YouTube Triumphant

Would you like to know how YouTube became the de facto site for online video?

Then read the Wired article with caution.

The first listed reason is its content: "Reason #1: it elevates the absurd". Using that logic, you might be wondering how it came to pass that the surrealists didn't last longer than they did. Or do we crave the absurd during certain cultural moments? Or maybe we are just collectively bored.

Reason #2 has to do with smart strategy re: online advertising. #3 is how YouTube played nice with the big media producers by yanking copyrighted content. #4 is about how YouTube tapped into a new creative class -- well, a new producer class; let's leave judgments about creativity out of this conversation, which has been so civil up until now. #5 is its willingness to reinvent itself.

This is all fine and good, but it doesn't say much about how all the other video sites who tried to do these things failed. My reason #6: brand recognition and market domination. Once a site has enough content, it seems to reach a tipping point where it becomes the place for content to see and be seen.