Online Audio-Visual culture … (p 53)

I found this section of the reading quite interesting. The Discussion of how what was once a private, personal space, that has now become a public platform where everyone who has access to the internet can play a role in and contribute to the public discourse, is very truthful. The internet has enabled mass communication worldwide! Being 19 years old myself, I can remember growing up not checking the internet every single day, I can remember a time when the social interaction online was not so hugely prominent in daily activity. Fast-forward to today, and it is a completely different story.

Bringing in the topic of ‘audio-visual’ online culture, online videos have greatly impacted the internet and its many uses. The internet thrives off of any kind of video, from the crappy home made short film, or the dodgy recording of a concert you went to the other night, to the bigger scale productions where money has been spent and a target audience is in mind. The reading explains why YouTube is so successful as a video platform, and I found this to be put really nicely –

The main reason for the enormous success of YouTube lies in the fact that it operates as an open channel for the teeming millions of prospective content producers who, thanks to the technological and economic development of digital media production equipment, now have the possibilities to exchange meanings, experiences and ways of expression through the film medium.

The internet has enabled a giant platform to emerge for audio-visual produce and the people who enjoy creating them.