What your favourite Web sites say about you

By Rory Reid on 10 September 2007, 5:27pm

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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.