Hulu vs. Youtube

As a fan of both Hulu and Youtube, it is very difficult arguing that one is 'better' then the other as they are both extremely different from one another. Hulu, on one hand, is a website where videos (primarily movies and TV shows) are uploaded to the Internet by Hulu employees for the viewing pleasure of a global audience. For the most part, Hulu is licensing these videos from distribution companies, and profits off of these videos through the use of commercials, as well as a paid service called Hulu Plus which is $7.99 a month and provides access to entire catalogs of TV shows, new episodes the day/day after they air, and many films. On the other hand, Youtube is a website where videos (primarily home/amateur videos) are uploaded to the Internet by just about anyone with computer/Internet access. For the most part, the content on Youtube is not licenced and very often videos are taken down for copyright infringement. Youtube is much more of a social network of videos as users are able to upload response videos, comment, and users have individual profiles where unique personas are unveiled. For users who post videos that garner extremely large audiences, I believe there is a way to receive money through allowing advertisements on your videos, but primarily, the people uploading these videos do not receive any payment and most advertisement revenue is kept by Youtube.
Personally, I use Hulu a lot more then I use Youtube, but they both hold special places in my heart. As a film enthusiasts, I most often use Hulu and Youtube to view videos both for class and personal amusement. One of the best collections of classic films from around the world, the Criterion Collection, is on Hulu Plus (which I am subscribed to), and provides me access to many films which I could never find anywhere else on the Internet. On Youtube there are many films that you can find but many of them are uploaded illegally or do not have any copyrights. Most of the illegally uploaded films tend to be divided into 6 to 10 parts as the amount of memory most users are allowed to use to upload is significantly less than what would be needed to upload an entire film. Lastly, if I really had to chose between Hulu and Youtube, I would definitely chose Hulu as having a Hulu Plus subscription gives me access to so many extra luxuries that I can't imagine watching videos on my computer without it.

Hulu vs. YouTube

For this comparison, I decided to watch two SNL shorts to see how the two sites responded differently to two very similar videos.

I watched the Hulu video first and noticed that it started with an ad that I couldn't skip through. Once my actual video started though, I thought it had really high quality and I liked the way that it was presented with a dark gray background. There was no clutter and the video was really large, taking up the majority of my screen without me having to click to the full-screen feature. I also like the way the site is laid out with other videos I might like below the video in a really clean format.

I watched the YouTube video second and didn't have to watch any ads, but I did feel like the quality of the video wasn't as nice. It was also presented in a much smaller size than the Hulu video without clicking over to the full-screen format. The rest of the site felt very cluttered to me as well with the long list of comments below the video, and the list of recommended videos to the right.

Based on my experience, I seem to have liked Hulu better because of their presentation and clean design, but I never find myself on Hulu and always use YouTube when looking for something in particular. I think YouTube has much more to offer and is quicker and easier to use. Hulu is just prettier.

Blog Post 6-Hulu vs. YouTube

For this assignment I decided to watch The Avengers movie trailer on both YouTube and Hulu. I started out with YouTube and of course there was an ad first. But it wasn't a normal ad you would see anywhere it was a negative political ad about Scott Walker that supported Tom Barrett. Also, even though the ad was about a minute long I was able to Skip the Ad when it was 5 seconds in. When it got to the video it was a high quality video that I had not seen before-aka it was not the one that was shown in theaters. The video was 2 minutes and 4 seconds long and then at the very end there was a screen with multiple other movie trailers that you could click on and watch.

After watching the YouTube version I went onto Hulu and searched for The Avengers trailer. I clicked on the link and there was just a static five second ad about the 5 hour energy drink. This version of the trailer was one I had seen before, because it was the one that was shown in theaters. The video was about 2 minutes and 30 seconds long, so a bit longer than the YouTube video which was nice because I really like watching longer movie trailers. After the video ended there was a small LeanCuisine ad and it said that another video would start in 5 seconds. The next movie trailer, which was A Little Bit of Heaven, played right after if I did not close the window or stop it.

I think the Hulu version was a bit better in quality but I don't really like the fact that another trailer (that you don't choose) starts right away. I like the fact that on YouTube there are multiple different trailers to choose from after the video is over. Personally I still like Hulu's version better just because YouTube is sometimes hard to navigate and it is hard to find the "main" trailer because there are so many versions. Hulu's video was simple and straightforward and really only offered one video from the search menu. So Hulu wins my vote.