Adopt a Feature v2

You may remember the inaugural edition of Adopt a Feature, for which you made videos about AudioSwap, Country Pulldown, Insight, Playlists, Quick Capture, and Subscriptions. These videos generated 818,698 views (they're all collected here) and a bunch of them even got featured on our homepage. At the end of the two month run, thecomputernerd01 was crowned the Adopt a Feature king, thanks to his zany explanation of how the country/language pulldown menus work -- a video that accounted for a third of all of the program's views. He also got this awesome T-shirt.

Josh took a break from ribbing his grandpa to tell you why you should get involved with Adopt a Feature v2.



In case you're still buzzing from Josh's high-energy onslaught, here's what you need to know: Make a video about any or all of the features on the list below (click on the name of the feature to get more information about it). Include the name of the feature and "adoptafeature" in the tags -- this is important; it's how we'll locate your video for inclusion on our channel and possibly on the YouTube homepage.

* Annotations
* Customize Your Homepage
* Tags
* Quicklist
* Mobile Upload

(By the way, for folks waiting to hear more about the roll-out of new channels, we should have an update in a few days.)

Posted by Hunter Walk, Director, Product Management

More about → Adopt a Feature v2

Use Action on YouTube to Drive Action Off YouTube

For a few months, we've been testing a feature for partners that lets them add "Call-to-Action" overlays to their YouTube videos to help them drive traffic to other websites. Many have used the feature in creative ways, such as collecting signatures or driving song downloads.

Today we are making Call-to-Action overlays more broadly available by launching the feature as an option for anyone who uses Promoted Videos. Just go to ads.youtube.com and you'll quickly and easily be able to both increase views of your content and drive traffic to an off-YouTube website at the same time.

For more information, check out our recently launched YouTube Biz Blog.

Posted by Thai Tran, Product Manager

More about → Use Action on YouTube to Drive Action Off YouTube

Helping You Report the News

Ever captured a natural disaster or a crime on your cell-phone camera? Filmed a political rally or protest, and then interviewed the participants afterward? Produced a story about a local issue in your community? If you've done any of these things or aspire to, then you're part of the enormous community of citizen reporters on YouTube -- and today, we're launching a new resource to help you learn more about how to report the news.

It's called The YouTube Reporters' Center, and it features some of the nation's top journalists sharing instructional videos with tips and advice for better reporting. Learn how to prepare for an interview from CBS News' Katie Couric; how to be an investigative reporter from the legendary Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward, or why it's important for citizens to participate in the news-gathering process from Arianna Huffington. And definitely don't miss out on New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof's video on how to report from a crisis area without getting shot.



In addition, you can also learn practical and ethical tips, like how to fact check your stories, avoid breaking the law while reporting, and adhere to journalistic principles. Check out the Reporters' Center to see all the videos.

This isn't meant to be a one-way conversation. For the first time on YouTube, these reporters are making themselves available to engage with you directly. If you have experiences on reporting the news yourself and would like to share your tips, you can submit them for inclusion in the center. Upload your "how-to" videos to youtube.com/reporterscenter and share your knowledge with citizen journalists around the world.

If you're a news organization that would to become a YouTube news partner, please read more information on how to apply here.

Posted by Olivia Ma, News Manager

More about → Helping You Report the News

Submit Your Question for President Obama

President Obama is taking your questions this Wednesday in a special online health care town hall event. With health care at the top of the President's agenda, he is opening up the White House to questions via YouTube. Create a 20- or 30-second video question and submit it as a reply video to the video below (go here to get started). He'll answer some of the most popular questions during the event, which we'll stream live from the White House YouTube channel.

This is your chance to speak directly to the President, so don't miss this opportunity to upload your video now. Make sure the sound and video quality are as clear as they can be, and if you'd like, leave your name and your hometown in the video description.

Posted by Steve Grove, Head of News & Politics

More about → Submit Your Question for President Obama

Mobile Uploads to YouTube Increase Exponentially

In the last six months, we've seen uploads from mobile phones to YouTube jump 1700%; just since last Friday, when the iPhone 3GS came out, uploads increased by 400% a day.

