According to the Chinese state media, there are nearly 600 million cell phone users today in China, resulting in a corps of citizen journalists equipped with the technology to give eyewitness accounts without a moment's notice. Last week's devastating earthquake in China's Sichuan province produced an enormous number of photos and videos uploaded by Chinese on their mobile devices. Users documented the havoc wrought by the 7.8-magnitude earthquake, the deadliest the nation has seen in more than 30 years, and within hours, raw footage of trembling buildings and panicked citizens began to appear on YouTube. Many of these videos presented an emotional, firsthand account of what it was actually like to experience the disaster:



Several users uploaded footage from surveillance cameras that kept on rolling throughout the disaster -- like this eerie video from a parking lot in Chengdu, comprised of a single, stationary shot of four parked cars throughout the six minutes before, during, and after the earthquake. People run frantically in and out of the wobbling frame, but the video has no sound to accompany the alarming visual.

People have also been using YouTube in a range of other ways relating to the earthquake: as an outlet for educating people on the science of tectonic plates, a place to pay tribute to those who have died, and a vehicle for raising money and supplies for those whose lives have been damaged or destroyed.

While the situation in Sichuan will undoubtedly get much worse before it gets better, China's reaction has been encouraging -- not only with its effective and unified emergency response to the tragedy, but also the Chinese people's eagerness to humanize the tragedy by broadcasting their experiences and sharing information with each other and the rest of the world.

Yours,
Steve G.
YouTube News & Politics

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Hey 'Tubers, it's time for another round of site updates. We added some new features to improve searching for videos, messaging and managing your contacts on YouTube. Check it...

QUERY SUGGESTIONS FOR SEARCH

A query suggestions option is now available for search. To opt in, click the "advanced" link next to the search button, then choose "Display query suggestions as I type" from the search settings. As you type in your search terms a menu will appear with suggested results to choose from to help you more quickly find the videos you're looking for. On the search results page you'll also get an additional list of recommended searches by clicking on any of the terms listed next to the new "Also try" menu.

GOOGLE CONTACT IMPORTER

To import your Google contacts into YouTube, click "Import" on the "My Contacts" page, then log in to your Google account. Once we've finished importing, click "Share" to easily send a video you're watching to any of your contacts. You can even "friend" your YouTube contacts and we'll help you stay up to date on the videos they're favoriting, rating, and uploading.

INBOX IMPROVEMENTS FOR COMMENTS

Based on your feedback, we've made some improvements to the notifications for video comments in your YouTube Inbox. Comments made to your videos are separated from comments left in response to your comment on someone else's video. The actual text of the comment is also now displayed and you can approve or reject a comment in-line.

Don't forget to share your feedback with us via video, email or throw some comments on this here blog.

Best,
The YouTube Team

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The Rolling Stones were the first official Living Legends to join the program that connects luminaries with the YouTube community – they asked for questions, you heeded their call, and now they've responded with gusto. Here's a sneak peek:



The questions submitted to the band came from old fans as well as new recruits, and ranged from Zapterazor's query about internet piracy (which he asked dressed as a pirate) to Banteron's probe into Mick Jagger's voodoo past. TheBladeRunnerShow wondered how they thought they would be judged by the American Idol gang at the start of their career, but our nod for cheekiest question goes to Jamieroko, who offered her opinions on the band's "hotness" throughout the years, ultimately asking if they still feel "exhilarated":



Intrigued? You can find all of Mick and Keith's answers and plenty of off-the-cuff rock star remarks on our Living Legends channel. You also have the opportunity to answer a question that Keith pitches back to the community:



With sticky fingers,
The YouTube Team

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When we first announced YouTube Insight, our free video analytics tool for YouTube, we were excited to see just how users, partners, and advertisers might creatively use information about the viewing trends of their videos. We've since learned that some users and partners are modifying their upload schedules based on when they know their audience is tuning in, and advertisers are studying geographic traffic patterns to assess the effectiveness of regional ad campaigns.

Today we've added some new features to Insight. One is a new demographics tab that displays view count information broken down by age group (such as ages 18-24), gender, or a combination of the two, to help you get a better understanding of the makeup of your YouTube audience. We show you general information about your viewers in anonymous and aggregate form, based on the birth date and gender information that users share with us when they create YouTube accounts. This means that individual users can't be personally identified.

Insight now also displays statistics based on the combined total views of all the videos you've uploaded. Just as you can explore the view counts and popularity of individual videos, with this feature you can see your account's total number of views, and your relative popularity on YouTube compared to other users, based on geographic location.

As with Insight's other features, we hope this new information helps you learn how to create more compelling content that best engages the audiences you want to reach. You can find these new metrics under the "Demographics" tab within the Insight dashboard. Click on the "Insight" button under Account > My Videos.

Enjoy,
The YouTube Team

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Generally speaking, Cannes is considered the grand-mère of all film festivals. For 11 days every spring, the cinematic world descends on this beach town in the south of France to celebrate everything film, from the lowest-budget student shorts to the summer's biggest blockbusters.

Starting today and for the next 11 days, we'll be featuring a diverse selection of content from the French Riviera in our Film & Animation section, including industry panels from the Short Film Corner and the 2008 Real Ideas Studio Community Documentary Challenge, which consists of short works from the best student documentarians.

Finally, what would the world's most glamorous festival be without coverage from the red carpet, courtesy of IFC? With Clint Eastwood, Charlie Kaufman and Steven Soderbergh in the running for the prestigious Palme d'Or prize, and world premieres from Stephen Spielberg and Woody Allen, there should be plenty to talk about.

