Question 6 - Identify a form of digital culture (e.g. leet speak, memes, Youtube unboxing videos, glitch art, cyberbullying) that also has a distinct local or regional characteristic. Trace its history and using notable artefact(s), explain how this digital culture may be of significance to designers.
HI.
Now that I’ve explained about the History of YouTube which is also the origin of YouTubers, hopefully my explanation was good, I will now talk about…
The Vlogging Culture (!!!)
We live in a world where everything revolves around the Internet. The Internet is a very powerful tool where it can influence and shape human behaviour and our culture such as the way we communicate and interact with one another, the way we source for information to satisfy our imaginations and curiosities or for any other purposes at all. The unknown is no longer available because whatever that is present is available on the Internet which is available to us, the users (Bagchi, Narula, Sengupta, n.d.).
INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE WORLDWIDE AND IS ONLY ONE CLICK AWAY
Ok so moving on, Vlogging is very known and done in the western countries that are influenced by the European culture. It is short for Video Blog or Video Log which is a form of blog but with video as the medium, and it’s also a form of web television (Pilkington, 2009). Local YouTubers such as JinnyboyTV, name wee and Naomi Neo are now vlogging as well because whether you like it or not, we are all influenced by the western culture, or even, the culture that everyone in the world is influenced by.
JinnyboyTV
name wee
Naomi Neo
But how did Vlogging even started in the first place?
It all dates back to January 2, 2000, before YouTube was even invented, Adam Contras uploaded a video on his blog to keep his family and friends updated on his cross-country trip to LA (reposted on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Op65qkWxqBY) That was the first video uploaded and is now the longest series of vlogs (Wikipedia, 2016). Vlogging is a way to share your thoughts and feelings on the internet and since 2005, YouTube provides that, FOR FREE because before then, posting videos on the internet was expensive. Since then, Vlogging has increased in popularity and has become a massively popular form of entertainment (The Chicks Life - Daily Family Vlogs, 2015).
My next question is, why would anyone put so much time into watching someone else’ life when they could be doing something even better?! Why do vlogs get so many views when it doesn’t really benefit you in anything but instead, it’s a form of procrastination? Honestly, we all ask that, but we all do what we questioned too, how ridiculous haha. First of being, ENTERTAINMENT. Not gonna lie, watching someone whom you admire live their daily life IS very entertaining. There are so many vloggers who make interesting vlogs on YouTube and that just mean spending more time watching more vlogs but the reason for why humans like watching vlogs is because of the connection between the YouTuber and the viewers. When they invite you into their private lives or when you feel like you know them to a certain extend or when you feel like there’s a one on one interaction between you and the YouTuber, that forms a connection. We as humans strive for connection and with vlogging, it creates a possibility to connect with people from all over the world. This is what sets vlogging apart from any other form of entertainment. HUMAN CONNECTION.
Another reason for why people watch vlogs is because it is an escape from reality. Just like how sometimes you’d go on a shopping spree and spend a lot on stuff you don’t really need or eat tons and tons of junks when you’re not hungry because temporary happiness block off the stressful reality for awhile and that somehow feels good. Vlogging allows viewers to join another community. It brings people together and to be a part of their lives, to be a part of something different, bigger and better.
Everything written on the above are the bright and positive side to vlogs, vlogging, vloggers, viewers and such that are involved in the vlogging culture. But is there a down side to it? Well yes of course, there is always a down side to everything, its only a matter of how severe it is. I feel like I have so much more to say, therefore I’ll see you in my next post!
tqvmgoodbye, goodnight.
References:
Bagchi, J., Narula, M., Sengupta, S. (n.d.) “NO ONE IS IMMUNE TO THE STORMS THAT SHAKE THE WORLD”. Available at: https://edge.org/responses/how-is-the-internet-changing-the-way-you-think (Accessed: 11 January 2016).
The Chick’s Life - Daily Family Vlogs (2015) “Why do Millions of people watch vlogs? A History Of Vlogging & YouTube”. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keEdvNZfMKQ (Accessed: 5 January 2016).
Pilkington, E. (2009) “Merriam-Webster releases list of new words to be included in dictionary”. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jul/09/merriam-webster-dictionary-new-words (Accessed: 5 January 2016).
Wikipedia (2016) “Video Blog”. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_blog (Accessed: 5 January 2016).
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