This growth represents three things coming together: new video-enabled phones on the market, improvements to the upload flow when you post a video to YouTube from your phone, and a new feature on YouTube that allows your videos to be quickly and effortlessly shared through your social networks. It takes just a minute to connect your YouTube account to your Facebook, Twitter and Google Reader accounts. Complete a simple, one-time connection on our upload page to allow all your friends and followers to get a real-time stream of your uploads to YouTube, which can be essential in this age of citizen reporting and ubiquitous sharing.

Already, you're teaching each other how to use this technology, you're doing product reviews and comparisons, and you're making test videos -- lots and lots of them. In fact, look at them closely -- where they're shot, who's in them -- and they stitch together a great patchwork of, well, life, from the little moments to the big ones:

* At grandpa's house
* In a Cambodian liquor store
* Observing carnivorous plants
* Drumming
* Swinging kids
* On a roadtrip
* At a wedding
* Capturing a wistful, rainy day
* "Live" from the Apple Store
* Squashing a can
* Pulling a giant stump out of the backyard
* Poolside, complete with a drop in the water (it keeps working)

Can you make your test video go viral through your social networks? If you can, we're willing to feature that video on our homepage. Upload a video from your phone, tag it with "mobiletest," share it with your social network, and Tweet us the link (so be sure to put "@youtube" and "mobiletest" in your message). We'll give you one week to spread your test video far and wide, after which we'll take a look at the most popular clips and feature a few on our homepage in a special "mobile upload" edition of our Spotlight Video.

So get goin', and if you want more info about playing and creating YouTube videos on your phone, go to http://www.youtube.com/mobile. There's a video on that page (or click here) that offers a step-by-step guide to uploading videos from your phone.

Posted by Dwipal Desai, Product Manager, and Mia Quagliarello, Community Manager

More about → Mobile Uploads to YouTube Increase Exponentially

Lights! Camera! Action! Trailers Page Launches

Summer is in full swing and that means summer movie season is right around the corner. Get a sneak peek at upcoming blockbusters by checking out our new Trailers page in the Movies section of our site. We have previews for some of the season's most anticipated films, like "Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince" and the new Twilight movie, "New Moon." We're adding new trailers frequently, so check back often.

Posted by Curtis Lee, Product Marketing Manager

More about → Lights! Camera! Action! Trailers Page Launches

New Channels Coming Soon

Update (9/16): The remaining items on our to-do list for new channels have been taken care of (with a few remaining bugs expected to be fixed in the next two weeks), so we're planning on switching all user channels still using the older version on September 30 and all partners on October 14. To read about the fixes and improvements that have been made, hop on over to the Channels Beta Blog.

+++

Update (7/11): We want to give you a heads up that we're changing the day on which we'll move all remaining channels over to the new version. Why? Well, July 15 is almost here, and we realized that we still have a few bugs and things left on the to-do list.

Specifically, here's what we plan to do before we roll the new version out to all remaining channels:

• Add transparency (now done)
  
• Fix some browser-specific layout bugs - in particular, IE6 has a few issues right now
• Allow you to default your channel to "grid" view
• Allow you to re-order your uploads & playlists
  
• Fixes for some of the other bugs you've helped find (such as grid view not always working in IE), and other small things
  

So when's the new date? That part's a little trickier, and rather than try to predict it, we'd rather focus our time on taking care of the above list. But we'll announce the new date no less than two weeks before it happens - and yes, it's still coming this summer. Keep an eye out here or on our beta blog. Thanks!

+++

UPDATE (6/27): We've heard all your comments about the channel re-design these last few days. One reminder we'd like to throw out there is that we're still in development, and now is your chance to give feedback on things you'd like to see in the new version of channels. We're listening. You've already helped -- and will continue to help -- us shape and grow this product by commenting in this blog, in our beta blog and on our announcement video.

