YouTube Announcement Scares Some

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And today's last word in business is one of this year's contenders for highest profile April Fools joke.

The video-sharing website YouTube announced yesterday it's shutting down.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

In a video message, YouTube executives said that the whole site was actually designed as an eight-year contest to find the best video on the web. Well, eight years are up. And now panel of experts, the company said, will spend the next decade watching everything uploaded on the site to choose a winner.

SALAR KAMANGAR: We always said that this shouldn't be a popularity contest. "Gangnam Style" has the same chance of winning as a video with 40 views of a man feeding bread to a duck.

KASSEM G: Of course, I'm hoping to win, but even if I've inspired just one person to go out and harass people on the beach, that's something I still feel pretty good about.

INSKEEP: That fake announcement brings to mind something that somebody said yesterday on Twitter, that our ability to distribute interesting content has far exceeded our ability to create it.

That's the business news on MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.

GREENE: And I'm David Greene. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.