So tune in to YouTube throughout the festival and get those cameras rolling. Whether you were there or not, we want to hear your perspectives on Cannes -- the films, the fashions, the French fabulousness!

Happy Festival-going,
Sara P.
YouTube Film

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Over the past couple years, more internally-powered, easily-mounted micro video cameras have come on the market for consumers, and the result has been a ton more first-person point-of-view sports footage available on the net. Sports enthusiasts now use these lipstick-sized helmet-, wrist- or foot- mounted cameras to capture the essence of the sports they love. Besides being fun to watch and re-live, these videos can also be extremely useful to athletes, riders and drivers for improving technique, selecting a better line on a track or off-road course, or adjusting speed for the sake of maximum efficiency or safety.

From a viewer's perspective, these videos put you right in the action. You can get a sense of the speed at which the athlete is moving, the angle of the slope, the sheer force of wind, and the total concentration required to pull off a tricky maneuver:



We hope these inspire you to get out on the course, run, slope or track, shoot some videos and share 'em with everyone you know. (And, of course, please be safe while you're at it…)

In the meantime, let us know if there's a trend we should be covering. (You already told us about a few, which we're currently exploring.) Leave a comment below or leave a note on the Trendspotting Tuesday channel, where you can also find previous trendspotting playlists.

Cheers,
The YouTube Team

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Today is Pangea Day, a global event dedicated to bringing people together through film. With its eclectic mix of movies, live music and passionate speakers, Pangea Day aims to help us see life through the eyes of others. There are live events taking place right now in Cairo, Kigali, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai and Rio de Janeiro.

But don't worry if you live far from any of these cities or couldn't make the actual festivities: On today's YouTube homepage, you'll find a sampling of the 24 short films being featured in the Pangea Day program. Selected by Pangea Day's international competition from over 2,500 submissions from over 100 countries - many of which came from YouTubers heeding last year's call for entries - these films inform and inspire, and provide a taste of what this event is all about.



Pangea Day has also set up an official YouTube group for you to share your thoughts about the videos on the homepage. And if you were able to make it to one of the live broadcasts, then go on and tell us about that, too.

Be inspired,

Sara P.
YouTube Film

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The Short Film Corner at Cannes is one of the world's premier destinations for shorts. But you don't need to make the trip to France to see the best of what the festival has to offer, thanks to the National Film Board of Canada's Online Film Competition Cannes 2008.

In its fourth year, the contest features ten shorts, selected from among 650 films from over 40 countries. Representing an eclectic mix of languages and genres, the finalists are all available for viewing on the NFB's YouTube channel. The prize? In addition to bragging rights, the director of the winning short film will receive a professional DV camera and a portable computer with post-production software.

Ready for the best part? You determine the winner. That's right -- the winning film will be chosen by audience voting, based on the one-to-five-star rating scale you know and love.



Film jurors, it's time to cast your votes.

Sara P.
YouTube Film

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Last Saturday's devastating cyclone in Myanmar has so far claimed the lives of over 22,000 people and that toll continues to rise. Yet in what has become the largest natural disaster since the 2004 tsunami that ravaged Sri Lanka, aid to Myanmar has had trouble reaching those in need. The military government that runs the small Southeast Asian country has let in little aid from agencies and is not granting visas to aid workers to enter the country.

On YouTube, the effort to raise awareness around the need to help Myanmar has grown in the last 48 hours. Reporters are uploading videos of footage from the devastated region, such as this video from NoCommentTV, whose simple approach of showing news images "without any opinion or bias" paints a compelling portrait of the disaster. Al Jazeera posted this clip to give viewers an overview of what's taken place in the region since Saturday. And YouTube users such as relex109 are posting picture slideshows from Myanmar.

Others are using YouTube to raise money for the effort. World Vision's Executive Director uploaded a call for donations via his organization's YouTube channel, and U Uttara, the Secretary General of the International Burmese Monks Organization, made an appeal for funds on Avaaz.org's YouTube channel. (You can donate directly here.)

But perhaps the most unique call for donations came from YouTube user Nightwatcher1982 of the Netherlands. In the video below, he makes a personal pledge to the YouTube community: between now and May 25, for every video response to his video, he'll donate $5 to the Red Cross. And if your video is "really good," he'll donate $10:



Let's hope more and more money is raised to provide relief to the stricken region -- and that Myanmar's government lets it in.

Yours,
Steve G.
YouTube News & Politics

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Welcome to another edition of Trendspotting Tuesday. It's week five, which is certainly time to celebrate and make some noise, courtesy of an orchestra of YouTubers who perform using an array of unique and unusual instruments.

From one-of-a-kind cucumber trumpets to drum beats triggered by ball bearings, it's a whole new approach to making music. Some of these instruments are from ancient traditions and were created by nature -- like the termites who bore through tree bark to create a perfectly sized and shaped mouthpiece on a Australian didgeridoo. Others were constructed with empty soda bottles or PVC piping:



We hope you enjoy these new directions in sound. Perhaps it will inspire you to follow in the lead of folks like OddMusic, a master of musical invention, or to start taking lessons on stringed instruments like the hurdy-gurdy (also known as the "wheel fiddle") or the Tuvan igil.

Stay tuned next Tuesday for yet another take on the trends that are part of our video community. Have a trend you'd like to recommend? Leave a comment below or leave a note on the Trendspotting Tuesday channel, where you can find previous trendspotting playlists.

Cheers,
The YouTube Team

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