Facebook has served as a powerful social networking tool for many YouTubers. Some use it to create fan pages while others choose to directly connect with their viewers using their own personal accounts. However, recent events have many asking, “Are some YouTubers abusing Facebook for an unfair gain?”

A YouTuber by the name of peachofmeat barely had 1,800 subscribers with only two public videos. The highest viewed video had a little over 100k views. Then suddenly his subscriber count jumped from 1,800 to over 180,000 in 24 hours. With poor video content and quality and no evidence of being featured on YouTube, many speculated that either a scam or program was used.

The examining of his recent video comments showed evidence of what is called a “bait and hook”. Peachofmeat used Facebook, likely a Facebook group of fan page, to trick people into subscribing to his account. The exact group, if any, has yet to be revealed though.

However, Jussttom brought another fan page possibly involving another YouTuber to my attention. This Has Got To Be The Ugliest Girl EVER is a Facebook fan page that promises to show a picture of the ugliest girl ever. Before you can see the picture though, you must first become a fan. Then once you join the group you’re asked to click a confirm button, but you’re told to make sure that you’re logged into your YouTube account.

Clicking the confirm button takes you to the YouTube subscribe page for iShatOnU. After seeing this I checked iShatOnU’s stats on vidstatsx.com. According to the dependable website, he has generated over 20k subscribers in 24 hours. Which sounds slightly similar to peachofmeat’s case.

Now keep in mind, this isn’t proof that iShatOnU is using Facebook to gain subs. It’s proof that the use of a Facebook group is increasing his subs, may it be him or a fan trying to help him out. Also, incase you were wondering, the group does fulfill its promise, and yes, the chick is really ugly.

A review of YouTube’s TOS seems to suggest that this isn’t wrong. However, many YouTubers would say it’s morally wrong. Of course the counter argument is that they’re real people with real accounts, they’re not forced to subscribe, and they can easily unsubscribe if they want to. Do you believe this is wrong or do you think this is an innovative way to gain subscribes and promotion?

Update: iShatOnU stated on his Twitter that he had no doing in his recent sub count via the Facebook group. Seeing how he’s worked hard on YouTube and wishes to maintain a good reputation, it’s most likely this is true.

YouTube was created for free expression so that everyone can have their own voice through their videos. However, lately that tone has radically changed with the suspension of YouTubers and the deletion of videos without warning. We’ve come to realize that the use copyrighted material is against policy, but false copyright claims have left many worrying.

Peter Coffin was one such person to have this fallen upon his lap. He uploaded a parody of Whatcha Say, with no copyrighted material, music or visuals. Yet the video was deleted for a false copyright claim by Warner Music Group. This left Peter Coffin with the inability of uploading content.

In response, he protested YouTube’s and WMG’s decision and by sparking the hashtag of #TeamCoffin and #BooWarner through the use of Twitter. WMG’s twitter was constantly with @replies of the hashtags. This surly caught their attention, because within two days his video was restored along with his ability to upload content.

RyanAbeMakesItHappen was recently suspended, because of copyrighted material. However, before the incident, his record was clean of any copyright strikes. This led to him questioning his suspension and emailing YouTube. However, their response would only lead to more questions. YouTube wouldn’t tell him which videos were in violation.

This has left many YouTuber questioning the judgment of YouTube. Who is YouTube really looking out for, cooperation’s or its users? Also, when a majority of your income is generated from your videos, a sudden suspension could lead to money troubles. This last issue anyone should experience in this current economy.

Annotations were created for YouTubers to help increase their ratings, encourage viewers to favorite their videos, and to promote other channels and videos. This technology has been used in many useful and creative ways. Some, such as MysteryGuitarMan, have even created comical and entertaining videos about annotations. However, others may be abusing this technology to gain video and channels views.

There’s a system that some YouTubers use to promote their videos that many wouldn’t approve of. This system involves creating one or more fake accounts. Then upload videos, often copyrighted material, on these fake accounts that will draw in thousands of views. These videos range from music videos to commercials to something relating to a hot topic.

They’ll then place these huge, bright, and often times, annoying annotations over the video. Thus the video itself becomes difficult to watch. That’s if the video is even real at all, because some will use pictures and annoying audio instead.

On the annotations there will be text such as “CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REAL VIDEO!” or “CLICK HERE TO REMOVE THE RED BOX!” When the viewer does click on the annotation they’re taken to an unrelated YouTube channel or video. If it’s a video, they’ll often disable the ratings knowing that they angered the viewer.

This is becoming a stealthy technique amongst some YouTube partners to increase their views with hopes of an increase paycheck. Honestly, ho wouldn’t want more views or a bigger paycheck though? However, are they being innovative or are they simply abusing the annotation technology?

For a possible example of a YouTuber using this system, click here

Now is the best time to put out camcorders that record in 3D. Especially since YouTube and Google are working hard on making videos available in 3D. However, who would have thought it would come from pocketcam maker DXG? Well believe it or not, they did.

Their pistol-grip, dual lens stereoscopic 3D View model comes with a 7-inch digital video viewer. The 3D in both the camcorder’ 3-inch 3D LCD viewfinder LCD and frame look almost look holographic. The video is shot in Motion JPEG; however, you won’t likely be able to view the 3D footage on anything other than the DXG panel. Still, there’s always a chance that it will be YouTube compatible.

This camcorder will put you back at about $400, and won’t even be out until June. However, the upside is that bigger companies will probably put out more effective 3D camcorders. Hopefully they’ll be YouTube compatible as well. What do you think about this? Will 3D camcorders be the next HD, or is this all a big waste of time and money?

