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YouTube: the end or a reawake for traditional TV?

It is almost clear that the idea of YouTube as a ubiquitous social media is a reality that day by day takes force. One of the reasons for its popularity is because it has many features in common with other social platforms and also with television.

Some of the common relations that this social site has with many other is the desire to keep connected a large number of people, especially those who have something in common, and the opportunity for users to create content; Actually, the main characteristic of this website is the possibility to share videos, no matter if they are homemade or produced by professionals.

In chapter six, YouTube: the intimate connection between television and video sharing, in The Culture of Connectivity: A Critical History of Social Media, J. Van Dijck (2013) shows how the advent of this specific social media puts in perspective the power of television networks in the creation of content. Especially because the main purpose of YouTube was to be an alternative to television.

The idea that anyone would be able to have his or her own channel was unbelievable, but after a while, this perception was shifting to a more lucrative orientation, precisely a “cost-per-click” business.

In 2012, according to Van Dijck (2013), most of the videos were produced by a few active users; the rest were considerate mere watchers. Since that moment, YouTube recognized that it was no longer a platform dominated by amateurs; therefore, it passed from being an alternative to TV, to be a medium for it.

Such is the case of almost all television networks worldwide that have not only their own television channel but also a YouTube channel. In some cases, as CNN, with two million of subscribers on its YouTube channel. Here is the answer to the initial question, the invention of YouTube instead of being an enemy for television; it is actually, an ally of it.

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Citizen journalism under the spotlight of ethics

The development of social media has revolutionized and impacted in multiple ways the manner in which the world works. As a medium of communication, in a way or another, has reinforced the power of traditional media, but also has empowered citizens not only to be connected with each other, but also to have a voice. Almost everybody with a smartphone and an Instagram account is able for sharing not only personal moments through photos, but also to inform about current events such as strikes, natural disasters or any type of issue. By doing so, citizens instead of being a mere eyewitness they become in reporters, well known as citizen journalists.

As Apler (2013) on her article: “War on Instagram: Framing conflict photojournalism with mobile photography apps” describes, the information disseminated by both, professionals and citizen journalists, need to be critically analyzed by an ethical perspective.

It is also, inevitable to highlight that their job is, most of the time, biased by emotions instead of accuracy.

Such is the case of the earthquake that struck Mexico on September 19th that left 369 dead, according to CBC news report. Minutes after the natural disaster happened, social networks like Instagram were filled with photos and videos with any type of content related to quake. The Instagram’s user: @poeta.delcielo shared a video in which a building collapse while a woman screamed because there were people inside. Another user called Oblix uploaded on YouTube the same video, but with the difference that it has a soundtrack effect that adds more drama to the scene.

Nevertheless, it is necessary to say that the work done by citizens is quite relevant and promotes the democratization of the media. 

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Twitter as a promoter for social change

Many things have changed since the development of certain social networks. They could be considered as a sweet dream or a complete nightmare. On one hand, through these social platforms, it is possible to keep in touch with acquaintances, as well as to have self-expression; nonetheless it has constituted a mine of data for big corporations and the uncertainty of what kind of things big corporations will do, and do, with that personal data it is very scary.

However, the perception would be about social media, the indubitable truth is that the creation of platforms as Twitter has become, as Murthy (2011) says, “a microphone for masses.”  A microphone opens to inform, to reclaim, and also to complain.

Such is the case of the night and the day after the election of Donald Trump as president of the US in November 2016. Many citizens raised their voices on Twitter against the results with the hashtag 'He is not my president', which was used more than 180,000 times within a few hours according to a news report from BBC news (BBC, 2016).

Although the results would not be different because of these complaints, the mere fact that people can express their feelings and be heard by others, almost worldwide, demonstrates how powerful a social media platform, as Twitter, could be.

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Identities, profiles, and self-esteem

The human being has an imperative necessity to communicate and express ideas, feeling, disagreements, anything. Nowadays social media has become a helping hand to self-expression, or what Theresa Sauter (2013) claims in her article, social media works as a tool for self-formation.

Since the invention of the paper, writing has been one of the special tools in communication. Today, that self-expression is developed through social media. Every citation you quote, a picture uploaded or a post on your profile tells something about you.

As a “social animal” as Aristotle said, in social media, users look for approval and support to enhance their self-esteem. For sure, all this is interrelated with the self-formation on the assumption that everything someone posted on social media communicates something. Indeed, those platforms have become a tool to present oneself as a personal branding.

Thus, for the next time, you will post anything, ask yourself: is it really represents me?

Exploring the possibilities around social media, it is possible to discover an ally or an enemy to improve who we really are. To dig deep into this topic, associate professor Ulrike Schultze explains how social media shapes our identity.

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Someone is watching

Have you ever asked yourself how Facebook, Instagram, Google or any kind of social network knows what product or service you like or need to buy? Let me ask you one more question. When was the last time you clicked on the like bottom? Was it a day ago, five hours ago, or perhaps almost a minute ago?  Well, there is your answer. It’s all about, what George Dvorsky (2014) describes in his article, algorithms that dominate our world.

One of the biggest realities about new media these days is that every click someone does on a page, on the like bottom, or even on this post is a new detail or pathway about who is that person in virtual space. Any kind of personal information that a person has given to sign in on whatever social network, every photo uploaded, as well as a comment left, or even search done is translated into data.

Thinking twice, nowadays, is not that much necessary to click on a page or search for a product you would like to buy to see advertisings of it on any page you access. The simple fact that some of your favorite apps requested access to the microphone of your smartphone is another way to track and get data about you.

Through data, the system can know what you would like to follow, listen to, watch, or shop. It is, in fact, a huge treasure for all the big corporations that are behind the social network. Hence, if they already have tons of information about you, not only the thing you like, but also the ones you don’t; the secrets you have written, the projects that you are enrolled… What is coming next?  

Nine minutes of this Ted Talk are enough to understand how watching we are for corporate organizations and for sure, for the hands behind social media.

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Social media interaction: what is behind?

“The Culture of Connectivity” written by José Van Dijck in 2013 is a very interesting way to dig deeper into this new world that we all call social media. Two chapters are enough to understand that the social interactions that we enjoy on social media have more behind than what we think. There are factors that result inevitably to mention when we talk about social media nowadays; those are the sociotechnical and the political-economy.

The first one is quite complicated, but indeed very necessary to analyze what we have in our hands. If we talk about the sociotechnical aspect of new media, we must mention the Actor-Network Theory (ANT) and what it involves.  It could be roughly defined as the interactions and “coevolving networks” between humans and technology. There are human and nonhuman actors involve in the interaction process. This is one of the most interesting elements of the ANT. It recognizes that the human beings are evolving hand in hand with nonhuman actors. Back in the days when Bruno Latour proposed this theory, the nonhuman actors were the inventions and technology advances; nowadays we interact with networks and social media.

At this point, we have seen just the sociological aspect of the sociality interactions. Nevertheless, there is a particular and very important element to regard this is the political-economy structure. The main idea of that approach is that it looks at the connectivity through the lens of the economic and “legal-political governance” as essential elements for human interactions on social media.

Those two approaches can help us to understand a little bit more how the media world works.

“The world is not a solid continent of facts sprinkled by a few lakes of uncertainties, but a vast ocean of uncertainties speckled by a few islands of calibrated and stabilized forms.” Bruno Latour, Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to Actor-Network-Theory