Beyond YouTube

How many times have you sat out your computer and received an email from a friend saying, "You have to watch this, it's hilarious." Oh yes, we have the video sharing world to thank for these well-deserved breaks from our essays / assignments / emails / work. YouTube, the most famous of these perpetrators has raised the awareness of media sharing sites, although it's not alone in its pursuit. We all know that on these sites we can access clips of a twenty-something slightly effeminate man shouting "Leave Britney alone!" or learn the moves to the 'Solja Boy' dance (or whatever flavour of the month is). However, for the more inquisitive voyeur amongst us craving something more; don't despair, it exists. Explore the sites profiled on this page to discover short films, viral campaigns, political content and more. Trust me; video sharing can be so much more than Australia's Funniest Home Videos.

Vicki Parker

LiveLeak

Ever wanted to see the news from an Iranian point of view or find out what political spin the Americans use towards conflicts worldwide? Call off the search. Liveleak is for you. The UK-based site prides itself on providing viewers with uncensored global news clips. Liveleak follows a non biased approach to the media and believes strongly in freedom of speech. It's uncompromising even under scrutiny from governments to remove material that could be viewed as offensive. The co-founder's ethos is, "look all this is happening… we're going to show it." Maybe now's the time for us to start looking.

Metacafe

What differentiates Metacafe from its rivals YouTube or Dailymotion? Well, Metacafe has a unique way of sourcing innovative and original clips unavailable through other sites. It seems they've cracked it; they pay the creators of the top-ranking videos. The largest independent video sharing site invites original content submissions from wannabe film makers and the mutually beneficial system provides viewers with a greater variety of film clips available to them. So everyone gains - with individual, original video clips a plenty, the site is a must-see. Surely, 28 million unique monthly visitors can't be wrong.

imeem

Calling all music lovers, this is the site for you. Media sharing facilities on this site include blogs, photos and video sharing but its main emphasis is on music. Part media sharing site, part social community, this site is unique. The thing that really makes this web site stand out is its Playlist function. Got a list of your favourite songs that you want the world to hear? Just post them onto this site and the world is your oyster. Why stop there? Add a video clip to the song and 'voila', you've created your very own music clip.

Dailymotion

The French hold court with Dailymotion, providing us with their slightly more superior version of YouTube. That's right, the Paris-based web site is known for its better video quality and a certain 'je ne sais quoi' that other video hosting sites don't have. This fancy little number receives 16,000 new video posts per day and their pages are viewed in excess of 26 million times per day (despite being banned in both China and Tunisia due to clips with political connotations). This site is designed for a global audience with its audio translated into eight languages so we can all enjoy their high-quality videos.

VUZE

If you've always wanted to be one of those people to have the latest season of 24, before it's even been on TV in Australia, or see the latest Kings of Leon music video before MTV get hold of it, you should check out VUZE. This website is a platform for receiving high-resolution digital media entertainment, allowing you to access thousands of TV shows, video games, music videos, movies and more. Global television stations post their latest shows onto the site, plus thousands of clips from independent creators can be found and you can view these all for free!