Why YouTube Is Ready for Prime Time

Editor's Note: Jon D. Markman writes a weekly column for CNBC on MSN Money that is republished here on TheStreet.com.

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Student rebels in the 1960s used to say, borrowing from a song by Gil Scott-Heron, that the revolution would not be televised. Boy, were they wrong. It's not only televised, but video-journaled, blogged, sampled, derided, defended and turned into parody -- sometimes all within the space of a few hours.

Destination No. 1 for whatever cultural kink catches the attention of Generation X, Y and Z these days is YouTube.com, a Web outfit in Northern California whose founders turned on the lights only 12 months ago.

Despite its youth, YouTube already has become the fastest-growing media company in the world -- outpacing even MySpace.com. It serves more than 100 million video clips a day, and something like 70,000 new videos are added every 24 hours.

Watching are 20 million people a month with nothing better to do than view a video of a cat chasing the light of a laser pen around a room. A video of a Russian ninja jumping off buildings was popular for awhile.

And the sweet, strange video journals of a LonelyGirl15 on the site recently became a mass-media touchstone, drawing nearly a million clicks per film as viewers became drawn into her world of home-schooling, dating and parent conflict. Or not, as the case may be -- since she was later revealed as an actress.