Privacy issues are a hot topic in the social media world right now. Take Facebook for example. Their new “open graph” concept has created quite a stir with consumer groups, members of Congress and privacy watchdogs. According to PC Mag, Facebook has been singled out for “fundamentally changing the default settings on its social-networking platform to the detriment of a user.” These groups also feel that FB “has not done enough to inform users on how their information is being used.” So does this mean that other social media sites need to up their privacy settings to stay out of the spotlight? This may have been one of the driving factors behind YouTube’s new privacy option.
YouTube already has a privacy policy in place for those of us who chose to broadcast ourselves, just not to the whole world. Instead of creating a public video, users have the option of making their video private, meaning that the user can invite up to 25 other YouTube account holders to view his or her video. This has worked in the past, but what happens if you want to share your video with more than 25 people? And what if the people you want to share it with don’t have YouTube accounts? Don’t worry. There is now a new option to satisfy your needs. Meet the unlisted video feature!
Unlisted videos are similar to private videos but with some improvements. Instead of inviting people to view a private video, you can now just send them the URL. Anyone can view the video as long as they have the URL, no YouTube account necessary. Plus there is no limit to how many people can view the video. Other than those who possess the URL, the video remains private. It will not show up on public pages, in search results or on other users channels. This is a great option for teachers and students who want to share their videos, but don’t want to expose themselves to the entire world.
I think it’s a great idea! It’s privacy made simpler. I don’t know many people with a YouTube account which would probably deter me from using the original privacy option. I’m sure YouTube will get a large response from happy users in the near future.
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