YouTube Australia Blog: December 2011

Australia Blog

News and rising stars from YouTube Australia

Get More Into: Top 50 Music Videos of 2011

Thursday, 22 December 2011

From kitty-cam to kids with nerf guns to Thom York's peculiar dance moves, we bring you 50 of the greatest, weirdest and most innovative music videos of 2011.
Hand-picked by the YouTube Australia music team who have been diligently scouring the depths of the internet, this list is a celebration of all things wonderful and weird in the world of music.

2011 was a year of power females. Who could forget Beyonce's ground-breaking 'Countdown' or Lana Del Rey’s washed out glamour throwback video for ‘Video Games’.

This year we’ve seen a crop of new talent and innovation with Alexander’s breakout video for ‘A Million Years’, featuring makeup landscapes - or ‘manscapes’ - being a notable mention. The Beastie Boys brought us the the Spike Jonze-directed epic masterpiece 'Make Some Noise' featuring more celebrities than the Betty Ford clinic.

A special shout out to the Aussies who made the cut - Children Collide's 'Loveless', directed by award-winning Australian filmmaker David Michôd (Animal Kingdom). It features a one-take shot of their lead singer getting a haircut. Bluejuice's granny-kissing antics, Strange Talk's interactive prize giveaways and last but not least, Gotye’s body-paint experiments also get a mention.

So sit back and raise a glass to the year that was 2011 in music! Watch the full playlist here.

Posted by Sophie Hirst and Cat Conroy, YouTube Team, just watched Bing Crosby & David Bowie - Little Drummer Boy

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Labels: YouTube Australia Blog

Opening up a world of educational content with YouTube for Schools

Monday, 12 December 2011

Cross-posted from the Official YouTube Blog
When I was in school during the 90s, watching videos in the classroom was a highlight of any week. The teacher would roll in a television on a cart, pop in a VHS tape, and then we’d enjoy whatever scratchy science video my teacher had checked out from the school video library that week. Sight, sound and motion have always had the power to engage students and complement classroom instruction by bringing educational topics to life.
We’ve been hearing from teachers that they want to use the vast array of educational videos on YouTube in their classrooms, but are concerned that students will be distracted by the latest music video or cute cat, or a video that wasn’t appropriate for students. While schools that restrict access to YouTube may solve this distraction concern, they also limit access to hundreds of thousands of educational videos on YouTube that could help bring photosynthesis to life, or show what life was like in ancient Greece.
To address this issue, we’ve developed YouTube for Schools, a network setting that school administrators can turn on to grant access only to the educational content from YouTube EDU. Teachers can choose from the hundreds of thousands of videos on YouTube EDU created by more than 600 partners like the Smithsonian, TED, Steve Spangler Science, and Numberphile.

We know how busy teachers are, and that searching through thousands of videos sounds like a daunting visit to the world’s largest library, so we’ve also worked with teachers to put together more than 300 playlists broken out by subject -- Math, Science, Social Studies, and English Language Arts -- and by grade level. Teachers can find them listed out at youtube.com/teachers. Of course, this list wouldn’t be complete without your input -- teachers, what videos do you use in your classroom? Suggest your own education playlist here.

YouTube for Schools is just the latest initiative in our ongoing attempts to make YouTube a truly valuable educational resource, and to inspire learners around the world with programs like YouTube Space Lab. So how do you get started? To join YouTube for Schools or learn more about the program, head on over to www.youtube.com/schools.

Brian Truong, Product Manager, recently watched “The Challenges of Getting to Mars: Transporting a Mars Rover.”

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Labels: YouTube Australia Blog

Get more into what you love on YouTube with our new look

Friday, 2 December 2011

Cross-posted from the Official YouTube Blog.
From your favorite sports highlights and dance competitions to make-up tutorials, science experiments and great movies, there’s a ton of great stuff on YouTube — over three billion views worth per day by last count. More and more, behind every great video is a great Channel, and with our announcement last month that more of them are coming to YouTube, we want to make it easier for you to find and keep tabs of what you want to watch.

So, today we're introducing a new homepage, Channel design and a fresh coat of digital paint. Here are three ways these updates will improve your life on YouTube:

1. A new homepage
The YouTube homepage is your gateway to a vast entertainment universe. To help you get more into YouTube, we’re making it easier to find and follow great Channels when you arrive. On the left side of the homepage you can create your own, personal, customizable YouTube Channel line-up. Sign-in, or create a YouTube account. Then you can browse recommended Channels; customize your homepage’s feed; even link your YouTube account to Google+ and Facebook to see what your friends are sharing. The new homepage feed we launched earlier this year is now front and center on the homepage. You can switch between feeds by clicking on different Channels on the left.

For step by step instructions on using the new YouTube homepage, you can go to our help center.

2. Simpler, customizable Channels
Given the homepage’s new focus on helping you find and organize your favorite Channels, we would be remiss if we didn’t update the look and feel of the Channels themselves. Today we're launching an improved Channel design focused on what matters most: helping users find great videos. As different uploaders have different goals, we've created new Channel templates to meet your needs whether you produce one video a week or have thousands of videos for a fan to browse. Some partners have even uploaded videos talking about the features, or giving tips on how they’re taking advantage of the new design. To learn how to opt-in to and test this new Channel design, check out our help center.

3. A new overall design
To bring the new homepage and Channels designs together we’ve also applied a fresh coat of digital paint across the whole site. In July, we unveiled an experimental design called Cosmic Panda. We’ve used your feedback to improve our overall design, and today, we’re presenting a cleaner and simpler YouTube, with a consistent gray background, bigger video thumbnails and a more streamlined watch page.

Ready to get started? Your new YouTube is already shipped and waiting for you at YouTube.com, and like every new toy, we included an instruction manual (and video) to help.

Our recent Channels expansion, our grants and educational programs, and this new design are all focused on helping you discover a broader range of entertainment on YouTube. We’re always innovating and testing new stuff out to make the experience the best it can be for you. We rely on your feedback to figure out when we've gotten it right and when it needs further tweaks. So let us know what you think.

The YouTube team