Should You Store Your Family Films on YouTube?

Should you store your family films on YouTube?

Family history is important, and one of the ways that people preserve their family history is through photos as well as family movies. Family films can capture those precious and important moments in your family, from birthday parties to garden barbecues and everything in between.  

It’s becoming easier than ever to backup family mementos in ways that allow you to share them with the rest of your family—but what about family movies? Unlike family photos, movies aren’t as easily uploaded to sites where your family can privately access them to view family history. One option that many people are turning to in order to store family films is YouTube. But should you store your family history on YouTube? Let’s take a closer look at the options you have for storing family movies using this service. 

Uploading to YouTube 

There are three primary ways that you can upload family films to YouTube: public videos, private videos and unlisted videos. Each of these video options has its pros and cons when it comes to uploading family movies.  

Public Videos 

Public videos are completely available to the public. Anyone can technically find your family movies if they happen to come across them using the search function. This also means that the videos can be shared and embedded by anyone on the internet. It is not the best option if you want your family movies to be private, or if the information or content on the videos is something you (or someone in the video) wouldn’t want to be shared with the world. This option does allow for easier access for family members because they won’t have to follow special links or get invited, but it does come with the drawbacks of no privacy. 

Private Videos 

Private videos can only be viewed by people who have been specifically invited to view the video. This means that anyone who wants to view the video has to have a YouTube account, and you (or whoever decides to upload the videos) have to invite them. This is the ultimate private option on YouTube, as it allows you to grant exclusive control over who can view the video. This option is limited to 50 accounts, so it’s not ideal if you want to share the video with a massive amount of family members. 

Unlisted Videos 

Unlisted videos can technically be viewed by anyone—however; they cannot be found using the search function and can only be discovered by people who have the specific link to the video. You can then give out this link to a select group of people whom you want to see your family movies. The upside to this option is that people can view it without having a YouTube account or waiting to be invited/approved; the downside is that the videos are technically not private and if someone gives out the link in a public location, other people could view the video. 

If you want to store your family movies on YouTube, carefully consider the above options when making your decision. 

To learn how to back up your old photos click here.

To learn how to convert old family slides click here.

To learn how to label your old photo digital scans by using metadata click here.