V-log - youtube 'Itschriscrocker'

http://www.youtube.com/user/itschriscrocker?ob=1

Technology
The technologies involved are the internet and digital video; people create accounts on the youtube website and then can upload as many videos as they want.

In a way youtube is only replacing channels like ‘you’ve been framed’ which was really the only place before that anyone could broadcast their home footage. Unlike America the UK does not have public broadcasting stations.

V-logs are important and relevant because they allow anyone a worldwide audience to express their opinions and views and talents. They also provide a lot of entertainment for millions of people worldwide.

For example the youtube ‘channel’ I am focusing on - ‘itschriscrocker’ - has rocketed its owner to stardom in less than 7 months, not just on the internet but all over America. It has lead to red carpets and interviews on American shows like ‘Maury’, ‘Jimmy Kimmel’ and ‘YO’

Media Content
The main media texts involved are the website and of course the video clips, and these video clips appear on ‘channels’

The Website www.youtube.com
The website is designed to give you access to the videos that you want to watch and is merely a platform from which you access them. The homepage is full of links which are small screen grabs from the videos, they organized into headings; videos being watched right now…, promoted videos, and featured videos. It also has 4 main headings at the top of the page; home, videos, channels, community. Within videos you can search through categories such as comedy, education and activism and channels (each person’s account is a channel) categories such as comedian, musician and politician. In videos and channels you can also look at the most viewed and most subscribed, so you can see the most popular videos – this is probably to aid you to find the most entertaining/interesting v-logs. The heading ‘community’ is where people can hold contests and groups, which is where they will decide upon a task and then people can send them videos of them completing this task. I think the community section and the ‘most viewed’ etc features are designed to give the website the feel that it is built up and created by the people who use it (not the owners/creators)

Channels http://www.youtube.com/user/itschriscrocker?ob=1
Every account which is opened is immediately a channel and I think this makes the experience feel more personal because you can customize it and make it your own. On each channel the account holder can brand themselves a director or comedian, put photos up and give a description of them. Your channel shows all the videos you have uploaded and these are supposedly the ‘shows’ on the ‘channel’. Other youtubers can subscribe to your channel, and you can also invite friends via e-mail to join you on youtube. You can also ‘connect’ with others by commenting their videos and sending messages, you can also send out bulletins (broadcast a message) to all your friends/subscribers. I think this all encourages the sense of a community, and therefore encourages loyalty because account holders will keep returning to check messages and subscribers etc. I think the concept of a channel is a very clever way of marketing youtube, particularly to young people who probably like being in control and customizing things more so than older audiences. My chosen channel ‘itschriscrocker’ has become famous so quickly and is now #7 most subscribed (all time) and #4 out of directors.

Videos http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHmvkRoEowc
The videos themselves take a day or so to upload fully and can be accessed by anyone at any time. Each video has a description and a link to the channel it originates from and more videos from that channel available. It also has a side bar of ‘related videos’ which have similar titles or descriptions much like iTunes ‘people who bought this, also liked…’. Below the video the rest of the page is taken up by comments left from other account holders, there is also a small section for ‘video comments’ where people have responded to the clip in the form of a video. I think this is a fantastic idea because people can get really involved and can make friends with people that they wouldn’t normally meet or interact with. You can access statistics about each video, i.e. the number of times it has been viewed and ‘favourited’, and the ‘honors’ it has received – an honor is, for example, #2 most viewed. It is also possible to copy and paste the HTML of the video and then put it onto your website, this is also a great idea because viewers can entertain their friends and youtube gains free advertising (as youtube is written in the viewing box for the video). This particular video ‘leave Britney alone’ from ‘itschriscrocker’ is by far the most popular with 19 million plus views, it shows just how easily and quickly anyone can become famous on youtube as this video was only uploaded 7 months ago. It has allowed Chris Crocker to broadcast his opinions and views to everyone and to be himself.

Audiences
I think the audience of a v-log is entirely dependant on the content; anyone can view them as long as they have access to the internet. Although the majority of audiences and users (as the audience is the users) are younger people as they are more comfortable with the new technology)

As it is viewing numbers that makes the creators famous it is the audiences which make this happen by sending them to their friends, and rewatching them for entertainment. Audiences are merely using v-logs for entertainment and it creates an entirely new experience because this wasn’t possible before (Youtube was only created in 2005). It allows them to show their friends and spread what they find entertaining.

Institutions
Google now owns youtube and bought it for $1.65 billion. However, the institution isn’t really doing anything with youtube as such. It is only using is for revenue from advertising and helps to market Google a little with small features like ‘iGoogle’.
Youtube and its videos are produced by the public for the public so the website reaps purely profitable benefits for its institutions.

Key Concepts
The key concepts involved in google are democratisation, narrowcasting, horizontal networking, immediacy, proliferation and regulation

Democratisation
As webcams are becoming increasingly cheaper and most people own computers with internet access this allows the majority of people to create a video and simply upload it to youtube. Youtube allows almost anyone a global audience which is very appealing to a lot of people who want their opinions to be hear or talents to be recognised

Narrowcasting
Youtube doesn’t broadcast it narrowcasts because it can target any niche group it wants just by uploading the videos. For example, the group ‘A Generation Apart: Personal Stories About Family History’ has 111 members and has an older audience, people post their family stories, for example, from the holocaust. This is an incredibly niche group who can’t access the media they enjoy or share their stories in the same way elsewhere

Horizontal networking
Many of features from having a youtube ‘channel’ allow you to socially network over youtube. You can comment other people’s videos, either by text or video, and you can also message people. You can subscribe to others’ channels or they can subscribe to yours, and then you can see each others’ bulletins. This way you can share files easier and it makes you more loyal to youtube. A feature of horizontal networking is that it wasn’t initially intended for commercial gain, and despite just being sold for $1.65 million this is true.

Immediacy
Immediacy is a feature of any website because it means a viewer can access whatever they want via searching whenever they want. With high-speed broadband this is now even more true.

Proliferation
Videos are being added 24/7 and there are currently millions and millions to choose from creating the widest choice of videos on the internet. Youtube says ‘YouTube is the leader in online video and the premier destination to watch and share original videos worldwide’

Regulation
Youtube has features in place to try and make sure that there is no unsuitable material available, although for obvious reasons this is not always possible. When you create an account you have to supply your date of birth, so when you try and access some videos messages appear saying that this is unsuitable for under 18s. Whenever viewing a video there is a button underneath called ‘flagging’ so if you feel that the material is unsuitable or offensive you can ‘flag’ it, and youtube will review its content and potentially remove it. However, in a way this contradicts Youtube’s message of ‘broadcast yourself’ as it limits what people can say, and you could argue that instead viewers should be aware of what they are about to watch.