Third East Asian Seas Youth Forum Toolkit - PEMSEA.org

Young Champions for the OceanYouTubeand other media sharing-websitesSo far, we have discussed Facebook and Twitter, which have interaction or immediate update sharing as a purpose. But there arealso websites whose purpose is to enable users to share more complex, specific types of content like videos, photos, music, etc.Those are called ‘media-sharing websites’, and YouTube.com is possibly the most famous one worldwide.What sets YouTube and other mediasharing websites apartSince these websites can be used mostly to share one type of content, they can be used on two levels:1. As one of the secondary parts of your project’s online presence. Basically, as the place where you post your photos or yourvideos, which aren’t one of the main thing you do with your project.2. As one of the main channel for your project’s online presence. In other words: you do a really big part of all yourawareness-raising via these services.Media-sharing website tipsBear in mind that media-sharing websites can concentrate a higher amount of specialists than other websites. This can be adouble-edged sword: if the specialized photographers that see your works on Flickr become interested in the topics you’re covering,chances are they may raise awareness on those topics too; however, specialists can be hard to impress when you have little experiencewith the types of work that are shared on the media-sharing website you choose.Also, media-sharing websites aren’t built to enable interaction to the extent that Facebook is. While you can still interact and sharemore than just the type of media the site is intended for, you will have to work harder to find ways to adjust their structure to suit theirneeds.Most media-sharing websites are used by big or small communities that are consistent in paying attention and giving feedback to thepeople in their own community. It can be helpful to find those communities and try to join one that has interests that can becompatible with the topics you want to raise awareness on.39