Youtube?
|
Youtube, the most famous video-sharing platform is known by almost everybody, used by anyone and really easy to use. But how does it works, are there codes or particularities? Let's find out!
|
Youtube is only a few years old but the brand name has become quickly synonymous with online video. It has also established the default mode of videos presentation. How did it do to be so successful? Thanks to all the possibilities that the website offer!
The basis concept of Youtube is that every video on the platform is immediately accessible to everyone at any time, as long as one can find it. There is no selection at the gate and anyone can upload or download videos. However, it does have power of choice, with other forms of selection which make videos more or less visible.
The basis concept of Youtube is that every video on the platform is immediately accessible to everyone at any time, as long as one can find it. There is no selection at the gate and anyone can upload or download videos. However, it does have power of choice, with other forms of selection which make videos more or less visible.
First of all, there are mechanisms made for promoting some clips, such as the categories "most viewed", "most recommended", featured, rising clips and so onn .. and other for censoring other ones. Here, as on every website, censorship is mainly related to copyright issues and pornographic or violent content.
Then, Youtube is a kind of endless circle; once you have watched a video, you can't stop! Everything is made to keep users watching. The search box enables them to do a keyword search, thus, it is an entrance selected by the user. Then, there is also the collection, with the showing lists of videos organized by status (most popular, most recent, ..). These two starting points lead to related videos, the viewing system encourages the user to keep viewing. It has become rare that users watch one video specifically because one video leads to another, usually associated. That's the endless circle! |
Youtube also works with one of the central elements of the digital dispositif: interactivity. The website allows people to leave comments, to rate the videos but what is more interesting, people who make and post the videos are searching for that interactivity, they want people to react. The mode of address proves it; videos have a way to enter into a relationship with the audience. There is a general orientation towards the spectator, with the gestures directed towards the camera, the frontality, .. That aspect is one of the analogies with early cinema, also called "the cinema of attractions".
|
Online videos clips on Youtube and early cinema have other similarities. They both work with the concept of attractional mode because it shows rather than tells. Speaking about showing and similarities, they also have quite the same length. Indeed, they are shorts films, mostly staying under 10 minutes in length. An approximation indicates that the average length on Youtube lies around three to four minutes. In early years, the short length of the material for movies and online videos was regulated by technology. But nowadays, we can say that these technological limitations are not the only thing dictating the lenght. Indeed, most online video clips run a few minutes. The short length is a conscious choice by the creators because it approximates the tradition of the music video, the movie trailer, the television advertisement, and so on. This is part of the mode of attractional display.
Of course, longer lenghts are possible on the platform, and sometimes also encouraged but short films are more efficient in the virtual world and in the real world, where the time is precious.
Of course, longer lenghts are possible on the platform, and sometimes also encouraged but short films are more efficient in the virtual world and in the real world, where the time is precious.
The metaphor "mirror maze"
The author use the suggestive metaphor "mirror maze", speaking about Youtube because it "reflects the immediate relationships the user can have with the online archive". According to him, when looking at the computer screen with the webcam on, thus recording a video, we are looking at our own reflection. In short, Youtube reflects us and we reflect (on) Youtube. If Youtube is a mirror, the other side of it is all the Youtubers watching.
The authour gives examples of reflection, such as the monologue, as in the case of "Leave Britney ALone!" and the self-reflection with the playback singing and dance sequences. |
For the record, the most watched video on Youtube as of October 2014, with over 2 billions views is Gangnam Style, recorded by the korean artist Psy. It is followed by Justin Bieber with his song "Baby". These are the only videos that have ever received over 1 billion views. Does it say something about our culture? That is still an open debate!