Tuesday, February 5, 2008
YouTube and Academia?
I'm slightly frustrated by this video posted by a professor who utilized YouTube in her class to get her students to think about media critically. She's very honest about her frustrations and successes within the course. Here's an outline of the five points she makes in her video about why her experiment with YouTube in the classroom wasn't successful:
1. YouTube is a new media form surrounded by speed and efficiency. Doesn't allow extended dialogue which is what academics specialize in.
2. Humor and sincerity are important qualities of YouTube videos. Attempting to communicate something in a logical structured format isn't considered successful.
3. Popularity is a fundamental organizing strucutre for YouTube (corporate and people's viewing experience). Searching for this popularity leads to meritocracy. "There is a certain amount of talent that is needed to produce things that rise up and above the noise."
4. YouTube sells us the same type of commercials that other media sell us, but in a slicker mode. The corporate imperative causes this. YouTube is a "big TV." Policing organized around the most mediocre mainstream middling ideas of the culture, everything that falls to the outside is suspect and easy to remove.
5. There is a second world, niche micro communities, who produce radical culture and media outside the logic of YouTube and isn't well supported by YouTube's structure. It needs to find a new community that will support building an infrastructure for dealing with (I'm paraphrasing here)"asking the harder questions, saying the hard things that need to be said...and hold on to the terrain that is slipping away as corporate culture and mainstream culture take away our energy."
How do you feel about Juhasz's comments? I know that I haven't taught or participated in a class that used YouTube as it's main source of communication, but I will say personally, it is examples such as this that make me never want to teach within a university setting. Her 5th point really gets under my skin, which I interpret as "Academia needs its own ivory tower mode of discussion and YouTube isn't good for anything except videos of cats." Wow... what about media literacy projects like this, political activism and education like this, or smart détournement like this, or citizen media like this.
Yes, there are lots of stupid things on YouTube and they don't develop a discussion and most users probably don't think critically about media but becoming a producer of media is the beginning of that (in my opinion...maybe I'm wrong). I think it's a fantastic entry way into a smarter, more critically minded, accessible dialogue about media production.
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(I apologize in advance for the stream of conscience like writing, but my thinking is that this is a casual space for us to throw out thoughts and ideas...I hope I'm right.)
I think you both make some valid points. I would love to take a class centered around youtube. There is so much room for creativity and involvement-if the students are active and excited about the idea. I feel like that would be the biggest issue - the commitment level of the students involved.
For example, our blog, it is a creative space for us to present different facets of activist media and our thoughts, but, with myself included, there has been little discussion and treads off of the different posts. This is my first time blogging and although I spontaneously check up on what other people have posted I haven't felt comfortable, until now, to post or present my own ideas and responses. I wish now I had done so earlier...but my point is that the blog posts them selves are interesting and thought provoking but the responses have been few. I feel like this relates to the problems in the youtube class. Maybe if we had more time (15 weeks instead of 10) it might be different. I feel that youtube might be a more interactive way of communicating, but it will have the similar boundaries to success.
One of her best points was that the structure of youtube makes it somewhat difficult to find the exact material your looking for, ect, but there are ways to creatively make it easier, it just takes a little more dedication and commitment.
As far as the comments being uninspiring...I feel that is also the beauty of the system. Do I wish that more people have thought provoking insights, yes, but the beauty of the system is that everyone has the potential to be exposed to the material and the more exposer (maybe/hopefully) the more insight they will have.
I like your point that: "most users probably don't think critically about media but becoming a producer of media is the beginning of that." I completely agree. The more active you are in media, the more critically you start to think about it...and production is extremely active.
I also completely agree with you on being extremely bothered by the notion that "academia needs its own ivory tower mode of discussion" I feel it completely negates the "other" opinion...and neglects reality. (This is just my opinion)I was so bothered I felt I needed to comment just to tell you I agree.
Basically I completely agree with your closing paragraph...I really enjoyed this entry...thank you for sharing.
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