We are a small group, part of a bigger one, which besides students and teachers at the University of Genoa who collaborate with us, include many editors in different fields. We decided to begin this project of video selection to foster independent and autonomous research skills in students and also to help teachers by providing organized teaching tools. Youtube contains plenty of videos, but sometimes we need guidance, we need a filter.

We would like to offer a very specific filter: the videos, which have been selected out of thousands are classified using categories that enable different research strategies, based on individual preferences and capacities.

Our aim is to cover all areas of study, but we need time. Since a helpful and detailed philosophy database is already available at Philpapers.org we decided to focus on philosophy videos. Our basic selection tool is based on the sophisticated set of categories used by Philpapers, to which we link each video.
Short explanation of what lies behind Philvideos: after the initial selection, each video is classified on two broad criteria: on the one hand, we classify the videos based on cognitive categories (research field, content, author, and so on) and on the other hand, we classify them according to their general properties: clarity, efficacy, difficulty and so on. While you can search by entering any name or topic into the search bar, you can also use our “sharp search” function, which offers more specific ways of selecting what is needed (close the filter before another search!). Each video is also linked to information about published papers or books on the subject taken from Wikipedia, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy and PhilPapers. We are just at the beginning of a big adventure.

The idea came from comparing social networks of teachers (Research Gate, Academia Edu, Philpapers,….) where scholars share preprints or publications. Why not having a social network of students sharing reliable videos and discussing them? We watch and share videos and it is our normal environment. Why not having something reliable, selected, and filtered? But Youtube already has a lot of videos! Indeed, too many.
1) The problem with Youtube is that there are too many contents.  We may better enjoy the wide variety of YouTube results with a specific filter and a proper environment of discussion (more focused than YouTube discussions or Youtube filters). We offer a new kind of filter.
2) There are other resources for cultural videos and private websites too, which sell good hand-made lessons. We offer instead free contents with a guarantee of “university-based” continuous moderation.
3) It is difficult to find the right content in a fast way. We  personalize the search results to the educational levels of users, through the registration information plus machine learning on users behavior. 
4) Users are not left alone and will have the possibility of direct interaction with “human” experts (PhD Students or teachers through chats and video-calls [on the “premium” part of the portal]. 

We want to answer the general request for reliable accessible culture, especially in the humanities. Our innovation is a complex work of filtering contents: (a) different levels of categories taken from experts (an in top down tradition) and from folk (as in the bottom up tradition of long tail), (b) a series of specific information about each video given by definitions elaborated by users (c) a learning artificial intelligence algorithm to help individual retrievals (d) a selection of videos with graphics used for impaired persons (especially dyslexic disorder). Another general innovation is the creation of a bridge for the future of web culture: a systematic moderation of new information through connection with University environment. Eventually, we make learning easier, faster, funnier through the systematic use of video contents, divided in different levels, from the catchy cartoon to the traditional University lesson. Youniversity will be a universal portal for culture where videos will be organized by content and by other categories and connected with a different functions, from connections to living debates, books, interactions with experts. Now it is a small society promoting the first step of this vision: https://society.youniversity.info/