[coolmargathings-blog]

The YouTube Void Part IV: Gender, Gaming & Commentary

In 2005, during the height of the online transformation from Web 1.0 to its big brother, Web 2.0, YouTube was born. The early content creators of YouTube were uninhibited by the need for political correctness that marks today's society, giving rise to a period of creative history sometimes referred to as CringeTube. It was this early content that acted as the cradle for critical and comedic response channels, also known today as YouTube commentary.

Now, we've already define commentary as a genre, so I won't bother explaining that again. Today, I want to discuss the creators themselves. A number of potential trends become apparent when you watch this kind of content as regularly as I do. Two major patterns emerge:

Mainstream commentary creators appear to be almost exclusively male.

Most of the mainstream commentary creators appear to have a history of gaming.

Over the course of several weeks, I put myself to collecting data about creators that met the definition of commentary creators that I provided in my previous post. I sifted through about 66,000 search results and found that 85% of creators could be identified as male and 67% had a confirmed history of gaming. Weird, huh? Now, I haven't done nearly enough research to make a definite statement about why this might be. But, it reminds me of a discussion Katie and I had in class during our discussion about trolling. We were talking about #gamergate, and Katie mentioned that the thought of upsetting any gamer guy was terrifying to her. I agreed; the thought of having a male gamer on my tail was not something I was fond of.

So it begs the question: is there a connection between gender and trolling? Is there a connection between gender and gaming? 

... Is there a connection between gaming and trolling? In my mind, there definitely is. Whenever I watch Let's Plays I'm always shocked by the language people use to communicate with each other. You hear a lot politically incorrect comments, cyberbullying and generally abusive language.

I feel like it's an important connection to make in the context of commentary, where the majority of creators are gamers. I'd be interested in studying how the language used between gamers may influence the rhetoric employed by creators of commentary - the most successful of which are controversial, anti-PC and, at their heart, trolls. 

[coolmargathings-blog]

The YouTube Void Part III: Echo Chambers & Affinity Spaces

In my last tumblr post, I discussed the commentary creators known collectively as h3h3Productions. The husband and wife team of Ethan and Hila are back - this time, I'd like to define their content and discuss exactly why they are so effective in their field.

I finished my last post by mentioning that users can get lost in the echo chambers that they build up around themselves. The ideologies that fill these chambers almost always become intertwined with a person's identity - which is why content creators such as h3h3Productions, whose content is based upon the mockery and critical debunking of others, receive a ridiculous amount of hate. But what exactly is it that makes them so good at penetrating others echo chambers? (that's what she said .....?)

Let's break down their content based on an old principle developed by my main man Cicero: the five canons of rhetoric. These are five characteristics that, when mastered, provide the foundation for effective public speaking. How does h3h3Productions incorporate these? Let's take a look:

Invention The content has been researched - both creators are usually able to cite facts from their subjects' historical background.

Arrangement h3h3 sketches often open and close with some form of a comedic sketch which sandwich the critical analysis.

Style Their content is clearly characterisable as being comedic by both the creators and the viewers.

Memory Rather than memorising an exact script (outside of their short sketches), Ethan often commits the main points for analysis to memory and improvises a performance around these main points.

Delivery While their content is often lighthearted, both Ethan and Hila present their analysis and performance in a sincere manner (in other words, they're not just doing it for the meme).

There's a lot more to say in describing how they use these tenets; their particular use of the canons is extremely effective in not only attracting new viewers, but in retaining them.  I think that it's largely because the way h3h3 employ these five tenets contributes to the creation of affinity spaces. People identify with the often strange and particular style of comedy, as well as with the emphasis on critical thought that permeates the content. This also creates fodder for the aforementioned hateful comments.

Hold up. What's the difference between an echo chamber and an affinity space??? Because they sound hella similar. Stay tuned to find out ...

[digitaldigestion-blog]

So I needed to make a poster to used in a Twine game I am working on but the source needs to be on the internet so here you go Tumblr, you get a really dumb part of a very dumb story line haha! 

[digitaldigestion-blog]

So I needed to make a poster to used in a Twine game I am working on but the source needs to be on the internet so here you go Tumblr, you get a really dumb part of a very dumb story line haha! 

[digitaldigestion-blog]

…some more gamey stuff because it turns out I dont do to well when using css :)))) 

[coolmargathings-blog]

instant reblog

[coolmargathings-blog]

The YouTube Void Part II: Growing Dissent

As I'm writing this, I'm listening to the cacophonous coughs of Ethan Klein. Despite being abrasive to the ears, I find it somewhat soothing. I suppose it's because I know that the Ethan-cough is a key indicator that he's about to drop some serious rational thought on his audience. 

