YouTube

Herewith: “An anthropological introduction to YouTube”…

The video is long: 55:33, and that would be 55 minutes and 33 seconds. I don’t expect anyone to sit here and watch this video in its entirety, right this minute (that's why I furnished the link to the video). But… that said… all my time is my own and I set my priorities as I see fit. I saw fit to watch the entire video in a single sitting, only pausing it a couple of times (nature breaks, refills, etc.) before returning to it. And it’s simply fascinating. So… what’s it all about, Alfie?

The video is by Michael Wesch, an assistant professor of cultural anthropology at Kansas State University. You may have heard of him before. If you’ve hung around EIP for a while you’ve definitely seen one of his more famous YouTube videos… “Web 2.0; The Machine is Us/ing Us.” Or rather you had the opportunity to see his video, the choice was yours. The video above certainly isn’t in the mold of “Web 2.0,” but Web 2.0 is prominently featured and discussed in this video… among many, many other fascinating things.

This video was shot in June of this year at the Library of Congress. In it Professor Wesch discusses the history of YouTube, how it came to be, its place in the general scheme of things, and the impact YouTube has had…and more importantly, continues to have today. And in so doing he provides tons of examples, including everyone's fave: the Numa Numa Guy. (“Everyone's fave” ain't hyperbole, unless you consider 17,481,163 views small beer. I don't.) (Also: there's a minute-by-minute video agenda at the link. Just click “more info.”)

“Fascination,” much like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. You probably don’t give YouTube a whole helluva lot of thought if you’re under the age of 25 (or so). Like most technology, YouTube is simply there for you… it’s something to be used, something to enjoy, and a tool you’ll use without giving it a second thought. But, it’s quite a different story if you’re older and didn’t grow up with this sort of thing at hand. At which point the older person begins to marvel a bit at the implications herein, and even at the fact that YouTube exists at all. By that I mean: think back ten short years ago. Did you, in your wildest dreams, ever think we’d have all this user-created content at our fingertips? And that we…each of us… could participate if we so desired? That “user-created content” could drive a presidential candidates’ debate, almost in its entirety? I know I sure didn’t, and thus: I marvel.

Anyhoo. Watch the first three or four minutes. I’m betting you’ll bookmark this for later, when you can watch the whole thing. Unless, of course, you don’t.