YouTube Awards

The YouTube Awards (also known as the YouTube Video Awards) was a promotion run by the video-sharing website YouTube to recognize the best user-generated videos of the year. The awards were presented twice, in 2007 and 2008, with winners being voted for by the site's users from shortlists compiled by YouTube staff. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, and quickly began to grow – by July 2006, traffic to the site had increased by 297 percent. As a result of this success, YouTube launched their own awards promotion in March 2007 to honor some of the site's best videos. Seven shortlists were compiled, with ten videos per shortlist. Users were invited to vote for the winners over a five-day period at a dedicated web page. Singer Damian Kulash, whose band OK Go won in the Most Creative category for their music video Here It Goes Again, said that receiving a YouTube Award was a surreal honor and that the site was changing culture "quickly and completely".

Not to be confused with YouTube Creator Awards or YouTube Music Awards.
YouTube Awards
Awarded forBest YouTube videos
CountryUnited States
Presented byYouTube
First awardedMarch 25, 2007 (2007-03-25)
Last awardedMarch 21, 2008 (2008-03-21)
Most nominationsWilliam Sledd (2)

The YouTube Awards returned the following year, to commemorate the best videos of 2007. That year, the number of categories was expanded from seven to twelve, while the number of videos per shortlist was reduced from ten to six. Critics noted that unlikely newcomers, such as Battle at Kruger and Stop the Clash of Civilizations by Avaaz, had triumphed over more established videos, such as I Got a Crush...On Obama and Leave Britney Alone! Reaction to the YouTube Awards was generally negative. In 2007, commentators questioned why a promotion to recognize the best videos of 2006 was taking place so late into the year, and contrasted the awards with the similar Vloggies. Attention was also drawn to the timing of the 2007 awards: five days after media conglomerate Viacom had filed a $1 billion lawsuit against YouTube for copyright infringement. Technology evangelist Don Dodge suggested that the awards were an attempt by YouTube to highlight content on their website that did not violate copyrights before the case went to trial.

Background
YouTube logo, 2005–2011

YouTube was founded by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim, three former employees of PayPal.[1] The domain name for the website was activated on February 14, 2005,[2] and quickly began to grow – in the six months to July 2006, traffic to the site grew by 297 percent.[3][4] In October that year, Google bought YouTube for US$1.65 billion;[5] two months later, Time selected "You" as their 2006 Person of the Year, to recognize the growth of user-generated content on sites such as YouTube.[6][7] Reflecting on the year, Jamie Byrne, YouTube's head of product marketing, remarked: "[2006] was really a pioneering year for online video and for user-generated content."[8] According to comScore Media Metrix, the website attracted 133.5 million visitors worldwide during January 2007.[9]

2007 Awards

As a result of the growth and success achieved during 2006, YouTube launched its own awards promotion in March 2007 to recognize the best user-generated videos of the previous year.[10] The launch of the YouTube Awards was formally announced via a press release on March 18.[11] Awards were to be presented in seven categories: Most Creative, Most Inspirational, Best Series, Best Comedy Video, Best Music Video, Best Commentary and Most Adorable.[12] Ten videos were shortlisted in each category, with the shortlists having been compiled by the site's staff.[13][14] Byrne explained: "We wanted to call out some of the most popular videos and let the users choose which ones deserve some additional recognition."[15] YouTube users were invited to vote by visiting a dedicated webpage, which went live the following day, March 19.[16] Users voted by ranking the ten videos in each category in order of preference, and could see what the up-to-date rankings were in real-time[17] – Ben Fritz of Variety said that this made the process transparent.[14]

Voting lasted for five days, closing on March 23; winners were announced two days later.[18] Their prize was a trophy (a large, glass Play Button on a heavy, metal base[19]) and prominence for their winning video on YouTube.[20] American rock band OK Go won the Most Creative award for their music video Here It Goes Again.[15] Accepting the award, lead singer Damian Kulash said that it was a surreal honor and that YouTube was changing culture "quickly and completely".[21] Singer-songwriter Terra Naomi, whose song "Say It's Possible" won in the Best Music category, thanked the voters, saying: "The YouTube community has really embraced me; it means a lot to me."[22] Naomi—who had signed a record deal with Island Records two months earlier[17]—was 2007's only female winner.[23] The remaining five winners were the Free Hugs Campaign (Most Inspirational), Ask a Ninja (Best Series), Smosh (Best Comedy), TheWineKone (Best Commentary) and Kiwi! (Most Adorable).[24]

Winners
OK Go's music video Here It Goes Again was voted the most creative upload of the year.
The Best Comedy Award went to Smosh for their sketch Stranded.
Terra Naomi won in the Best Music category for her song "Say It's Possible".
The Free Hugs Campaign (creator Juan Mann pictured) was voted the most inspirational video of 2006.
2007 YouTube Awards winners and nominations
Most Creative[25] Most Inspirational[26]
Best Series[27] Best Comedy Video[28]
Best Music Video[29] Best Commentary[30]
Most Adorable[31]

Reception

In a sense, the nature of online voting makes [the YouTube Awards] anachronistic. YouTube already relies on a ratings system to track the viewing habits of its fans and constantly promotes the most popular videos on its site.

