I don’t know about you, but I feel like I have watched more video content during the pandemic than in the rest of my life combined. And it hasn’t been limited to just Netflix or other streaming services. I’ve become a short-format aficionado (TikTok) and spent a good number of hours falling down the YouTube rabbit hole as well. In particular, YouTube is the focus of some ongoing controversy and culture wars this week.
- Should Netflix Be Afraid of YouTube? [The Motley Fool] “The market research outfit touted YouTube as the only social platform to increase viewing time in all four categories of content it monitors (entertainment, media, brands, and sports). Connected TVs had a lot to do with that.”
- YouTube Technology and Culture have Taken Over the World [City Watch] “It is possible to upload material to some far-off server and it is possible for somebody equally far away to download it and watch it at any time of the day or night. This technology is available to emergency preparedness events, stamp clubs, and even scientific societies. “
- YouTube still hosts extremist videos. Here’s who watches them [The Washington Post] “Overall, more than 90 percent of views of videos from alternative and extremist channels were from people with high levels of racial resentment.”
- Why popular YouTubers are building their own sites [BBC News] “For a long time there have been tensions between those creating content on YouTube and the company providing the platform, ranging from disputes about ad revenue, to copyright problems, and even rows about the way videos are recommended to people, Many successful YouTubers are now sizeable companies in their own right, and are seeking to safeguard their futures.”
From the Ohio Web Library:
- GO TO YOUTUBE AND CALL ME IN THE MORNING: USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA FOR CHRONIC CONDITIONS (Xiao Liu, Bin Zhang, Susarla, A., & Padman, R. (2020). Go to Youtube and Call Me in the Morning: Use of Social Media for Chronic Conditions. MIS Quarterly, 44(1), 257–283.)
- Nothing to see here. From flat-earthers to QAnon to Covid quackery, YouTube is awash in conspiracy theories and misinformation. But the video giant is deploying AI to try to keep the lunatic fringe from going viral. (HOMPSON, C. (2020). Nothing to see here. From flat-earthers to QAnon to Covid quackery, YouTube is awash in conspiracy theories and misinformation. But the video giant is deploying AI to try to keep the lunatic fringe from going viral. Wired, 28(10), 70.)
- Taking Your Library Instruction to YouTube. (Moorefield-Lang, H. (2019). Chapter 4: Taking Your Library Instruction to YouTube. Library Technology Reports, 55(5), 17–20.)
