Tuesday, April 24, 2012
YouTube
Above is the video that Mitchell and I showed in class. It doesn't really cover any of the down-sides of YouTube, however. The cons that we discussed in class were that it promotes bullying through the mob mentality (see Rebecca Black), and also that it creates and outsider vs insider community when not everyone has access to the same videos.
I would add that the clip that got the biggest laugh in class was the bicyclist who ran head-first into a traffic sign. I find the social implications of this type of humor disturbing. It says something about humanity's violent nature and lack of empathy that people getting injured is such a commonly popular form of comedy. This isn't new to YouTube, it's been around since the Tree Stooges and before, but I don't think it's good for us as a community.
P.S. Yesterday was the seventh anniversary of YouTube's first video. Happy Birthday YouTube!
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While Youtube definitely has downsides, with the mob mentality being a serious problem, I do believe that it is predominantly a positive technology. First of all, it is a step forward in the idea of social networking. It is no longer limited to text and photos. Youtube is its own community, with channels and loyal followers. There is something on Youtube for an internet user: funny videos, informative videos, tutorials, etc. Youtube has become an integral part of internet use today. I don't even want to count how many times I've heard "Youtube" used as a verb ("go youtube this funny cat video," etc.). I am definitely a Youtube supporter!
ReplyDeleteI enjoy youtube for the most part, but it does have it's problems. It can be a hub for cyber-bullying and has lots of things that aren't geared for your sense of humor. One of the worst things is when a video becomes viral because of how someone acts in it. Chris Crocker for example. Also, the video isn't included in the post, so we may need to fix that. Haha.
ReplyDeleteSherry Turkle talks about the attraction to confessional sites in Chapter 12 of Alone Together. She mentions that people use confessional sites in certain ways: to "use [their] troubles to relieve them from looking at [our] own and to confess things that they can't confess to the people around them.
ReplyDeleteYoutube has many uses, but it also can serve as a video-based confessional site sometimes. Some people may go to Youtube to avoid their own problems and to see other people's problems instead. Others actually do post videos where they confess things to the world. But the same problem that Turkle mentions arises in these types of expression. Despite all these confessions, the real problem is never solved, and the relief that comes with venting doesn't exactly happen either. This might be a con for youtube because you've just poured your heart out expecting someone to listen, but who really does?
Let’s pretend that all of the bad things on YouTube don’t exist. While this is an utterly absurd assumption, I am a believer in the original, unadulterated purpose of YouTube: to share videos within a community. With videos come fresh ideas, knowledge, and perspective. I can visit YouTube to learn how to tie a tie, practice math problems, view highlights of a sports match, and connect with others doing the same things.
ReplyDeleteSadly, it is human nature to go against the grain and divert a pure, novel idea. The massive community composing YouTube is a force to be reckoned with, and any policies and content restrictions imposed by YouTube are easily subverted. YouTube should be a place of nourishment through and through. However, YouTube has done nothing wrong; in order to become a legitimate community, its users must support one another and bond together.
@Dieu, in the video, I talked about Jonah Mowry, who was an eighth grader who was bullied and felt sad and alone, so he made a video about it which has since received over 9 million views. That's who's listening. Nine million people. He's also been interviewed by Good Morning America, so that spread the word even further. Now, you might say that just because people heard his story, that doesn't mean they care. But in this case, all of the Internet jumped on the bandwagon and started screaming about the seriousness of bullying and a flood of positive feedback was all over the comment section. Check it out for yourself here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdkNn3Ei-Lg
If you want to see the opposite side of this, someone reposted Jonah's video and all of the comments there tend to be more... disapproving.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRXjqpfOnS0
Now, as for community, I recently had a fun experience that I'd like to share with you guys. So I was standing at an intersection, wearing a YouTube shirt. It says "Keep Calm and DFTBA" the initialism meaning "Don't Forget To Be Awesome." This is the... slogan/catchphrase/something like that for the vlogbrothers YouTube channel, whose following is a community which goes by the name of "Nerdfighters." In addition to having tshirts, slogans, and innumerable inside jokes, we Nerdfighters have a signal, a Nerdfighter greeting, if you will, which consists of making the "live long and prosper" gesture with both hands and crossing them in front of your chest. Yes, it's super nerdy, and that's sort of the point, if you haven't guessed by now.
So I was standing at an intersection, waiting for the light to turn so that I could cross when I spotted two guys standing diagonally across from me. Since they were too far away to say something like "I like your shirt," they stood there, giving the Nerdfighter signal until I noticed them and excitedly waved back and returned the gesture.
The reason this was such a cool experience is that you just don't get that sort of reaction for being a follower of anything else, like wearing a Lady Gaga tshirt, or even Halo. We're a community that has something in common and bonds through internet interaction. And it's very exciting when you meet a fellow Nerdfighter unexpectedly in real life, after having only interacted from behind a computer screen.