—Eric Auchard of Reuters[8]

Reaction to the 2007 YouTube Awards was generally negative. A common criticism from writers and Mashable founder Pete Cashmore was the late date of the promotion, in that it was an event honoring 2006 videos in March 2007.[18][23][32] Steve O'Hear of ZDNet proposed that the awards should have taken place closer to Time's announcing of their 2006 Person of the Year.[32] The five-day voting system was also panned. Journalist Virginia Heffernan described it as "rushed and almost certainly screwy",[23] while Eric Auchard of Reuters and Liz Gannes of Gigaom remarked that asking users to vote for their favorite videos was anachronistic, since the site's five-star ratings system already tracked which videos were the most popular.[8][33]

Blogger Robert Scoble compared the YouTube Awards to his own video awards show, the Vloggies, which had taken place six months earlier, and suggested that YouTube had copied his idea.[11] Josh Lowensohn of CNET also compared the YouTube Awards to the Vloggies, arguing that the former was not a new idea.[16] Lowensohn additionally criticized the prizes that the winners received, remarking: "I'd like to see YouTube offer some sort of cash or video camera prize."[16]

Commentators also noted the timing of the announcement of the 2007 awards: five days after media conglomerate Viacom had filed a $1 billion lawsuit against YouTube for copyright infringement. Technology evangelist Don Dodge suggested that the awards were an attempt by YouTube to highlight content on their website that did not violate copyrights before the case went to trial. Dodge explained that he had been part of a similar program whilst at Napster, and that the awards might demonstrate to the courts that there was substantial non-infringing use of the website.[34] Cashmore agreed with Dodge's assessment, pointing out that the awards were months too late, had no sponsor, and were concluded within a week.[35] Writing for The Washington Post, Jake Coyle similarly described the awards as "a quick, hasty process".[22]

2008 Awards

The YouTube Awards returned the following year to recognize the best videos of 2007, and were announced via a post on YouTube's official blog on March 13, 2008.[36][37] As with the previous year, shortlists were compiled by YouTube's staff, based on the number of views and general buzz[38] – in total, the nominated videos had a combined view count of nearly a quarter of a billion.[39] For the 2008 Awards, five new categories were added (Best Sports, Best Political, Best Eyewitness, Best Short Film and Best Instructional), and the shortlists were reduced from ten videos to six.[40][41] The voting process through which users selected the winners was also changed: to remove potential bias, the featured thumbnail and order of the categories changed randomly each time the voting page was refreshed.[42] Users could vote once per day until March 19;[37] the winners were announced on March 21.[36] At this time, hundreds of thousands of users had cast votes.[43]

In some categories, the winning videos had not been the favorites. In the Best Eyewitness category, Battle at Kruger, described by The Guardian as an unlikely newcomer, won against the "famous" footage of the University of Florida Taser incident.[44] Similarly, a video by YouTube channel Barely Political, I Got a Crush...On Obama, had been viewed more than seven million times and had spawned worldwide media attention by the time it was nominated in the Best Political category.[38][45] Despite this, the award went to Stop the Clash of Civilizations, a more serious-minded video by global organization Avaaz.[46] Aaron Ferstman, a spokesman for YouTube, praised Avaaz's video for dealing with "serious issues like discrimination ... in kind of a neat way that speaks to young people."[47] He also noted that Stop the Clash of Civilizations was the only Best Political nominee not related to the 2008 United States presidential election.[48] In the Best Commentary category, Michael Buckley's video LonelyGirl15 is Dead! beat Leave Britney Alone! by Internet star Chris Crocker.[49] In an interview with MSNBC, Crocker applauded Buckley's success, saying: "Congratulations to him!".[50] Ferstman remarked that the races for both the Best Political and Best Commentary awards had been close.[39]

The 2008 promotion was the final time that the YouTube Awards were presented. The awards were retired in 2009, with YouTube choosing instead to focus on YouTube Live and the YouTube Symphony Orchestra, both of which had been launched towards the end of the previous year.[51]