+++

A few months ago, we launched our YouTube channels redesign in beta (first via a secret opt-in URL that many of you discovered, then as a visible opt-in link). Hundreds of thousands of you are now using the new version, have contributed a lot of useful feedback, and have helped make the new channels beta stronger and faster. Here are a few cool examples of great new channel designs: IceflowStudios, Vlogbrothers, nalts, LisaNova, ThadewGrum, The White House, and University of Phoenix.


We're now ready to start rolling out the new channels design to more users. Starting today, all new accounts will automatically have the new version of channels. Here's a video introducing the new channels, the benefits, and how you can get started:







Finally, we'd like to give you advance warning that all existing channels will change over to the new design on July 15. (Partners, watch for separate communications about your changeover date.)


Want to try it out or start getting ready before July 15? Just click on the "Upgrade my channel!" link on your Channel Design page (and note that you can switch back anytime until July 15). Keep in mind that new channels are still in beta for now, so there may be a few elements missing here and there. If you have questions, please visit our Help Center. Also, we've been sharing our progress and gathering feedback from users on a dedicated channels beta blog. Join in if you're interested in learning more and want more frequent updates on our beta progress -- and let us know if there's anything that you'd like to see added to the new version of channels, too.

Thanks!

Brian Glick
Product Manager
The YouTube Team

More about → New Channels Coming Soon

More From Iran: On-the-Ground Footage, Tribute Videos

Last week, we highlighted several videos uploaded straight off the streets of Iran, as protests raged and the Iranian police force, the Basij, cracked down. And if the graphic footage that was uploaded to YouTube by Iranian citizens over the weekend is any indication, it appears the tension between the protesters and the government is not abating.



On Saturday, mass fighting broke out in Tehran -- hundreds were reported injured, and at least several dozen were killed. This video depicts the atmosphere in the nation's capital as similar to that of a war zone. One of the victims of the violence was a young woman named Neda, who was shot and died moments later on camera despite the efforts of protesters at the scene (viewer discretion is advised as this video contains extremely graphic and disturbing images):







Neda's story caught the attention of the international community, and she has quickly become recognized in the media as the "face of the movement," with numerous tribute videos springing up on YouTube.



We're seeing more eyewitness accounts of violence in Tehran uploaded today, including this footage of a police car engulfed in flames and this video, which shows an Iranian student who has been shot during a protest (allegedly by members of the Basij). In light of the particularly graphic nature of the content that is being uploaded, it's important to note that although these pieces won't be taken down, they may be age-restricted to users who are over 18.



We'll be standing by, as Iranian citizens continue to post videos to YouTube in an effort to share their stories with the world. You can stay on top of the latest news videos from Iran on youtube.com/citizentube.



Yours,

Ramya Raghavan

YouTube News & Politics

More about → More From Iran: On-the-Ground Footage, Tribute Videos

Announcing Service 2.0: Video Volunteers

Have you ever wanted to volunteer but weren't able to find an opportunity that felt right? Have you ever considered using your video-creating skills for a cause you care about but didn't know exactly how to get started? Well, search no more. Starting today, you can become a YouTube Video Volunteer -- and we'll help find you a great nonprofit organization to work with right here on YouTube.

Video Volunteers is YouTube's version of a new platform that Google has launched called All for Good, which helps match citizens with volunteer opportunities in their local communities. Built in partnership with the White House, All for Good is sort of like a Craigslist for community service. But you don't just have to show up at your local soup kitchen or animal shelter to give back -- volunteering in the 21st century can be done entirely online.

Powered by All for Good, the YouTube Video Volunteers platform will help you find a nonprofit organization that needs help creating videos to promote its cause. Starting today, you can sift through video opportunities on www.youtube.com/videovolunteers and connect directly with nonprofits for whom you'd like to make a video. Learn more about the platform from the Vlogbrothers, who've used their audience and talents to champion causes they care about:







The Vlogbrothers aren't the only familiar faces who are on board to become Video Volunteers. LisaNova made this video, highlighting the fact that there are many nonprofits that need your help:

Whether you're an aspiring filmmaker, an at-home vlogger, an advertising aficionado, or just someone with a video camera and some spare time on the weekend, we want you to be a Video Volunteer. And if you're a nonprofit who would like to find a video volunteer, you can visit the Video Volunteers channel for information on how to post a video assignment.

