YouTube!

In our last Contemporary Media Issues lesson, we focused on the wonders of YouTube and collective intelligence! The first exercise that we had to do was simply go on to YouTube and search a subject that we were given individually. We had to answer questions on a couple of videos that we found. My subject was Lomography and here are my results:


Lomography by ROCKETBOOM
Views: 91,219
Likes: 1032
Dislikes: 57
Comments: Not about Lomography but about the girl featured in the video
Uploaded: 15/01/2010
Purpose: An introduction to Lomography through a New York company
Global Reach: Yes, I got a sense that the video has an international audience
Community: Not so much as the comments are irrelevant


What is Lomography? by horganator
Views: 63,668
Likes: 238
Dislikes: 14
Comments: Very Lomography orientated, questions and answers
Uploaded: 24/09/2009
Purpose: Laid back, relaxed way of showing the world what Lomography is
Global Reach: Positive feedback from many cultures, so yes it has a global audience
Community: Yes, Lomography itself seems to have a large one


Lomo Documentary Pt. 1 by finagler
Views: 205,977
Likes: 479
Dislikes: 14
Comments: Adding comments has been disabled, suggesting they may have been offensive
Uploaded: 27/11/2006
Purpose: To talk about the uses and styles of Lomography
Global Reach: Many of the people speaking are from all over the globe, so maybe
Community: Not shown through this because comments were disabled


Out of the Box - The Lomography Diana Mini by kaituba
Views: 60,384
Likes: 123
Dislikes: 5
Comments: Question and answer layout
Uploaded: 02/09/2009
Purpose: All about a specific lomo camera - Diana mini
Global Reach: Very much so. Camera includes instructions in several languages
Community: Yes, again a general Lomography community


My conclusions from these results are that people tend to just watch rather than take part in something. This is shown through the amount of people who actually choose to like or dislike the videos. Comparing the amount of views to the likes and dislikes shows how few people actual click the button. Also, it is obvious that sometimes commenting on these videos leads to conversations that are not related to the main subject of the video. This can cause arguments and then commenting on the video could get disabled. The global reach of YouTube videos is evident in the fact that many of the people who comment are from all over the world. The global reach is also shown through the person who uploaded the video and the various languages that videos can be translated in to.


What is YouTube?:

• A quick visual source of information
• A way to upload content to the internet
• A place where you can be opinionated
• A rabbit hole
• Away to get feedback

What is a community?:

• A group of people with common interests
• Sharing/populating a space

What is collective intelligence?:

• Groups of people giving their opinion
• Sharing knowledge
• Sharing different opinions

What is democracy?:

• Freedom of speech
• Alternative view points

YouTube provides a space for sharing and showing common interests and creates a community for people who use the internet. It allows people to express themselves freely; but they can edit what they want to show. It as a sense of collective intelligence, advancing each day. People help each other out. YouTube itself has a structure through playlists, etc.

After we discussed all of this information we then watched this amazing YouTube video giving a detailed insight in to the working of one of the most famous websites in the world.

An Anthropological Introduction to YouTube - Michael Wesch

Speak soon!