People creation industry began to be one of the dominant affairs in the Internet world. The information in the Internet is various and people try to create separate sites, user-generated sites, where the most interesting information can be found. The most popular sites, which are structured in the group of user-generated sub-industries, are YouTube, MetaCafe, Gather, and Helium. YouTube and MetaCafe are in constant competition with each other and provide more and more strategies with the aim to increase their popularity among visitors.
YouTube is a free site, which gives access to the most popular videos, which can be found online (Griffin & Moorhead, 2009). The site contains some parts from films, clips, and other videos, either professional or amateur one. Metacafe has the same specialization, and how it identifies itself, it is “the world’s independent video sharing website” (Safko & Brake, 2009, p. 526). These two sites have the similar aim and are in constant competition for the visitors, as the higher level of people, the higher population the site has and the more subscribed members are involved.
Considering the modern strategies of each of the websites, it is significant to mention that being the same in nature, their websites are tried to be changed in such a way that to attract more visitors. Having visited the Metacafe site, the first that appears is the most popular videos for now, which is considered to be one of the main strategic differences. YouTube shows the categories which are acceptable from the site, such as Spotlight: Music Tuesday (on the top of the site and is renewed everyday), the links which are viewed now, the videos from partners and the most popular videos.
The considered strategies have their advantages, as visiting Metacafe, people see the most popular, that is the most interesting and exciting, sites. It is impossible to skip to the other site, without referencing to one or two links. YouTube gives the visitors the opportunity to choose the group and shows the higher rated links to videos. Both sites give the description of the videos, which allows to have the understanding what the video is about. The main advantage of the both sites is that videos may be added by the visitors, that fulfils the collection of the site.
The sites have never been of such look and with such strategic development, there was a time when these sites had only appeared and the development was provided according to other techniques. Analyzing YouTube past strategy, it is significant to notice that the change of video files was provided through the messages. First, only amateur videos were offered on the site and could be seen by millions of people. In addition, YouTube has always been free content (Allen , 2008, p. 82). Metacafe, for the first time, was used by Brandon McConnell, who placed his personal video where he created the painting in a minute. The video was a great success. The site began to introduce interesting videos from home collections (Safko, L. & Brake, 2009, p. 527).
So, YouTube and Metacafe are the main competitors in the sphere of entertainment video online, and they use different strategies in reaching their aim, the increase of the visitors. The opportunity to create ads on other sites with links to this or that video is also part of the strategic plan of every website. Trying to reach the same aim, the sites will always try to improve their opportunities, which will be only better for visitors.
Reference
Allen, K. (2008). Viral Marketing 100 Success Secrets- Secret Strategies, Buzz Marketing Tips and Tricks, and Interactive Marketing: 100 Simple Online Campaign Principles. Lulu.com, Raleigh.
Griffin, R. W. & Moorhead, G. (2009). Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations. Cengage Learning, London.
Safko, L. & Brake, D. (2009).The Social Media Bible: Tactics, Tools, and Strategies for Business Success. John Wiley and Sons, New York.