We'll highlight some of the best videos every month on the Video Volunteers channel and beyond, so that your work can help change the world, one video at a time.



Yours,

Ramya Raghavan

YouTube Nonprofits & Activism

More about → Announcing Service 2.0: Video Volunteers

Happy Father's Day, YouTube Style

Set aside the lame ties, bad aftershave and other dubious gift ideas and deliver what dear old Dad really wants -- a laugh or two. On the homepage today we're sporting a spotlight module dedicated to Father's Day funnies. We've brought together comedians ranging from homegrown YouTube personalities like ShaneDawsonTV and Spricket24 to sketch comedy groups like TotallySketch and TheLandline. There's also historical humor from the VlogBrothers and the cheeky ventriloquism of JeffDunham.







Whatever your taste in comedy, we hope this collection of videos contains something you can forward on to Dad, to let him know how much you mean to him. It won't cost you a cent. After all, it is the thought that counts -- especially if it's a funny one.



Best,

Mark Day

YouTube Comedy

More about → Happy Father's Day, YouTube Style

Uploads Unplugged

Since the new iPhone hit stores this morning, we've seen thousands of videos uploaded to YouTube from the new device. (If you didn't know, now you can shoot and upload videos to YouTube directly from your iPhone.)



To see just how easy it is to share your iPhone 3G S videos with the world, check out this video we shot with -- what else -- our new iPhone 3G S.







Now go upload some videos!



Tom Bridgwater

Software Engineer

More about → Uploads Unplugged

An Update On What's Happening in Iran

It has been one week since Iran's contested presidential election, and YouTube has been flooded with footage from the streets of Tehran and other cities, documenting the civil unrest that is unfolding there. In the past few days, many Iranians have participated in violent demonstrations, held silent rallies to protest the elections, and grieved for those killed as a result of deadly clashes with the Basij, Iran's auxiliary police force. In the past 36 hours, the foreign media has all but been expelled from the country, making the role of Iranian citizens even more critical in shedding light on what is happening there.




Yesterday, opposing candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi called for a day of mourning to honor eight of his supporters who have died since the protests began. As you can see in this clip, a massive number of protesters gathered (some reports are in the hundreds of thousands), dressed in black, to peacefully pay their respects to the fallen and demonstrate their perseverance in seeking justice. A candlelight vigil was held on Thursday night, and Mousavi himself addressed the crowd and urged his supporters to stand up against corruption. Yet due to the Iranian government's crackdowns on foreign media, this speech received no airtime, inside or outside of Iran. The only clip we've seen of it on YouTube lasts just 20 seconds, but it illustrates the incredible power and energy of the crowd amassed.









In stark contrast to Mousavi's speech, Supreme Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addressed the Iranian people today, insisting that they accept Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's victory. Khamenei told Iranians, "If there is any bloodshed, leaders of the protests will be held directly responsible." The speech was broadcast on national television, and footage is available here:









Continue to stay tuned for more... and don't forget to check out the Citizentube blog for regular updates.




Olivia Ma

YouTube News & Politics

More about → An Update On What's Happening in Iran

Release Notes: 6/18/09

Lately, the team has been pushing out features and fixes as they're ready in "mini-pushes" rather than waiting for the big, numbered releases that occur once a month. Here's what's gone out in the last few weeks:



* The Wonder of "Wonder Wheel": Next time you search for a video on YouTube you may notice a link on the right-hand side of the page labeled "Wonder Wheel." This is a new beta search option from Google.com, which we think has some cool potential as a way to navigate the vast range of videos on YouTube. You may have seen "also try" suggestions at the top of search results. Now we are letting you navigate across those suggestions graphically. Wonder Wheel displays searches related to the one you are searching like spokes on a wheel, allowing you to explore different search suggestions quickly. You can click on any of the wheel's spokes to see a new wheel with more related topics and browse new relevant video results to the right. Give it a try and let us know what you think!



