Watching YouTube with Dr. Strangelove

Four years ago when I started to contemplate writing a book about YouTube I was aware that Internet companies can grow and fade faster than crocuses in the Spring. Would there be any Tube to watch by the time the lengthy process of research, writing, and publishing a scholarly book ran its course? Google snapped up the young Internet start-up and made history with what was to become one of the fastest growing Web properties. While the future remains unwritten, it is clear that YouTube will be around for a while, and more importantly, amateur online videography is now a permanent part of media culture.

This new UTP blog will follow current events in the world of online video and YouTube. Each day the world press brings new stories to our mailboxes about online video, and here we will ponder the social, economic, and political consequences of this rapidly growing new medium. How big is online video? Google reported in May 2009 that every minute sees 20 hours of video material uploaded to YouTube.

Cisco reports that 90 per cent of consumer Internet traffic (which makes up the lion’s share of total Internet traffic) will be video by 2013. What this indicates is that in the very near future the majority of our Internet use will involve engagement with online video. Just as television and cinema became the central focus of the audience in the 20th century, and evolved into the premier arbiter of fame and celebrity, so too is the moving image becoming the central focus of the online audience. We see an early indication of this in Australia, where the most common online activity at work is watching YouTube. We would rather watch than work.

What is it about YouTube that has our attention? Consider some of the events that have put online video in the news thus far in March. Two 14-year-old American high school students were arrested for exploding homemade bombs. They learned to make the bombs by watching YouTube videos on the subject. As I note in Watching YouTube, there are thousands of videos on YouTube that show Americans making and exploding homemade bombs. This is a peculiar aspect of American culture that has received little attention in media, anthropology, and popular culture studies.

Meanwhile, a Georgia man was arrested by the Atlanta police department after posting a video to YouTube in which he held a sign that said ‘Elton John must die.’ It is unclear as yet as to whether the man suffers from mental illness or is just another homophobic religious bigot.

Yet another American, known to the press as ‘JihadJane’, was arrested on terrorism charges after being approached by a Taliban recruiter who made contact via the comments section of a YouTube video. Indicative of the addictive nature of our new networked screen culture, a South Korean couple were so absorbed in an online video game that they left their child to starve to death.

Not all the stories are as dark as these, and there are many positive aspects to the rise of amateur online videography.

Each week I will explore the cultural significance of online videos and examine our collective addiction to watching YouTube.

Dr. Strangelove

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