Posting in YouTube has moved from being a hobby of tech savvy youth to a good source of income amid troubled times.

The financial reward of posting in the video portal is the result of YouTube's invitation for members a year ago to become partners by adding advertising to their videos for them to earn on the side.

Some YouTube posters, like celebrity chatter show host Michael Buckley, now earn six-figures from his videos. The income stream had proven to be reliable that Buckley even quit his day job in September as administrative assistant in Live Nation, a music promotion company.

The 33-year old Buckley used to host on a part-time basis a weekly program aired over a Connecticut free channel. In summer of 2006, his cousin posted portions of Buckley's show in which he ribbed celebrities at YouTube. His "What the Buck?" segment had 100 million views.

Buckley's investment was just a $2,000 Canon camera, a $6 backdrop and work lights he purchased from Home Depot. YouTube, a subsidiary of Google, splits the advertising revenues with the video posters. With the hobby turning into businesses, techies like Buckley have transformed into unintentional media firms, observed Hunter Walk, director of product management for YouTube.

Because of the popularity of YouTube videos, even federal agencies like the Internal Revenue Service has posted on the Website 30-second public announcements to inform taxpayers how to claim their tax rebates.

Young people say visiting the YouTube portal has become a habit for cyber world enthusiasts, next to checking their email and Facebook accounts whenever they enter the World Wide Web.