As many of you know I have my own YouTube channel where I post videos from the military that most people will never get a chance to see because the mainstream media refuses to show any good news video from the war front.
So back in March of 2007 I started a YouTube channel and dedicated it to posting videos I thought that the general public and military families might find interesting, yet not otherwise be able to find or see. With the popularity of YouTube I thought it was the perfect internet medium for this. So I began gathering videos from various sources and posting them. I was astounded by the popularity of the videos.
The YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/3rdID8487) quickly began to gather steam and I was soon getting over 1000 video views a day! Currently I have had almost 900,000 video views (close to that 1 million mark!!) and I have posted 606 videos to date. I am excited about getting that 1 millionth viewer. Imagine, 1 million people viewing positive videos about our mission and men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan. Astounding.
This hobby, if you can call it that, has also given me an insight into YouTube and the people that are on it. I have conducted a few experiments while doing this and have to say the results have been interesting if not eye opening.
One of those experiments was to work the title and search terms of a video to see if that made a difference in the number of hits it would gather. Wow was I in for a surprise. I named a video of soldiers handing out soccer balls to Iraqi children "US Soldiers torture Iraq Children... " and at the same time posted the same video with the Title "US soldiers play with Iraq Children..". The one that had the word "torture" in it got almost 10 times as many hits as the other! And I ended up taking the other down for lack of interest. Here are a few comments from the one that had torture in its title:
"Oh. You got me thinking " Another one of them crazy guys who thinks that we are the terrorists in Iraq " ... God Bless these guys. "
"For a moment I thought you were thinking like some of the pro-commie idiots (songunblog, juchekorea, etc.) on here. Rock of the Marne! "
"I liked this. I get sick of the other people who put videos that are anti-American and make up false facts. Thanks, I give this 5 Stars! "
I get people that post on the videos and both sides of the spectrum make their voices heard. I find it very interesting the messages that are sent to me. Most are from family or friends of soldiers thanking me for posting positive videos for people to view:
Chris,
You don't know me, but i've watched a couple of your videos, and they are great. May I first just say thank you very much for serving your country. America needs more brave men and women like yourself. I am currently in the US Air Force, and I have utmost respect for any man/woman that has served. Also, I want you to know that I am for the war, for invading Iran, and for fighting terrorism until the gentle embrace of death caresses every one of them.
All in all, I just wanted to thank you for your Pro-military blogging and say thanks for your years in the service.
Jason
How can you not be thankful for notes like that?? Those kinds of things just make my day week and year for that matter. Those types of notes just keep me posting more and more videos. I get a boost from those people that take the time to comment n the videos and even send me messages. Almost 98% are positive and ask for more positive news. I think that he general public just wanted to see something positive out of the war and when they get to see all the projects, medical treatments, and positive things that are going on, they just feel better. Isn't that what most people want, just to have a little good news for once, something different from the continual negative news they see on their TV? I think so.
So if you’re looking for a little relief for the constant bombardment of negative news, take look at a few videos and you will learn something about the Iraq War that it’s not all negative and death and destruction.
Just wanted to share some thoughts... Have a great week..