A "democratic" YouTube?

[ParkWayDrive011111]

go DIE

[MediaPraxisme]

TOUR #5: User/Owner Dialectic: Can we trust the user now that she has more power to speak and be heard: her intentions, knowledge, designs, and her ability to think outside the corporate paradigms that keep her in place? 2 videos follow on the tour that explain the user's place in self-policing the site (shackled to the status-quo standards of the society), and the ultimate reach of the user's power given YouTube's corporate ownership, and that most of what she makes in owned by corps.

[143mj]

The fact that anybody can post a video of (almost) anything is what makes YouTube "democratic." While it would be false to say that YouTube is completely democratic, I feel that it has a good base to one day truly become a democratic source of media, or at least lay the groundwork for another site that may end up being more democratic.

[143mj]

Digital narcissism is definitely a very real issue on YouTube. While its existence is undeniable, it is arguable whether this is a problem. For the most part, I feel that this narcissism is what drives YouTube, as people want to get something out there to the masses. While it can certainly be annoying to watch a talentless teenager post videos of themselves trying to dance, nobody forces us to watch these videos.

[klw02004]

I would disagree that all material produced by "unprofessionals" is not credible. One of the points of YouTube is that it is a democratic forum where one can find a variety of thoughts and opinions, not just those from the "experts." Above everything, all media should be considered with a critical eye.

[robhaerr]

Excellent! This is why I use UTube as a local promotional tool for my local rock band, and a way to find video clips of actual interviews, musical footage. I post some videos to UTube because the links are easy to put into an email.