Winners
Tay Zonday said it was "definitely exciting" and "really an honor" to win the 2008 Best Music Award.[52]
Michael Buckley's video LonelyGirl15 is Dead! won in the Best Commentary category.
The 2008 Best Comedy Award went to Neil Cicierega for his video Potter Puppet Pals in "The Mysterious Ticking Noise".
Blogger Dan Brown won a YouTube Award in 2008 for his video on how to solve a Rubik's Cube.
2008 YouTube Awards winners and nominations
Best Music[53] Most Creative[54]
Best Web Series[55] Best Sports[56]
Best Political[57] Best Eyewitness[58]
Most Inspirational[59] Best Short Film[60]
Best Commentary[61] Best Comedy[62]
Best Instructional[63] Most Adorable[64]

References
  1. "Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim | No 6". The Guardian. London. May 26, 2011. ISSN 0261-3077. OCLC 60623878. Archived from the original on May 6, 2018. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  2. Schofield, Jack (February 15, 2010). "YouTube's fifth birthday: watch its top five videos". The Guardian. London. ISSN 0261-3077. OCLC 60623878. Archived from the original on May 6, 2018. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  3. Cashmore, Pete (July 22, 2006). "YouTube is World's Fastest Growing Website". New York City: Mashable. Archived from the original on May 6, 2018. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  4. O'Malley, Gavin (July 21, 2006). "YouTube Is the Fastest Growing Website". Advertising Age. New York City. Archived from the original on May 6, 2018. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  5. "Google buys YouTube for $1.65bn". London: BBC News. October 10, 2006. Archived from the original on August 29, 2017. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  6. "Time magazine's 'Person of the Year' is ... You". New York City: NBC. Archived from the original on October 14, 2013. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  7. Cashmore, Pete (December 17, 2006). "Time's Person of the Year: You(Tube)". New York City: Mashable. Archived from the original on May 6, 2018. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  8. Auchard, Eric (March 19, 2007). "YouTube to present video awards". San Francisco: Reuters. Archived from the original on May 7, 2018. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  9. Coyle, Jake (March 19, 2007). "YouTube to sponsor video awards show". Yahoo! News. Archived from the original on March 22, 2007. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  10. "YouTube to present video awards". London: BBC News. March 19, 2007. Archived from the original on March 22, 2007. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  11. Scoble, Robert (March 18, 2007). "YouTube copies Vloggies". Scobleizer.blog. Archived from the original on November 1, 2017. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  12. "YouTube Awards to Honour Best Clips of 2006". Toronto: CityNews. March 19, 2007. Archived from the original on May 6, 2018. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  13. "'YouTube Oscars' to judge best viral videos of the year". London Evening Standard. March 19, 2007. ISSN 2041-4404. OCLC 502336371. Archived from the original on May 6, 2018. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  14. Fritz, Ben (March 18, 2007). "YouTube hands out honors". Variety. Los Angeles. ISSN 0042-2738. OCLC 810134503. Archived from the original on March 28, 2007. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  15. "YouTube names best video winners". London: BBC News. March 27, 2007. Archived from the original on March 30, 2007. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  16. Lowensohn, Josh (March 19, 2007). "YouTube Awards 2006: better late than never". CNET. Archived from the original on May 6, 2018. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  17. Coyle, Jake (March 26, 2007). "YouTube announces award winners". New York City: NBC News. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  18. Cashmore, Pete (March 19, 2007). "YouTube Video Awards". New York City: Mashable. Archived from the original on May 3, 2017. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  19. Carlson, Erin (March 20, 2008). "'Chocolate Rain' Claims a YouTube Award". New York City: Associated Press. Archived from the original on March 24, 2008. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  20. Coyle, Jake (March 20, 2007). "YouTube announces awards to recognize best user-created videos of the year". USA Today. New York City: Gannett Company. Archived from the original on August 24, 2017. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  21. "Votes Are in for First Ever YouTube Video Awards". San Bruno, California: Marketwired. March 26, 2007. Archived from the original on May 6, 2018. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  22. Coyle, Jake (March 26, 2007). "'Ask a Ninja', OK Go Win YouTube Awards". The Washington Post. Nash Holdings. ISSN 0190-8286. OCLC 2269358. Archived from the original on May 6, 2018. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  23. Heffernan, Virginia (March 27, 2007). "YouTube Awards the Top of Its Heap". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. OCLC 1645522. Archived from the original on July 1, 2017. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  24. Goldsmith, Belinda (March 26, 2007). "YouTube presents awards to its first stars". London: Reuters. Archived from the original on May 6, 2018. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  25. "Most Creative". YouTube. Archived from the original on May 4, 2007. Retrieved April 15, 2018.
  26. "Most Inspirational". YouTube. Archived from the original on April 19, 2007. Retrieved April 15, 2018.
  27. "Best Series". YouTube. Archived from the original on April 10, 2007. Retrieved April 15, 2018.
  28. "Best Comedy". YouTube. Archived from the original on January 16, 2008. Retrieved April 15, 2018.
  29. "Best Music". YouTube. Archived from the original on April 7, 2007. Retrieved April 15, 2018.
