Youtube as a participatory culture

Questions for the article “Youtube”

1. How does the interaction online become the key for Youtube video production community? Please use the media convergence concept to explain it.

Interaction is the key component of Youtube because of the producer-consumer concept of media convergence. The producers make a video and then get views, ratings, and comments on the videos. As the publisher views his comments (making the original consumer a producer and the original producer a consumer), he or she can also reply to the comments. There also is (or at least used to be) an option to make a video response to a video, so that is another way for a consumer to become a producer. This cycle is continuous and is what connects all of Youtube together as one online community.

2. The article mentioned that the teens are mainly passively consumers of Youtube being on the periphery. But seven out of 10 most subscribed partners are teens and young adults. How do you explain this use of Youtube in youth?

For youth, Youtube is another alternative to television, just like how Netflix is now. The youth view Youtube videos out of their own entertainment, or to watch exclusive series that is produced by either a company or several videos produced by one Youtube star or partner. They may also fear arguments and cyberbulling for what they comment and/or publish.

3. How does Youtube use different techniques to create an online community that is different from other websites?

Youtube has different techniques that make it more different, and arguably more powerful, than other social media sites. On Facebook, you can only like, comment, and share, and friend request. On Twitter, you can only follow, re-tweet, and favorite. But on Youtube, you can do more. You can make and upload videos, like videos, add them to your favorites playlist, subscribe to Youtubers, post comments on videos and pages, add video responses to videos, rate videos, and share videos onto other social media platforms. Youtube arguably has more producer-consumer interaction than any other social media site.

4. What is the next step for Youtube development? Please use the concept of participatory culture and media development theory we discussed to explain your answer.

With so much participatory culture and many companies starting to actively use Youtube to promote their product, Youtube will have to continue to grow. The Youtube of 2006 was different than the Youtube of 2009, which was different than the Youtube of 2015, which will be different than the Youtube of 2020. The seeds of Youtube knowing what a specific person would want are already being planted. Now on Youtube, the website recommends channels and videos for you while still giving you your usual subscriptions and promoting their own choices of videos and channels. This is similar to the approach of Web 3.0, making technology more human-like. That is what will happen to Youtube in the future.

Social Media Use Is Soaring Questions

1. While I was not aware of the specific statistics of usage in terms of PCs vs. phones, I feel like it should be the other way around. I've seen more active usage of social media on phones and other mobile devices rather than PCs, unless it's taking into account any inactive tabs with social media open. Another stat I have learned is the amount of social media usage in restrooms. I do usually have my phone near me when showering in the event I get a text or phone call, but to know that that many people have a dependence on social media while in the bathroom is…interesting, to say the least. Finally, and the statistic that gave me the most shock, was that 76% of people feel more positive after looking at social media. I would think there is still a good amount of people who look at their social media accounts and get depressed. For example, I've seen people get upset from their social media after getting jealous seeing someone they know get into a relationship, or getting sad at a friend's death in the family.

2. I've learned that even though I knew social media took out a huge portion of people's lives nowadays, it seems like it is going to have a complete takeover one of these days. It seems as a society, we are becoming more and more dependent on our social media daily for entertainment and informational purposes. Soon enough, anything and everything will be involved with social media if it isn't already. TV shows use social media to create and analyze its audiences and their reactions to the show, and social media creates a sort of interactive chatroom for people to talk about a show, product, etc.

Web 3.0

            Web 3.0 is the stage in which computers will begin to pick up humanistic qualities. With Web 1.0, a producer simply makes a product and a consumer simply takes in that product and that is that. Then came Web 2.0 and the lines that were between producer and consumer became blurred. A producer still made a product and the consumer took it in, but now there’s more to it. The consumer can now also be a producer. The author of the article, Miko Coffey, used Facebook as an example for Web 2.0. With Facebook, not only does a person take in information, but also produces his or her own with status updates and photo and video sharing. Produces can also be consumers on Facebook through things such as reviews.

            Coffey used an analogy about soup to describe Web 3.0, or what she calls the “semantic web.” In the example, she says that you can take two pots — one with a carrot and one with pasta — and label them as such, and a computer can understand that. What the computer can’t understand, however, is what exactly is contained in the carrot, that the pots are right next to each other, or any specific details about the guests you’d have coming over for that dinner.

