An anthropological introduction to YouTube

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presented at the Library of Congress, June 23rd 2008. This was tons of fun to present. I decided to forgo the PowerPoint and instead worked with students to prepare over 40 minutes of video for the 55 minute presentation. This is the result.
more info:

0:00 Introduction, YouTube's Big Numbers
2:00 Numa Numa and the Celebration of Webcams
5:53 The Machine is Us/ing Us and the New Mediascape
12:16 Introducing our Research Team
12:56 Who is on YouTube?
13:25 What's on Youtube? Charlie Bit My Finger, Soulja Boy, etc.
17:04 5% of vids are personal vlogs addressed to the YouTube community, Why?
17:30 YouTube in context. The loss of community and "networked individualism" (Wellman)
18:41 Cultural Inversion: individualism and community
19:15 Understanding new forms of community through Participant Observation
21:18 YouTube as a medium for community
23:00 Our first vlogs
25:00 The webcam: Everybody is watching where nobody is ("context collapse")
26:05 Re-cognition and new forms of self-awareness (McLuhan)
27:58 The Anonymity of Watching YouTube: Haters and Lovers
29:53 Aesthetic Arrest
30:25 Connection without Constraint
32:35 Free Hugs: A hero for our mediated culture
34:02 YouTube Drama: Striving for popularity
34:55 An early star: emokid21ohio
36:55 YouTube's Anthenticity Crisis: the story of LonelyGirl15
39:50 Reflections on Authenticity
41:54 Gaming the system / Exposing the System
43:37 Seriously Playful Participatory Media Culture (featuring Us by blimvisible:
47:32 Networked Production: The Collab. MadV's "The Message" and the message of YouTube
49:29 Poem: The Little Glass Dot, The Eyes of the World
51:15 Conclusion by bnessel1973
52:50 Dedication and Credits (Our Numa Numa dance)

The Numa Numa quote is from *Douglas* Wolk (not Gary Wolk as I mistakenly said in the talk).

Channel: Education
Uploaded: July 26, 2008 at 7:12 pm
Author: mwesch

Length: 00:55:34
Rating: 4.86
Views: 872175

Tags: YouTube anthropology presentation ethnography digital ksudigg

Video Comments:
devigne (January 8, 2009 at 1:37 am)
this put everything in context, thanks :) I'm not sure if you've already done so, but I can definitely picture this lecture at TED.
PeteMP1992 (January 6, 2009 at 12:50 pm)
55 minutes. I thought an introduction to YT might be as long as its average videos and about 3 minutes.
extraincome12 (January 2, 2009 at 11:12 pm)
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HisManifest (December 31, 2008 at 3:22 pm)
That totally restructured my thinking.
HisManifest (December 31, 2008 at 3:04 pm)
39:00
kiannaluv21 (December 31, 2008 at 1:43 am)
I wish I was At that meeting looks so cool

sooo many boring meetings and here's one I'd be wide awake at!
TheTruthBlog (December 30, 2008 at 7:12 am)
an amazing video. it really made me think about what YouTube is and can be.
narutoactionfigs (December 29, 2008 at 8:30 pm)
almost 1 hour
SimonCarpentier (December 29, 2008 at 2:30 pm)
Gave me goosebumps, shivers down my spine and even made me cry at the end.
Awesome video! Keep up the good work Dr. Wesch!

I LOVE YOU INTERNET!
JonFursh (December 26, 2008 at 9:56 pm)
i love youtube so much. thank u for this