YouTube is the largest video-sharing site globally, with more than 2 billion logged-in viewers visiting each month. More than a billion hours of video are watched each day, and YouTube is available in more than 100 countries and 80 languages. Amazing!
Even the most dedicated YouTube watchers may miss some of the neat features the site has. Tap or click here for some YouTube tips and tricks.
YouTube has grown beyond a simple video-sharing site to its own social media platform. The Community feature lets users post text, images, GIFs, videos, livestreams, polls and more with their subscribers and viewers. For more privacy, you can limit who watches the videos you post on a specific channel. Read on to learn how.
How to upload videos to YouTube
While many people post videos they hope will go viral, this may not always be ideal. You may want to share videos with just a group of friends and family without going through the trouble of messaging them to everyone. Let’s start from the beginning: uploading videos.
- You will need a Google account, so go to accounts.google.com/SignUp to create one if you haven’t already.
- Login to your YouTube account and click the Create button in the upper-right corner, which looks like a video camera.
- Click Select Files and choose the videos you want to upload. YouTube supports the following formats: .MOV, .MPEG-1, .MPEG-2, .MPEG4, .MP4, .MPG, .AVI, .WMV, .MPEGPS, .FLV, 3GPP, WebM, DNxHR, ProRes, CineForm andHEVC (h265). The videos will be set to private until you publish them.
- You’ll be taken to a page where you can edit video features such as title, thumbnail, end screen, subtitles and more. Tap Next until you reach the Visibility tab.
- Choose Private to set up the video so only you and the people you choose can watch it. Click Save.
Simple way to make your YouTube videos private
Now that your video is up, it’s time to share it with the friends and family of your choosing. Tap or click here for another way to share photos and videos with people close to you.
- Login to your YouTube account and click Your videos on the left-hand side.
- You should see your uploads under Channel content. Click Visibility, then Share privately under Private.
- Enter the email addresses of your invitees and hit Done. They must have a Google account to view your private video.
Boost your personal privacy
While it’s nice to limit who sees your content, merely having a Google account affects your privacy. The Big Tech company tracks you through your location, browsing habits (including what you watch on YouTube), photos, shopping, email and more. Tap or click here for three hidden settings you can change in Google to improve your privacy.
