Chancellor Angela Merkel takes your questions on new German government YouTube channel

From the Philippines to Israel, Mexico to Iraq, governments from around the world have created YouTube channels and are using the site to communicate with their constituents. Today, the German government launched their YouTube channel to provide regular updates to German citizenry.

Better still, they want to hear from you. Chancellor Angela Merkel will be taking questions from citizens through YouTube. You can vote on the questions you'd like to see asked and she'll answer the top ten questions in a three-part video series on the new channel.



What questions do you have for the Chancellor? Upload them now.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu answers your questions live on YouTube

Two weeks ago, YouTube and Israel’s Channel 2 News asked you to submit your questions for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Thousands of you responded, from more than 90 countries, and while a large portion of questions were submitted from users across the Arab world, including Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Egypt, Jordan, many also from farther corners like Japan, Pakistan, Canada, Nepal, and Venezuela.

 

Today, at 11:10 am PST, Prime Minister Netanyahu will answer the top-voted questions from around the world, and you can watch the interview live at www.youtube.com/worldview.

One topic which attracted hundreds of questions by users worldwide was the the fate of the kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. People also posted about about negotiations and chances for peace with the Palestinians, the recent upheavals in the Middle East, and housing and gas prices in Israel.

To see which questions Netanyahu will answer, and how he’ll respond, please visit the World View channel at 11:10 am or check back later today to see it in its uploaded form.

French Workers Strike Over Plans to Raise Retirement Age

Nationwide strikes over plans to raise France's retirement age from 60 to 62 were captured by users on YouTube today. The demonstrations are a reaction to France's President Nicholas Sarkozy's view that the proposed pension reform is necessary to keep the system funded.

User name: lapetitechroniqueuse
Location: Paris, France
Date uploaded: June 24
Views: 26

User notes: A short video of the demonstration against the pension reform in Paris on June 24th without commentary.

Click here to watch this video on YouTube.

User name: fab8073
Location: Amiens, France
Date uploaded: June 24
Views: 116

Click here to watch this video on YouTube.

User name: jean2419521
Location: Pau, France
Date uploaded: June 24
Views: 22
User notes: Pau had a great demonstration against pension reform on a beautiful sunny day ... of course!

Click here to watch this video on YouTube.

Forty-Eight Hours to Submit Your Question for the President

On Monday afternoon, as a follow-up to his State of the Union address, President Obama will give a live interview to YouTube from the White House -- and every single question will come from you. You can submit your questions in video or in text, and you can vote on which questions you think should be asked on CitizenTube. Your votes will determine the top questions posed during the discussion with the President. The deadline for submission is Sunday night at 8 p.m. EST.

What makes a good question? That's entirely up to you. We would love to see as many video questions as possible, so if you can, record your question on camera and upload it to YouTube. Be sure to keep it under 20 seconds, and make sure the video and audio quality is crisp and clear. The Moderator platform allows for text questions, too - so if you don't have time to post a video, feel free to simply type your question. We'll use a mixture of both in the interview.

If you're considering what your question should be, but missed the President's State of the Union speech, here it is:



Don't be afraid to ask tough questions - this is your opportunity to have direct access to the President. Though we obviously won't get to each of the thousands of questions that have been submitted, you'll have a say in which questions are asked by voting on your favorites - so come back to CitizenTube and vote often.

Cross-posted on the YouTube blog

Year One Review: The U.S. Government on YouTube

It's been one year since the U.S. government came to YouTube with the launch of the official White House YouTube channel and President Obama's inaugural address. Soon after, we launched our Senate and House Hubs with the U.S. Congress, and then we brought the entire federal government to the site on YouTube.com/usgovernment. On the heels of a presidential election in which YouTube became a key tool for most political campaigns, politicians took their lessons from 2008 and started applying them to governing. The results were interesting and, at times, quite surprising.

Here are some of the highlights, statistics, and milestones of year one of the U.S. government on YouTube:

The White House:

• The White House ended it's first year on YouTube with 21 million video views and close to 100,000 subscribers.
• President Obama's first YouTube Weekly Address brought FDR's fireside chats into the 21st Century.
• The White House's July health care townhall, brought in 300 citizen-submitted video questions for the President to answer in a live townhall.
• Some of the most talked-about videos from the President focused on international diplomacy, including his Nowruz message directed Iranian citizens and government, his speech to the Muslim world in Cairo, his video addressing Turkish Parliament, and his Ramadan and Diwali holiday greetings.

