Free Video Hosting

Free video hosting refers to using a web hosting company to store or host your video files. This article helps define the basics of video hosting and what to lookfor in free video hosting. If you are looking for free video hosting this article is a must read.

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The Basics of Video Hosting

Video hosting is a service that allows you to post your videos online. At minimum, this can back up your files and keep them safe. But it may also do much more. Unlike some other types of file hosting, video hosting is a very specific service. While photo hosting and file hosting sites may accept video, video hosting sites generally do not accept any other types of files. Furthermore, video hosting sites are likely to have definitive limitations on the types of files they accept. 

Beside the purpose of backing up valuable files, video hosting services also serve the purpose of allowing you to share videos with others. With the technology now available, sites like YouTube allow people to view video on mobile devices, making your video accessible to almost everyone and almost everywhere, if that's what you want. It's also easier to share with a group by posting the video and giving a number of people access so they can stream it than it is to send the video to each of them or have them each download it.

What to Look for in Free Video Hosting?

When you're looking for a free video hosting, you could be looking for storage or sharing or both. Clarify your priorities before you start, to help you determine criteria. Consider which file types you prefer, and which you're willing to use. Consider who you want to be able to access your video, and what kind of devices they're likely to need to see it on. Does it need to be high quality, or is "pretty good" good enough for your purposes? Can you vet comments on your video? The comment section of sharing sites is notorious for garnering off-topic and obscene comments that you may not wish to have associated with your work. What are the uploading options and are there size limitations for the free video hosting? Some sites may require you to download a tool in order to upload your files, but not all free video hosting sites do. What upgrade options are available? Can you get more space, if you need it? It you want to terminate your account and remove your files, is this possible? Make sure to read the terms of service for free video hosting before you post video. It's important to know if your access can be removed without warning and to make sure that you retain the copyright to your work. 

Depending on your purposes, you may wish to consider these free video hosting sites:

• FaceBook and MySpace—you can have a personal and/or business page and post your videos for your "friends" or for anyone who is interested in your business. Musicians, on the one hand, and parents, on the other use these sites to post videos of their activities.

• Flickr and PhotoBucket were developed as image hosting sites, but they also make video hosting available.

• YouTube is a well-known and ubiquitous video host. Vimeo is another that is growing in popularity.

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