Robert Gray (@robertdgray) of FOXBusiness covered the rise of YouTube Spaces and Google’s investments in creating real world communities of aspiring Youtubers. Robert spoke with Brian Solis to get his perspective on the reasons behind the story…

Google is trying to create “space” between its market leading YouTube video sharing platform and its competitors by disrupting the Hollywood studio model.

“The content is what keeps people coming back (to watch more YouTube videos),” says Brian Solis, digital analyst and author, with Altimeter Group. Solis, who has his own YouTube channel, adds, “YouTube Space is an intentional strategy to grow revenue and attract more interest from (consumer) brands and other well-known advertisers.”

“Space is inspiring,” says Solis, who likens the facility’s bustling activity, networking, and shoestring budgets to the early days of Hollywood spliced with the DNA of Silicon Valley. “What YouTube wants to accomplish is to make a more entrepreneurial space akin to what an accelerator does or a startup. Google is aware of what happens when you bring creative people together.”

But even as Google and YouTube are disrupting traditional media, there are scrappy startups keeping everyone on their toes in the digital video world. Altimeter Group’s Solis uses the sudden emergence of Vine as an example that even six-second videos can pose a threat to more established rivals.

“New platforms and short attention spans are the biggest threats to YouTube,” he says, along with content aggregation platforms that deliver YouTube videos alongside those from competing services. “That makes YouTube a supplier and not a destination”, observes Solis.

Read the article in its entirety at FOXBusiness.