There are pros and cons to both YouTube and Vimeo. When it really comes down to which is the better site of the two for video uploading there really is no answer, only opinions. After reading the articles about YouTube and Vimeo I personally am more attracted to Vimeo and here’s why.
Let’s start with YouTube. Some of the pros of YouTube include a larger community which turns into more exposure and it’s a more well-known site. Millions of people visit YouTube on a daily basis to check out new videos or post their own. The YouTube community is very large and is constantly growing. In addition YouTube is very well-known. There aren’t many people out there today who haven’t heard or visited the YouTube site before. On the other hand YouTube also has some cons. One con is that videos can only be a maximum of ten minutes long. In addition when teachers or employers use YouTube to share content viewers can get distracted. I know that when an assignment for a class include a YouTube video I do watch the video but instead of going back to doing the assignment for that class I start surfing YouTube links and watching other videos. Let’s face it people get distracted easily.
There are also some pros and cons to Vimeo. Some of the pros are that Vimeo has overall better quality than YouTube. Vimeo is also a more professional site and can be helpful to people who are passionate about videography. In addition when talking about embedding video into blogs and other pages Vimeo is the key winner. If I wanted to upload a video for this blog and put it in the middle of a post I would choose Vimeo instead of YouTube. This is because when the video is done on Vimeo there are less distractions and pop-ups for viewers and they are more likely to return to reading my blog post. Vimeo also has some cons. Vimeo is not as well-known as YouTube. Before this class I had no idea what Vimeo was and was not familiar with it. The community as a whole for Vimeo is definitely smaller than the YouTube one making exposure less for videos. In addition there are some restrictions for Vimeo and users would have to pay for an upgraded system.
One thing is certain though, both sites are our future and a direct image of Web 2.0. Having the ability to post videos and get instant feedback from the number of views to actual comments is what Web 2.0 is all about. These two sites fit into our generation and those to come. I do however believe that like other social media sites Vimeo will become the new YouTube just like Facebook became the new MySpace. Everything has a lifespan, even social media sites. Society outgrows sites and new visually appealing ones take their place.
In the end there are both pros and cons to YouTube and Vimeo. Both can be useful for different purposes and types of videos. For me in my career now I would favor Vimeo just because of its professional sense. I do enjoy surfing YouTube every once and awhile thought to get a laugh or to see a new music video.
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