YouTube task

YouTube has revolutionized the way people relay messages and has completely altered the way to get maximum exposure. Music artists wanting to be discovered no longer have to hit the pavement handing out sample CDs, they can simply upload a video to YouTube and reach thousands of people instantly.  Most of us have probably heard of the integral role YouTube played in Justin Bieber’s rise to stardom and Ellen Degeneres frequently brings artists and personalities she has discovered on YouTube onto her talk show.

And when a YouTube video becomes extremely popular and get’s emailed and posted through multiple social media it can create a firestorm of popularity. I can remember people asking me “Have you seen that Gangnam style video? Here let me pull it up on YouTube.” This shows that word of mouth with YouTube videos can also have a large impact.

I liked how the article Analyzing the Societal Impacts ofYouTube mentioned one of the negative aspects of YouTube and that is the ability for users to upload videos containing violent acts. These videos can have long-term consequences for victims especially in the case of the girl who was beat up by a group of girls. Because part of the video footage was leaked the girl getting beaten will have to deal with the repercussions of having hundreds of thousands of people knowing who she is. But YouTube makes it clear in their Terms of Use section that they are in no way responsible for any harm that comes with using their site. While some people blamed YouTube for being the catalyst in this surge of violence it is tough to say who really is to blame. One could say that YouTube has brought about a wave of people trying to get attention through the site in order to become famous thus creating an epidemic of people who will literally do anything to get views which includes violence as well as stomach turning acts (Two girls one cup, and the girl eating her own tampon come to mind).

I use YouTube frequently usually to listen to music I haven’t yet downloaded but when I have some extra I really enjoy Jenna Marbles especially when I’m having a bad day. I have also looked at makeup tutorials and hair videos to see what products other people recommend. I had never uploaded a video to YouTube until the meme assignment for this class but I actually really enjoyed the process although it is a bit unsettling knowing you are putting yourself out there for people to comment and judge. And on that note when I look at comments on YouTube videos there seems to be a lot of negativity and trolling and I don’t know if it’s because of a lack of moderation on YouTube’s part or people know that YouTube has a vast range of users thus instigators are more likely to find someone to get a rise out of. Commenters often get into arguments often not related to the actual video, I’ve seen a lot of racism related arguments as well as sexist comments which get a reaction out of female YouTube users. Despite these negative aspects I do think that YouTube has some positive aspects that should definitely be appreciated.