There are two ways to use YouTube: as a viewer or as a creator. You can watch other people's videos or upload your own. However, many people on YouTube use the site and its apps to watch content.

Unlike other social networks, YouTube doesn’t require you to create an account before you can search for content or watch videos. Searching and watching are two activities you can do anonymously without having to log in.

If you want to broadcast yourself or upload your own content, you'll need to sign up for a Google account and get a username and password. You can only upload videos if you have a user ID.

Google, which bought YouTube in 2006 and now operates it as a subsidiary, did away with standalone YouTube accounts a few years later. Today, people can log in to YouTube with any existing Google ID, allowing them to create custom channels and do all the things allowed with a YouTube account.