Hands down, the best thing about writing this blog is translating wasted time on the Internet into something productive. I’m sure many of you can empathize with me on this account: One of my time wasters of choice is watching online videos. Until recently, I’ve been spending the majority of my time on YouTube. However, the other day I rediscovered Vimeo – YouTube’s swanky uncle.

The elemental difference between YouTube and Vimeo is the content that gets posted. YouTube, originally, was a place for people to upload their home videos, and although today people make a living off of content creation, the majority of YouTube is still silly phone-camera videos. Which is great! I enjoy “Cactus Skateboarding Fail” as much as the next guy. YouTube has found a niche in unprofessional content (mostly).

Vimeo is the haven for short films, documentaries, and other more polished work. If I’m in the mood for television, I turn to Vimeo. If I’m in the mood for video in its Internet-y, serendipitous glory, YouTube is there for me.

Let’s start with Vimeo’s approach to design. I must say, other sites can take a few pointers from the Vimeo interface. It’s clean, easy on the eyes, and, above all, puts content front and center. Instead of using YouTube’s subscription-centric system, Vimeo divvies up videos on the site into nifty categories. Once you select a category, Vimeo provides you with the most-watched videos in that category currently.

Alternately, if you’re on the lookout for some more tasteful viewing material, Vimeo’s staff hand-picks films they think are worth watching.

Or, if replicating the tried and true television ambiance is more your speed, there’s a “couch mode.” Just start a video, click the couch mode button, and Vimeo will compile an infinite playlist of related (or, let’s face it, not related but still interesting) videos.

There’s also an on-demand service that I personally haven’t tried, due to chronic broke-ness, but here’s the jist of it: Vimeo has a library of indie feature-length and short films that aren’t available on your classic streaming site like Netflix or Hulu. If you’re willing to shell a little out-of-pocket, you can rent one of these for 72 hours, or, if you’re willing to spend a little more, you can purchase them permanently. They have all of the Oscar nominated short films in one bundle, which is cool.

For serious filmmakers, Vimeo offers a pro subscription, which includes priority video conversion speeds and more cloud space to host videos.

Ultimately, Vimeo appeals to a different crowd than YouTube does. Granted, it doesn’t have equal popularity to Youtube – nothing has ever gone “viral” on Vimeo. If you want classy, thought-provoking content, however, look no further.