Media-Culture Update: Change in Video Culture

## From the Beginning

Video Hosting Services has been a growing part of technological innovation. For a number of years, these services have allowed users to share videos with anyone across the world. Video sharing serves as a new form of entertainment, but could not be made possible without video hosting services like YouTube, Yahoo! Video, Hulu, and even sites like Facebook.

Before these platforms changed the way people shared videos, there were more traditional ways and forms of doing so. Home videos were often used to tape special moments, or DVDs were used to play a new movie that had just come out. Now, people are able to share videos with a click of a button. Rather than being low quality pixilated videos, these videos are now high resolution and are taken with little to no effort at all.

## What Changed?

As many know, home videos are not the only type of videos that are being shared on sites like YouTube and Facebook. Before these sites existed people were able to share videos, but not as easily as we are able to do today. There were a few problems. First, there was no site that had the amount of storage needed to store and share videos. The internet was not as fast as it is today, meaning that loading videos took ten times longer depending on the size and length. However, before anyone could watch a video, the proper software needed to be downloaded on each computer to even begin to download the video.

Move 10 years forward and much has changed. Posting and sharing videos are now apart of participatory culture because we see videos are constantly shared with friends and family. The cycle just continues from there. Henry Jenkins believes that there is certain criteria that makes video spreadable [it doesnt spread its dead p 5.html|[1]].

This video was created for YouTube's tenth anniversary and shows how the internet has truly changed the way people watch and share videos.

## What Kind of Videos are Worth Spreading?

In part six of "If It Doesn't Spread, It's Dead", Henry Jenkins compares *spreadable content* to rumors based off research done by Patricia Turner. He states that the ability to share content between a community that shares the same interest and beliefs is what gives videos such power. Like rumors, after a video sparks the interest of one individual, it is often shared with others who may also enjoy or feel the same way of the aforementioned video.

Discussion of viral content can be found here

## How Easy Is It To Share Videos?

To demonstrate the "ease" of uploading a video, I attempted to upload a video which I created myself with the help of the 'Elf Yourself' app. The video took about five minutes to download, someone who wishes to share a video may need to have a degree of patience if it is over 1 minute long. However, after the video is uploaded, sharing is fairly easy and there are plenty of options as to where a user can share said video.

## Motivation Behind Sharing

While many people seem to believe that people spread media to become popular, Jenkins has a different opinion.

> "[...] the example here offers valuable insight into the social factors that motivate sharing information and content within communities in general:
>
>

1. To bolster camaraderie and articulate the (presumably shared) experiences and values that identify oneself as belong to a particular community (“bolstering their identity”)

2. To gather information and explain difficult to understand events or circumstances.

3. To establish the boundaries of an 'in-group' [1]"

## References

[1] Jenkins, Henry. "If It Doesn’t Spread, It’s Dead (PartSix): Spreadable Content." *Confessions of an AcaFan*. N.p., 23 Feb. 2009. Web. 24 June 2015.

[2] Beer, David. "Objects and Infrastructures: Opening the Pathways of Cultural Circulation." *Popular Culture & New Media: The Politics of Circulation*. N.p.: n.p., 2008. 13-39. Print.

[3] West, Tyler. "Going Viral: Factors That Lead Videos to Become Internet Phenomena." *The Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications • Vol. 2, No. 1 • Spring 2011 Going Viral: Factors That Lead Videos to Become Internet Phenomena* 2.1 (2011): 76-84. Elon University, 2011. Web.