I visited YouTube the first time after a friend referred me to the site. He posted a video clip of my roommate after she apparently had too many sake bombs one Saturday night. He videotaped her wildly raising her arms up and down while pretending to be a drummer using her chopsticks. I laughed hysterically, and brightened my other friends' days by referring them to the video, as well. From then on I visited the site for other entertaining video clips that I heard I just "had to see."
Undeniable Talent. Image Courtesy Nat Collins
Although the site is mostly filled with amateur video, television stations are catching on to the popularity of YouTube. NBC just made a deal with YouTube that would allow them to show video clips of scenes from the network's Saturday Night Live. Warner Brothers Music also made a deal with YouTube. So, rather than cowering in fear that the popular site will take over the traditional media outlets, those outlets are getting in on the action. These deals ensure YouTube doesn't have to worry about copyright infringement with these companies, and in return, the companies get in on the advertising profits. Although both these companies focus more on entertainment rather than newsworthy videos, I do see deals involving news coverage coming in the future.
In one sense, YouTube could help television news. In many instances, I have gone to the site if I missed an exciting clip from a Television news show that "everyone's talking about." But no matter what, America will still turn to their TV sets for serious what's-going-on-in-the-world news coverage. With all the crazy videos shown on YouTube, it will be hard for web surfers to take it seriously.
So, should America's journalism students be in fear that their audience's interest in television news may soon go out the window? No. A bigger worry would be friends with video cameras during their next, drunken rock band audition.
So your friend is okay with being portrayed as drunk and goofy on the class web site? I think it is pretty harmless, but I once found pics of a web producer drinking beer in the Kansan newsroom on Facebook  and that was not good. Just asking.
As soon as I asked her, she wined "No!!!" But after I reminded her that the youtube video had already more than 100 hits, and that trying to deny her stardom was pointless, she sighed and just "let it be."
Since she "wined" I assume she was still drinking?