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YouTube University: How Millennials Are Gaining Knowledge From Videos

by Amanda Watson

It is a new age for online and social media content creators.

The entertainment world is producing more diverse images and representations of minorities, and Millennials are displaying a variety of images, as well as sharing their own stories.

From their range of experiences, Millennials have something to share and are achieving their own success by doing so. They are becoming their own producers, directors and writers through their access to technological tools and the worldwide web.

And through outlets such as crowdfunding, they are able to gain support as they manage and promote their own brands.

Due to the Internet, online video streaming and websites like YouTube, people are able to gather their information from various sources. They are able to disagree and rebut by sharing their own points of views.

One may argue this creates a space for troublemakers and sources without credibility, but the opportunity to share a perspective is still very present.

In recent years, multi-channel US video providers, like Comcast, DirecTV, Verizon FiOS, etc., lost over 100,000 video subscribers.

About 1.7 million customers left their cable subscriptions in 2013. In particular, Millennials are moving to subscription video streaming services, like Netflix and Hulu.

Two of the top 20 digital trends in 2015 are the evolution of entertainment consumption evolution, and the proliferation of next-generation social networks.

These two trends emphasize the increased rate at which people are receiving communication, how they are receiving it and who they are receiving it from.

Audiences now have the ability to be content creators who choose to inform, entertain or educate their peers on their topics, brands or beliefs.

Millennials are building with, creating with and entertaining for their peers in an immediate way. This new era of content creation is crucial in understanding who we are as a community and a culture.

One of the best up-and-coming directors, Moise Verneau, did not attend any type of media or film school.

Instead, he went to the school of YouTube. Information is key, and knowledge can lead to power. YouTube offers this knowledge for its audiences.

Now, whether or not all the sources are credible is a different story, and it questions the notion of legitimacy. Even so, there are notable film directors, producers and content creators who provide their commentary on their training, career achievements and professional journeys on different media outlet channels and websites.

They are credible in their own respects, and they provide beneficial tips to any aspiring content creator.

Verneau simply chose to share a voice from a culture he knows, and he gained the skills to do so from the environment around him.

Verneau directed the hit web series, "Money and Violence," on YouTube. The first season has already garnered up to 20 million views.

Methods of learning are evolving. Resources from school, YouTube or social media are now accessible to Millennials, and they can share their voices and stories in any way they choose to.

This becomes even more important to the underrepresented and misrepresented minority community of blacks, Asians and Latinos.

The independent content created by these groups can now be viewed and appreciated by their own communities, as well as a mainstream audience.