With the spread of Internet global accessing(fastest Internet broadband connection of TCP with accumulator cables and semi fast connection), video clips have become very popular online. By mid 2006[update] there were tens of millions of video clips available online, with new websites springing up focusing entirely on offering free video clips to users and many established and corporate sites adding video clip content to their websites. With the spread of broadband Internet access, video clips have become very popular online. Whereas most of this content is non-exclusive and available on competing sites, some companies produce all their own videos and do not rely on the work of outside companies or amateurs.

While some video clips are taken from established media sources, community or individual-produced clips are becoming more common. Some individuals host their created works on vlogs, which are video blogs. The use of internet video is growing very fast. Between March and July of the year 2006 YouTube alone grew from 30 to 100 million views of videos per day. More recent developments includes the BBC's iPlayer, which was released for open beta testing in July 2007.

The widespread popularity of video clips, with the aid of new distribution channels, has evolved into clip culture. It is compared to "lean-back" experience of seeing traditional movies, refers to an internet activity of sharing and viewing a short video, mostly less than 15 minutes. The culture began as early as the development of broadband network, but it sees the boom since 2005 when websites for uploading clips are emerging on the market, including Shockinghumor, YouTube, Google Video, MSN Video and Yahoo! Video.

These video clips often show moments of significance, humour, oddity, or prodigy performance. Sources for video clips include news, movies, music video and amateur video shot. In addition to the clip recorded by high-quality camcorders, it is becoming common to produce clips with digital camera, webcam, and mobile phone.

Online video advertising is emerging as a powerful platform to deliver an impactful, interactive and highly targeted message. With online entertainment powerhouses such as Hulu, YouTube and major TV network sites (ABC, NBC, CBS) delivering high-quality content free of charge, online video entertainment is rising in popularity amongst all consumer segments.

With consumer attention comes advertisers. MAGNA estimates online video advertisement spending will approach nearly $700 million in 2008, a 32% increase from 2008, reports eMarketer. As businesses seek to tighten budgetary allocations, online video is a highly measurable and results-driven delivery platform. Additionally, Pro-Ams are raising the bar on digital video content—enticing advertisers to align their brands with quality content at a reduce rate (as compared with major networks).

Unlike traditional movies largely dominated by studios, clip movies are overwhelmingly supplied by amateurs. In May 2006, The Economist reported that 90% of clips on YouTube came from amateurs, a few of whom are young comedians. It, in effect, also brought amateur talents. In 2005, two Chinese students Huang Yixin and Wei Wei, now dubbed as "Back Dorm Boys" showed their talent in lip-synching in a song of the Backstreet Boys, with their self-conscious grimaces in a video uploaded to some clip websites, has instantly become renown. Not only did they appear on television shows, concerts, but were also granted a contract by a media company in Beijing for lip-syncing for cash. An earlier celebrity was David Elsewhere, a talent at popping and liquiding. His performance to Kraftwerk's song Expo 2000 at the talent show Kollaboration in 2001 was widely spread on the internet leading later to his being hired for TV commercials and music videos.

Citizen video reporting dates back as early as the development of camcorders, but all videos were screened by the local media outlets of the time, until its spread has been aided by free upload websites in which censorship is limited to make a vast amount of videos available to anyone who wants it. Scenes rarely broadcast on television, and many first-witnessed scenes have since become publicly available.

Notably, in December 2004, tourist videos on the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami offered worldwide audiences the first scenes of the disaster. In December 2003, videos in Hong Kong showing the bully in De La Salle School has outraged the public, raised a wide concern on school violence and led to the arrest of 11 students.

In late 2005 to early 2006, a new form of blogging emerged called a vlog. It is a blog that takes video as the primary content, often accompanied by supporting text, image, and additional metadata to provide context. Su Li Walker, an analyst with the Yankee Group, said that like blogs, which have become an extension of traditional media, video blogs will be a supplement to traditional broadcasting.