Today's post is an expansion of my post at my other blog -- The List of Lost Things -- and is an all Youtube posting.  And I have a ton of opinions when it comes to this subject.

You see, I am a firm believer in the fact that the internet will soon replace television as we used to know it.  Not necessarily to the point where we don't have a family TV in the den, but it will be unrecognizable to our parents generation.  It has already changed the way we watch TV and what content the big three decide to air.  

I can remember working for a television studio a few years ago and the discussion was wether or not we would post our shows to the web. Now, it is not even a second thought.  Our shows can be accessed 24/7 and as often as the viewer wants.  Videos could be embedded in viewer's websites or emailed to friends and family.

Youtube was the catalyst for all of this.  A few years ago, no one believed that the internet would become too much more than a place to get your news, maybe a little shopping and possibly as a replacement for the family encyclopedia set.  Now, most of the younger generation would rather be in front of their laptop screen and on Youtube than in front of the boob-tube.  

I can see why.

Not only is it everything TV is and can be, but it is also something TV could never be -- a community.  A place where you can interact, say something about what you're watching and actually have that producer talk back to you and incorporate those changes.  A place where we decide what makes it and what doesn't and although it is somewhat censored, TV is a hardcore prude by comparison.  

Some people worry about our youth and a loss of communication that they see happening.  The truth is that although it is unrecognizable to older generations, they are communicating -- and at rates we could never imagine.  The fact is that they are constantly connected to each other.  This connection is erasing some lines our generations struggled to get past, too.  Bias and prejudices kids these days are already over.  Hell, my own children's friends list looks like an invitation to a UN afterparty.  

The don't see the world the way I did.  

I grew up during the Cold War and believed that Russians (or anyone else on the other side of the world) were nothing like me and my friends.  It took a lifetime career in the Army and traveling around the world to get me to understand something my children already know and that their children will surely take for granted -- we are all the same.

Sure we have differences, but those are the little things.  The internet and Youtube are part of what make this an undeniable fact to our children's generation and I think the future will be better for it.  It shows that we all share our interests, our fears and our happiness.  

With so many things to choose from, I think that in the long run we will recognize this as Youtube's greatest contribution.