YouTube.com was founded in 2005 and quickly became a leading force in the surge of so-called “Web 2.0” culture that hit a peak with Time Magazine naming “You” the 2006 person of the year. YouTube has gone on to provide endless memes, cultural references, and launched the careers of an army of “YouTubers”. But how does YouTube keep a constant stream of videos in your feed, deciding what you should see? And what about the ads that are fed to you during those videos?
Suggested Reading
- “Something is Wrong on the Internet”
- “How YouTube’s PewDiePie Made $12 Million This Year Despite Racist Videos”
- Survey: YouTube Stars More Popular Than Mainstream Celebs Among U.S. Teens
- Logan Paul’s Stunt Mines the Gulf Between Memes and Tragedy (TW: Suicide)
- A 6-year-old boy is making $11 million a year on YouTube reviewing toys
- Making Sense of the Strange YouTube Unboxing Trend
- No-commentary playthroughs are the Netflix of video games
- Let’s Play Copyright Threat Raises Questions About The Law And How To Use It
- This beauty vlogger wrote “Pig” on her face to make a point about self-love
- Why more men are wearing makeup than ever before
- How YouTube’s Shifting Algorithms Hurt Independent Media
- YouTube: The Great Radicalizer
- The YouTube stars heading for burnout: ‘The most fun job imaginable became deeply bleak’
Suggested Tasks
Make Some Videos
- Parody video mimicking the style of a sub-genre of YouTubers
- Learn how to set up a channel
- Try different styles and cliches
Analyze your Youtube Use
- Experiment with Youtube’s algorithms by creating multiple new accounts and tracking how Youtube’s recommendations shift based on those accounts’ viewing history and demographic profile
- Monitor and critically examine the algorithms these suggestions, and use screen-capture software to record these in action
- Monitor and critically examine the ads you receive
- Find a youtube community based on a hobby, fandom, or other affinity, and create a profile of that community that identifies key influencers, outliers, and events