            That is where Web 3.0 would come into play — the computer understands the bigger picture and all the more in-depth, meaningful details. Web 3.0 would see the computer be able to take details and information from various sources and put it all together. This also allows the computers to think more human-like. With Web 3.0, not only would computers be more knowing and analytical, it can allow you to get more answers to more questions.

Homework #1: Blogging on Politics

            They are known by several names: the Islamic State (IS), the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). Any way they are called, people instantly know of them as the current big target of President Barack Obama. They are also thought to be one of the biggest and arguably scariest threats the U.S. has had to go up against. They have recruited children and teenagers, whether they were volunteered or kidnapped, and they have released graphic videos that show the beheading and killing of hostages, including journalists.

            Very recently, Congress has given President Obama an Authorization for Use of Military Force, or AUMF, that allows him power for a full-on war against ISIS. With this AUMF, according to CNN, President Obama would limit “boots on the ground” soldiers to missions that are either for rescue purposes or to take out an ISIS leader. This AUMF also has a term of three years, after which Congress would have to give the president an extension to continue it. This looks to be a slow turn-around from President Obama’s point of view just a few months earlier.

            Back on September 10, 2014, President Obama made an approximately 15-minute speech to the nation, laying out his plan on how to deal with ISIS at that point. His plan included sending over more of those who serve in the Armed Forces to train local forces and more airstrikes, but no troops would be attacking on soil (“boots on the ground”). 

His speech triggered many mixed responses from key political figures, including those in the House of Representatives and the Senate. The Washington Post published some of these comments. While President Obama is a Democrat and the opposing Republican Party — as a result of midterm elections back in November — mostly controls Congress, there were Republicans who did support him. For example, Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) was quoted as saying, “At the end of the day, we should give the president the authority and money he needs.” On the other hand, there were members of the president’s own party who were concerned, such as Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.). Udall said that he “would not give this president — or any other president — a blank check to begin another war in Iraq.” President Obama’s promise not to put “boots on the ground” also gave him some disapproval, as there were countless people who have criticized his foreign policy.

         This is not the first time in recent U.S. political history that an AUMF was granted to a president, as President George W. Bush was also granted one following the devastating attacks of September 11, 2001. According to CNN, the difference between the two is that Bush’s AUMF was longer, and still remains in tact to this day, and had less clear language on who the enemy is, just naming terrorism. This would have allowed President Bush to technically set his battle sights on anywhere he pleased. CNN also pointed out that even President Obama has used the 2001 AUMF as authorization to go into wherever he also pleased. This list of countries, put together by Congressional Research Service, targeted with use of the 2001 AUMF include Afghanistan, Iraq, Kenya, Somalia and Yemen, among others. 

Under this new AUMF, it is made clear that the enemy is ISIS, with the name being mentioned 17 times in the AUMF’s text. So, it is clear who the enemy is and money is not wasted by getting into unnecessary conflict and/or combat with other nations.

        Furthermore, while response to the September 2014 speech from Congress was split (and there is still a split on the AUMF itself by those in the House and Senate), CNN reports that just about everyone in Washington feels it’s finally time to deal with ISIS. There are those out there, however, who feel the exact opposite — that it’s time for the president to pull out and end conflict with ISIS. One such example is the Syracuse Peace Council. They called on Congress to cancel the AUMF and end this, along with all other war on the Middle East, because they are not doing anything good for the country. They say that since the U.S. entered the Middle East in 2003, $4.5 billion has been spent, over 350,000 lives have been lost and “Islamophobic attacks in the U.S continue to persist.” ISIS, however, is more than just an American enemy — it’s an enemy to many places around the globe. According to an article in Newsweek that states 10 reasons ISIS is doomed, any ally to the U.S. sees ISIS as an enemy. The governments of Iraq, Iran and Syria (all places that ISIS has gotten into) see ISIS as an enemy. Even the terrorist group Al-Qaeda, an enemy to the United States for quite the number of years now, sees ISIS as an enemy. So ISIS is a problem to the entire world, not just to the United States.

            But then there’s the inevitable question: What if the AUMF plan right now doesn’t work? Then maybe it will be time that “boots on the ground” are needed. Even if it means spending more money and sending more of our fighting men and women over, ISIS is a common target with many different places around the globe. Also, President Obama seems to be on a mission to improve how people see his foreign policy — more than just being the one who was in office for the killing of Osama Bin Laden. One example can be how he wants to calm and improve relations with Cuba. Every official in Washington feels it’s time to deal with ISIS, one way or another.