Klein runs the critical comedy YouTube channel h3h3Productions with his wife, Hila. Their videos consist of the pair reacting to, parodying and critiquing numerous other creators on YouTube. h3h3 are generally considered to be a powerhouse in their field and are largely responsible for the informal policing of content on YouTube.

As an example, let's take a look at their most well-known critique. In April 2016, a civil action lawsuit was filed against h3h3, alleging copyright infringement in their video The Big, the BOLD, the Beautiful. In the video, the couple reacts to the video Bold Guy vs Parkour Girl, as posted by user MattHossZone. You can watch it here (be warned, there is foul language), but I'll summarise it below.

Ethan and Hila provide a rational analysis of the writing of the original video and make a number of valid literary criticisms. They point out that the main character is clearly a Mary Sue, being that he is irresistible to all women, despite being hugely disrespectful. MattHossZone also uses this video to showcase his semi-impressive skill in parkour, despite this being completely irrelevant to the plot. The video ends with the main character somehow teleporting, and Ethan sarcastically mentions that this, of course, was the only unrealistic plot point.

In my last post, I gave some examples of creators who all seem to squeeze the same kind of content out - that is, beauty gurus. Their nearly identical content is a great practical example of an echo chamber that users may get caught in during their online adventures. h3h3 provide users with an escape from this echo chamber by showing them that critical thinking is possible (and necessary).

What's really interesting is the way that our inhabitation of these echo chambers becomes a part of our identity. Since the internet rids us of any physical or social marker of identity, we can most easily define ourselves by the echo chamber we inhabit. I think that's probably why you see so much hate in the h3h3 comments: Ethan and Hila aren't just shitting on the creator, but also their audience.

Works Cited: Hosseinzadeh, Matthew. "Bold Guy vs Parkour Girl." YouTube, uploaded by MattHossZone, 11 August 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj4XAYhF0ok John, Joe. "h3h3 Ethan Cough Compilation." YouTube, 6 October 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEG2wxz0ILo Klein, Ethan and Klein, Hila. "We're Being Sued." YouTube, uploaded by h3h3Productions, 24 May 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEGVOysbC8w&t= Klein, Ethan and Klein, Hila. "The Big, the BOLD, the Beautiful (Re-Upload)."YouTube, uploaded by h3h3Productions, 23 August 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXUs5FOo-JE

[coolmargathings-blog]

The YouTube Void

While doing the readings for this week, I encountered a term for something that I have long referred to as "the YouTube void". That is - the immeasurable mass of content produced by YouTube creators such as beauty gurus, vloggers, reactors, etc. Our textbook puts into words the exact feeling I get when I find myself lost in this void by discussing how, while all of this content is produced and uploaded freely, it has no potential to make society better as a whole. That is, we live in a world of communicative capitalism.

I find this sentiment particularly prolific with the aforementioned beauty gurus. These young women and men often make millions of dollars from their almost identical videos, as well as from the collaborations, affiliations, and sponsorships that result from their popularity. Along with their indistinguishable content, these gurus have highly similar presences on other forms of social media - just examine the Instagram content from Jaclyn Hill and Tati Westbrook, respectively: 

The circles note the typical content of a beauty blogger: selfies, vacation pictures, posts about wonderful their boyfriend is and of course, pictures of makeup. Each project their own version of the perfect life - as do many regular users of social media. The difference between a regular user of social media and a beauty guru is that most beauty gurus are market mavens, such that they influence millions of people. That means that millions of people come to believe in the values of beauty bloggers; materialism and physical beauty being the two most prominent. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that this content isn’t exactly groundbreaking. I’m sure it’s not what Negroponte was referring to when he discussed the “ultimate triumph” of the digitized world (qtd in Lindgren 54).

Jeffree Star and Tati Westbrook film a video in a private jet.

So what exactly does this kind of content mean for society? It’s hard to say, really - it’s not as if the Internet is going to reach some kind of saturation point at which it can no longer store makeup tutorials and product hauls. Is the world doomed to enter into a continuous cycle of content consumption, wherein we sacrifice all originality for the sake of placating our need to fit in? I'm not sure. As long as original and free-thinking content creators exist, I think we have a fighting chance.

Works Cited: Hill, Jaclyn. Instagram, www.instagram.com/jaclynhill. Lindgren, Simon. Digital Media and Society. Los Angeles: Sage, 2017. Print. Star, Jeffree. "GET READ IN MY PRIVATE JET feat. Tati Westbrook." YouTube, Tati Westbrook, June 17th 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0KXRM5GuMY&t=. Westbrook, Tati. Instagram, www.instagram.com/glamlifeguru.