'The Year of the Upload'

By
ABC News
December 19, 2006, 5:40 PM ET
2 min read

Dec. 12, 2006 — -- Video cameras, surveillance cameras and cell phone cameras are everywhere these days, capturing outrageous crimes, embarrassing celebrity moments, and political gaffes. But this year, there was something else -- these moments are no longer just caught on tape. They're shared online.

Anything captured on camera can rocket around the internet and onto television and computer screens in a matter of minutes. The explosion of surveillance cameras in every conceivable place and self-styled videographers who upload and share every frame have literally changed the world in the past year.

Watch "Caught...You" on a special two-hour edition of "20/20," Friday, Dec. 29 at 9 p.m. ET

Every public moment -- and some private ones -- can become fodder for YouTube and dozens of other video-sharing Web sites.

Everyday, a major or minor scandal erupts as a result of an online video posting. From Michael Richards to Virginia Sen. George Allen to Britney Spears, these days, hardly anything goes unrecorded or unviewed.

Some homemade videos are downloaded thousands of times, causing fame or unwelcome infamy.

Every type of crime and major news story are also caught on tape, in addition to surveillance footage used to solve crimes.

And whether it's soldiers uploading videos from Iraq or disturbing images of sports hazing, viral video has changed the way we watch television, and how we view the world.

Viral video moments are recorded and shared in new and increasingly bold ways. They're part of the "caught-on-tape" phenomenon that has captured the nation's attention.

With hundreds of new videos every day, and so many people sending and receiving videos, whatever happened to traditional notions of privacy? Who is the filter and how much video is too much? With an estimated five million people uploading 100,000 new video clips everyday, the world has become one huge cyber-screening room.

"20/20" will take you behind the scenes, and explore the latest trends, with the winners and losers in this new online reality.