The U.S. Congress

• A total of 430 Members of Congress have started YouTube channels to inform and engage with their constituents.
• Capitol Hill caught up with YouTube trends, learning the power of the viral hit, the mash-up, and even cat videos.
• Though the Democrats captured the majority of the seats in Congress, 89% of Republicans have channels, compared to just 74% of Democrats. In yesterday's big win for the GOP in Massachusetts, Scott Brown's campaign had an undoubtedly superior YouTube channel to his opponent Martha Coakley.
  
• Eight of the top 10 most-viewed and most-subscribed YouTube channels in Congress are from the GOP.
• The House seems to be using YouTube more effectively than the Senate - only one Senator makes the list of most-viewed and most-subscribed channels.
  

Top 10 most-subscribed YouTube channels (in order):

• Representative Alan Grayson (D-FL)
  
• Representative Ron Paul (R-TX)
  
• Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
  
• Representative John Boehner (R-OH)
  
• Representative Randy Forbes (R-VA)
  
• Representative Mike Rogers (R-MI)
• Representative Michele Bachmann (R-MN)
  
• Representative Eric Cantor (R-VA)
  
• Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC)
  
• Representative Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI)
  

Top 10 most-viewed

• Representative Mike Rogers (R-MI)
  
• Representative Alan Grayson (D-FL)
  
• Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
• Representative Randy Forbes (R-VA)
• Representative Eric Cantor (R-VA)
  
• Representative John Boehner (R-OH)
• Representative Tom Price (R-GA)
  
• Representative Don Manzullo (R-IL)
  
• Representative Don Young (R-AL)
  
• Representative Ron Paul (R-TX)

The Federal Government

• Over 150 federal agencies have started YouTube channels since our agreement went into place on May 22.
• The State Department continues to use YouTube in innovative ways, such as the Democracy Video Challenge, the Alliance of Youth Movements, and videos like this one from Secretary Clinton about 21st Secretary Statecraft.
  
• In summer 2009, HHS launched an H1N1 Flu PSA contest on YouTube - the first-ever effort by the government to get citizens to create PSAs. The winning video as voted by the YouTube community was from a doctor whose H1N1 rap made him an Internet celebrity for a few months.
• The IRS Channel on YouTube features dozens of videos informing people about new credits and deductions and other changes in the tax law.
• NASA's Astronauts used YouTube and Twitter to take questions from space, the Library of Congress started uploading it's archives (check out this video of a sneeze from 1894), and the CDC uploaded emergency preparedness clips.

- Steve Grove, Head of News and Politics

Vote on the No. 1 Video Vaccine

A month ago, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Katherine Sebelius put out a call asking you to raise awareness about how citizens can steel themselves against the H1N1 (aka, "swine flu") virus. Today, the HHS announced the 10 best citizen-created PSAs -- and you get to vote on the winner.

Take a look at the finalists' videos on the HHS YouTube channel or spin through this playlist:



Have your say about which ad you think is most effective in increasing knowledge and prevention of H1N1. The winner will receive $2500 and have his/her PSA aired on live television. Voting ends at midnight on September 8.

Congress Responds as Health Care Heats Up on YouTube

Congress may be in recess, but that doesn't mean its members are taking a vacation. For the past few weeks, elected officials from both sides of the aisle have been fanning out across the country to speak to their constituents about the issue on everyone's minds: health care. In turn, citizens are more engaged than ever before and are using YouTube to voice their discontent or approval of the White House's proposed plan for reform.

Some are opting to sound off about the issue in the privacy of their homes, but many more are participating in public protests and rallies to spread their message, then uploading this footage to YouTube. For example, this footage of a town hall with Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA), uploaded this week, has received a remarkable amount of attention.

In the wake of these protests, some members of Congress have chosen to take their townhalls online, using YouTube as a direct line to their constituents. In this video, posted yesterday, Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY) answers questions from members of his district about health care. Israel isn't the only one: Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), and President Obama have all used YouTube to find the citizen pulse on the issue.

And on Wednesday, we asked you to submit your questions to Congressman Bob Latta (R-OH) using Google Moderator. Not surprisingly, the majority of questions you asked were centered around health care. Congressman Latta responds to the top-rated questions, including those about the public option and the state of Medicare, in this interview:



Want to engage with your Representative on YouTube? Find them by visiting the YouTube House Hub or Senate Hub.

NASA Taps YouTube for Social Media in Space

International Space Station astronaut Mark Polansky has just posted a video on NASA's YouTube channel inviting users to post questions to him using the video response format, and send him links via Twitter -- you can be one of the first to follow his channel here. He'll be responding (in space!) live on NASA Television.

Forty years ago this coming July 20th, Neil Armstrong broadcast his first steps on the moon to the world via flickery TV images. Today, NASA engages space-exploration fans via YouTube and social media. A small, and exciting step for a video sharing platform...