Lesson 4: YouTube

1. Media in the Online Age
Audience Produced Media

2. David Gauntlett
“Web 2.0 allows us to become
producers as well as consumers of
the Internet”
“Web 2.0 allows us to collaborate
and participate with each other”

3. What online media does the public produce?
What online media does the public produce? Where can it be found?
YouTube is the easy answer. Think harder.

4. Examples of Audience Produced Media
Mash Ups
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DS2xsk2hzpM
Short Films / Film Sequences / Trailers
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPH5ATRot3o&list=PL_P5ZEHuHS2aXqPX1R
z1ra7H6h86VghZ7&feature=c4-overview-vl
Music Videos / Own Music
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4npUdfEmbQ
Parodies – YouTube Channels
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwxbJxxZs10

5. Class Discussion
• What issues arise surrounding quality, distribution and
content?
• What are the benefits and limitations for Media
Institutions?
• Are there any issues about consumer choice?

6. The Long Tail “Chris Anderson, 2006”

7. Pre-Broadband
• Before the Broadband era companies and distributors were interested
in blockbuster hits and best-selling products.
• Now there is a realisation that selling to a variety of niche markets
might add up to as much as selling ‘peak’ material.

8. Now & Then
• “In an era without constraints of physical shelf space and other bottlenecks
of distribution, narrowly targeted goods and services can be as
economically attractive as mainstream fare”
• Think about the ‘old days’ – shops wouldn’t consider stocking a variety of
cd’s and dvd’s. rather they’d stockpile better selling, mainstream, titles.
• 1. it would ensure sales
• 2. They be more choice of supplier – both are driven by maximising profit and
minimising overheads.
• The internet is basically a huge warehouse and there are subsequently
fewer overheads associated with distributing niche products. This provides
infinite consumer choice.
• Think about it – we expect to go on the internet and find anything we’re
looking for with 100% availability.

9. Democratising Effect?
• In the brave new world of the long tail, the niche consumer is King
and they have a potentially limitless choice of places to buy from.