YouTube announced Sunday it was shutting down for a decade to review all the videos uploaded on the site for the last eight years and choose the best video.
YouTube announced Sunday in a 3:32 minute video posted on its homepage that the world's most popular video sharing site will be shutting down midnight April 1, owing to its decision to review all the videos uploaded till date and choose the best video and declare a winner by 2023. The video said that the global site was a contest with a simple goal "to find the best video in the world."
The announcement video was titled, "It's finally time to pick the winner." The video clearly mentioned its motive behind launching the site eight years ago, which was to find the best video. Time Liston, named as "competition director,", Salar Kamangar, YouTube CEO, Steve Chen & Chad Hurley, founders of YouTube, Antonio Dodson, named as YouTube Judge, were featured in the video along with many other people who have submitted their unique videos online.
"We are so close to the end. Tonight at midnight, youtube.com will no longer be accepting entries. After eight amazing years, it is finally time to review everything that has been uploaded to our site and begin the process of selecting a winner," Liston said in the video.
The common platform, where videos are viewed and posted by billions of users across the globe, has widely been in use since its launch in 2005. YouTube had estimated recently that more than 70 hours of videos are uploaded on the online video sharing site every minute with more than a billion users using the site each month.
The online video sharing site will be shutting down midnight April 1st and all the videos on the site will be permanently deleted. Nearly 30,000 technicians will review all the videos that have been uploaded on the site and a panel of judges will include film critics, creative YouTube commenters and celebs.
The announcement said that the winner, who will be declared after a decade, will be winning an MP3 players and $500 creative stipend for their next venture.
Considering the timing of the video, viewers are of the view that it might be an April Fool's Day prank. But are there any takers that the site may just be disappearing for a decade?
