Why Do We Call Films On Youtube Videos?

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Very few of them were ever made on video. Actually neither are they films.

What do we call them? I don't know, but they are not videos as they are on Youtube.

From what I can tell, there isn't a definite rule about film versus video, but people tend not to use the term film to refer to things that aren't at a theater or being projected. And the main reason for them being called films at the theater is that there's over a century of history of using actual film both for recording and display and theaters are purely digital these days as it's hard to even get the appropriate films to run through older projectors. In common use, videos are basically any other motion picture.

As for YouTube, I'm guessing it's because of when the site launched and gained popularity. If I understand correctly, people say they're watching Tic Tocs or something of that nature.

One of the meanings of video is: "a series of recorded images which are shown on television or viewed on a screen".

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/video

Videos on Youtube are digital videos and usually are of the MPEG-4 variety or something similar.

There is a such a thing as film. Made of celluloid. Projected on a projector onto a screen in a theater.

Chemical film.

And there is such a thing as magnetic video tape. Kinda of like magnetic tape recording tape used for audio...except it does moving pics as well as sound. Works magnetically rather than chemically.

Video came to be used for TV. Celluloid "film" was reserved for cinema in theaters.

Then in the Eighties the MTV network burst onto the scene to promote pop music. The short little song lengths films to promote the pop songs came to called "music videos".

Basically thats where it came from. So the (usually but not always)short films on Utube are also called "videos" or "vids".

And Utube videos ARE usually made on video (rather than by movie film cameras like those of 20th Century Hollywood) though now its usually on digital video rather than on the old analog video tapes.

Also folks at the end of the 20th century got into the habit of distinquishing between "CDs" (compact disks) for music (audio only), and DVDs (digital video disks).

Apologise for delayed response to reading this. Wasn't able to log in for 58 you're after a failed 3rd attempt.