* Improved Advanced Search: Let's say you want to narrow down your search for a video and be more precise about what you're looking for. Advanced Search allows you to specify many more details than our normal search, including when a video was uploaded, the location it came from, and its length. We've reworked Advanced Search to be easier to use and to better reflect the range of content on YouTube (lots of new stuff!).



* Remaining Time Display on Upload Progress Bar: In April, we launched the new progress bar with our Flash uploader. We added a small enhancement to the UI to show the estimated remaining time based on your file size and internet bandwidth. We hope this will give you a bit more info about the status of your upload.



* Download MP4 Files of Your Own Videos: Oh no! Your computer just crashed and you lost the original files of videos uploaded to YouTube. Don't panic. Find the video you want in "My Videos" and hit the "Download MP4" button to save the MP4 file of the video to your computer. You can download videos recorded with your webcam, too.



* A More TV-Like Experience: We recently launched a feature that hides the player control bar when you are in full screen for a more immersive, TV-like experience. (Speaking of which, read our blog post about YouTube XL for more about optimizing YouTube on large screens.) You can also "pop out" any video by clicking on the button in the top right corner, right above the video. The video will open in a new window, without any of the surrounding features or videos, for the simplest possible experience. (Please note: this feature won't work when embedding has been disabled by the uploader.)



* Mobile App in Six New Languages: A few months ago, we launched an all-new YouTube Mobile Application for fast, high-quality video streaming on Windows Mobile and Symbian Series 60 phones. Just two days ago, we released the App in French, UK English, Italian, Spanish, German and Dutch. To install it in your language, please visit m.youtube.com/app.



To comment on any of these features, leave a note below or head over to the Help Forum feedback and suggestions page.



Until next time,

The YouTube Team

More about → Release Notes: 6/18/09

More Footage from Protests in Iran on YouTube

Last Friday marked a long-anticipated Election Day in Iran to choose the next Iranian president. While the voting process itself ran smoothly, widespread violence has since broken out in protest of current President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's claim to a decisive victory over challenger Mir-Hossein Mousavi. Mousavi supporters, who believe Ahmadinejad rigged the election results, refuse to accept the verdict and have been openly protesting since Saturday.

Video clips that capture the chaos and rioting in the streets of Iran's capital, Tehran, have been streaming into YouTube for the past four days. Even though YouTube appears to be blocked in Iran -- the site is experiencing a small fraction of the traffic levels it normally receives from Iran (around 10%) -- we continue to see videos being uploaded to the site that document city streets crowded with angry demonstrators, violent clashes between protesters and state police, and visceral scenes of mass unrest.

In essence, YouTube has become a citizen-fueled news bureau of video reports filed straight from the streets of Tehran, unfiltered. Because the Iranian government is cracking down on local and international media coverage, these citizen-generated videos are providing an exclusive look at the developing violence. Here's a collection of some of those videos. (Please use your discretion before viewing, as some of them contain disturbing images.)




We've noticed some claims going around that YouTube has been engaging in acts of censorship and removing some of these videos from the site. Unless a video clearly violates our Community Guidelines, we will not take it down. In general, we do not allow graphic or gratuitous violence on YouTube. However, we make exceptions for videos that have educational, documentary, or scientific value. The limitations being placed on mainstream media reporting from within Iran make it even more important that citizens in Iran be able to use YouTube to capture their experiences for the world to see. Given the critical role these videos are playing in reporting this story to the world, we are doing our best to leave as many of them up as we can. YouTube is, at its core, a global forum for free expression.

Take note that if you see a video that is unavailable on the site, it may be because the user decided to remove the video him or herself.

We're following what's happening in Iran on the Citizentube blog (www.citizentube.com), so stay tuned for the latest.


