Video Hosting Service

The services of a streaming video hosting provider add a whole new visual and aural element to an individual's or company's website. Additionally, with this technology, the major free email hosts and internet service providers (ISPs) add video clips to their home pages in such sections as news, sports, and entertainment. The providers' customers can watch brief videos of breaking news headlines, sports victories, or celebrity antics as they access email. Many other applications of the technology are designed to give consumers needed information. The internet is a competitive marketplace and major businesses spend a great deal of money to entice visitors. Many people, particularly moms and commuters, want the answers to two questions first thing in the morning: what's the weather like and how is the traffic flowing? Individuals can check email and then check weather and traffic from the home computer before stepping out the front door. The major internet service providers and the websites of both national and local news stations often provide this information. Videos of weather forecasts help busy moms get the children ready for school. Videos provided by government transportation agencies help commuters plan the morning driving route to avoid any accidents or road construction. These types of applications require the website owners to utilize a video hosting service that can provide the visual and audio quality that will keep visitors returning to the site to get the needed information.

There are several free streaming video hosting providers that offer space to anyone with a camera. Some of these are major community websites. Individuals open an account by registering with the website. Then the individual can post all kinds of messages, photos, and videos. The user often has the option of allowing the web page to be entirely public, allowing access to anyone and everyone, or private so that only certain people can view it. Practically every teenager seems to have one or more of these types of accounts that allow them to interact with friends. Unfortunately, what should be a fun sharing experience can turn into a nightmare when teens use the community to bully peers, identities are stolen when personal information becomes too public, or predators prey on the innocent. Parents must educate children, even teens, on the dangers of posting too much personal information and should monitor the page so that they can keep an eye on who else is viewing it.

Another well-known video hosting service website allows just about anyone to post videos. These range from the absolutely ridiculous to the hilariously creative to the seriously convicting. More than one person has gained his or her allotted fifteen minutes of fame by getting millions of viewing hits on a posted video clip or series of clips. Sometimes these are picked up by the cable news channels and given an even broader audience. This happened not too long ago when someone captured the trouncing of a high school cheerleader as the football team ran onto the field before a game. Fortunately, the young girl wasn't seriously injured, but the recording made it to the major website and from there to television. There's an ugly side to this phenomena, too. Some teenagers get a thrill out of filming another teen getting beat up. These horrendous stories also have made recent headlines and are a tragic commentary on a youth subculture in desperate need of the truths of Scripture. "Behold, God is mighty, and despiseth not any: he is mighty in strength and wisdom. . . . Then he sheweth them their work, and their transgressions that they have exceeded. He openeth also their ear to discipline, and commandeth that they return from iniquity. If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures" (Job 36:5, 9-11).

Personal and commercial website owners may want to include videos to promote specific interests, products, or services. The website owner is advised to check first with his or her current internet service provider as streaming video hosting may be one of the features that is provided with the website. If not, or if the bandwidth is not adequate, the owner may be able to stay with the current ISP and upgrade to a package of services that includes video hosting. If this isn't a viable option, he might choose to purchase a separate video hosting service from another vendor. A third option is to find another ISP that packages all the desired services into one bundle. This may be more cost-effective than contracting with two separate companies. 

Bandwidth transfer allowance is an important criterion when choosing a streaming video hosting provider. In turn, the bandwidth usage is based on such factors as the connection speeds that are encoded into the clip, the number of visitors who watch the clip and at what speeds, and the video's length. If the total viewing averages less than a thousand minutes a day, industry experts recommend small business packages. But if the total viewing time increases to approximately 20,000 minutes a day, then the owner may want to consider utilizing dedicated servers or self-hosting the clips. Another consideration is the use of advertising. A free video hosting service will almost always include advertisements in the video and the website owner has no control over what products or services those ads are promoting. This may be reason enough to contract with a streaming video hosting company who doesn't rely on advertising to obtain revenue. A business owner should also read the fine print of any agreement to ensure that she retains complete ownership of the video's content. Posting videos can be fun for individuals and important promotional tools for businesses. Watching posted videos provides important information and entertainment for consumers.