Categorizing YouTube
Authors: Mosebo Thomas 
Published: March 2016

<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG /> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves> <w:TrackFormatting /> <w:HyphenationZone>21</w:HyphenationZone> <w:PunctuationKerning /> <w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pkt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing> <w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pkt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing> <w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas /> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables /> <w:DontGrowAutofit /> <w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables /> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx /> </w:Compatibility> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--> &lt;!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:Garamond; panose-1:2 2 4 4 3 3 1 1 8 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0cm; margin-right:0cm; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0cm; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:3.0cm 2.0cm 3.0cm 2.0cm; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --&gt; <!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Tabel - Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 1cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Garamond;" lang="EN-GB">This article provides a genre analytical approach to the typology of User Generated Content (UGC) of YouTube. The article investigates the construction of navigation processes on YouTube. It suggests a pragmatic genre approach that is expanded through a focus on YouTube&rsquo;s technological affordances. Through an analysis of the different pragmatic contexts of YouTube, it is argued that a taxonomic understanding of YouTube must be comprehended around the vacillation</span><strong><span style="font-family: Garamond;" lang="EN-GB"> </span></strong><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Garamond;" lang="EN-GB">of a user-driven bottom-up <em>folksonomy</em> and a hierarchical browsing system that emphasises a culture of competition and favours the already popular content of YouTube.<span>&nbsp; </span><span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 1cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Garamond;" lang="EN-GB"><span> </span>With this taxonomic approach, the UGC videos are registered and analysed in terms of an empirical based observation. The article identifies and characterises various UGC categories and their principal characteristics. The article further discusses general tendencies of the UGC within the interacting relationship of new and old genres. The article advocates that the utility of a conventional categorical system is primarily of analytical and theoretical interest rather than a practical instrument, as a consequence of the complexity and diversity of the navigating possibilities of YouTube. </span></p> <!--EndFragment-->