Yours,
Olivia Ma
YouTube News & Politics

More about → More Footage from Protests in Iran on YouTube

Watching Video Change Our World

[Cross-posted from the Google Blog]



As you might have noticed, there's a lot of fascinating stuff that happens on YouTube every day. For example, did you know that a nine-year-old recently used YouTube to successfully campaign to save his local kickball lot? Have you seen the video of a Guatemalan lawyer who predicted his own assassination on YouTube moments before it happened? Or did you know that YouTube and Google have launched a new technology platform for political debates, which allows you to submit and vote on the most important issues you want to discuss with political candidates?



These are the sorts of things you can stay on top of with Citizentube, a special YouTube blog devoted to chronicling the way that people are using video to change the world. If you've followed news and politics on YouTube, you might have noticed that we started Citizentube as a video channel on the site a few years back, but we soon realized that keeping track of all the phenomenal uses of YouTube by posting our own videos just wasn't fast enough — so now we're blogging, too. We generally focus on two types of posts: the compelling political and social uses of YouTube that we see the community bubble up every day, and our own programming initiatives and partnerships in the political, news, and nonprofit arenas.



Our team creates opportunities for you to engage with content that goes beyond the humorous or even the educational — content that changes the way you interact with your communities, institutions, and leaders. The first initiative we launched in this space was the You Choose '08 platform and the CNN/YouTube Debates in 2007. Since then we've expanded our programming to the fields of government, activism, and news & information. On the blog, we'll post an occasional series that gives a bigger picture perspective of what's happening in the worlds of news reporting, government, and social change on YouTube.



So be sure to check out www.citizentube.com and subscribe to our RSS feed (we're on Twitter, too: @citizentube). With more than 20 hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute, our blog helps provide you with a filter that you can use to see the way that video is changing our world.



Yours,

Steve Grove

YouTube News & Politics

More about → Watching Video Change Our World

Over 500 Ways to Reform Health Care

Last week, YouTube Senator of the Week Chris Dodd (D-CT) asked you for your input on the health care legislation that Congress is currently drafting. You responded enthusiastically on the Senate Hub, contributing over 500 unique ideas on health care reform and casting over 26,000 votes on these ideas, making this the most successful round of Senator of the Week to date. Today, Senator Dodd responds to your top-rated suggestions:







While Senator Dodd wasn't able to respond to all of your suggestions, there were many compelling and thoughtful responses to the health care reform question submitted through Google Moderator. Many of you endorsed a single payer system, with one Massachusetts resident offering this rationale: "SINGLE PAYER. Everybody in and nobody out. It's a great idea from the left, which is public financing, combined with a great idea from the right, which is private delivery."



Others disagreed, like Porter from Florida, who wrote, "We are pleased with our health care sharing program and a mandated health insurance will be an infringement on our religious and economic liberties. Share programs are an effective and efficient part of our nation's current health care system."



While Senator Dodd is no longer accepting suggestions through the Senate Hub, we encourage you to continue this spirited debate by submitting a comment or video response to Senator Dodd's video.



Yours,

Ramya Raghavan

YouTube News & Politics

More about → Over 500 Ways to Reform Health Care

The Best Dunker on YouTube Crowned

After viewing and voting on an incredible group of dunkers, you've spoken and chosen the winner of YouTube Slam Dunk Challenge, a competition honoring the most talented hoopsters on YouTube. We're proud to announce WhiteFlightBD as The Best Dunker on YouTube! Here's his winning video:







WhiteFlightBD will receive a prize package including signed gear from our panel of super-judges Chris Bosh and Jalen Rose, and he'll perform with Team Flight Brothers at a dunk event (subscribe to Team Flight Brothers channel and stay tuned for video of that event). Coming in second, third and fourth place, respectively, were keithkegerreis44, joshsherrod1978 and MeanDuckDunker. They're featured with WhiteFlightBD on YouTube's homepage today. In addition to our top four finishers, our judges selected paleprodigies as the Round Two Open Submissions winner. Check out his video here.



Big ups to the hundreds of high-flying dunkers who submitted videos to the contest and to the thousands of community members who voted. We're constantly amazed by the talented people using YouTube every day.



