Entrepreneurial vlogger
First, let's make sure everyone here knows what a vlog is. Vlogging is a dominant user-created content. It is a mix between making a video and blogging and is an emblematic form of youtube participation. In other words, it is a blog but in video. Youtubers are editing parts of their lives and share it on YouTube for everyone's greatest pleasure. Sometimes, vloggers are getting millions views and to companies it seemed the perfect way to advertise some of their products. That is to say that some medias companies have approached the service as a site offering substantial reach and potential viral distribution-providing exposure though word of mouth networks that might cut through the clutter of the advertising space. There is no doubt that here is a recognizable mode of production and a particular aesthetic style associated with the culture of user-created content on YouTube, and that amateur and everyday content creation is an essential diver of this. YouTube is symptomatic of a changing media environnement, but it is one where the practices and identities associated with cultural production and consumption, commercial and non-commercial entreprise, and professionalism and amateurism interact and converge in new ways. YouTube is the site of dynamic and emergent relations between market and non market, social and economic activity.
On the right, you can spot a couple of Vlogs to give you an idea. |
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Common Culture
YouTube most popular content will be referred as Youtube "common culture". There is four categories of popularity; most discussed, most viewed, most favorited, most responded, these four groups are giving us a idea of what makes a video popular by audiences. But we can also see that videos are made popular by a range of professional, semi-professional, amateur and pro-amateur.
Users
- First, there are the "Big media"companies, established players within mainstream broadcast, music and cinemaindustries, some of whom are especially successful inside YouTube. For example, UMG ( Universal Music Group) upload music video and content featuring their artists, reaping the rewards of revenue-sharing deals with YouTube. Another example can also be the NBA who regular uploads clips of their games, post game discussions and weekly highlight packages in order to promote telecasts of their games,... It represents a significant effort by a large rights holder to make sense of the YouTube Space.
- Second, we can talk about Web-TV companies, such as JumpTV sports, who put together sport packages and deliver content to a range of sports sites around the world. This kind of company make use of the internet distribute niche programming or specialized content without needing to negotiate cable or television distribute deals.
- Third, there is the "ordinary user". This third segment is mostly amateur participants, because they are not always representatives of big companies or other institutions. After a study made by Patricia Lange we can now talk about 4 different groups of YouTube "casual users": "1) former participant; 2) casual users, 3) active participant, 4) YouTubers, 5) YouTube celebrities.