Should I be using YouTube or Vimeo to host my videos? If you google “YouTube versus Vimeo”, you will be presented with an array of pros and cons lists detailing the proper use of each platform, and mainly, what consists the main difference between these seemingly competing video-sharing platforms. This question seems to occupy many content creators’ minds, but as Anjali Sud, CEO of Vimeo, brilliantly put it: “Creators shouldn’t have to choose” (“The Future of Video: Why Vimeo is Betting on Creators,” 00: 09:15 – 00: 09:16). Unlike many social media, Vimeo was created not for the average viewer, but for the creator, which sets the platform apart from many video-sharing sites such as the most popular one of all, YouTube.
Vimeo was founded in November 2004 by Jake Lodwick and Zach Klein. The name Vimeo was created by Lodwick, as a play on the words video and me. Originally, it was the first video-sharing platform to support high-definition video; for contextualization, YouTube was founded a year later, in 2005. In 2006, Vimeo was acquired by InterActivCorp (IAC), their current parent company. The platform’s main goals consist of sharing videos, mostly of artistic nature related to filmmaking, with a community of creators, as well as encourage a community of professionals to interact with one another and offer constructive feedback on ad-free platform: their objective is to create a community that allows professional networking for artists to share their videos and receive constructive feedback from their peers. As Jan Van Dijck mentions, “Some of the best-known sectoral platforms have no material assets, have no sector- specific employees, and offer no tangible products, content, or services; they are merely “connectors” between individual users and single providers” (Dijck 16). Vimeo seems to be doing just that. The platform self-describes itself as a “passionate community” (“About Vimeo”), reinforcing the meaning of connection between content creators: “Design features programmed to steer users’ activity, platforms’ selection of topics according to popularity, the encouragement of profitable connections and channelling users’ data for economic gain constitute clear interventions into the processes of sociability and information exchange that occur through social media.” (Duguay 22). For instance, users can check out exactly who liked a video and are encouraged to connect with each other; when checking out who liked a video on the desktop site, at the right of the screen, it states “We know this might sound crazy, but if you like this video too, maybe you and them would get along. Check out their profile, and, if you like what you see, follow them” (“Vimeo: Watch, Upload, And Share HD And 4K Videos With No Ads”) The language across the entire site is very friendly and approachable. “Made with [heart emoji] in NYC” is written at the bottom of the screen, evoking a welcoming feeling to users, rather than the usual copyright claim at the bottom of many websites. If you hover your mouse over the heart, the heart will also start beating. Unfortunately, all these features aforementioned cannot be found on the mobile app.
The Vimeo staff curates videos every day to present to the world, through their Staff Picks channel, in which users are automatically following once they join the platform. Unlike YouTube, the main interface for users who are not logged in is quite different from users who have an account with the platform. Without an account, users are not encouraged to browse through a selection of videos, but rather urged on to sign up or buy a Vimeo plan. Funnily enough, for a platform that does not use ads at the beginning of each video, the initial interface consists of solely a big advertisement for the platform itself. Once logged in, users can browse through channels they have liked and upload their own videos to their main page. Similar to YouTube, users can customize their profile, in which they can add a profile icon, a cover video, a short description, and pin important videos to the top of the screens to draw the viewers’ attention on notable works.
If Vimeo doesn’t rely on ads, where does their revenue come from? The underlying economic model is the freemium subscription-based model, where users can subscribe to unlock multiple helpful video production tools and features: “Vimeo has nearly a million paying subscribers who contributed $160 million in revenue to the company, up from $103.3 million a year earlier” (Lesemann). The platform seems extremely keen on not letting advertisers infiltrate their business model: “the company has opted to generate revenue on the back end, charging content creators for tools that allow them to edit, store and share videos. They want to focus on selling a business to the creators, and not audience” (Bary). In other words, Vimeo makes no money from viewers.
Vimeo aims to partner with creators to offer software and distribution services across all platforms, as Vimeo had noticed that there was a gap in the market in that area: not many platforms focused on their creators and essentially, those creating content for their platform to function. Users can benefit of many technologies Vimeo has to offer such creating their own subscription channels and livestreaming. Ultimately, the user can make money just as Vimeo is making money from the user. “Distribution and monetization are becoming so much more accessible. You don’t have to be a studio anymore to be able to tell your stories and build a business” (“The Future of Video: Why Vimeo is Betting on Creators”).
Although Vimeo stays away from using ads on their sites, their Privacy Policy mentions that they still do share user data from the site to deliver third-party advertising, just like most social media company: “companies often appeared less interested in communities of users than in their data—a by- product of making connections and staying connected online” (Dijck 4). In terms of privacy settings on Vimeo, a user can choose to make them public, “only me”, password-protected, private, or even select the users that may see it, therefore facilitating group work among creators and businesses.
Their business model translates well into their community guidelines, where they prohibit businesses to conduct any sort of advertising on the free Vimeo site: “Businesses may not use Vimeo Basic or Vimeo Plus to host videos. If you are a business or wish to upload commercial content, you must use Vimeo PRO or Vimeo Business” (“Vimeo: Watch, Upload, And Share HD And 4K Videos With No Ads”). They do not want to allow any commercial activity that may be disruptive to Vimeo users. Their revenue model allows viewers to access and embed their videos to other platforms (specifically, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter); if Vimeo did allow ads, such partnerships would be detrimental to their revenue model, as it would bring their viewership to other competing social media with similar revenue models. The uncluttered experience allows the stories to come to the forefront. Also, Vimeo allows its users track statistics of videos on Vimeo as well as statistics relating to their embedded videos on different websites.
Should you use YouTube or Vimeo? That is up to the user. However, after having done extensive research on Vimeo, their focus on the creator seems to benefit the filmmaking community as well as many other communities looking to experiment with video production. From their Staff Picks, to their embedding features, and the tools they provide for filmmakers, Vimeo is definitely a helpful and affordable platform for content creators. And best part of all: “We don’t have trolls” (“The Future of Video: Why Vimeo is Betting on Creators,” 00: 13: 13 – 00: 13: 14).
WORKS CITED
“About Vimeo”. Vimeo.Com, 2020, https://vimeo.com/about.
Bary, Emily. “How Vimeo Dropped Its Fight With Youtube And Turned Ad-Free Videos Into A Real Business”. Marketwatch, 2020, https://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-vimeo-dropped-its-fight-with-youtube-and-turned-ad-free-videos-into-a-real-business-2019-07-05.
Dijck, José van. The Culture Of Connectivity. Oxford University Press, 2013.
Lesemann, Maria. “How Vimeo Makes Money”. Investopedia, 2020, https://www.investopedia.com/articles/markets/111315/how-vimeo-makes-money.asp.
Duguay, S. (2018). Social media’s breaking news: The logic of automation in Facebook Trending Topics and Twitter Moments. Media International Australia, 166(1), 20–33. https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878X17737407
“The Future of Video: Why Vimeo is Betting on Creators.” YouTube, SocialMediaWeek, 31 Jan 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJtqWWQ0ElE.
“Vimeo: Watch, Upload, And Share HD And 4K Videos With No Ads”. Vimeo.Com, 2020, https://vimeo.com/.
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