How YouTube Can Affect Media and Society - Essay Example

How YouTube Can Affect Media and Society In a 2006, Washington post published an article which attempts to determine how YouTube can affect media and society. The debate on whether YouTube is a threat or a tool began when Google Inc. announced its decision to purchase the video sharing site (Noguchi and Goo). With homemade videos, movies, TV shows and music videos found on the site, many media outfits feel that YouTube is a foe that could siphon off their audiences. Because of this, many TV companies have requested the removal of some shows in order to reassert their control over their audience. For example, Comedy Central asked the video sharing company to remove clips of their copyrighted clips such as South Park and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Noguchi and Goo). On the other hand, some companies like NBC see YouTube as a powerful promotion tool which can help generate buzz for their shows, at no cost! In the same article, the authors quoted NBC Executive Vice President Rick Cotton when he said, “This medium is at the cutting edge…I think our creative executives feel that ‘The Office’ and ‘Saturday Night Live’ benefit from the significant attention we’ve gotten online” (as quoted in Noguchi and Goo). Yet, Cotton says that in order to use YouTube effectively, one has to know where to draw the line. In line with this statement, Cotton revealed that around 1,000 clips were removed from YouTube in 2006, particularly those which had entire show episodes. In its early years, YouTube’s mechanism for deleting copyrighted shows allowed it legal immunity but searching the site for TV show episodes is a job allotted to the company owning the copyright. Needless to say, it was a tedious job, and many of the copyrighted video clips were left posted on the site. Today, however, YouTube has the Automated Content ID in place in order to prevent copyright infringements. With this new technology, major US network, movie studio and record label can earn extra income through YouTube’s monetized view feature. From its humble beginning, YouTube has singlehandedly changed the web from static pages to an interactive web eco-system. Thanks to the conscientious development of video sharing technology, YouTube is now an important aspect of advertising. Major corporations such as Nike and Chrysler use YouTube to promote their ad to more audiences. Meanwhile, the Guardian reports that many companies are bypassing the TV networks and are broadcasting their advertisements directly to YouTube (Rosenblum). In the article, the author says “increasingly, YouTube is the go-to place for video, and it seems some companies have decided to bypass the broadcast first rule entirely…It’s a sign that true video (as opposed to repurposed and afterthought) is beginning to enter mainstream thinking” (Rosenblum). As many companies start to produce videos for the web alone, YouTube is becoming a go-to source for almost any kind of information – from entertainment to politics, how-to videos, film animation and many others. The importance of YouTube is so widespread that Mashable expresses three important developments in the media industry: (1) the next TVs will have internet connectivity and it will be able to access YouTube XL, a version optimized for the big screen; (2) YouTube can be easily accessed through mobile phones; (3) the ability to create live video streaming (Ostrow). In his 2009 article, Adam Ostrow hails YouTube as the embodiment of social media since its inception. In his words, “YouTube is the innovation that touched the most lives, became a driving force for change around the world, and ultimately ends the decade with an opportunity to be as disruptive in the next 10 years as it was in the past four” (Ostrow). Thanks to its embeddable content, videos posted on the site can be viewed on websites and other social networking sites. But more than its entertaining content, YouTube, with the help of mobile phones, has paved the way for citizen journalism. People all over the world have served witness to police brutality, animal cruelty, and social apathy. YouTube’s official blog featured Pari Akbar, a blogger who wrote about women’s issues in Afghanistan. According to the blog, the internet has provided Afghans with an alternative source of information. In the advent of strict media control in Afghanistan, Akbar utilized blogging and video sharing to promote ideas that facilitate social change. In closing, the article said, “After decades of war, Afghanistan is a splintered nation and Afghans have come to expect inconsistency. The Internet, and a strong media, has a unique opportunity to bring Afghans together around a shared identity and an understanding of the opportunities they have to engage the world and the global economy” (Grove). In the United States, YouTube can make or break a political career. For example, in 2007, Virginia Republican Senator George Allen lost his seat after his controversial remark to a young campaign aide working for opponent Jim Webb was caught on video. Steve Grove remarks, “I think it really breaks down some of the traditional barriers we have seen in American politics” (CNN Wire Staff). Campaigns have become more interactive, and thanks to the internet and sites like YouTube, users can now ask questions about any topic that concerns them. In the same article, Dan Rather says, “Candidates do hate, genuinely hate audience participation because they like to control the environment” (CNN Wire Staff). Unscripted moments caught on camera and shared through YouTube is more effective than a multi-million campaign. In fact, if there is one thing that has enabled President Barack Obama to win his seat, then it would be YouTube and social media. In his bid for re-election, Barack Obama again uses the Internet to promote his agenda. In January this year, President Obama granted USA Today a virtual interview through YouTube and Google (CNN Wire Staff). The process is composed of two phases. The first one included an interview with a set of personal and politically-inclined questions. After answering important questions about foreign policy and military action in Iraq, the president was introduced to participants via live stream. These participants then asked the President some questions about the state of the union. Moreover in May 2012, Obama released a 17-minute documentary which features the many issues faced (and resolved) by the Obama administration (Blumenthal). This documentary was released in YouTube. From these discussions, one can already see the social impact YouTube has on the American society. It has leveled the playing field in politics, business and even in the entertainment industry. It has created new celebrities, and enabled normal individuals to earn huge amounts of income through revenue sharing. It has provided an alternative source of information, and in a sense, it is now an alternative media. It has allowed individuals to share various ideas and concepts through a single platform. Through this no-cost alternative, small businesses have been able to advertise and reach their target audiences. Meanwhile advocacy groups have been able to garner greater support for their cause through an interactive information campaign via video. Truly, YouTube is changing almost all aspects of society and its future developments can change the conduct of politics, business and even the society in general. Perhaps the more important question is: does YouTube have the capacity to replace traditional media? While news reports affirm the view that YouTube is a competitor of TV and other forms of broadcasting, research shows the contrary. In a study by the Interactive Advertising Bureau shows that 27% of those watching YouTube on the PC watch TV at the same time (Agarwal). Meanwhile, of those who use YouTube on their mobile, 20% are also watching TV. This figure shows that YouTube does not essentially replace TV viewing, instead, it is used to either gather information about specialized topic, or they are looking at videos shared or recommended by their families (Agarwal). This essentially means that YouTube cannot replace traditional media, and it always have to work hand-in-hand with TV networks. Also, with less than 80% of the world connected to the internet, many still peruse traditional media to get information about the issues that matter to them. References Agarwal, Amit. “21% users eat while watching videos on YouTube.” Digital Inspiration. 2010. Web. 19 Apr. 2012. Blumenthal, Paul. “Huffpost fundrace - Obama’s YouTube documentary.” Huffpost Politics 16 Mar. 2012. CNN Wire Staff. “The YouTube-ification of politics: Candidates losing control.” CNN Politics 18 July 2007. Grove, Steve. “The media, and the Internet, in Afghanistan.” Broadcasting Ourselves: The Official YouTube Blog. 2011. Web. 19 Apr. 2012. Noguchi, Yuki, and Sara Kehaulani Goo. “The the media, YouTube is a threat and a tool.” The Washington Post 31 Oct. 2006. Ostrow, Adam. “YouTube is the top social media innovation of the decade.” Mashable. 2009. Print. Rosenblum, Michael. “JetBlue goes direct to Youtube.” The Guardian 8 Mar. 2012. Read More