Users of the services can upload cinéma vérité directly from the camera, or painstakingly edit the videos using software like iMovie from Apple or Windows Movie Maker from Microsoft. Some services, like Phanfare, charge a monthly fee, and most, with the exception of Google Video, limit the size of videos.

None of the sites should be considered a reliable sole archive for personal video, however, since many do not allow users to download their original file once it has been uploaded. And there is always the possibility that a site may vanish overnight.

At least two sites, Blip.tv and OurMedia.org, promise more permanence by uploading a copy of each video submitted to the Internet Archive, which is run by a San Francisco nonprofit organization whose mission is long-term preservation of digital material.

Graham Walker, who posts his travel videos to OurMedia.org, views that as a benefit. Some of his videos made during a trip to Tibet capture the changes in that country as China exerts a greater impact on its culture. "With your video in the Internet Archive, you feel that you're leaving something for the future," said Mr. Walker, a video producer who lives in Prague.

"Of course, some people may not want that," he added. "Do you really want your new girlfriend to find all the videos you made when you were with your old girlfriend?"

Some video sharers simply want to make their latest clips accessible to a defined group of family members and friends, but others relish making their work public and the serendipity of allowing those who come across it to share their reactions. (Some enjoy both aspects of the services.) Vimeo can even send a user an e-mail or text message when someone else has posted a new comment about his video.

One of Andrew Long's videos on that site, "sugar rush," has been viewed nearly 2,500 times and has inspired 21 comments. (A typical one: "the first few seconds were the awesomest.") It features a friend of Mr. Long's stuffing blue cotton candy into her mouth on a visit to Coney Island. Mr. Long appreciates the social aspect of publishing his video on Vimeo. "I like being able to see what my friends shoot, and comment on it, and have them comment on my stuff," he said. "It's really gratifying."