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Always keep safety and security in mind, for both yourself and those who may appear in the video. Imminency and audience reach may be an important element of your strategy, but remember that no site is 100% secure. You may want to consider creating anonymous accounts on the various sites you use. Small World News and EngageMedia offer primers on security.
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If privacy is a concern, you may want to carefully peruse the privacy policy statements linked to in the table to see what information, if any, the service collects about you. Dailymotion, for example, states that it collects only your email address, date of birth, and IP address.
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Citizen journalists, video activists, and other producers looking for more independence in video distribution may want to consider self-hosting. Video for Change has a guide on approaches and tools to host, showcase, and aggregate content on your own site, reducing reliance on commercial and independent video distribution sites.
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Consider live streaming platforms, which allow people to engage, react, and share your recording as it’s happening. Bambuser, for example, has the ability to record and save an event on a mobile device to upload and share at a later time. This is especially helpful if you’re covering an event in an area with limited internet connectivity, but you wish to share the video as soon as you have a more stable connection. Other live streaming services include Ustream.tv and Livestream.com. See this Video for Change guide for more on live streaming.
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Most of the video distribution sites reviewed here offer suggested file formats and compression. If you do compress your video for upload, keep an original high-quality version of your footage so you can edit it later for posting to other sites.
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If your video file format is incompatible with your chosen video distribution site, don’t fret. You’ll likely be able to convert your file. Here’s a troubleshooting guide to help.
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When you prepare to upload and share, be sure you have the most up-to-date browser, which can affect the size and speed of your uploads. Look for a strong, stable internet connection and limit other activity while uploading.
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There are also commercial video distribution services that assist you in easily posting your video to multiple sites. Examples include OneLoad and StartCut.
