This article is part of SWOT Team, a new series on Mashable that features insights from leaders in marketing, brand-building and public relations.
Over the past year, the online video playing field got a bit more crowded. Vine, still fewer than two years old, hit 40M users and established itself as the destination for a new type of brazen creator. A surge in traffic on Facebook video became the buzz of the advertising industry. Vimeo started to distinguish itself in original content with a few breakthrough series.
But in the land of “have-you-seen-it-yet” content, YouTube remains the undisputed champ. Its over one billion monthly uniques dwarfs the rest of the field in video, and it has cemented its status as the entertainment destination of choice for the next generation. In a study of 1,500 13-18-year-olds conducted earlier this year, the top five most recognizable celebrities in the US were all YouTube creators (Smosh > Jennifer Lawrence, and it’s not even that close). The competition in online video may be gaining ground, but YouTube is still the place where more stars are born and more culture is made than any platform out there. Read more...
