For a long time the Internet was a text only medium and the first browsers weren’t even capable of displaying anything but plain text. Then came browsers that could display static and animated GIFs and while it was a major change back then, text was still king and that was the medium in which most content was consumed.
The text only world of the Internet took a while to change but now with all the video sharing sites around, it does look like video is going to rule for some time to come. Video sharing really took off on the Internet after YouTube came on to the scene. In a way, YouTube was actually the pioneer and the others just followed it.
Over time, though, as YouTube stagnated and became a haven for spammers and such, other Video sharing sites have come up that offer a much better experience for the end user. In this post today, I’ll tell you about some of my favorite video sharing sites that I feel are better than YouTube.
blip.tv
blip.tv calls itself the next generation television network and their goal is to build a platform for independent artists and producers. They already have a bunch of great shows and also claim to share the advertising revenue with the content producers. What more could one ask for ?
Vimeo
Vimeo is another video sharing site that would anyday beat the pants off YouTube. They support HD videos and the vibrant and active community ensures that only the highest quality content gets uploaded. The first thing that I noticed about Vimeo is the quality of their videos and that’s what has me hooked to it ever since. Try it and I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.
Metacafe
If you’re looking for an alternative for YouTube, blip.tv and Vimeo are probably not for you. They’re both excellent sites made for the serious video enthusiast. Metacafe, on the other hand, is almost a drop-in replacement for YouTube. They’ve got their share of 10 second videos, spammers and stuff that everyone generally hates YouTube for. But, if you want all of that, metacafe gives plenty of reasons to log on and check them out.
Viddler
Viddler is one of the few video sharing sites that actually have an offering for the business users also. They offer a premium service which business users can use to share high quality videos with their customers and clients, for a small fee. Like blip.tv, they also offer a revenue sharing program with content producers who agree to syndicate their content to other directories such as iTunes.
What are your favorite video sharing sites ?
Programmer, blogger and a geek making a living shifting bits around the Internet. Sharninder is the owner of Geeky Ninja
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Thank you for the list, I think I should give blip.tv a try. I’ve tried vimeo in the past and liked it, but recently it takes forever to load a video, and then forever for me to be in the queue and then forever for it to be converted. Bleargh.
You’re most welcome Rinaz. And yes you should give blip.tv a look although vimeo works fine for me over here.
I think youtube is a great tool for anyone interested in watching or uploading videos. I have been using the site for years now, and still think it is doing a good job. Ok, so sometimes it gets criticized for being too easy to break copyright laws, but youtube’s online security is getting better. The best thing about the site is its great video search engine and database. No wonder it made it as the top sharing site on http://www.dozenvideo.com this month. But there’s some tough competition out there and as online video gets bigger and bigger, there’s sure to be a backlash. Keep online videos free and easy to share!
Youtube :- Like it as its the only one of which when you view an embedded video on any other site, once the video’s done playing the embedded interface itself turns out to be a self-adequate video search engine. You can be watching something totally different from the context of the page you are watching in.
blip.tv :- don’t they say like they prefer ‘series’ or shows rather than one off wannabe beiber uploads? :P I believe a lot of free/libre content can be found here.
vimeo :- besides good quality, it also has a decent working non-flash video player. Though I didn’t find a category or section for open licensed work, which reminds me of
dailymotion :- because I like going through the motionmaker channel. They recently have updated their player. I was trying it as beta. The ads/promos on the site, put Indian TV ads to shame.
Viddler: most important thing missed out …. it’s one that allowed text comments esp. by anyone who viewed the video at any point on the timeline. They had this long long before youtube had comments in-video I think
p.s. I was kinda getting wakeef with your blog to understand your style, so I ended up commenting such a lot. Nothing spells happiness like freedom from 140 chars. :D