YouTube & Self Expression

Dr. Michael Wesch presented at the Library of Congress recently and gave this fascinating presentation on how YouTube has led to the development of new forms of self expression.

At one point he looks at memes that spread around YouTube and how the creators seem to be spreading happiness. He also explains how a video of his got to number one on YouTube on SuperBowl Sunday despite every advertisers’ video being uploaded on that day.

We’re living in a different type of media scape… my video’s popularity shows that there’s this integrated mediascape that we now live in. At the center of this mediascape is us and that makes things especially interesting. As an anthropologist I think of media differently as most people out there – I don’t see it as content, nor tools of communication – I think of media as mediating human relationships. That’s important: when media changes then human relationships changes.

Full timeline here

[via JM]