Seasons Greetings YouTube UK

Here we are, knee-deep in Christmas and bracing ourselves for 2008… so this seems as good a time as any to reflect on the past year (which has been an eventful one).


Since June 19, YouTube has had a dedicated presence in the UK: we quietly corrected the US spellings, a front page was born and browse pages were populated with locally uploaded content. Hopefully, among other things, this has led to UK users a) being able to find the videos they want more easily, and b) enjoying an enhanced profile on YouTube as a whole. Since then we’ve added this blog, launched the YouTube UK User Panel and have even had a few T-shirts printed up to distribute at gatherings…


But there’s still a lot more we can do, and we thought we’d kick off 2008 with one of these: Guest Editors. Several of you have already requested the opportunity to feature videos and now’s your chance: contact us with five selections, the reasoning behind them and a short explanation of why you should be the first ever Guest Editor in the UK. Read our guidelines closely and get cracking – deadline for applications is the stroke of New Year.


Talking of which, what better way to celebrate the coming of 2008 than with a video? Together with the good people at Samsung, YouTube is offering you the opportunity to tell the world your plans for the coming year or re-enact a key moment from the last – the cool thing being that you get to literally put yourself on the map in the process. Head here to find out more.


But to return to the Christmas theme, here’s wishing you all a fine festive period and we look forward to seeing what you come up with in 2008. We’ll leave you with a video that pretty much sums up both the spirit of the season and of YouTube.







Have fun,

Jamie D. aka Clipsniffer

YouTube UK & Ireland

The Davos Question

Every year, the world's top leaders meet in Davos, Switzerland, at the World Economic Forum to grapple with global problems. This year, we get to join them via video.



Here's how it works: First, upload your video to YouTube answering The Davos Question: "What one thing do countries, companies, or individuals need to do in 2008 to make the world a better place?" Then, submit your video to the Davos channel on YouTube.







You can watch and rank other YouTuber's ideas, and the highest-rated videos will be screened at the World Economic Forum in Davos on January 23-27. World leaders will see your videos and respond with their thoughts right here on YouTube.



So get cracking with your answers. By connecting with each other and our leaders, we can build support around ideas that may serve to make our world a better one in 2008.



Yours,

Steve aka Citizentube

YouTube News & Politics

Site Update

You may have noticed that we've made some updates to YouTube – we held off detailing the differences until they worked through the site and settled down, but we're ready to share the good news. This list is jam-packed with greatness and some improvements that many of you have been requesting. Enjoy!



NEW VIDEOS TAB



We've merged the Categories and Video browse pages into one new, easier-to-navigate home for video search. All the old search options can be found there, along with a new "Spotlight" section that enables you to scroll through featured videos. You'll find some design improvements on the Channels and Community tabs as well.



MOST ACTIVE & PREVIOUSLY POPULAR



The Videos tab now includes two new viewing options. Click "Most Active Today" and you'll see the current day's most buzz-worthy titles, which can then be filtered by category. Click "Previously Popular" to find the most-viewed videos from one week ago or one month ago.



CHANNEL RESULTS IN SEARCH



YouTube search results now include videos and channels, making it easier for you to access the content you're looking for. When you enter a search term, particularly relevant channels will be returned at the top of the results page.



RSS LINKS ON VIDEO BROWSE PAGES



To stay up to date on the searches you check frequently, subscribe to our video browse pages by clicking the RSS link located beneath the categories list.



PROFILE PICTURE



You can choose any image you want to represent your channel, instead of a video still. Just click the "Upload an image" option on your Account page.



SUBSCRIPTIONS UPDATE



Closed and suspended accounts will now be automatically removed from your subscriptions. If you were subscribed to several closed/suspended accounts, you will notice a one-time large drop in numbers as your list is updated.



COMMENTS VOTING OPTIONAL



Now you can choose whether or not you want to allow users to vote on comments made on your videos (thumbs-up/thumbs-down feature). You can select this under a new "Comment Voting" section for both Upload and Edit Video and sharing options.



Your local correspondent now presents another installment of YouTube News! Take it away pzottolo...







Don't forget to comment here, email us or vlog and tell us what you think after exploring these new features.



Take it easy,

The YouTube Team

YouTube User Panel

UK YouTube: come speak your mind. This week marks the launch of the YouTube User Panel, a new initiative aimed at giving you a say in how YouTube develops. We are very excited by the prospect of finding out how you use the site, what you think about YouTube as it stands and how you envisage it developing in future.


Our aim is to develop a better understanding of what you feel works and what doesn't, in the course of which panel members will be given the opportunity to try new features first and join other users at YouTube HQ. If the sound of that appeals – and we sincerely hope it does – then head here to learn more and apply to become a panellist. And remember: we're hoping to attract a broad spectrum of users to the panel, so if you're the most addicted of YouTube addicts or the newest of newbies, we want to hear from you…


Have fun,

Jamie D. aka Clipsniffer

YouTube UK

Partner Programme Expands

Recognising YouTube users for their creativity and their role in building YouTube is of the utmost importance to our team. That's why earlier this year we launched a pilot of the YouTube Partner Programme, our way of enabling some of the most popular and prolific original content creators within the YouTube community to earn money from their videos. These partners decide which of their videos they would like to generate revenue on YouTube, and in turn, they receive a portion of the revenue generated from ads that run next to those videos. Even in this limited release, the programme has been an amazing success – already, millions of video views each week are earning revenue for our partners.



But we're just getting warmed up. Today we're announcing that we are expanding the YouTube Partner Programme. Now, anyone living in the United States or Canada can apply to become a partner at www.youtube.com/partners. (We're looking forward to rolling out the program to additional international markets soon.)



We feel it's important to reward our most dedicated community members: those who are regularly uploading original content to YouTube. In evaluating applications, we will focus on the users who have built a significant audience on YouTube (as measured by video views, subscribers, etc.) and who consistently comply with the YouTube Terms of Use.



We previewed this new application process to a select group of users who previously expressed interest in becoming partners -- over 100 of these users have already been added to the program, such as tayzonday, hotforwords, apauledtv, and peteandbrian.







As always, our goal is to provide a forum for people to connect, inform and inspire others across the globe. We hope that by expanding the YouTube Partner Programme, more content creators will reap rewards from their work and be able to produce even more of the original videos that have made YouTube so successful.



The YouTube Team

Project Direct: And The Winners Are...

Over the past week, many of you viewed and voted on the 20 films that Jason Reitman, the award-winning director of Thank You For Smoking and Juno, and a panel of industry experts selected as finalists in YouTube Project Direct.



Your votes have been counted and it’s time to announce the winners…







While we want to congratulate the talented filmmakers behind Lacos (Ties) , Gone in a Flash and My Name is Lisa on their achievement, we also want to congratulate and thank all of you who entered Project Direct and made YouTube’s inaugural short film competition such a success.



Be sure to check out the top 20 (and many more of the excellent contest submissions shortly!) in the dedicated Project Direct gallery!



Impressed and appreciative,


Sara P. aka TheStoryBoard


YouTube Film