YouTubes

YouTubes is an informal term used to refer to the videos hosted on YouTube, the online video-sharing platform. YouTube itself was launched in 2005 by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim and was acquired by Google in 2006. The word YouTubes thus denotes the corpus of user-generated videos, channels, and media content that circulate on the service.

Content on YouTubes includes a wide range of genres, including music videos, educational tutorials, gaming, news, vlogs, and professional productions. Videos are uploaded by individuals, organizations, and media companies, and can be public, private, or unlisted. A typical video is accompanied by metadata such as a title, description, and tags, and may include captions, thumbnails, and end screens. The platform supports long-form videos, live streams, and short-form clips via YouTube Shorts.

Videos are discovered through search, recommendations, subscriptions, and trending lists. Viewers interact through likes, comments, and shares, and creators build audiences by maintaining channels and posting regular content. Monetization options include ads, channel memberships, super chats during live streams, and merchandise integrations, with eligibility governed by the YouTube Partner Program.

YouTube operates with policies on copyright, safety, and community guidelines, enforced through mechanisms such as Content ID, takedowns, age restrictions, and channel penalties. The YouTube ecosystem has a significant impact on popular culture and digital advertising, while also drawing scrutiny over misinformation, copyright enforcement, and platform governance.