Tech Tip: YouTube & Bebo

So, after getting into the social networking [wikipedia.org] thing, I've been thinking about the FAQ and help sections of these websites [facebook.com][bebo.com]. The FAQ/help sections of these websites often doesn't list details of how some of their technologies actually work. Point in case being bebo's 'flashbox' technology.

Instead of being like the rest of the 'beboers', why not add your own semi-unique flashbox by using YouTube [youtube.com].

Its pretty simple. Every video on YouTube [youtube.com] is identified by a unique bunch of letters and numbers. (eg ZRXLJp0BP9w). Bebo requires an internet url for the location of a beboer's flashbox. YouTube provides an interface to all of its video's by one player.swf file.

So, to get the video from YouTube onto your bebo profile, simply copy the random bunch of letters and numbers from the address bar of your browser and attach it to the end of this url:

http://www.youtube.com/p.swf?video_id=

For our earlier example, Dillinger Escape Plan's 'Panasonic Youth' (ZRXLJp0BP9w) the url would be:

http://www.youtube.com/p.swf?video_id=ZRXLJp0BP9w

Paste this into the bebo flashbox url and click 'save'. That's it, you're done. Enjoy the video you've just picked!

(For examples of two flashboxes done using this technique, check my bebo profile here [bebo.com] or my college class' bebo profile)

[Updated 29/Apr/2006 to reflect the change in swf file used by YouTube...]

Technorati Tags: YouTube|Google|Bebo|Social Networking