YouTube being sued is nothing new. It actually seems like it occurs everyday. However, the Viacom case is possibly the biggest and riskiest case for both Google and YouTube. What exactly are they suing them for? Not much, only $1 billion for copyright damages. Now you’re starting to get the picture.

The case is old, three years old to be exact, but it may finally go to trial this year. Viacom argues that YouTube encouraged its users to upload unauthorized video and film clips. However, YouTube and Google argue that Viacom’s employees may have uploaded said clips as well.

Which employees exactly? Stephen Colbert, John Stewart, the creators of South Park just to name a few. Google’s argument is that there is no way to determine which clips were pirated and which ones were uploaded with Viacom’s blessing. Recently, there’s been news that Google’s attorneys have received depositions from Viacom’s employees.

Colbert, while at last month’s celebration of the 50th anniversary of Second City (a comedy group), acknowledged giving a deposition. However, his deposition sounded a little unorthodox. He told the gathering of comedians there was some confusion about whether he was answering questions as himself or as the character he plays on the show.

“The whole deposition was in front of two people,” Colbert explained to the crowd, “I had a coffee cup, and I would move it side to side to differentiate who I was answering for. It was insane.”

Creators of South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone.

Stewart also has given a deposition to Google’s attorneys. However, Stone and Parker (creators of South Park) were not required to. Instead, they were supposed to turn over documents, which they have yet to do. Google wasn’t very amused which led to a letter to U.S. District Judge Louis Stanton.

The attorneys asked the court to force Stone and Park to produce the requested documents. A representative for the two said, “We intend to comply with the court order and produce the requested documents in a timely way.”

As you can imagine, this court case will only get more interesting as the trail gets closer. Do you believe that Viacom has a case, or do you believe that they’re trying to bully YouTube over something that was out of their control?

A 13 year-old British boy is walking proof of how YouTube can once again change someone’s life. The video Geraint Llyr Owen performing a solo of Pie Jesu was all it took. Producers instantly knew they wanted him to perform the same piece on Broadway.

Officials from Distinguished Concert International contacted the Llandaff Catherdral Choir, where Owen has sung for five years. That’s when they invited him to sing in the Martin Luther King Day concert on January 18th. Owen expressed his reaction, “I have always wanted to see Broadway, but to perform there is a dream come true.”

The concert was originally broadcasted on Welsh-language channel S4C and was then posted on YouTube where it was seen by the concert organizers.

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A very popular YouTube video has transformed the life of its star, Danny MacAskill, in 2009. The video shows MacAskill’s bike talents as he climbs trees, balances on the top of fences, and jumps up steps and over large objects while on a bicycle. The “Inspired Bicycles” video was uploaded last April and has since generated over 13.6 million views.

CNN has recently reported that MacAskill has been offered movie roles. He has also been reported on and featured and storied worldwide. This is currently an example of how much someone’s life can change with YouTube. The video was shot in Scotland over several months, so it was filmed with several takes. Still, it’s remarkable that he was never impaired by the fence.

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YouTube may soon have a variety of interactive games. Recently, Google has filed a patent, entitled “Web-Based System for Generation of Interactive Games Based on Digital Videos.” With this patent, many assume that new, player-friendly video base games will be added to YouTube’s vast collection of videos.

It was filed in 2009 and published this month; the interactive game patent addressed modern technologies as they applied to the concept of interactive gaming. It read: “Such annotations can be used to construct interactive games using videos, such as a game in which clicking on different portions of a video leads to different outcomes.”

Google has not yet commented on the validity of this patent. However, it sounds like something that Shane Dawson along with many other YouTubers have already done. So what exactly can we expect? Maybe there will be an easier system to connect videos together. Other than that, it’s really hard to say.

Who doesn’t love a good soda? Some enjoy Coke, others are Pepsi lovers, and the ones with any actual taste have a 12 pack of Dr. Pepper by their side. However, a YouTube video may have some rethinking their soda consumption with its gut turning imagery.

The video shows a man drinking a glass of… fat. This is supposed to represent the amount of fat you can gain from drinking a soda everyday for a year. It’s part of New York City Health Department’s campaign to curb obesity. I’m also sure someone is getting a good laugh out of how many people spit out their soda while watching this.

Charleston registered dietitian Linda St. Clair said, although sugary drinks do not contain fat, they can cause weight gain.

“You can always cut back on calories another way when you’re drinking a soda and you wouldn’t have a weight gain,” she said. “But if that’s in addition to everything else you’re taking in for the day, a soda’s about 140 calories a 12 ounce can. Many people probably drink a 20 ounce at this point. And, if you drank it everyday for 365 days, you probably would gain 10 to 15 pounds.”

The video urges people to drink water or other drinks with no calories, or low calories. The American Beverage Association calls the campaign irresponsible. Which makes sense seeing how water can kill you.

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Every time I’m nuking a hotdog in a microwave I find myself thinking, “Damn I wish I could watch a YouTube video right about now.” These are dark times, but I have seen the light! Finally someone has answers my prayers with the new CastOven.

This microwave has a 10.4 inch LCD display that plays YouTube clips that fit your cooking time. The developers explained their inspiration, “Watching movies, playing games, and browsing Web pages are fun, but all of them require a certain amount of time of us to spare.” Yeah, I still don’t get it either.

There’s no denying that the concept machine looks really cool. There’s also no denying that this is by far the dumbest idea. I was able to solve my YouTube-less microwave cooking time with my wireless enable laptop. If only they came out with LCD display footwear so I don’t miss a PhillyD video while tying my shoes. Now that’s a good idea.

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