On Wednesday, YouTube hosted the YouTube Festival in Johannesburg where the organisation and some of its content creators highlighted how the platform helps users to explore endless possibilities.
According to insights shared during the festival, which carried the tagline “YouTube is for Everyone”, millions of South Africans are using YouTube to explore their world, learn new things and grow their businesses.
YouTube also revealed researched information on the platform’s effectiveness for the creators who use it and data which detailed how YouTube is growing in South Africa and its impact on users, creators and advertisers.
Some of the insights included:
Creators
The YouTube Black Voices Fund is one of the YouTube initiatives that have empowered South African creators over the years.
Zeph Masote, YouTube lead for southern Africa, noted: “Since launch, we’ve provided a platform for Africans to share their rich and diverse culture on a global stage, and also offer African users more relevant content.
“Over the years we have consistently built and nurtured great relationships with Africa’s storytellers and supported their growth through direct partner support, capacity building and funding.”
Audience
A growing number of South Africans use YouTube when they’re searching for unique content that they love.
“The diversity of content on YouTube allows all viewers to have content that is relevant to them and that they can relate to,” said Lorraine Landon, specialist lead for SSA.
“It doesn’t matter what their age, gender, race, or socio-economic background is, they can watch YouTube on any screen and at any time. Viewers enjoy YouTube because it has content they can't find anywhere else.”
Reach has also increased over the last decade as video data bundles have become more prevalent thanks to the growth of free wi-fi areas.