The great YouTube conundrum

However, a storm is on the horizon, and it’s growing increasingly difficult for YouTube to weather it without suffering some significant damage.

There are two big problems facing YouTube at the moment, and they are both being caused by the same thing: size. YouTube is a behemoth. And its size is both a blessing and, increasingly, a curse.

Size perhaps isn’t an adequate explanation on its own. More specifically, discoverability is the problem. With all of the content uploaded every day, it is incredibly challenging for content to be found by the people most likely to watch it.

So two things are happening as a result of this virtual “messy room”:

1. More effort is being put behind the promotion of video content so that it can stand out and be found easier.
2. Niche audiences have started to seek out alternatives to YouTube, especially younger audiences.

A great example of a trend we’re likely to see more of is TinyTube.com, which is essentially a YouTube for kids that focuses on educational content and only features videos appropriate to the age group. Time will tell if this audience-specific video sharing community will stick around, but the concept alone has a lot of merit.