Why Does YouTube Call Them Channels?

YouTube originally called creator accounts “channels” to compliment their slogan, “Broadcast yourself”.

Now, this is all after the original “Tune in, hook up” dating site idea, and even post the stroke of genius that was solving the “where’s video proof of the Janet Jackson / Justin Timberlake wardrobe malfunction” moment but - I want to remind you how YouTube corporate strategy was a make-it-up-as-you-go thing.

Creator accounts were channels because people knew what TV channels were, way back in 2005. The metaphor fit. More importantly, the metaphor stuck.

Around the same point in time, social media was taking off too.

Some etymology can help. “Media” is related to the Latin “medeus,” which - think medium and middle. The idea of media is the idea of the way an idea is captured and shared. “Channel” is rooted in old French, and references the bed of a waterway. It’s the groove by which all things flow.

So when YouTube considered itself as a medium of sharing cat videos with friends online, in the form of channels, the logic kind of makes perfect sense. YouTube is the hosting place, and then one idea flows to whoever. Everybody is happy.

But in that same 2005ish period. the personal profile was a whole new public thing. Between Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and the rest - your account and your identity became singular, and in many ways, what groups you belonged to or hashtagged, was all a statement of your originality.

So the creator and content owner felt more like every other social media handle, and less and less like anything resembling a channel.

Channel still means something, though.

And if you’re willing to lean into it, while most others are still viewing the platform as another form of social media - there’s an advantage to be had.

Channels don’t just carry water down a preset path, they can carry it down a ton of paths all at once. Channels can broadcast. Channels, like on TV, can have shows. Plural! And, channels can have a unique audience value prop that they meet through a number of ways.

Then there’s media. Media can be social. Media can be multi-. Media is still just the middle presentation mechanism of how any idea, story, or connection gets captured and shared.

Loosen up the way you approach these words. A medium is a message and a channel is a means of taking it somewhere. Media broadcast on a channel can be as narrow or broad as you want to make it.

The choice is yours. Right now, while everyone is focused on people not brands, having a channel that more fully represents a brand feels pretty crazy big as an opportunity to me.

Broadcasts away.