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In the online world, there are always ups and downs in the lifetime of a service being offered. Hypes create services to be the center of attention and then comes the time when something better steals the thunder. But there is a reason why YouTube will stick around for a long time to come, even though there are numerous other platforms to share videos.
1) There's far more content on YouTube than elsewhere- It probably goes back to the phrase "content is king," but honestly, YouTube has tons of videos on it, of which a lot might be senseless, but there is still a bunch of great clips on there.
2) Usability- YouTube is probably the easiest site you can use, next to Google. You type in virtually any term and you can find a video related to it. Compare YouTube to another video platform, I don't think you will find one that is any easier to use. I've even seen a 5 year old use YouTube.
3) Integration- Sure you can stream live from your iPhone using Qik and maybe not YouTube, but who cares about live streams? If you truly think about it, nobody outside the social media space probably cares about live streaming videos. More people care about watching or reading content than producing it. YouTube has been there since the iPhone came out.
4) Hard to copy- Social networks are always "stealing" their competitors user base, but the YouTube user base is hard to "steal." With a social network if one friend goes, two will go, five will go, and so on. YouTube has the ability to subscribe to people's videos and all, which is in a way creating friendships, but the service really can't plummet as fast as some other services could.
5) It's a brand- It seems that everyone who knows what online video is, knows what YouTube is. The brand has a strong reputation. It is what keeps the people coming back day after day.
6) Many have created a business around it- A lot of people make money from creating YouTube videos in one way or another. If you look at how many people are doing this and then add all of those people's audiences, you end up with a large user base. Unless the people making the videos switch platforms, the people following those videos aren't going anywhere.
7) The Google touch- Google is huge, since they own YouTube, the chances of them keeping an upper hand in online video for a long time to come is extremely high. Big companies usually know what they need to do to stay ahead.