  30. "Best Commentary". YouTube. Archived from the original on April 30, 2014. Retrieved April 15, 2018.
  31. "Most Adorable". YouTube. Archived from the original on April 7, 2007. Retrieved April 15, 2018.
  32. O'Hear, Steve. "Forget the Oscars, YouTube to launch User-Generated Content awards". ZDNet. Archived from the original on July 10, 2019. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  33. Gannes, Liz (March 8, 2007). "YouTube Rewards Users with Statuettes". San Francisco: Gigaom. Archived from the original on July 22, 2015. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  34. Dodge, Dan (March 19, 2007). "YouTube Awards to highlight non copyrighted material". TypePad. Archived from the original on September 27, 2016. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  35. Cashmore, Pete (March 26, 2007). "YouTube Video Awards Winners". New York City: Mashable. Archived from the original on February 8, 2016. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  36. "2007 YouTube Awards: Chocolate Rain & Harry Potter". New York City: ABC News. March 22, 2008. Archived from the original on March 25, 2008. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  37. "The YouTube Awards Are Back!". San Bruno, California: YouTube. March 13, 2008. Archived from the original on May 6, 2018. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  38. Keating, Gina (March 21, 2008). "'Harry Potter', 'Chocolate Rain' win YouTube awards". Los Angeles: Reuters. Archived from the original on March 26, 2018. Retrieved March 21, 2008.
  39. Carlson, Erin (March 20, 2008). "Will the Obama Girl win a YouTube award?". New York City: Yahoo! News. Archived from the original on March 23, 2008. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  40. "YouTube Awards". The New York Times. March 22, 2008. Archived from the original on November 13, 2008. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  41. Silverman, Jason (March 21, 2008). "Laughing Baby, Tay Zonday Win YouTube Awards". Wired. San Francisco. ISSN 1059-1028. OCLC 24479723. Archived from the original on April 12, 2014. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  42. Stripling, Jack (March 14, 2008). "Taser video up for YouTube award". The Gainesville Sun. New Media Investment. ISSN 0163-4925. OCLC 1446379. Archived from the original on August 9, 2016. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  43. "YouTube Awards -- Winners Announced!". San Bruno, California: YouTube. March 21, 2008. Archived from the original on May 6, 2018. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  44. Schor, Elana (March 21, 2008). "YouTube awards celebrate buffalo battles and bouncing baby". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on February 10, 2018. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  45. "People: Angela Bassett, Tony Kushner, Obama Girl". International Herald Tribune. La Défense: The New York Times Company. March 21, 2008. Archived from the original on March 28, 2008. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  46. Carlson, Erin (March 21, 2008). "'Chocolate Rain' Voted Among YouTube's Best". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. OCLC 2269358. Archived from the original on May 6, 2018. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  47. Siemaszko, Corky (March 22, 2008). "'Chocolate Rain' gets YouTube award". New York Daily News. OCLC 9541172. Archived from the original on May 6, 2018. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  48. "'Chocolate Rain' guy among YouTube winners". New York City: Today.com. March 20, 2008. Archived from the original on May 6, 2018. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  49. Leonard, Tom (March 21, 2008). "YouTube video award winners announced". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on May 17, 2008. Retrieved March 21, 2008.
  50. Popkin, Helen A.S. (March 24, 2008). "Don't cry for Chris Crocker". New York City: NBC News. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  51. Jarboe, Greg (2011). "Chapter 1: A Short History of YouTube". YouTube and Video Marketing: An Hour a Day (2nd ed.). Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. p. 41. ISBN 9781118203811. OCLC 994542340. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  52. "Winners Announced for Second Annual YouTube Video Awards". San Bruno, California: Marketwired. March 21, 2008. Archived from the original on May 6, 2018. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  53. "Best Music Video". YouTube. Archived from the original on May 11, 2018. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  54. "Most Creative Video". YouTube. Archived from the original on May 11, 2018. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  55. "Best Web Series". YouTube. Archived from the original on May 2, 2014. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  56. "Best Sports Video". YouTube. Archived from the original on May 11, 2018. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  57. "Best Political Video". YouTube. Archived from the original on May 11, 2018. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  58. "Best Eyewitness Video". YouTube. Archived from the original on May 11, 2018. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  59. "Most Inspirational Video". YouTube. Archived from the original on May 11, 2018. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  60. "Best Short Film". YouTube. Archived from the original on May 11, 2018. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  61. "Best Commentary". YouTube. Archived from the original on July 10, 2019. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  62. "Best Comedy Video". YouTube. Archived from the original on May 20, 2021. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  63. "Best Instructional Video". YouTube. Archived from the original on May 11, 2018. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  64. "Most Adorable Video". YouTube. Archived from the original on July 10, 2019. Retrieved April 18, 2018.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.