What your favourite Web sites say about you
Tags: posted, adventures, toolbars, paypal
YOUTUBE
What's the story?
YouTube was founded in February 2005 by three former PayPal members -- Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim -- in a makeshift office in a garage. They moved to more appropriate offices following a $3.5m investment by venture firm Sequoia Capital, and an additional $8m investment by Roelof Botha, partner of the firm and former chief financial officer of PayPal.
YouTube was famously acquired by Google for $1.65bn in stock on 9 October 2006. The Wall Street Journal reported that Chad Hurley's share was worth $345.6m. He received 694,087 Google shares directly and another 41,232 shares in trust. Steven Chen and Jawed Karim received 624,366 shares and 137,443 shares respectively, valued at $326.2m and $64.6m.
YouTube has enjoyed immense success since its launch. During December 2006 it was one of the fastest growing Web sites -- even outpacing MySpace for growth. According to Hitwise.com, YouTube attracts up to 65 per cent of the UK online video market.
Did you know?
YouTube was once sued by Universal Tube & Rollform Equipment Corp because its Web site, utube.com, has been frequently overloaded by the high number of visitors unsure of YouTube's correct spelling. Universal Tube requested that the youtube.com domain be transferred to them but the judge ruled the defence's claim had no merit or underlying justification.
What YouTube says about you
YouTube users are voyeurs. It's likely they grew up watching episodes of Beadle's About or America's Funniest Home Videos but always hated the talky bits in between people falling over. They visit YouTube regularly to gorge themselves on painful-looking movies, laughing maniacally with each crunch of bone. Lips 2 Da Floor is their anthem.
But it's not all about seeing people being disfigured -- the typical YouTuber also has a soft side. They'll happily while away a weekend watching all 4,093 entries of 'cute kitty yawning', and always find time to follow the latest happenings in the world of lonelygirl15. But mostly they'd rather just watch you break your face.
RELATED LINKS
Bob CobbMon 10 September, 2007 7:07pm
c|net users enjoy having to click through dozens of ad-riddled pages. Printer-friendly-version links should be difficult if not impossible to find. Electric prods and branding irons a plus.
alfarMon 10 September, 2007 7:24pm
Most of the pages have accurate-ish informatin. Certainly no worse than 1066 And All That (which not reading if you're a dork is a Bad Thing and may result in the Venomous Beade from dying of a surfeit of Latin) . Yes, I read Slashdot but I promise you that I try not to be vicious there. I'd also add that although there are a few hundred thousand regular members, I suspect that fewer than a couple dozen routinely provoke flamewars and believe Blackadder is a guide in social etiquette.
AnonymousMon 10 September, 2007 7:33pm
So do all women at CNet come to work in their PJ's? Or just a lucky coincident for the photo?
ZwackMon 10 September, 2007 7:35pm
GOOD GOD! What a terrible set of reviews...
The only thing that seems remotely correct about this is that the authors are the children of slashdot and You tube. They are vicious and enjoy it.
At least they didn't try and condemn most of the websites I visit so that makes me an also-ran in their minds.
No mention of Groklaw, Boing Boing or Think Progress?
I can understand VMF, ABI and TMW being missing,... but....
Z.
btw, if you want to take the content then you can but I'm not going to accept responsibility for it as well. You either take it all or none...
"Please note: All submitted content becomes the sole property of CNET Networks UK and may be used, edited or rejected at CNET Networks UK's sole discretion. You acknowledge that you, not CNET Networks UK, are responsible for the contents of your submission"
AshwinMon 10 September, 2007 7:51pm
What part of "this is a joke, have a laugh" don't the other commentators understand?
AnonymousMon 10 September, 2007 7:56pm
Worst article EVER! I don't resemble your stereotypical slashdot reader at all. Needless to say, I was on the internet within minutes, registering my disgust.
AnonymousMon 10 September, 2007 8:56pm
Being a 'regular' on /. and eBay I'm truly amazed about the tone of this 'attempt' [let's call it that, for lack of an appropriate AND printworthy term]. Apart from failing to put together a truly 'sarcastic' description of these site, you also fail on the most important point; 'humor'. Your envy speaks trough each and every page, and you may even have just given future 'investors' the best insight into your workings for NOT acquiring your dismal site. This piece sucked BigTime!
NielMon 10 September, 2007 9:18pm
This has to be the worst and most stereo-typical article I've seen in recent times from a major website.
It would be half okay if it was tongue in cheek.
I'm a slashdot reader, I don't wear glasses, I don't have bad skin, and I enjoy sport (I've evidently done more cycling races than you have written articles).
I feel like avoiding your website now.
AnonymousMon 10 September, 2007 9:21pm
I can tell you with reasonable confidence that crave.cnet.co.uk has roughly zero chance of becoming my favorite site.
TheGirlChrisMon 10 September, 2007 9:58pm
If this is "the worst and most stereotypical article" you've read on a website in a while, then I say wake up and take a look around the internet. The only reason people are so offended is not because this article is so ridiculous, but instead because it has some truth. Hell, I am a /. addict who wears glasses and is a proud nerd by day. Yet I am also a female(gasp!) who loves to hit the town by night. Are all the stereotypes true? No, probably not for most people, but there is some truth in there somewhere for everyone. I'm not saying this is a great article but come on, to say that this is the most stereotypical thing on the internet and be so offended? That right there plays into the /. stereotype of people who don't know any world other than their computer. Maybe some people need to get outside and see the sun, and other people, more often instead of freaking out over how other internet users perceive their use of the internet.
AnonymousMon 10 September, 2007 10:33pm
Although I like the article, but I think CNet is either fooling itself or in a state of denial, if it believes that hot asian girls sit on the floor and read cnet on their laptops!
AnonymousTue 11 September, 2007 12:36am
Spot On. Especially about the slashdotters. /.
AnonymousTue 11 September, 2007 1:10am
100% correct. Except the part about Windows being a "good" operating system.
boreDuoTue 11 September, 2007 1:12am
Ya gotta love CNET. If it weren't for them, all those people who never graduated from high school would be unemployed.
AnonymousTue 11 September, 2007 8:03am
You should have reviewed 4chan.
AnonymousTue 11 September, 2007 8:49am
Myspace is one hell of a marketing tool for events, especially music related ones.
AnonymousTue 11 September, 2007 12:02pm
I think it would be nice to read a story without it being split into 10 pages, each containing one paragraph.
AnonymousTue 11 September, 2007 9:08pm
even the slashdotters commenting on THIS story are pedantic and unable to see the blatantly tongue-in-cheek nature of the article.
It's a joke, people.
Taking oneself too seriously is also a very common trait of slashdotters.
I love to read the articles posted on Slashdot, but long ago abandoned the pendantic, self-important commentary usually posted in an effort to come across better, smarter, faster, more experienced than both the author and the other commentors. Oh so uninteresting.
AnonymousFri 14 September, 2007 6:03pm
Jesus... chill out guys. Blatantly a bit of a joke.
DavidRGilsonThu 31 January, 2008 9:20am
Well,
I never use Ebay or Flickr, I'm a /. reader but not a poster, and I don't really use Myspace, but I do have a very nicely formatted profile. I regularly use all of the other sites listed.
What does that say about me?

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billyMon 10 September, 2007 6:59pm
This is the worst thing I have read this week and that includes the pink slip from work yesterday!