Declared by Time magazine, 2006 was the year YouTube became culturally ubiquitous

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(Free-Press-Release.com) December 25, 2006 -- THE FACE OF YOUTUBE: The cute, bedroom confessions of Lonelygirl15 remain the site's quintessential expression. Of course, the pretty high schooler named Bree was eventually revealed to be 19-year-old actress Jessica Lee Rose, who was acting out a scripted plot with two behind-the-scenes producers. But that strange mutated duality of what's real and what's fiction, what's amateur and what's professional, remains the heart and soul of YouTube, where everybody and nobody is a star.

NETWORK WAKE-UP CALL: Saturday Night Live's ''Lazy Sunday'' mock-rap sketch was, in some ways, what started the revolution. The video was seen by more than 5 million viewers before NBC asked YouTube to remove it in February. Chris Parnell and Andy Samberg's rhymes boosted the hipness of ''SNL,'' but more importantly, it was the first time networks were alerted to their new competition. NBC reacted fearfully, and later opted to build up its own Web sites with online video. The networks continue to experiment with YouTube; recently, CBS has claimed its late shows have increased in ratings after posting clips from ''The Late Show with David Letterman'' and ''The Late Late Show'' on YouTube.

POLITICAL FALLOUT: YouTube -- like the Internet in general -- has made it a specialty to reveal the gaffes and mistakes of the establishment. Of course, few would say Virginia Sen. George Allen didn't deserve his fate after a video of him calling a rival campaign staffer ''macaca'' drew constant clicks on YouTube. Allen went on to lose an extremely close election -- a race that YouTube could well have turned. On the other end of the spectrum, Michael J. Fox's tremulous campaign ads for various Democratic candidates who support stem cell research proved powerfully effective and were seen by millions more than would have otherwise caught them on TV.

FLOUNDERING FOUNDERS:When Google bought YouTube for $1.65 billion in October, YouTube founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen posted a goofy, unrehearsed video with a glint in their eye and a smirk on their face that said unmistakably: ''We just became insanely rich.'' It was true to YouTube style, but the site's video-posting community couldn't help thinking, ''Didn't we do all the work?''

OK STOP: MTV turned 25 this year, but it became clear a long time ago that its programming doesn't have room for music videos anymore. YouTube's expanse is endless, of course, and the site turned a little-known power pop group into the music video sensation of the year. Chicago-based band OK Go's video for ''Here It Goes Again'' was made in one long take with the amateurish creativity that YouTube specializes in. Their playfully choreographed treadmill dancing was the most absurdly graceful thing of the year: YouTube saved the video star.

CELEBRITY SPY: Michael ''Kramer'' Richards' racist rant at the Laugh Factory in West Hollywood in November would have drawn headlines without YouTube, but would millions have seen it? We've all become trained at this point: if something happens -- check YouTube.

Source: http://www.msn.com
POSTED BY JAKE COYLE

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