Video Vortex Reader II: moving images beyond YouTube

200 Video Vortex Reader II Moving Images Beyond YoutubeAsia online201However, even if it is made by users, in Korea UCC isn’t necessarily user-driven. This haslead to a situation in which companies pay a so-called user to make something that looks ‘authentically’UCC, which is then circulated as UCC that can indirectly advertise the company.Another model of this industry-driven UCC is the competition organized by public Korean buscompanies, in which they advertised for users to create UCC around bus stories, in order towin various prizes. 24 In the case of public transport, it is not surprising to find a lot of UCCmade within the spaces of both trains and buses, given that for most Seoulites traveling for atleast one hour to and from work or school is not uncommon.In fieldwork conducted in September 2010 (following up on research done in 2009), thisdifference between UGG and UCC was further highlighted through curious examples of UCC.When one thinks of UCC, one tends to picture the numerous viral images of singing anddancing we find on YouTube. However, in Korea, UCC has taken a slightly different route, inpart engineered by the vicarious ICT (information and communication technologies) industries.For some, UCC is synonymous with UGC – there is much forwarding of favourite URLsabout celebrities, or interesting hobbies like cooking. For others, UCC is an example of 21stcentury creativity — something they hold in great regard. When we asked respondents if theyhad made UCC, some had; others wanted to but had not. When asked why not, they repliedthat they felt their skills were not good enough. For these respondents, it was important thatwhat they uploaded looked good, otherwise they wouldn’t upload it. They noted that UCCtakes much time and skill, and that they felt they couldn’t compete with many of the expertsmaking UCC. This discussion highlighted that in Korea UCC isn’t characterized by DIY techniques;rather, it is a form of creativity that requires the skills of very talented individuals.The idea of needing much time, creativity and talent to make UCC in Korea has meant manyyoung people feel unable to participate in the creation of online content. Instead, they happilyforward other people’s UCC. In the highly competitive world that is contemporary Koreansociety, many young people feel the pressure to succeed at everything they do. The idea thatUCC could just be something one has fun with and plays with doesn’t strike a cord with manyyoung people. Instead, if you are going to participate in making online videos you need talent.One young female respondent, a freshman, spoke about some of the seniors who had madesome great UCC and then went on to establish their own media company. This company, M-MEDIA Works, 25 began being employed by companies to create mock UCC – that is, mediathat looks like UCC made by everyday users but is in fact commissioned by companies to sellsomething. From there, the company has gone on to produce music clips for famous singers inKorea. For this young respondent, these students’ leap from amateur to professional via UCCwas inspiring, and gave her significant insights into the changing nature of media techniques.Even she had been employed by a company, 7eleven, to write a pretend blog about someof their products. Since that job, she has become suspicious of the authenticity of so-called24. For examples of UCC competitions in Korea see the following: http://award.ts2020.kr/; http://ucckahp.com/ucckahp/; http://experience.koreabrand.net/season4_summary_01.asp?lang=en;http://tvpot.daum.net/project/ProjectView.do?projectid=419; http://www.metro.daejeon.kr; http://contest.jobkorea.co.kr/Contest/List.asp?cate=0109.25. www.m-media.co.kr/xe/about.‘ordinary’ blogs and UCC. This blurring between user-made and industry-made UCC is clearlyspearheaded by the case study of the Korean girl doing a Lady Gaga song via an iPhone video,which has attracted much attention. 26 Is it a clever form of UCC? Or viral marketing for iPhone?The particular and unique conditions for online video in Korea are shaped not only by socioculturalfactors, but also by the vicarious local ICT industries. Companies such as Samsungand LG have long been leaders in convergent ICT media, especially in terms of the mobilephone. The success of the mobile phone as a vehicle for producing and consuming contentin Korea is unmistakable. It is not uncommon to see both young and old people participatingin online media, especially videos, via mobile phones. For Jung Youn Moon, the subwayis such an important space for various everyday activities that it can be seen as ‘mobilebang’. 27 That is, it is a communal space that has numerous significant functions in the lives ofSeoulites. Much of this is coordinated through mobile media to provide a variety of multimediaexperiences and interactions. The rise of the camera phone in Korea has been pivotalin both changing and documenting shifts in everyday life in Seoul. Given that Korean companiessuch as Samsung were some of the first to pioneer high-resolution camera phoneswhose images could be easily sent to online sites such as minihompy, it is not surprising thatKorea has witnessed an active networked visual culture. 28Picture This: Networked Visuality in SeoulSince the first camera phone was introduced into the Korean market in 2002, the cameraphone has evolved into an important part of everyday mobile media. 29 Parallels can be madebetween the rise of the webcam and ‘reality’ aesthetics associated with the handheld camerain television and film, and the rise of the camera phone and sharing internet communitiessuch as Cyworld, MySpace and YouTube. As a convergent communicative media premisedon the logic of gift-giving, the various ways in which camera phone images can be ‘stored’,‘shared’, and ‘saved’ 30 are relevant to how the images are read and contextualized. With thelow-resolution giving greater ‘authenticity’ and ‘realism’ to the ‘voice of the people’ aesthetic, 31the camera phone provides a glimpse into the user’s personal world — a genre and techniquethat remains consistent despite the rise of high-resolution and superior lenses.26. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzh2UygPwDU&feature=player_embedded.27. Jung Youn Moon, The Mobile Bang: visual depictions of the subway, Master’s thesis, RMITUniversity, June, 2010.28. See Dong-Hoo Lee, ‘Women’s Creation of Camera Phone Culture’, Fibreculture Journal 6 (2005),http://journal.fibreculture.org; Dong-Hoo Lee, ‘Re-imaging Urban Space: Mobility, Connectivity,and a Sense of Place’, in Gerard Goggin and Larissa Hjorth (eds) Mobile Technologies,Routledge: London/New York, 2008, pp. 235-251; Dong-Hoo Lee, ‘Mobile Snapshots andPrivate/Public Boundaries’, Knowledge, Technology & Policy, 22 (2009): 161-171; Larissa Hjorth,‘Being Real in the Mobile Reel: A Case Study on Convergent Mobile Media as Domesticated NewMedia in Seoul, South Korea’, Convergence: The International Journal of Research into NewMedia Technologies, 14.1 (2008): 91-104.29. Lee, ‘Mobile Snapshots and Private/Public Boundaries’.30. Mizuko Ito and Daisuke Okabe, ‘Camera phones changing the definition of picture-worthy’,Japan Media Review, 2003, http://www.ojr.org/japan/wireless/1062208524.php.31. Hjorth, ‘Being Real in the Mobile Reel’.