Download Squad

Social video sharing powerhouse YouTube has taken a tentative step into Facebook's neighborhood with the introduction of Colleges on YouTube. The new Colleges feature provides closed communities for students, staff, and alumni of a number of U.S. colleges and universities to share videos only with their fellow students, staff, and alumni. Like Facebook, to gain access to a college's YouTube site, you must have an email address from that school. It also promises Facebook-like groups for people in the same student organizations or who share interests. Right now the services is limited to 30 major colleges and universities. As with Facebook, the social implications of this are interesting. It's only a matter of time before students begin posting videos that are potentially embarrassing, if not incriminating, including videos of other students who might not have given their (sober) consented to being taped. In all likelihood we're on the verge of a flurry of editorials describing employers who have turned down promising young graduates, students getting disciplinary action, and parents getting all in a huff over things seen on YouTube. But it'll be fun to watch.

Check out the full list of schools currently on YouTube after the jump.