anyway because at the time as a teenager i had no money of my own to spend. Nowadays even when paying for content, it really feels like extortion, it’s unfair anyway (prices constantly increasing, and you still get ads even if you’re paying… might as well go back to pirating stuff)
  - skeeter2020 2y ago
    you're moving the goalposts from "I didn't have money" to "I have money but it's not worth it".
    - znpy 2y ago
      Yes, because i did not have money when i was a teenager and have money now that i’m in my 30ies.
- Izkata 2y ago
  Also 10 minutes is right about where the commercial breaks would be anyway.

jahnu 2y ago

It was filled with music uploads.

emursebrian 2y ago
It still is.
- colechristensen 2y ago
  They have license and royalty agreements with labels now and takedown methods for rights holders who object to things as well as quite capable detection machinery.
  - janderland 2y ago
    I work in this space and there is still a ton of illegal content on YT. As stated earlier, the main difference is that YT complies when infringements are eventually found.

xnyan 2y ago

In my social groups at the time(late highschool, early college) it was exclusively used for watching TV shows. The 10min limit was only a minor annoyance, and more than made up for the fact that it was free fast video hosting at time when that was extremely rare. It was not just a nerd thing either, I remember someone I was dating in the mid 2000s bemoaning that YouTube had cracked down on TV content.

znpy 2y ago
As a former megavideo user… i watched many American tv shows I wouldn’t have watched otherwise. And i wouldn’t have paid anyway because at the time as a teenager i had no money of my own to spend. Nowadays even when paying for content, it really feels like extortion, it’s unfair anyway (prices constantly increasing, and you still get ads even if you’re paying… might as well go back to pirating stuff)
- skeeter2020 2y ago
  you're moving the goalposts from "I didn't have money" to "I have money but it's not worth it".
  - znpy 2y ago
    Yes, because i did not have money when i was a teenager and have money now that i’m in my 30ies.
Izkata 2y ago
Also 10 minutes is right about where the commercial breaks would be anyway.