You like to watch online videos. No surprise – so do 85% of internet users. Watching video is without question one of the most popular online activities. And behind the camera, for individuals and organizations, video is arguably the most important medium for online storytelling, education, advertising, and generally engaging an audience.

So how can you make sure you’re getting the most out of online video?

In today’s first of two posts on online video, we’ll look at some tools that try to answer this for both creators and spectators. Of course these groups overlap greatly, since video sharing communities allow for varying levels of involvement – from viewer to member to commenter to influencer/content sharer. This post focuses on topical, valuable video platforms, and looking at some trends in online video.

Monday’s post will be specifically looking at tools for video creators – managing the distribution and analysis of videos, extracting valuable data to inform ongoing strategy and content.

The wide availability of video recording devices (you’re probably carrying one in your pocket, via your cellular phone), combined with video streaming sites that deliver video reliably and quickly, have made real-time, live broadcasting online a reality. Video streaming increased 40% in 2009, and shows no sign of slowing. The sites that are delivering the best streaming experience are generally the ones delivering great content and adapting quickly to mobile and social technologies.

Ustream

You know a platform is worth paying attention to when P. Diddy, Miley Cyrus and CBS news are actively adopting it.

Ustream is the big cheddar in live video broadcast streaming and for good reason – they’ve built a terrific platform and the content is just as strong. Their offering is scalable from individual users to premium business accounts.

Of particular note is their Ustream on Facebook application, a premium offering which integrates a live event directly into a Facebook profile or business page, complete with live conversation feed of people watching the same stream etc. They’ve also delivered a slick mobile application that supports live streaming, meaning you can be live in P. Diddy’s Las Vegas dressing room, while you’re riding the subway in Baltimore.

Justin.tv

If Ustream is all about big name content,Justin.tv‘s focus is the here and now. Its streams tend to be a bit more magazine-style, community and event oriented, and their social network building tools are strong. There are some real gems here – like Inc. Magazine’s interview series with 37signals’ Jason Fried and it is worth spending some time exploring the content. With a growing community, a mobile app and a focus on integrating social networking, this is a neat video platform to discover and build topical communities.

LiveStream

Another large player in the space, LiveStream’s channels include big brand content. Behind the scenes, they’re a reliable platform to host video, with clean and customizable embeddable players, strong analytics, and an ad platform that allows content creators to monetize their content.

Niche video communities are growing, and at the same time big entertainment media is breaking into the online video space. It’s a great time to watch video online, and here are a few sites you may not have on your radar quite yet.

Do you like music? Of course you do. Vevo is a popular channel for big budget music videos, live footage from events like SXSW and Coachella, and music content like Rhianna’s favourite playlist.

Remember that idea you had where television was one big search engine and any show you could think of would be there for you to watch with one click? We’re getting there. The well-known (and sadly for us Canadians, US-only) Hulu has done an incredible job of bringing prime-time to the laptop. Also check out Clicker, which is focused on a channel-surfing approach to online video, with strong usability features like playlist building and advanced search engine.

One other site that is worth a link is 5min. A how-to and exclusive content destination on a rampage, 5min jumped onto comScore’s top ten video sites in 2009, and sits at more than 3 million active viewers. It’s a great place to discover high quality how-to and instructional content for pretty much anything you can think of.

StumbleUpon is an older site, but still does a great job of delivering content customized to your viewing interests. As you watch, and provide feedback on video and other content, the StumbleUpon engine gets more intelligent, and serves content that increasingly fits your custom area of interest.

Image credit: Andyi