Which Video Player? It Depends…

So you’ve been playing around with that shiny new digital video camera and you’re dying to get some of the video up on the Web so you can share it with friends, add it to your blog, or even feature it on your website. And since you want to keep the process of uploading and presenting them pretty simple, you’ve decided you’d like to use one of the free video uploading/sharing sites that are so popular in our digital society. There are a ton of great options, but for simplicity’s sake, let’s say you’ve narrowed it down to the two most popular, Vimeo and YouTube.

But how do you decide which one to use? They’re both free. They both allow you to sign up and begin uploading and sharing immediately, and they both allow you to build a social network with which to share your videos with relative ease. Indeed, they both have their advantages and disadvantages, so the answer to that question really depends on your objective. Allow me to explain.

Let’s say you’ve invested in a high definition video camera and have just caught some spectacular footage of London at night. Since the content of your video is exceptionally beautiful, you’ll not only want the quality of the playback to be great, but you’ll also want to display it with the best looking video player. This will be especially important when embedding it into your website or blog. If this is the case, Vimeo is for you. Not only is the video playback quality better, but the navigation for the interface disappears after you click play and only reappears when you roll over the video again with the mouse, leaving nothing but the content of the video for you to see in its full splendor. The playback experience on Vimeo is by far and away better than over on YouTube. Here’s one of my favorites:

On the other hand, let’s assume you were out with your pocket-sized Flip video camera and happened to catch Sasquatch sauntering across the road in your hometown. You snatch the camera out of your pocket and catch 25 seconds of proof that he exists. With this video, you might not be as concerned with quality, but you certainly want to make sure that folks all over the world see the video. In this case, choose YouTube. It’s the third most visited Internet site of all time, so with a massive amount of traffic comes a massive opportunity for your video to go viral.

To recap – If you’re looking for high-quality video and a seamless video viewing experience, Vimeo is the solution. But if you’re looking to go viral, you should probably go with YouTube, as it will help ensure your video spreads like wildfire. Now get to uploading!

by Garret Ohm

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