Best,


Andrew Bangs


YouTube Sports

More about → The Best Dunker on YouTube Crowned

Share YouTube Videos on Facebook, Twitter and Google Reader

As we learned in kindergarten, sharing is good. We want you to be able to do more of it with your videos. With a simple one-time log-in on our upload page, you can now have your YouTube account automatically update your Facebook friends, Twitter followers, and Google Reader shared items when you upload a video.



If you change your mind, you can shut it off at any time. And of course, for those videos that you'd rather not share, mark them as private and they won't be sent to any other site. We hope this makes it easier to share your good times with your friends.



Cheers,

Brian Glick

Product Manager

The YouTube Team

More about → Share YouTube Videos on Facebook, Twitter and Google Reader

Watch the Webby Awards on YouTube

Last night, we had the honor of attending the 13th Annual Webby Awards in New York City, where YouTube stars like video DJ Mike Relm performed and YouTube staples like The Onion were recognized.



But what happened on stage is only half the story.



Starting today, you can watch the show on the official Webby Awards YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/webby. You can also design your own Webby Awards experience, using show highlights (like this montage), 5-word acceptance speeches (see supermodel Molly Sims's and comedian Jimmy Fallon's) and red carpet interviews with the Internet famous (like Ben Huh of failblog).



We hope you enjoy this viewing experience, and congrats to all the winners!



Best,

Kristin Kovner and Jennifer Hyman

YouTube Marketing

More about → Watch the Webby Awards on YouTube

Senator of the Week: Grab Your Seat at the Health Care Table

Currently, the Senate is writing major health care legislation that has the potential to affect millions of Americans who currently lack coverage, as well as businesses and families who are getting hit with rising costs.



That's why YouTube Senator of the Week Chris Dodd (D-CT) wants to hear your ideas on health care reform: is your current coverage is working for you or do you have a better solution in mind?







As a Senior Member of the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, one of the two committees in charge of drafting the upcoming health care reform bill, Senator Dodd wants to make sure that citizen voices are guiding the process.



Want to have a virtual seat at the health care table? Head over to the YouTube Senate Hub and use the Moderator gadget to offer up your thoughts or vote on others. Senator Dodd will return next week to respond to your top-rated suggestions.



Yours,

Ramya Raghavan

YouTube News & Politics

More about → Senator of the Week: Grab Your Seat at the Health Care Table

Celebrate World Environment Day with Luc Besson's Film Premiere

Today, we're proud to celebrate the 37 annual World Environment Day with the world premiere of "Home," a documentary about the survival of our planet, from award-winning filmmaker Luc Besson and photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand.



Not only does this film give us a glimpse of our planet from never-before-seen perspectives that demonstrate the urgency for more sustainable living, but it also marks the first time a global audience can watch a movie online, in movie theaters, on TV stations, and on outdoor screens around the world at the exact same time - a fitting debut for a film that asks us all to work together for the benefit of our planet.



"Home" will be available on YouTube in French, English, Spanish, German, Russian and Portuguese through June 14th, which means you have 10 days to watch, discuss and share on YouTube. We hope the experience inspires you to action.



Sustainably yours,

The YouTube Team

More about → Celebrate World Environment Day with Luc Besson's Film Premiere

Phishing Scam Update

We are aware of recent emails where users posing as Google or YouTube support have tried to obtain the log-in credentials of our users and partners. Security is a top concern at YouTube and we employ techniques that are both proactive and reactive to block these scams. We are taking additional steps to try to prevent something similar from happening in the future. Also, please note that YouTube will never send an unsolicited message asking for a password or other sensitive information by email or through a link.



Thank you,

The YouTube Team

More about → Phishing Scam Update

A New Model for Political Interviews and Debates

YouTube Politics might just have come full circle. It all started during the 2006 midterm elections, when Senator George Allen's infamous "Macaca Moment" spread across YouTube and ultimately, many say, led to his narrow defeat in that election. Fast forward three years later, and Virginia is once again home to a YouTube Politics first: the first citizen-powered interview series for a gubernatorial primary.



