XTube.com
X-ed YouTube
By Kiki Tan

I think this is the sister company of YouTube.com, that site that changed media as we once knew it, since it gave the power to the people themselves, the consumers of the media, instead of keeping it among select few. 

But this is the sleazy sister, the one everybody doesn’t talk about in the open, but well discussed in private, and enjoyed at that, too.

And so it should be.

Xtube.com is, as the site’s name suggests, an x-rated online site that applies the same approach that YouTube.com does: ALLOW INTERNET USERS TO UPLOAD THEIR OWN MATERIALS, FOR THE WHOLE WORLD TO SEE.  Only, in this case, and repeating for emphasis, the materials uploaded are (mostly) all x-rated. 

This, therefore, makes the voyeurs in all of us celebrate: “Look, that cute guy I can never, ever have even if I have a $1 million to pay for him is jerking off!  And I saw it all!  Now he’s got nothing to hide from me!”

Compared to other online sites, Xtube.com fails in some aspects, but ups the ante in others.  On the one hand, and for example, it has the live performances through Web cams of those online – a definite plus, except that most of those wanking off online are there to be paid, so pay up, you voyeur, if you want to enjoy them live!  This is, well, silly, if I am to be asked, mainly because – hello! – the whole site’s filled with wanking and fucking and pissing and fisting and whatever, so why pay still?  But that it’s there, maybe there’s a market, and it’s just me complaining... 

On the other hand, and this is another example, the contents are limited to visuals – i.e. videos and photographs.  No narratives here – well, if you consider blogs as such, then there’s some narratives here, after all...

Perhaps the biggest negative is the disarray of the site – at least especially when compared to similarly-themed sites (and there are aplenty), this one’s quite confusing, e.g. there’s a line with the links to categories, but when clicked, you won’t be directed to the chosen category, but to the sites of the advertisers.

But who am I to complain – the site is generally free, so go check it out for yourself.