SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
YouTube - it's not just cute cat videos.
(SOUNDBITE OF YOUTUBE VIDEO, "KITTENS MEOWING - A CATS MEOWING COMPILATION [CUTE]")
SIMON: Aww. A new Pew Research Center survey found that roughly half of U.S. adults who use YouTube say it's helped them learn how to do new things. We asked on Facebook and Twitter what new things people might have learned on YouTube.
(SOUNDBITE OF YOUTUBE VIDEO, "NEED A NEW CAR BATTERY? HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT TYPE")
SCOTTY KILMER: Rev up your engines.
SIMON: Videos to help fix up your car and home were popular.
(SOUNDBITE OF YOUTUBE VIDEO, "NEED A NEW CAR BATTERY? HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT TYPE")
KILMER: Eventually, car batteries go bad. How do you decide how to buy the right one for your car?
SIMON: Liz Burns of Charlotte wrote that she learned via YouTube that my car battery is in the trunk after staring into the engine for a good 10 minutes. Well, I'd still be staring. Other popular how-to topics...
(SOUNDBITE OF YOUTUBE VIDEO, "EASY MICROWAVE CORN ON THE COB RECIPE - NO SHUCKING!")
MARK: Today's recipe is super, super simple - microwave corn on the cob.
SIMON: Cooking and knitting.
(SOUNDBITE OF YOUTUBE VIDEO, "HOW TO KNIT - ABSOLUTE BEGINNER KNITTING, LESSON 1 - EVEN IF YOU'RE CLUELESS!")
CHANDI: Now, if you know these three things, you can call yourself a knitter. What, what? I'm a knitter.
SIMON: And surprisingly or - I don't know - maybe not surprising at all...
(SOUNDBITE OF YOUTUBE VIDEO, "HOW TO STRUM THE UKULELE - BEGINNER UKE TUTORIAL")
SIMON: ...Playing the ukulele.
(SOUNDBITE OF YOUTUBE VIDEO, "HOW TO STRUM THE UKULELE - BEGINNER UKE TUTORIAL")
CYNTHIA LIN: Aloha, everyone. Today, we have a tutorial on how to strum clearly.
SIMON: Geno Palazzari of Gillette, Wyo., says YouTube videos helped him land a job.
(SOUNDBITE OF YOUTUBE VIDEO, "HOW TO TIE A TIE - FOR BEGINNERS - QUICK AND EASY")
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Hello. I am here going to teach you how to tie a tie.
SIMON: He told us on Twitter, I learned how to tie a necktie, needed it for a job interview. I was 31 years old and had never tied one. I got the job almost nine years now. Well, Steve Jobs never wore a tie, Geno.
And Nisse Ramser of Denver wrote on Facebook, I was cat sitting for my sister for a long weekend. Her cat needed subcutaneous fluids every day. My brother-in-law made it sound easy - not easy. After a really awful first attempt, I used YouTube to learn how to do it correctly.
So it turns out you can teach humans new tricks with cat videos.
(SOUNDBITE OF CAT MEOWING) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