YouTube and Google partnered with the Politico and WJLA to give Virginian voters the opportunity to submit text or video questions for the state's three Democratic gubernatorial candidates: Terry McAuliffe, Creigh Deeds, and Brian Moran. Submissions took place on a new tool called Google Moderator, which allows you not only to submit questions or ideas, but also to vote on the submissions of others, moving them up or down in importance. Thousands of Virginians took part in the interactive interview, and last night WJLA and the Politico aired the results, in which all three candidates answered the top questions on television.







As our CNN/YouTube Debates demonstrated during the 2007 presidential primary season, the web allows citizen engagement to play a prominent role in the country's most important public forums. Now with Moderator, the people's voice can be an even more powerful force in surfacing the issues that matter most to the public at large. We've used Moderator in our "Senator of the Week" series on YouTube, and President Obama employed Moderator in his "Open for Questions" initiative back in April. We look forward to taking this model to other local, national, and international elections.



We'll also be partnering with the Politco and WJLA once again this fall for another series in the Virginian general gubernatorial election, so stay tuned. And if you want to create your own debate or interview series for your state or local elections, head over to google.com/moderator to see what this new tool can do.



Yours,

Steve Grove

YouTube News and Politics

More about → A New Model for Political Interviews and Debates

We Put Games in the Spotlight for E3

For gaming fans, E3 is the place to see the industry's most-anticipated new properties. If you can't make it to Los Angeles for the convention, E3 Spotlight is the place to check out the highlights of the show.



E3 Spotlight brings together some of YouTube's top gaming partners for the first time to give you in-depth coverage of this annual industry event. Respected gaming editors from channels like IGNentertainment, GameSpot, Machinima, and Wired are hitting the trade show floor to get the scoop on games that will be on every player's holiday wishlist at the end of the year. For a change of pace, expect to see ObamaGirl at E3, trading in her BarelyPolitical slant for a BarelyDigital agenda. When you visit E3 Spotlight, you can make your own opinions known by voting on which new game trailers you like best.





We'll be adding more videos to E3 Spotlight during and after the event. So check in for more previews and interviews, and don't forget to keep your game face on.



Cheers,

Mark Day

YouTube Gaming

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The Secrets to Michael Buckley's Success

A few weeks ago we asked you to submit and vote for your most pressing questions for YouTube star Michael Buckley. Over 100 of you participated enthusiastically by asking 84 questions and voting 1,623 times. And while we would have loved it if Michael could have answered every question, he did manage to answer your top 10 queries, along with a few more that he hand-selected.



Buckley covers topics ranging from how to make money on YouTube to revealing his secrets for getting your videos noticed. It's an informative yet entertaining inside look into making it on YouTube; we hope you like it as much as we did. Thanks, Michael!







Thanks,

Curtis Lee

Product Marketing Manager

The YouTube Team

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Experience YouTube XL on the Big Screen

Last January we introduced a video website especially for people who wanted to access YouTube videos through their Sony PS3 and Nintendo Wii game consoles. You could say we've now "expanded" on that. Just as there's a YouTube browser for mobile devices, the new YouTube XL is optimized for watching YouTube videos on any large screen.



In addition to an all new design offering large text and simplified navigation, YouTube XL offers a continuous play feature, which lets you search for a topic on YouTube and then press "play" once to watch all of the videos sequentially on that topic. Also, getting from one video to the next takes just a few clicks, and you can control the action with a blue tooth enabled remote control, or even some mobile phones.



With millions of HD playbacks daily, YouTube is now bringing popular YouTube favorites like "Where the Hell is Matt?" to the big screen in HD. Also better when bigger: check out larger-than-life roller coaster point-of-view videos, work-out routines with the screen out of high-kick range, university lectures where you can read the blackboard, and home videos the whole family can watch together.



Yours,

Kuan Yong

Platforms Product Manager

The YouTube Team

More about → Experience YouTube XL on the Big Screen