Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Technology

524 YouTube• excessive time spent online to the detriment of study,physical activity, or sleepWhile some of this concern echoes an earlier generation’smisgivings about television, the online world is farmore deeply embedded in daily life, and both opportunitiesand concerns are thus more complex (see identity in theonline world). While parents can learn more about therelevant issues, and schools can help students develop asavvy, critical attitude toward technology, communicationbetween generations will need to be an important strategyfor coping with such rapid technological change.Further ReadingBuckingham, David, and Rebekah Willett, editors. Digital Generations:Children, Young People, and the New Media. Mahwah,N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2006.Lenhart, Amanda, and Mary Madden. “Social Networking Websitesand Teens: An Overview.” Pew Internet & American LifeProject, January 7, 2007. Available online. URL: http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_SNS_Data_Memo_Jan_2007.pdf.Accessed December 4, 2007.———. “Teens and Technology: Youth Are Leading the Transitionto a Fully Wired and Mobile Nation.” Pew Internet &American Life Project, July 27, 2005. Available online. URL:www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Teens_Tech_July2005web.pdf. Accessed December 4, 2007.Macgill, Alexandra Rankin. “Parent and Teenager Internet Use.”Pew Internet & American Life Project, October 24, 2007.Available online. URL: http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Teen_Parents_data_memo_Oct2007.pdf. Accessed December4, 2007.Mazzarella, Sharon R., ed. Girl Wide Web: Girls, the Internet, andthe Negotiation of Identity. New York: Peter Lang, 2005.Reimer, Jeremy. “Study Shows Youth Embracing TechnologyEven More than Before.” Ars Technica, August 1, 2006. Availableonline. URL: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060801-7401.html. Accessed December 4, 2007.Willard, Nancy E. Cyber-Safe Kids, Cyber-Savvy Teens: HelpingYoung People Learn to Use the Internet Safely and Responsibly.San Francisco, Calif.: Jossey-Bass, 2007.YouTubeSince the late 1990s, Web users (particularly younger ones)have been adept at sharing media content online (see filesharingand p2p networks). In the 2000 decade, however,the emphasis has shifted to users not merely sharing otherpeoples’ content, but creating their own (see user-createdcontent). The first part of the recipe was the availability ofubiquitous digital cameras and camcorders; the second partwas easy-to-use video-editing software; and the third partwas a Web site that could host the results.Created in 2005 by three former PayPal employees, thevideo-sharing site YouTube has been the leading venue foramateur video. Although available content includes clipsfrom movies and TV shows (some unauthorized), much ofthe most interesting content is original videos created anduploaded by users. Beyond just sharing or accessing content,users are encouraged to rate and comment on the videosthey see, and users can also subscribe to “feeds” of newmaterial that is likely to be of interest to them.By 2008 more than 83 million videos were available onYouTube—and hundreds of thousands added each day.Political InfluenceJust as political pundits were beginning to notice thatbloggers were creating parallel structures that rivaled theinfluence of the mainstream media (see journalism andcomputers), YouTube broke into the highly visual field ofpolitical advertising. Most candidates in the 2008 presidentialprimaries have put their statements and other videos onYouTube. However, other supporters soon got into the act,including the creator of a pro–Barack Obama ad that castrival Hillary Rodham Clinton in the role of Big Brother inthe classic “1984” Apple Macintosh commercial (see mashups).Political commentators and journalists have also beenactive in putting their opinions on YouTube (or commentingon those of others). Perhaps the political establishment’sbiggest nod to YouTube is the series of debates cosponsoredby CNN and YouTube, bringing together the Republicanand Democratic primary fields.YouTube has had its share of criticism: Critics havecharged the service with not sufficiently policing copyrightviolations and violent content (including videos of fightsor bullying in schools), as well as neo-Nazi propaganda,scenes of animal abuse, and videos by anti-American insurgentgroups, as well as generally tasteless exhibitionism. Afew countries and some schools have responded by blockingaccess to the service.If YouTube’s main resource is the creativity and enthusiasmof its users, its main revenue is advertising—about $15million per month by 2006. Don Tapscott and Anthony D.Williams, authors of the book Wikinomics, cite YouTube asa classic example of the new economics of mass collaborationon the Web. Google signaled its appreciation for theeconomic potential of YouTube by buying it for $1.65 billionin late 2006.Further ReadingFah, Chad. How to Do Everything with YouTube. Emeryville, Calif.:McGraw-Hill Osborne, 2007.Miller, Michael. YouTube 4 You. Indianapolis: Que, 2007.Sahlin, Doug. YouTube for Dummies. Indianapolis: Wiley, 2007.YouTube. Available online. URL: http://www.youtube.com. AccessedDecember 4, 2007.Weber, Steve. Plug Your Business! Marketing on MySpace, YouTube,Blogs and Podcasts, and Other Web 2.0 Social Networks. FallsChurch, Va.: Weber Books, 2007.Winograd, Morley, and Michael D. Hais. Millennial Makeover:MySpace, YouTube, and the Future of American Politics. Piscataway,N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2008.