A pen is no longer the mightiest way to capture the public's attention.
Over the past year, the number of Internet users who have visited a video-sharing Web site increased by 45 percent, according to a recent survey conducted by the Pew Internet Project.
The study, which surveyed 2,054 American adults, also found that the number of people who used video sharing sites on an average day increased from 8 percent in 2006 to 15 percent last year.
YouTube - the most well-known video-sharing Web site - is the eighth most trafficked Internet destination, according to Nielsen NetRatings.
Since its creation in 2005, YouTube has grown enormously. Ten hours of video are uploaded to the site each minute, according to a YouTube spokeswoman.
And students have caught on to the trend. The number of college students who visit video-sharing sites on an average day has increased by 70 percent since December 2006, the Pew survey found.
Undergraduate Assembly chairman and College senior Jason Karsh said he uses YouTube for both UA addresses and personal entertainment.
Over the past year, Karsh has uploaded video addresses to the site to add personality to the usual text-laden UA updates.
"This way the messages come from people, not just words on the screen," he said.
Other Penn students said they visit YouTube to watch everything from the television show Flight of the Concords to Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee's Christmas advertisement to the Soulja Boy dance instructional video.
"I don't think it's a useful way to communicate important information," Engineering freshman Jon Oei said. "But gossip shows up really quickly - it's useful for that."
An increase in home broadband connections over the past year has contributed to the popularity of Web sites like YouTube, Pew Internet Project study director Lee Rainie said.
"Video is a very bandwidth-intense activity," he said, adding that videos on dial-up networks were choppy, but broadband provides for more efficient streaming, leading to a "much richer experience" for online viewers.
Rainie also said that video-sharing sites make it easier and more affordable for people to entertain themselves online.
"There is a lot more to see online," he said. "With a modest investment - a couple hundred dollars - people can themselves become movie makers."
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