AOL to shut down AOL Video Uploads
Following a string of other cuts, AOL has announced plans to shut down their AOL Video Upload service. Users of the service are being encouraged to start moving their videos immediately off the service, or lose them for good when the site goes dark towards the end of the year.
The loss of AOL Video Uploads comes along with the end of XDrive, AOL Pictures, MyMobile, and bluestring. The change is not currently expected to affect the actual AOL video service that shows professional content, but instead focuses on ending user generated content on the site.
The company plans on starting to shut down the service this coming week, sending an e-mail out to anyone who has uploaded videos to the site encouraging them to move them. The service will officially no longer be available effective December 18, 2008.
AOL is recommending that users transfer their videos to the free New York-based video sharing and editing site Motionbox. Features of Motionbox include:
- Easy transfer of your existing videos from AOL Video Uploads.
- High-quality video playback, with full-screen viewing options.
- Sharing, with privacy settings to help protect your content.
- Fast, reliable uploads of almost any video format.
- Simple editing and mixing tools so you can trim and combine video clips.
- Video embedding on your blog, profile page, or Web site.
Videos that are not removed or transferred by the Dec, 18 cut-off date will be forever removed from AOL Video Uploads as the service is shut down.
AOL shutting down parts of it’s operation seems like an end of an era to me. I can remember back in the beginning of the web all the AOL CD’s coming in the mail, being included in the paper…it seemed like AOL was so huge it would be impossible for them to start to go under. Crazy stuff.
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