Although a relative new-comer to the internet (it only opened for operation in 2005), YouTube has become the essential stop for anyone who looks for entertainment online. Purchased by Google not long ago, there's been a forced legitimization of their content. Once the top videos were all pirated clips of TV show and movies, now things are moving toward genuinely user-created content. Unfortunately, because this site has become so massive (it has become a pop-culture movement, after all) it's nearly impossible to find anything unless you know exactly what you're looking for. The only alternative to just relying on external webpages linking into YouTube would be randomly watching videos, choosing from the automatically generated list at the end of every movie.

Another painful downside here is that, because anyone can upload anything, it has become a swarm of absurd America's Funniest Home Video-esque clips. Want to see the latest shot of a sneezing panda? Or a laughing baby? Yeah, you and millions of others. But if, perhaps, you're searching for more substantial fare, you're in for some trouble. They attempt to provide you with guide-posts to getting more of what you want, including the tabs for Videos, Categories, Channels, and Community. These ambiguous terms are narrowed down further into their own categories including the Entertainment Category, the Comedian Channel, and any number of user-created "Groups" on the Community tab. Typically any choice on your part leads to a list of options that seem to go on, sprawling on infinite pages, endlessly. The overwhelming layout leads you to pick through the first page, which probably contains about a dozen items, then back out of the category.

Finally, there is the series of "tops" and "mosts" found on the left side-bar. Here is the most interesting material for me, if only as an indirect way of learning something about people en masse. You're given options including "Top Rated," "Most Viewed," "Most Discussed," etc. Also you can alter your search by time, looking at today, this week, this month, or all time. What does it tell you about today's culture that Evolution of Dance has staked out a claim as the "best" video of all time? Is there a 6 minute Citizen Kane for our generation on here? Who could tell.

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