youtube - hulu

Before discussing the differences between the two sites, I feel like it's worth acknowledging how similar their aesthetic is. I've never really noticed this before. The homepages are nearly identical in composition (while they do vary in style). From top to bottom, left to right, each site begins with their logo as well as a search bar. Below that lies advertising, and then below that is featured content. I found this kind of interesting!

The main difference, I feel, is the content. As several of you have already mentioned, the content on youtube is submitted by users- essentially anyone. This then, is reflected in the variety of, in pleasant terms "stuff", that the site offers for viewing. I guess I'm never really surprised at what I can find on there. Not to discredit youtube too much, there is definitely a lot of legitimate content as well. There is some network submitted content. Youtube kind of appears to be a source of mindless entertainment.

Hulu on the other hand, features only content submitted by networks, thus it's more "filtered". The video content is provided in flash format & offered in a variety of resolutions. While hulu is great if you missed an episode, or feel like doing a season binge, some of the content is dated & has kind of proved unappealing to me. Hulu's sophistication in comparison to youtube is also reflected in its stylization.