I love putting videos of myself up on YouTube.

Before you shake your collective heads at my egoism, this isn’t some self-serving piece trying to pump up my popularity.

The reason I love YouTube is that, as a musician, it’s an invaluable resource for discovering new talent, networking and (especially for folk musicians) learning new tunes.

It’s funny. Growing up, I spent years meandering from backwoods bluegrass sessions to eclectic music circles to the youth symphony and back again. Today, a new piece of music or a new musician is just a click away.

While I certainly wouldn’t argue that YouTube is a one-to-one replacement for actually getting out to meet new people, in the absence of local sessions, jams or hootenannies, video sharing can serve many of the same functions.

I started posting on my YouTube account nine months ago. Initially, I intended it as a way to share my performances with others, since I had often learned new tunes that way and figured it was time to return the favor. I also wanted a way to critique my performances from the comfort of my chair.

I never intended it to become the time vortex that it has. Since then, I’ve gone a little nuts. The two videos I posted with an initial 100 views have blossomed into 85 videos and almost 73,000 views.

It’s a rush to put up a recording and watch as others view it and, in some cases, leave comments or ratings on a five-star system. When I’m feeling down, it can be a real pick-me-up to get a bit of positive feedback.

The cool thing about online videos (or anything online, really) is that your music, writing, blooper reel, etc., is no longer being exposed to just those who buy your CD or were at the barbecue to see that football hit your crotch. Now, dads can share how they bruised their unmentionables with the world, and musicians don’t have to create a physical disc to reach people — they just need five minutes and a Web camera.

Just as the Internet’s appeal crosses chronological, ethnic and social boundaries, so, too, does YouTube.

After doing a quick check of those who have left comments on my videos, the age range is 14-56 and the countries of origin are everywhere from Afghanistan and Brazil to Poland and Malaysia. It’s amazing to think of someone in Kuala Lumpur or Kabul watching me play tenor banjo, but apparently, it happened, and they thought enough of it to write something about it.

I’ve now made connections with musicians all over Ireland whom I hope to meet face-to-face some day. And while I might never get down to Sao Paulo to meet the face behind the user name “Videlfolk,” I know I’m going to continue watching the videos.

Some of you may wonder why I’m not going to list my user name, but like I promised, this is not the place for being self-serving. Plus, I don’t want to artificially inflate my view count with curious locals.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go check for new comments.