Talking Smack In Yo' Face

"An attempt at reasoned dialog about YouTube as a communicative medium. Seriously." How are people thinking about the effects of YouTube on society? What is unique about this new age of video sharing? Is it just a game that kids play to create alter-egos to insult others? Are hate speech and acts of violence a necessary consequence of allowing free video sharing? Does YouTube have far wider implications for social justice, religion and disenfranchised groups?

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• documentary
• habermas
• youtube
• sucks
• gummi
• bears
• wild
• west
• utopia
• obama
• german
• philosophy
• free
• speech
• short
• film

[gerful]

george, what the far-hark is going on with your hair? think of all the quality docos you could make in alaska...

[andyfreeberg]

I feel like YouTube is just a microcosm of the rest of the internet with video as the medium. All of the best and worst aspects of freedom of speech are at play. In general I think it's a hugely positive thing as long as people have an education on the credibility of the information they're getting (as in, very little).  But I mean, this is democracy, not always fair, not always truthful, but there's a lot more good there than bad.

[rcm62]

The democratization opportunities of YouTube are intriguing, yet the mere availability of beaucoup content doesn't (yet) get me optimistic about its potential. I can't take the time to watch every conventional Hollywood movie, TV show, or listen to every commercial audio CD as it is: I count on reviewers, editors, trusted associates, to help wade through the piles.

I think the hot career of the next 10 years is "digital librarian." Help find the diamonds in the rough.

[mermaid808]

Clarifications re the "Revolutions are years" entry: It was in reply to edoran's comments in the thread below that begins w/"Re the film" below. And my statement should have been "Just because one is not aware" rather than "...you're not aware"; didn't mean to personalize the argument.

[mermaid808]

Revolutions are years--if not decades--in the making. Just because you're not aware of the political impacts of some content, doesn't mean it's not happening. There is a new generation of young people who are now politically savvy about the US govt and its banking, military-, medical-, and other industrial complexes, because of YouTube. Give it time.

[TheoLipfert]

I don't know about you, but when I watch a video and response "debate" about a place I am not that familiar with, I find myself falling back on mainstream media, like CNN, to determine who I should be believing. Wait, were the Serbs the aggressors or victims? Should i believe this YouTube rant? I find myself grounding my opinions in the NYTimes and CNN, all the while aware (or trying to be aware) of their biases and orientations.

[HHHarrison]

I disagree. Certainly their is a poeverty of "riches" here, but step beyond US domestic politics for a moment and look at places like the middle east and the Ukraine. Individual citizens post videos of state actions thereby holding them to some modicum of account, no matter how small. This empowers the individual citizen. In Ukraine, people instituted peaceful flash mobs to do such things as eat ice cream in a park and then documented the police cracking down and arresting people.

[edoran]

Check out my note below, re:democratization. What kind of challenge to the powers-that-be has really erupted from the halls of You Tube? Don't confuse dumbing down with commodification. TV news is a highly intelligent show of asking the tough questions which is designed to sell crap (and whatnot). It begs the question, What does it matter to "ask tough questions" if that's where it ends? And what really BEGINS with You Tube? Maybe a revolution in aesthetics but probably not one in politics.

[mermaid808]

Certainly, the kittens will get more play. My point is that MSM is no longer asking hard questions to the powers that be; they are complicit in the dumbing down of public discourse. I'm not mistaking YouTube for television; I'm suggesting it is a positive alternative.  Specifically, to the extent that most of us can't afford an FCC broadcast license, YouTube offers a place where we can ask and investigate the questions on our minds. I'll wade thru the conspiracy theories--the cost of freedom.

[edoran]

I think "democratizing power" is misstated. In what way is You Tube representational, or processual? There are tons of shocking videos on You Tube that suggest a need to organize, but what effective action can site You Tube as a raison d'etre? Actually it reveals how recreational our politics is. You Tube's power is anarchic, not democratic. It utterly fractures power into individual pieces that we pick out and enjoy like jelly beans.